16" MBP Owners: What do you dislike about the 16"?

[chucker23n1]

This!!
It's also so clunky and heavy. The screen is beautiful but the overall package weight is horrendous. The nail in the coffin for me is the fan noise when connecting to an external display. Why???

Fan noise does seem troubling, but… clunky, heavy? If anything, I wish it were a little thicker and heavier so it could fit HDMI and Ethernet ports like my 2010 used to. Apple’s MacBook line-up is already slightly too much on the side of “thinnovation”. Not everything needs to be an Air.

If the 16 is too clunky and heavy for you, get a 13 Pro or Air.

 

[nrvna76]

1. Totally discharge the battery
2. Leave the discharged laptop for a further hour
3. Charge to 100% without using it
4. Leave it charged at 100% for a further hour or more without using it
5. Unplug and use until battery is flat
6. Repeat above 1-4 one further time

My first one had a battery health of 89% out of the box and once I conditioned it it was much much better, hitting 99%

I appreciate the reply, however in my admittedly limited searches, some say completely discharging the battery is not good. My ‘dislike’ as it pertains to this thread is that I have to handle something like this that shouldn’t be necessary.

But if it works it’s admittedly a very small issue compared to my overall love of the machine.

 

[thedocbwarren]

I'll admit this is a beast of a laptop. I love it dearly. I don't have any issue with it. I have an issue with the state of the eGPU world right now being it's unstable and implimented poorly. It's not likely to improve any time soon. I do find my usage favors more desktop and think a Mac Pro would have been better for me but it's great to be able to take my daily with me.

 

[triangletechie]

The most consistent issue I read about the 16" is a smearing display. I don't recall ever reading that for any of the recent 13" models.

 

[MrGimper]

I appreciate the reply, however in my admittedly limited searches, some say completely discharging the battery is not good. My ‘dislike’ as it pertains to this thread is that I have to handle something like this that shouldn’t be necessary.

But if it works it’s admittedly a very small issue compared to my overall love of the machine.

Doing this repeatedly is an issue, but to calibrate the battery it's recommended.

 

[impulse462]

I am not sure why people are complaining about the fan noise. The previous 15" computers were so thin that the processor was throttling due to overheating and not giving the performance as advertised. They made the 16" thicker, and with a more robust cooling solution, including more robust fans. thats the point. the 16" can run at ~ 3.1-3.2ghz sustained while plugged into my 5k display. Sure the fans speed up because i'm actually doing stuff on it...if you don't want fan noise, the 13" options are available.

As for things I don't like about the computer, its mainly the touchbar, because its a useless pos, and makes it harder for me to use the Fn keys. also catalina is unstable, especially the kernel panics while sleeping. this is a software issue i know, but apple still hasn't fixed it. but why would they do anything on time. it took them 4 years to get rid of that god-awful cringe-inducing keyboard on their flagship laptops. their laptops felt like typing on a piece of wood for 4 years. just think about that... whoever is responsible for this, i hope is gone, because their Q/C for feel, let alone reliability has just plummeted. hopefully now that the keyboard is gone, they will be back to normal, but who knows.

 

[MrGimper]

I am not sure why people are complaining about the fan noise. The previous 15" computers were so thin that the processor was throttling due to overheating and not giving the performance as advertised. They made the 16" thicker, and with a more robust cooling solution, including more robust fans. thats the point. the 16" can run at ~ 3.1-3.2ghz sustained while plugged into my 5k display. Sure the fans speed up because i'm actually doing stuff on it...if you don't want fan noise, the 13" options are available.

As for things I don't like about the computer, its mainly the touchbar, because its a useless pos, and makes it harder for me to use the Fn keys. also catalina is unstable, especially the kernel panics while sleeping. this is a software issue i know, but apple still hasn't fixed it. but why would they do anything on time. it took them 4 years to get rid of that god-awful cringe-inducing keyboard on their flagship laptops. their laptops felt like typing on a piece of wood for 4 years. just think about that... whoever is responsible for this, i hope is gone, because their Q/C for feel, let alone reliability has just plummeted. hopefully now that the keyboard is gone, they will be back to normal, but who knows.

I assume you know you can set the Touch Bar to always show the function keys?

 

[impulse462]

I assume you know you can set the Touch Bar to always show the function keys?

Yeah of course, but when I want to change volume/brightness or use the Fn keys in an IDE I have to constantly look at the touchbar instead of just pressing them...it’s so annoying.

just give us the OPTION if we want the touchbar or not. If some creative professionals like it, they can get it that’s fine. But why should my workflow be disrupted because it’s forced on me. It doesn’t make anything about development or research better on the laptop, only way more annoying.

 

[simonmet]

Love the machine in general. Had the kernel panics when sleeping, and battery life seems to be abysmal for me. I’m finding some threads for fixes around but now I have the task of researching and executing the fix..

A few people are saying some repeated SMC and/or NVRAM-PRAM resets have helped. That and using Turbo Boost Switcher to disable Turbo Boost. I’m going to try a few more battery life tests but the last time I tried it seemed to be mostly as expected

Unfortunately, the i9 (or recent 45W 8-core i7s) aren’t really built for battery life. They require some better power management profiles/firmware that are willing to cut back on the extreme and inefficient power-usage spikes to reach the maximum turbo boost frequencies than Intel or Apple have delivered. These spikes aren’t necessary on battery or even that noticeable for performance because the processors don’t stay near the maximum turbo in a laptop for very long.

Edit: Attached an example extreme power usage usage spike caused by opening Safari.

 

[nrvna76]

Better touch tool’s $7 price is worth it for the slide for volume and brightness alone..

 

[petvas]

I got my 16" MBP today, so it I still too early to tell what I dislike, but I am starting to have an idea, namely the magic keyboard. I have been using the butterfly keyboard for long time and now, using the magic keyboard I find myself missing key presses all the time. I need to press much harder than before. Interesting enough I don't have this problem with the Magic Keyboard for my iPad. Maybe I just need to get used to it.

 

[emraha06]

I have tried a 150 dollar basic level monitor with 90hz and noticed how terrible display mbp 16 has again and again.
I want to ask this forum members again:
How do you deal with the jittering smearing display which texts and images get crazy during scroll. Is this kind of display which a “Pro” device deserve? How do you get used to this terrible display after looking a 90 or 120hz display.....

Why a brand does not improve its display after years and years? How the latest display still has antique 60 hz display and worse pixel response time? How an expensive product like this jitter and smear during a basic scroll on a basic website or document like old and cheap devices?

I am not a gamer, the only thing that i wish from a so expensive “Pro” device is not to jitter or smear during a basic scroll.I feel like my money went to trash.ın the future if i have so much money to buy a MacBook Pro, I am not going to buy a it before i look its review about display. I am not going to buy a MacBook if its panel has antique 60 hz

 

[impulse462]

I have tried a 150 dollar basic level monitor with 90hz and noticed how terrible display mbp 16 has again and again.
I want to ask this forum members again:
How do you deal with the jittering smearing display which texts and images get crazy during scroll. Is this kind of display which a “Pro” device deserve? How do you get used to this terrible display after looking a 90 or 120hz display.....

Why a brand does not improve its display after years and years? How the latest display still has antique 60 hz display and worse pixel response time? How an expensive product like this jitter and smear during a basic scroll on a basic website or document like old and cheap devices?

I am not a gamer, the only thing that i wish from a so expensive “Pro” device is not to jitter or smear during a basic scroll.I feel like my money went to trash.ın the future if i have so much money to buy a MacBook Pro, I am not going to buy a it before i look its review about display. I am not going to buy a MacBook if its panel has antique 60 hz

the display doesn't jitter when scrolling, unless you have a defective device

 

[MrGimper]

I have tried a 150 dollar basic level monitor with 90hz and noticed how terrible display mbp 16 has again and again.
I want to ask this forum members again:
How do you deal with the jittering smearing display which texts and images get crazy during scroll. Is this kind of display which a “Pro” device deserve? How do you get used to this terrible display after looking a 90 or 120hz display.....

Why a brand does not improve its display after years and years? How the latest display still has antique 60 hz display and worse pixel response time? How an expensive product like this jitter and smear during a basic scroll on a basic website or document like old and cheap devices?

I am not a gamer, the only thing that i wish from a so expensive “Pro” device is not to jitter or smear during a basic scroll.I feel like my money went to trash.ın the future if i have so much money to buy a MacBook Pro, I am not going to buy a it before i look its review about display. I am not going to buy a MacBook if its panel has antique 60 hz

You had 14 days to evaluate it and decide if you were happy, you sound like you should have returned it.

 

[chengengaun]

My dislikes are generally applicable to the last generation MacBook Pro as well:

• Storage and RAM not upgradeable - the hard drive is starting to fill up
• No function keys - having to shift my attention away from the screen is disruptive - external keyboard helps
• Poor video quality of FaceTime HD camera (HD, really?) esp in low light
• More than four Thunderbolt 3/USB ports would be nice

Other than that, very happy with it.

 

[randomgeeza]

My dislikes are generally applicable to the last generation MacBook Pro as well:

• Storage and RAM not upgradeable - the hard drive is starting to fill up
• No function keys - having to shift my attention away from the screen is disruptive - external keyboard helps
• Poor video quality of FaceTime HD camera (HD, really?) esp in low light
• More than four Thunderbolt 3/USB ports would be nice

Other than that, very happy with it.

I agree with point 3: FaceTime camera. It is a POS.

 

[shoppy]

Nothing really, I love my machine had it since Jan I knew what I was getting Andy only complaint would be better camera, but to be honest I only use the camera may be once in the last year across all my laptops. I will always use my iPad or phone. Just ordered a 13 to go with it and my new ipad pro.

 

[emraha06]

the display doesn't jitter when scrolling, unless you have a defective device

just connect a 120 hz monitor, open this page on both displays and smooth scroll on both displays. You will never forget this experience
[automerge]1588858474[/automerge]

the display doesn't jitter when scrolling, unless you have a defective device

just connect a 120 hz monitor, open this page on both displaysand smooth scroll on both displays. You will never forget this experience

 

[chengengaun]

I agree with point 3: FaceTime camera. It is a POS.

More so considering the quality of videos from front-facing cameras of iPhones and iPads. I know they are thicker etc. but psychologically it’s hard not to expect a much larger device to perform better.

 

[PeterJP]

Very easy: the buggy dGPU driver that causes the high dGPU power consumption (20W) when connected to an external screen. By itself, it's fine. Microsoft Teams is a power hog and fine by itself, too. When using MS Teams when connected to an external screen, the fans go crazy. Unbelievable. My workaround so far: when using Teams, disconnect the external screen.

I don't understand the flak the camera gets. Yes, the specs are lower than non-mac laptop ones. But when I videochat (all the time these days) with users on both macs and PCs, the quality of the mac camera always stands out. A lot.

I'm not a big fan of the TouchBar. I thought I would be. It's okay, but not more. With an external keyboard, I can still use the F-keys to adjust volume and brightness, which is nice.

All the rest: mightily impressed. Sometimes I wonder if I should return my refurb 8-core 64GB 2TB with 8GB dGPU for the external screen issue. That problem is bad. But then this refurb cost me only €400 more than the new 2020 13" with quad core i7, 32GB, 2TB. So the price I paid is mighty good. And the rest of the machine is pretty incredible, too. Ultra portable, ultra powerful. For that, I can live with a small compromise for a specific use case.

 

[MrGimper]

Very easy: the buggy dGPU driver that causes the high dGPU power consumption (20W) when connected to an external screen. By itself, it's fine. Microsoft Teams is a power hog and fine by itself, too. When using MS Teams when connected to an external screen, the fans go crazy. Unbelievable. My workaround so far: when using Teams, disconnect the external screen.

I don't understand the flak the camera gets. Yes, the specs are lower than non-mac laptop ones. But when I videochat (all the time these days) with users on both macs and PCs, the quality of the mac camera always stands out. A lot.

I'm not a big fan of the TouchBar. I thought I would be. It's okay, but not more. With an external keyboard, I can still use the F-keys to adjust volume and brightness, which is nice.

All the rest: mightily impressed. Sometimes I wonder if I should return my refurb 8-core 64GB 2TB with 8GB dGPU for the external screen issue. That problem is bad. But then this refurb cost me only €400 more than the new 2020 13" with quad core i7, 32GB, 2TB. So the price I paid is mighty good. And the rest of the machine is pretty incredible, too. Ultra portable, ultra powerful. For that, I can live with a small compromise for a specific use case.

The last paragraph is the clincher. I rarely used my 13" with an external screen (I have a 2014 retina iMac with a 4k screen attached") and this is just my portable office that will handle anything. And the fact a fully loaded 13" with a lower spec was only a few hundred below this refurb price makes me keep it.

 

[petvas]

Very easy: the buggy dGPU driver that causes the high dGPU power consumption (20W) when connected to an external screen. By itself, it's fine. Microsoft Teams is a power hog and fine by itself, too. When using MS Teams when connected to an external screen, the fans go crazy. Unbelievable. My workaround so far: when using Teams, disconnect the external screen.

I don't understand the flak the camera gets. Yes, the specs are lower than non-mac laptop ones. But when I videochat (all the time these days) with users on both macs and PCs, the quality of the mac camera always stands out. A lot.

I'm not a big fan of the TouchBar. I thought I would be. It's okay, but not more. With an external keyboard, I can still use the F-keys to adjust volume and brightness, which is nice.

All the rest: mightily impressed. Sometimes I wonder if I should return my refurb 8-core 64GB 2TB with 8GB dGPU for the external screen issue. That problem is bad. But then this refurb cost me only €400 more than the new 2020 13" with quad core i7, 32GB, 2TB. So the price I paid is mighty good. And the rest of the machine is pretty incredible, too. Ultra portable, ultra powerful. For that, I can live with a small compromise for a specific use case.

Microsoft Teams is a resource hog on all platforms. It is slowly becoming the new Outlook..

As far as the camera concerns, yes, I agree but I also understand that an upgrade is long overdue. As far as performance goes, the MacBook Pro is really great and its thermals work well. What I love the most though is the 16" display. The default resolution works for me very well and I have no desire to change it in any way. Another thing that impresses me are the speakers. Much better than on anything I have had so far, better than the iPad Pro and better than the 13" MacBook Pro.

 

[impulse462]

I'm starting to think the 18-20W usage from the dGPU while connected to an external display with the lid open is a firmware thing. previous 15" versions (mainly the 2017) had this same issue. i think its more pronounced on the 16" because of the more robust cooling system. it is quite annoying

 

[PeterJP]

As far as the camera concerns, yes, I agree but I also understand that an upgrade is long overdue. As far as performance goes, the MacBook Pro is really great and its thermals work well. What I love the most though is the 16" display. The default resolution works for me very well and I have no desire to change it in any way. Another thing that impresses me are the speakers. Much better than on anything I have had so far, better than the iPad Pro and better than the 13" MacBook Pro.

Yeah, that camera could use an update... but what do we use it for? I work in broadcast and when working with webcam platforms, both I and my suppliers advise to use a mac or an external webcam. It's not full-screen on-air quality, but how many times would you use it for that?

I'm starting to think the 18-20W usage from the dGPU while connected to an external display with the lid open is a firmware thing. previous 15" versions (mainly the 2017) had this same issue. i think its more pronounced on the 16" because of the more robust cooling system. it is quite annoying

No, it's most definitely an issue in the AMD driver.