Discrete graphics card on the brand new MacBook Pro 16" not working.

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jrmyeh Author

Level 1

37 points

Discrete graphics card on the brand new MacBook Pro 16" not working.

I've just purchased the new 16" MacBook Pro, specs as follows:

2.4 GHz 8 core i9

32GB RAM

AMD Radeon Pro 5500M w 8GB VRAM

I've been noticing some funny behavior.

When I tried using/playing Universe Sandbox 2 and Obduction - both graphics intensive apps - the system reported using only the on-chip GPU (Intel UHD). It reported this through the "About this Mac" box, and was corroborated by the Activity Monitor / GPU history graphs I had monitoring the situation - the only graph to show activity was the Intel UHD one.

So, I tried de-selecting the auto-switching of GPU's for better power savings under System Preferences / Energy Saver. After that, the "About this Mac" box listed both GPU's, and the GPU history graphs showed no activity - for either GPU. Obduction showed no improvement in performance in this scenario - it was still hesitant and glitchy.

US2 and Obduction have been out for a few years, at least, and this laptop is their latest and greatest. I can't understand why the visuals on these games aren't running smoothly with the GPU that this machine is supposed to have in it.

Only conclusion I can draw is that the AMD is not working. This system has been running off of the Intel GPU the entire time I've had it.

I can't explain the inconsistent reporting behavior of the GPU history graphs under Activity Monitor, other than that they're buggy, or can't deal with the improper GPU behavior.

Lastly, I did look under the Energy tab of Activity Monitor, at the "Graphics Card" column. Everything there is marked with a blank (a hyphen, actually), or a "No". The hyphens seem appropriately placed - they're to the right of things like Spotlight and System Prefs. But everything else has a No, including Universe Sandbox 2, Obduction, and Photos. The system does not seem to recognize that graphics intensive apps require the discrete GPU.

I was wondering if anyone has insight onto this behavior, or has been experiencing it themselves?

I've got until Jan 6 or 8 (can't remember which) to return this, but I suspect this is a software issue, and not a hardware one. Even so, if they haven't gotten the software right by that time, I'm not taking any chances with the kind of money I paid for this - it'll be going back.

Thanks!

Posted on Nov 29, 2019 7:36 AM

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Answer 1

Allan Jones

Level 9

78,866 points

Nov 29, 2019 9:16 AM in response to jrmyeh

Good morning,

Even if you think it is software, I feel it better to take advantage of a no-questions-asked return for another computer. At least have Apple evaluate.

The only thing I would try before asking Apple to evaluate or exchange is to see if the issue persists with a different user account. Please see:

How to test an issue in another user account on your Mac - Apple Support

Have you installed any anti-virus or so-called "cleaning" apps? If so, do not install them in the test account before using it to test the gfx issue. They only cause problems

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Answer 2

jrmyeh Author

Level 1

37 points

Nov 29, 2019 1:52 PM in response to jrmyeh

I've attached some benchmarks I've pulled off the machine. They show that Geek Bench 5 is clearly able to talk to the discrete GPU and get it to work.

Also thought these might be useful numbers for those deciding to buy this machine, or who have recently done so.

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Answer 3

jrmyeh Author

Level 1

37 points

Nov 30, 2019 6:08 AM in response to jrmyeh

Well, I think I now know where I'm headed with this, but just to let others know, I've tried a couple of extra apps, and here's what I've found.

With another game (Osmos), the discrete card works as long as I have auto GPU switching shut off in power saver. If I have auto GPU switching turned on, the game won't even start - gets stuck with a pinwheel for ever.

With a medical imaging app I use, the discrete card seems to work, whether auto GPU switching is on or off.

I did online chat with Apple support about the above. We weren't able to finish our exchange, but I got the feeling that she was just learning what was going on with me, and didn't have answers/fixes to provide.

One thing that was interesting is that she had me restart in Safe Mode. When I did that and tried to run my original game (named Obduction), it gave me an error message saying it wouldn't run in OpenCL and that a Metal compatible GPU was required. I'm not sure what that means, but apparently all my GPU's were Metal incapable in Safe Mode.

But this has become irrelevant for me. Compared with my late 2013 MBP, the screen on this new 16" is less bright, the whites less white, and I feel like the screen is a skosh less clear. All of this even with True Tone off and a color calibration. I never had to calibrate the screen on my 2013.

So, I'll take it back. For this kind of money, the screen should be pretty amazing.

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Answer 4

jrmyeh Author

Level 1

37 points

Nov 29, 2019 9:27 AM in response to Allan Jones

Yes, I'll have a low threshold to pull the return trigger. For this much money, it's just not ok to have questions lingering.

I can try a diff user account, that's easy enough.

No clutter apps here. Clean from the factory with my iCloud and a few game and benchmarking apps installed. Only memory resident app is Tunabelly's TG Pro fan management app, which I've used for a long time on my 2013 MBP, with no GPU issues.

Thank you.

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Answer 5

jrmyeh Author

Level 1

37 points

Nov 29, 2019 9:53 AM in response to jrmyeh

A different user account did not help.

I didn't suspect it would make a difference, but it was easy enough to set up one.

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Answer 6

Dec 17, 2019 12:23 AM in response to jrmyeh

Yes, I've noticed the screen is less bright on my 16" MacBook Pro as well compared to my mid-2015 MacBook Pro. I've also got True Tone turned off.

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Answer 7

Dec 26, 2019 12:15 PM in response to jrmyeh

My GPU activity graph is also very weird. Almost always at 100%, even when doing normal tasks..

I tried running a Macbook pro 2015 with the same video software, same catalina versions, same everything.. and the GPU activity is much lower then on this brand new macbook pro 2016" with 8GB of video....???

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Answer 8

leroydouglas

Level 10

200,220 points

Dec 26, 2019 12:50 PM in response to jrmyeh

From the >About this Mac

It will state which GPU is being utilized at the time.

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Answer 9

Dec 26, 2019 12:58 PM in response to leroydouglas

It does only change in "About this Mac" if I use an external display.

Even if the GPU activity AMD Radeon pro 5500M is at 100% it does not change if only the internal screen.

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Discrete graphics card on the brand new MacBook Pro 16" not working.

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