MacBook 16-inch Fan Noise

brycesteiner wrote:

FYI I noticed last night that if I had jAlbum opened my RFS wattage would be at 7 (disconnected from Dock), but when I closed it would drop to .08W. Apparently software can makes calls to increase or decrease when closed.

This is because of automatic graphic switching I presume?

Last call with apple today, my case is closed.

Engineers says it's "normal" behaviour, nothing to do.

I explained the community post and that others have gotten other responses.. no solution.

Will give till next update, then I'm returning it (luckily I bought trough a 3rd party that have returns still).

You can see which GPU is being used when you click on about this mac from the apple icon in the top left hand corner of the screen.

You'll see the radeon 5500m show up when you plug in an external monitor

mr1hm wrote:

You can see which GPU is being used when you click on about this mac from the apple icon in the top left hand corner of the screen.

You'll see the radeon 5500m show up when you plug in an external monitor

I don't have one at moment to check how it worked.

Grant Bennet-Alder wrote:

Google Chrome is not a good example, because it OFTEN turns on the Discrete Graphics chip, which is thought to be the cause of everything on this discussion.

If you want to make this argument, please use a different Browser as your example

If you clicked the link I literally posted in response to your comment instead of trying to formulate yet another weak argument to justify the horrible thermals on the MacBook you would have seen I did you one better,

MacBook Pro 16" running on idle with fans on fullblast: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJT660pUOMc

No browser to speak of.

There is no flame war, there is you an dall the defenders who are objectively wrong and unhelpfully trying to defend this abnormal behaviour as if it were normal, and there are frustrated people like myself trying to find a solution.

ahmedfromreservoir wrote:

What's outrageous is claiming a browser running an online forum should cause a laptop to overheat.

It overheated? Do you have a photo of the screen showing your MBP 16 notifying you it is shutting down to cool?

In fact, the fans running is a sign it is managing the thermal load properly.

You can of course argue whether something should be generating so much heat with that load, but the laptop is not “overheating.”

100% agreed! People first complained that the 15" was throttling due to poor thermals. Apple fixed that with new fans which are tuned to deal with high CPU or GPU usage. I'm not saying this can't be worked out better but for some people here to use words "defective fans" and "overheating" are putting out misinformation and some want to cause negativity by saying they can't recommend a perfectly great computer just because it doesn't perform the way they want it to. Then if your opinion differs from theirs they end up hurling insults.

I completely agree. This computer is great and is the best MBP I've ever owned in many ways. There are a few people experiencing overheating issues, but mine is not one. The biggest problem I seem to have is it's tighter in my backback than the 2019 15".

I've ran the test that people have asked and it always comes out fine. The fans turn up when it gets warm and cools down quickly when it's done working. It doesn't matter if it's in clamshell mode or not, connected directly to multiple 4k screens directly or through a dock.

If you are having problems, return it until you get a good one. I certainly wouldn't trade mine.

I’ve owned there machines since 2006 and they don’t behave like this when connected to an external monitor.

Apple has already acknowledged there is a problem by ordering a logic board for some users. It’s a real problem my friend.

My 16 inch Macbook has issues with reduced h264 encoding speed vs my 2015, but fan noise...mine tries to stay silent until it is basically at the T junction, then it slowely ramps up. I have been doing a LOT of FCPX exports and Compressor transcodes in testing with Apple Care for my h264 issue, so I am working the CPU and generating high temps frequently, and high fan speeds at low temps is not something my weird Macbook is doing.

Catalina 10.15.3 since new if that matters.

Paul

So besides everyone here discussing recommending the 16" or not to others. Is there any solution for this ? it's clear that for some people, including me that the fan noise is not acceptable. And people should by one and try it out themselves. Because it's relative to people if it acceptable or not. But i would recommend people who doesn't find this acceptable to return it if the laptop is not essential for them. Because sticking with it and finding out that the issue would not be resolved then you will be stuck with a device that you're not satisfied with. I will be following this thread and sadly maybe wait for the updated 16"....

"My fans are going wild running Logic Pro X without an external monitor "

Well then it's something to do with your setup and the types of software or plugins you have installed that is causing that. I do very extensive audio editing in Logic Pro X on my 16" and the fans are barely audible in a quiet room with no monitor connected. In fact Logic Pro X doesn't even activate the dGPU so it's definitely something in your own setup that's causing that.

**** it ***** solutions seem to revolve around downspeccing. Though some people had better resultss with different cables? Crazy.

Although someone pointed out the pro display xdr connected wasn't causing issues on a demo macbook which makes me beieve this is an issue affecting a sizable number of macbook pros but not all.

Just waiting on the backorder from Apple on the replacement logic board (there's probably a huge backlog of orders from people experiencing issues), hopefully that resolves the issue I'm having.

Has anyone else here found any success with a replacement logic board?

the technician at the repair center i took my laptop to agreed it was abnormal and was able to replicate it.

lots of people who know their business agree there’s a problem, thankfully unlike some others he did not accuse me of costing Apple a sale and suggest I buy an iMac instead 😂

Is there anyone near an apple store that could go checkout a MBP16 connected to an XDR display and install a trial istat to see the watt usage on the radeon GPU? Or .. someone who actually have that setup ?