MacBook 16-inch Fan Noise

is this issue only on 4K monitors ? I have attached regular office DELL with 1920x1080 resolution, the temps do no go further than 60C when doing basic office work - WORD, browsing (news, google drive, slack tabs open)

dreamermusiclv, my 16" MBP running the 4GB AMD 5500M sees temps rise on both my LG 5K Ultrafine monitor connected via thunderbolt at home and my much more basic Dell monitor with similar resolution at work connected via USB C dongle / HDMI. Granted the temps rise higher on the 5k than the Dell but both cause the dGPU to use much more wattage. My 2017 15" MBP did not suffer on either of these monitors.

I've tested mine with a variety of monitors, both 4K and FHD. The issue is definitelly less severe when using a FHD monitor or a FHD scaling option, however it's still not as cool and quiet as it is when running the same tasks without any external display, even with the lid closed.

It's all about resolution of external monitor. I did some testing on my own 16".

1) If I run it with internal display only I get ~20w total power usage

2) Running it with internal + 1920x1280 = ~50w (20 for gpu)

3) Running it with just external 1920x1280 = ~50w (no drop)

4) Running it with external scaled down to 1920x1080 = ~30w (5w for the gpu)

5) Running a 3d game (world of tanks blitz for the reference) + only external display running 1920x1080 ~= 35w (7w for the gpu).

So basically idling on anything above fullhd (1920x1080) results in 3-4 times bigger power consumption than running a 3rd game on full hd. This is so annoying.

i9, 5500 AMD, FHD monitor (Display Port through Akitio Node Duo)

with Turbo Off, lid closed, just browsing, doing casual stuff, listening music, I get around 48-53 C

with Turbo Off, lid open, just browsing, doing casual stuff, listening music, I get around 58-62 C

with Turbo Off, lid closed & music project (heavy task) I get around 70 C but silent and stable (approx 2000 RPM fans)

with Turbo Off, lid open & music project (heavy task) I get around 80 C and rising (3000 RPM fans and rising)

I'm not gonna turn turbo on for now, and I think I will not be getting a 4K for now

You're wrong. As mentioned before , just watch the video loop on Apple's Macbook pro website, imediately after Charmaine Chan's photo. Radeon jumps immediately to 20W.

I'm using an external monitor which is 2560x1440 connected via displayport. Never had problems of heat and fan noise with my late 2013 Macbook pro 15-inch... Now doing the same stuff, I do have problems: heat and fan noise. Unacceptable. Period.

I purchased a new new 16" MacBook Pro last week hoping for better performance than my mid 2015 machine. Sadly, I am not impressed. Most of my tasks that test the CPU are image processing, and that seems about the same speed as the older machine. And, the most concerning issue is heat. My house is 62-degrees, the vent slots are never covered, and the fan runs at at medium to high speed much of the time. The issue will only get worse when the temperature heats up. I was planning to trade in the mid 2015 MacBook Pro, but have decided to keep it as a back up. This is quite disappointing. How will this cooling/fan issue be resolved?

Everyone I know and everyone that I asked on Instagram, YouTube or Facebook that have a MacBook Pro 16-inch connected to an external monitor are experiencing this issue, the only ones that are not having this problem are the ones that don’t have a monitor connected, so that info doesn’t count, at least for this issue.

"the only ones that are not having this problem are the ones that don’t have a monitor connected, so that info doesn’t count, at least for this issue."

That's a complete non-factual incorrect assumption. But I'll leave it at that.

You made me laugh so hard, now I finally understand Trump when he talks about fake news, you are quoting my message out of context, you forgot the first part, I’m referring to the people I talked or asked about this problem that is using a MacBook Pro 16-inch, I’m not referring to everyone that has a MacBook Pro 16-inch since I have no way of knowing (but they are probably having the same issue too).

I feel some people in this forum who are not experiencing problems with there MacBook Pro’s are trying so hard to discredit those who are having fan/ heat issues?

i appreciate those who have tried to come up with solutions or suggestions to help comfort those who are past our 14 day return period.

hopefully an update will bring resolve.

.

I noticed another patern, if someone can explain why would this happen, and if someone else is experiencing the same:

Every single time i disconnect power supply, fans go crazy, to the max, and temperature not droping - high 60s/ 70s - turbo boost off, CPU usage doesnt change. It happens with or without monitor. Why would it do that??

Besides from that, nothing new, i just had a really annoying working day, screencasting with a client, instead of focusing on work i was looking at the temperatures 89- 100, CPU 90% idle, for 1 hour, this doesnt feel right. IF i could choose again i would wait couple of months more before buying this machine, if even at all.

You have to submit your issues directly to Apple. This is only a community discussion forum made up of Mac users. Apple is not watching this place and they don't play big brother here. You're only shouting to the community.

100% agree! Chrome is the worse resource hog and not only does it activate the dGPU but it causes Macs to heat up and drain battery. Same happens on Windows machines. People complain on Reddit about fast battery drain and heat and Chrome is usually their culprit. If Chrome's extensions are much more important to people over battery life and a cool running computer then some people's priorities are certainly in an odd place. I would use Chrome for very select things if necessary, otherwise Safari and other alternative browsers run far better.

RICHD101 wrote:

I feel some people in this forum who are not experiencing problems with there MacBook Pro’s are trying so hard to discredit those who are having fan/ heat issues?

It's worse than that, some people here who don't often connect their MacBooks to external displays and therefore have no problems are attacking people who do for expecting their computers to not overheat when they connect them to extenral displays, accusing them of costing apple sales when devices are returned and suggesting people should buy iMacs or Mac Pros instead because their use case of 'connect laptop to external monitor' is too much for a laptop.