Use an external monitor with my MacBook Pro Retina 15", laptop heats up and crashes. I assume its the monitor because when I don't use it, no problems. Is there a fix for this? The problem is only occurring the past few months

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Level 1

4 points

Use an external monitor with my MacBook Pro Retina 15", laptop heats up and crashes. I assume its the monitor because when I don't use it, no problems. Is there a fix for this? The problem is only occurring the past few months

Use an external monitor (Samsung S27D360H) with my MacBook Pro Retina 15" (2013), laptop heats up and eventually crashes. I assume its the monitor because when I don't use it, no problems. Is there a fix for this? The problem is recent only occurring the past few months, had the external monitor for about three years now. I've wondered if changing display settings would resolve the situation (though it shouldn't matter, still...). Using High Sierra 10.13.2,

Graphics:

NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M 1 GB

Intel HD Graphics 4000 1536 MB

MacBook Pro with Retina display, macOS Sierra (10.12.6)

Posted on Dec 12, 2017 9:23 AM

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Answer 1

Leanne_68

Community Specialist

Dec 13, 2017 1:39 PM in response to Max_dR

Hi Max_dR!

I understand that when you connect your external monitor, your MacBook Pro is heating up and crashing, and I'm happy to help. We can start by performing the following resets, then test to see if the issue persists. Please let us know if you are using multiple displays, or if the MacBook Pro is in clamshell mode as well.

How to reset NVRAM on your Mac

How to reset the System Management Controller (SMC) on your Mac

Thanks for using Apple Support Communities.

Cheers!

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Answer 2

Max_dR Author

Level 1

4 points

Dec 14, 2017 6:20 AM in response to Leanne_68

Hi Starr.C and thank you for your attention to the matter.

I've tried the resets you suggested ... actually I've tried these on several occasions, but did them again to checkmark the boxes so to speak. I then booted up and turned on my one Samsung S27D360H monitor connected via HDMI port on the laptop. I darken the retina display and usually the keyboard as well, saves energy I figure. I'll begin to watch something on Netflix and in about ten minutes I notice the keyboard getting pretty hot. When I stop the streaming video, the keyboard begins to get cooler. I have the laptop display preferences optimised for the Samsung monitor at 1080p/60Hz. I find it gives the best result ... for the monitor, the image fills the entire monitor, whereas the image on laptop with this setting looks like a 16:9 resolution (wider to the sides, pressed above and below - black bands above and below the image, in other words the image does not fill the screen on the laptop ... but since I'm using the Samsung and I darken the retina display, no worries. Or should I be?

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