My USB-C external hard-drive and eGPU I am building disagree with you
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2017 MacBook Pro 13 non-TB Review
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My USB-C external hard-drive and eGPU I am building disagree with you
I notice the same on mine too. I purchased the same model and it was getting really hot when watching videos online (crunchyroll, Funimation and YouTube). I was using safari. I could handle all my photo editing needs for work just fine, but it would struggle with any type of online video. I ended up returning it thinking that it was so thing wrong with my device. Lately I was thinking of getting one again, but only if this gets resolved.
review update 3:
I've noticed that the daily insertion of power and DisplayPort cables into the 2 USB-C/Thunderbolt3 ports creates sparking. Every time I do it it happens, and I need to plug/unplug daily as I take my laptop on the road and bring it back to dock with the external 4K monitor and Apple power supply. The sparking is visible in normal lighting. This can't be good....
I've noticed that the daily insertion of power and DisplayPort cables into the 2 USB-C/Thunderbolt3 ports creates sparking. Every time I do it it happens, and I need to plug/unplug daily as I take my laptop on the road and bring it back to dock with the external 4K monitor and Apple power supply. The sparking is visible in normal lighting. This can't be good....
I'm returning the macbook for a replacement. I can't have a premium pro £1800 laptop which sparks at the ports, has hardware screen glitches, and stresses with heat and fans when I watching YouTube HD. Interestingly the UPS drop-off doesn't give receipts ... contrary to what Apple advises.
wow!! That's quite an ending to the story! :O
In comparison with the 2015 was it so much hotter? The sparking is normal I guess since the wire carries a lot of power...
Are you going back to the 2015? Or try to switch to the Touchbar version? Maybe go to the dark windows side?
2015 was rarely hot .. I ran 14 hour text mining calculations which wouldnt bother it... YouTube didn't bother it...wow!! That's quite an ending to the story! :O
In comparison with the 2015 was it so much hotter? The sparking is normal I guess since the wire carries a lot of power...
Are you going back to the 2015? Or try to switch to the Touchbar version? Maybe go to the dark windows side?
I'm currently using my backup 3yr old £500 ThinkPad with Linux ... YouTube is fine, I just don't all the software I need.
I have a nTB. I have NEVER heard the fan kick in while watching youtube videos. I swear these responses are Apple reps trying to push you towards the touch bar haha. I use Google Chrome with multiple apps running in the background.
Btw I think the nTB computers will hold their value better than the TBs. The TB will improve in response, resolution, energy dissipation, and so on, yet you know exactly what you're getting with a nTB.
EDIT: I have heard the fan turn on a couple times over the past 2.5 months of ownership. It's a high pitch whine but it's by no means a deal breaker. You could always close the laptop for a couple of minutes, let it cool down, then restart if you're that anal. Granted this was after +4 hours of use on chrome watching HQ videos.
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Consider yourself lucky.
And I wish it was Apple reps but sadly it's real and hurting my productivity and satisfaction.
Seriously why is my 2 ye old 4gb RAM £500 ThinkPad with Linux running without stress / fans/ overheating?
review updated with
Update 5
Update 5
- I finally received the replacement MacBook. This one doesn't have screen glitches. It still fires up the fans for things like youtube (esp jumping about the timeline) which is disappointing but the overall fall firing up seems less than the previous one. My best guess is the first one had a hardware fault causing both overheating, screen glitching, and lots of high loud fan.
- My first laptop took a long time to arrive and the UPS status showed it delayed at several locations around the globe (Shanghai, Khazakhstan, Germany) and also some messing about with customs .. perhaps this damaged the device?
I thought the fans were always ON now on MBPs... just at a low speed.
If you put your ear near the laptop, can you hear it?
On a related note, I think that the people who report they have no problem with fan noise (even when it is running fast) is because their hearing isn't that good! LOL! (Or, because they work in a noisy environment and cannot hear the whoosh and whir!)
It sounds, though, like you're tuned into noise, so I'd really like to know if the fan only runs during supposed "stress" conditions -- which, as you point out, shouldn't include running You Tube videos!
What's your take on the noise from the keyboard? Do its clickety-clacks bother you?
My own hearing is tuned into noise and things that might sound like something is wrong. I sent my first MBPro13 2015 back as it had a rattling off-axis/broken fan.
This replacement 2017 MBPro13 has a fan I can't hear when it's doing nothing. Its might be on .. I don't know. I read that only the TB versions had always on fans because of the always hotter CPUs.
But I still hate it whirring up for ... youtube !?!
Running code to do data analytics or raytracing... fan is on full all the time.. and it's a bit of a roar in a quiet room. I can hear it through my noise cancelling Bose QuietComfort 35s.
Keyboard is annoying and loud and the song frequency, as many have pointed out, is ultra annoying. It s very high pitched ching-ching-ching.
Sad - because Appel used to design and test thoroughly for ergonomic and aesthetic aspects like this. Not any more it seems.
Much appreciate the reply!
Your sensitivity -- or sensibilities -- sound similar to mine!
Your answer was helpful. But to avoid hijacking your thread, I started another one just to see what the general reactions are on the MBP fan noise! It'll be interesting to see what responses that brings!
Your sensitivity -- or sensibilities -- sound similar to mine!
Your answer was helpful. But to avoid hijacking your thread, I started another one just to see what the general reactions are on the MBP fan noise! It'll be interesting to see what responses that brings!
This is alll very helpful, thank you.
To the OP, do you think, outside of pushing a 4K display that the 2015 13" 2.7 16/512 would handle the majority of your needs? Do you think to would handle Lightroom and Photoshop well? My testing has been positive for these but I would value your feedback.
I am in the 2016 repair loop and getting tired of dealing with it. My second repair is in-process now and I am just tired of stressing something that should be a utility. May just go back to the 2015 and TRULY wait out any future Apple purchase .. let them get issues resolved on their dime and time.. not mine.
To the OP, do you think, outside of pushing a 4K display that the 2015 13" 2.7 16/512 would handle the majority of your needs? Do you think to would handle Lightroom and Photoshop well? My testing has been positive for these but I would value your feedback.
I am in the 2016 repair loop and getting tired of dealing with it. My second repair is in-process now and I am just tired of stressing something that should be a utility. May just go back to the 2015 and TRULY wait out any future Apple purchase .. let them get issues resolved on their dime and time.. not mine.
In a bit of a dilemma that I think people here can resolve.
Has anybody actually tested the TB and nTb for battery life? I've read the notebook check review and they claim 25% difference. But can't find any other review or anything online to verify that.
Problem is my configured nTb with 16gb ram upgrade and 512gb drive is about 1900$ , while I can get the tb with 8gb and 512 for about 50-100$ more. I don't need that many ports, but still 4 is better than 2, plus ability to charge from both left and right is super convenient. I just need it for regular office stuff, browsing, word, excel, etc. While 16gb is not necessary, it will future proof it. My current 2010 13inch pro with 128gb ssd and 8gb ram runs fine but I can see it start to get bogged down by lack of ram sometimes.
So mainly the issue is, if the battery difference of 25% is not verifiable, or only under very very ideal circumstances, then I'm sacrificing speed and ports and tb for for something that won't materialize.
Has anybody actually tested the TB and nTb for battery life? I've read the notebook check review and they claim 25% difference. But can't find any other review or anything online to verify that.
Problem is my configured nTb with 16gb ram upgrade and 512gb drive is about 1900$ , while I can get the tb with 8gb and 512 for about 50-100$ more. I don't need that many ports, but still 4 is better than 2, plus ability to charge from both left and right is super convenient. I just need it for regular office stuff, browsing, word, excel, etc. While 16gb is not necessary, it will future proof it. My current 2010 13inch pro with 128gb ssd and 8gb ram runs fine but I can see it start to get bogged down by lack of ram sometimes.
So mainly the issue is, if the battery difference of 25% is not verifiable, or only under very very ideal circumstances, then I'm sacrificing speed and ports and tb for for something that won't materialize.
update...
Update 6
does any other review even test for this? most reviews are lazy.
[doublepost=1503956244][/doublepost]
For me no. It's a shame .. because the 2015 is ideal in so many other way bit it just couldn't push a 4k display at 60hz smoothly enough. Not when you consider it was a £1600 laptop when new. Thats four times cheaper laptops that seem to manage ok. This new 2017 does it but the catch is overheating and fans...
Update 6
- After a few more weeks, I'm now finding the device restarts all by itself. Kernel panic and then restarts. You lose all your work in progress. I've looked at the kernel panic logs and report-back-to-apple messages and the best I can make out is that it is related to the Intel GPU. It always happens when the external 4k monitor is connected. Also the laptops is always hot when this happens so there may be a connection. No specific correlation with any apps that I can find, and I'm not doing anything stressful when this happens .. web work.
does any other review even test for this? most reviews are lazy.
[doublepost=1503956244][/doublepost]
For me no. It's a shame .. because the 2015 is ideal in so many other way bit it just couldn't push a 4k display at 60hz smoothly enough. Not when you consider it was a £1600 laptop when new. Thats four times cheaper laptops that seem to manage ok. This new 2017 does it but the catch is overheating and fans...
Personally, I have found the battery life to be the biggest annoyance. This is my first MacBook Pro I have ever owned.
Youtube? Are you using Firefox or chrome? I've noticed that when using those browsers, the laptop does get warmer.
I use sketchup with twilight render for 3d work and I've found setting the number of threads to 1 keeps the fan silent (though it does take longer to render).
I've found the keyboard to be much louder than previous models - if I hit the keys as hard as I had previously. But with the reduced displacement, I've found that I can type quicker with less force. I do however make some errors due to the keys being closer and my touch typing skills full of bad habits.
... but this is meant to be an extremely expensive "pro" laptop. Not a £500 cheapo not designed for actual work.
And my £500 thinkpad from a few years ago plays youtube fine, no sweat.
As does my smartphone - at full HD resolution.
We can't excuse Apple for charging £1800+ for a "pro" laptop that performs worse than a £500 cheap laptop or a £280 smartphone.
[doublepost=1505472737][/doublepost]Update 7
- Keybaord issues are increasing. Some keys don't register randomly. The letter E gets stuck. There is no significant dirt or dust as I am meticulous about keeping this expensive laptop clean and safe.
I'm surprised with all of the issues you're having. I've had the 2016 nTB 512/16 configuration since 1 November 2016 and have had absolutely no issues. No sticky keys, no loud fan, no sparks (I unplug and plug almost every day too), and have not noticed it get overly warm.
I don't hook mine up to a 4K display (I still use my Thunderbolt Display) and my work is not too demanding - some coding, web development, UI development, word processing, research, and light photo/video editing - but I haven't had any of the issues you had. Personally I am fine with the keyboard and I'm not a big YouTube user, so maybe that's why I don't notice the fans as much. I do hear them of course if I'm doing a lot of video editing or gaming, but this isn't often for me.
It's really too bad you had so many issues. Maybe you got unlucky with another bad machine? I bought the 2012 15" rMBP when they first came out and it wasn't until my second replacement that I got a machine without an issue (first one had a defective battery and second one had image retention).
Hopefully you can work it out and other users won't be too scared off from your experience. I've had my 2016 nTB for almost a year now and really like it a lot. It's the perfect balance of power and form factor for me and I've had no issues.
I don't hook mine up to a 4K display (I still use my Thunderbolt Display) and my work is not too demanding - some coding, web development, UI development, word processing, research, and light photo/video editing - but I haven't had any of the issues you had. Personally I am fine with the keyboard and I'm not a big YouTube user, so maybe that's why I don't notice the fans as much. I do hear them of course if I'm doing a lot of video editing or gaming, but this isn't often for me.
It's really too bad you had so many issues. Maybe you got unlucky with another bad machine? I bought the 2012 15" rMBP when they first came out and it wasn't until my second replacement that I got a machine without an issue (first one had a defective battery and second one had image retention).
Hopefully you can work it out and other users won't be too scared off from your experience. I've had my 2016 nTB for almost a year now and really like it a lot. It's the perfect balance of power and form factor for me and I've had no issues.