Thermal throttling on latest MacBook Pro 16

I'm shocked to keep it short.


First things first:

Running macOS Catalina 10.15.7

MacBook Pro (16 inch, 2019 still the most recent model)

2,4 GHz 8-Core Intel Core i9

32 GB 2667 MHz DDR4 RAM

with Intel UHD Graphics 630 1536 MB and AMD Radeon Pro 5500M with 4GB RAM

and 2TB SSD


Since the beginning I experienced CPU temperatures around AND ABOVE 100°C.

The first issue was due to the iCloud remindd bug which was idling at 100% of all cores, making the compute unusable. So I deactivated iCloud to walk around that issue (in my opinion a No-Go but if you need the computer working that's the only way to get things done) - Still the remindd issue is not fixed but the temperature Peak is at 80-90 °C. But now the system is extremely slow.


A more tech-savvy buddy of mine told me to run

pmset -g thermlog

to check whether the CPU was thermal throttling and I got this (see additional text):

It's between 16 to 60 - so my 2,3 GHz is running at between 0,37 and 1,38 GHz - wow.


That means that - regardless of the CPU speed it COULD DO I am stuck with a slow snail because auf the severe thermal issues that product in common has.


Last week I've been to the Apple Store and the told me that "extreme heat, low battery capacity and high CPU load are expected with the small graphics card" I mean small?

I wouldn't say the Radeon Pro 5500M with 4GB is small...


I'm shocked. What can I do?

In my opinion this particular product is a scam because it's almost not usable.



P.S.: I did SMC and NVRAM reset, I even did a Virus Scan, I resetted the system, I reinstalled the system from a BLANK state without Time Machine Backup. Nothing helped.


MacBook Pro 16″, macOS 10.15

Posted on Nov 14, 2020 6:45 AM

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3 replies

Nov 14, 2020 10:57 AM in response to mario.k

Check the CPU frequency using the Intel Power Gadget. The slowest CPU speed I've ever seen on an i5/i7 CPU is 800MHz which is the idle speed even when the CPU hits the 100C thermal limit. Maybe the pmset numbers are not quite what they seem.


Also you may want to post an EtreCheck report here using the "Additional Text" icon which looks like a piece of paper.


Run the Apple Diagnostics to see if any hardware issues are detected.


Nov 14, 2020 12:19 PM in response to mario.k

HWTech wrote:

Maybe the pmset numbers are not quite what they seem.


And if those parameters are corrupted, reseting NVRAM will fix it: Reset NVRAM or PRAM on your Mac - Apple Support. I'd do that just to remove any doubt.


Reset that Mac's SMC also, since it has executive authority for an abundance of performance-related parameters, especially thermal management: How to reset the SMC of your Mac - Apple Support.


Apple should have had you perform those fundamental steps, but from what you describe it seems they were motivated to arbitrarily dismiss your concerns.


mario.k wrote:
I even did a Virus Scan, ...


Perhaps you were running out of ideas at that point, but don't waste your time with that. If you installed something, uninstall it.

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Thermal throttling on latest MacBook Pro 16

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