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MacBook 16-inch Fan Noise (2019)

discussions.apple.com

231–240 of 311 posts

Re: MacBook 16-inch Fan Noise (2019)

#231
post #129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you are underestimating the cost of your setup. There is no way in my opinion that you can build a decent PC with 1/4 price of a MacBook Pro. European prices might be higher, 2699 official price for base 16" (you can actually get it for 2399 from official resellers). But still 675 Eu for a proper setup is impossible. Just the CPU and RAM will cost you a bit over 300. I know you are just making a point, but it…

I mean, it's not that outlandish. It's such an apples to oranges comparison but performance for dollar is still in the "build your own desktop" side of the arena, as it's always been. https://pcpartpicker.com/list/rfLcGc

My guess is Naomarik didn't buy a case, power supply, or new SSD.

Re: MacBook 16-inch Fan Noise (2019)

#232
post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So I first thought that using gfxCardStatus to force the use of integrated graphics could help. However: > gfxCardStatus v2.3 and above actively prevents you from switching to Integrated Only mode when any apps are in the Dependencies list ( or if you have an external display plugged in ). This is because if you were to do this, your discrete GPU would actually stay powered on, even though you've switched to the inte…

Because of the way the ThunderBolt ports are wired, you cannot use external graphics without activating the discrete GPU. It's been like this in MacBook Pros for a long time.

Thats messed up

Re: MacBook 16-inch Fan Noise (2019)

#233
post #191
post #165

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They did the same with the 2011 MBP fiasco. Ministry of truth at work.

I have a 2011 here still going strong. Looking like new after all of the free replacements, LOL. I guess that GPU either fried over and over by now or came from a lucky batch.

Mine is still getting used but the gpu is dying even after a replaced logic board. Still absolutely love the matte screen though.

Re: MacBook 16-inch Fan Noise (2019)

#234
post #208

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That touchbar freezing issue is a pet peeve of mine. It's been happening for years now. I've personally witnessed over it perhaps 10 times over multiple hardware/OS revisions. Perhaps it's time for Apple to admit defeat and just build a watchdog service that runs every 30 seconds and if things aren't working: kill and restart whatever process and/or driver that runs the touch bar.

The reason nobody really notices the touchbar issue is because almost nobody uses the Touch Bar!

hahaha true

Re: MacBook 16-inch Fan Noise (2019)

#236
post #122
post #71

I got one, heard the fan, felt the heat. Switched on "Automatic Graphics Switching" in the power saver options and as I type it's on my lap as quiet as a mouse and as cool as a cucumber.

For me (and at least one other commenter in this thread), the issue occurs when plugged into an external monitor. The linked thread seems to indicate the same. Any thoughts on that? I'll check the relevant setting.

I think graphics switching only works when running on battery power. Wonder if there's a way of make it still work when plugged in...

Re: MacBook 16-inch Fan Noise (2019)

#237
post #14

What can I say as a person somewhat close to electronics engineering: Look at that single skinny heat pipe, it will get saturated very fast. Second to that, look at those tiny radiators, they are clearly not capable to discharge the full heat flux. I simply don't see any signs of proper thermal engineering there. Apple says "we are listening now, and here is a new cooling design," then it comes out to be even less ad…

If I had to guess they know what they're doing engineering wise, but they're taking a calculated (and poorly thought out, in my opinion) risk that a small percent of people will regularly peg the cpu at 100% usage, and they're further relying upon clock rate throttling and the cpu die thermal sensor to keep things from melting down. Or the management/product design group has overridden the input of the people who act…

> because the laptop CANNOT be 2mm thicker

Well, they did make the 16" a fair bit thicker than the previous models.

Re: MacBook 16-inch Fan Noise (2019)

#238
post #54
post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Make it thicker, but with better cooling, better storage, better GPUs etc. They literally did all of that in 16 inch.

Yes they made it thicker, but as you see, without much gain. They just made it look thicker, with an innuendo that this is for better thermals, while in reality it isn't.

My opinion is that MacBook Pros turned into consumer machines somewhere along the way and the overwhelming majority of buyers use them for Facebook, Youtube and Mail.app. I imagine Apple has a vast amount of metrics on this. None of these use cases require better thermals, so Apple engineers the devices accordingly.

I don't recall my 17" Powerbook G4 ever having thermal issues but how many people would buy a ~$5000 base spec MBP today? See Mac Pro.

Re: MacBook 16-inch Fan Noise (2019)

#239
post #201

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That seems unrelated; I think Mac OS is the only place where non native resolutions use GPU-accelerated scaling. The other operating systems just set whatever resolution you asked for and let the monitor handle it. This seems to be excessive GPU use when simply connecting an external monitor at its native res.

I use my 2015 MBP with an external 4K monitor every day and it works like a charm. No delay, no fans going off, etc.

The 2015 MBP is a work horse but it too had issues with external monitors. I used to connect it to two external 1080p monitors one via HDMI the other with some ancient adapter. When I plugged in the latter my internet would suddenly stop working. This was apparently from a multi year bug where the ports adapter was so close to the wireless card that it interfered with the wireless cards normal operation. Upgrading the adapter fixed the problem (it was one of the old display adapters with physical pins you had to screw in) - took a very long time to debug that issue!
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