[biztos]

My company assigned me a 16" MBP with gobs of memory and all that. I am sitting here right now with an extremely light set of applications running, CPU is 98% idle, I've got a 4K 27" monitor and the MacBook is in clamshell mode. Plugged in and fully charged. Ambient temperature is 25C and CPU temp is 60C.

Both fans are running loud enough to notice: 2600RPM, about 27%, and that's about average when it's not asleep. It's too loud to watch a quiet movie without headphones.

If I had full control of my kit, I would seriously consider ditching the 16" MBP in favor of a 27" iMac just in the hope that the cooling system isn't a complete disaster.

As for the ARM question, I am very much looking forward to buying an ARM Macbook Air (or whatever) for personal use.

But since I have no idea exactly when one will show up that does what I need; and since I expect the Intel Macs to be supported for many years to come; and since especially for a desktop it's also quite nice with other OS's; I wouldn't hesitate to buy an Intel Mac if I needed one.

Just not the damned 16" MacBook Ventilator.

[nknealk]

I also have a 16" MBP from work, well spec'd. When using my external monitor, it won't switch to the intel graphics. It's always using the AMD GPU which causes additional power draw + heat. I wish there was some way to force the iGPU to be used when an external monitor was plugged in.

Also, turbo boost switcher has dramatically improved thermals. Turning off turbo shaves like 10C off low usage temp without much of an impact on usability.

[horsawlarway]

I would also strongly recommend avoiding the 16inch dungbook. I was issued one about a month ago by my office, and it's... not good.

It runs hot as hell and has some serious charging/graphics issues.

My company has issued about 40 of them, about about 12 have had to be returned to apple for graphics problems.

[Rebelgecko]

Even though opening the lid makes the GPU work harder, it typically is a win in terms of cooling the laptop down. Also, try plugging in the power adapter on the right side USB ports, that allegedly makes a difference in heat

[biztos]

The reason I started running it in clamshell mode, after years of keeping my 13" open, was the the GPU would massively overheat when running an external monitor, so I'd have the fans running at well over 50% all the time in that case. Clamshell fixed it at the time.

Seems to play nicer with my other (Dell) monitor but when I was using Garage Band (only on the external monitor!) it got so loud I had to quit GB and let it cool down... and I still never went over about 20% CPU. The fans are pretty normal when I only use the built-in monitor, but the case still gets way too hot to rest on my legs.

I'll try the right side power, thanks for the tip!

[dotandgtfo]

My 15 inch mbp 2019 got super hot when I ran the dock (with HDMI and keyboard) on the same side as the charger. Having them on opposite sides helped loads with the temperature. YMMV

[biztos]

Whoa... this seems to have done it. (I think.)

Thanks a lot for the tip! Funny, that's how I had it connected with the previous monitor and I didn't have trouble with the clamshell mode.

FWIW right-side power didn't help, nor did the turbo switcher AFAICT (I'm not doing anything CPU-intensive) -- but as soon as I put the monitor in the left and the power in the right the fans dropped way down. Still running, which is annoying, but not especially loud.

I find it maddening that a $3600 computer has a problem like this, and Apple doesn't even tell you about it.

[biztos]

To all who posted suggestions, thank you very much! I tried them all.

Unfortunately despite some temporary relief nothing solved the problem and I remain at 2800 RPM with 93% idle CPU, though now without TurboBoost! :-)

On the positive side, the offending MBP now has its apple-face to the wall and the fans seem slightly quieter that way. Next I will look into locking it in a refrigerated safe.

[SwiftyBug]

I feel your pain! When I got my first Mac, a 2012 21.5" iMac, I couldn't believe how quiet it was. Even my 2013 MacBook Pro's fans have barely made any sound. But this 16" MacBook Pro sounds as it is preparing for lift off if I merely start a regular Express server.

[danfraticiu]

Not sure if it applies to the 16" but the 2016 15" was doing something similar if I would plug the display on any of the right USB-C ports.

Something to do with Thunderbolt proximity sensor, problem went away as soon as I would switch to the left side.

[biztos]

Thank you, this seems to have done the trick!

As I commented above on another similar suggestion -- power on right and monitor on left appears to be the trick.

[rayhendricks]

Had a 16” and sold it for the same reason. Maybe an arm MacBook would be good but also having a 64core threadripper and decent graphics and just remoting in seems better at the minute. You can also upgrade and fix things if they break.