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A question about MBP 15 Base Model

S

semistandard

macrumors member
Original poster
Aug 19, 2018
96
47
After some thinking, I am about to get MBP 15 2018 base model with 512 SSD upgrade.
Before I pull the trigger, I'd like to ask few questions.
1. The kernel panic issue - are there certain scenarios in which it occurs which can be avoided? Or it just happens at random? How common is the issue?
2. Crackling speakers - same question. Also some people claimed that changing MIDI option from 44.100 to 48.000 fixes the problem for them. Does it work for everyone? Again, is it widespread?
3. Temperatures / Performance - those of you who ran synthetic benchmarks or did another forms testing.
a. What is the maximal boost temperature it maintains? For how long can it maintain it? Is it stable? How are the temperatures during the load?
b. How are the surface temperatures? Are there any areas on the upper side (touch bar, palm rest, certain regions of the keyboard) of the laptop that get uncomfortable to touch when under load?
c. How much can you improve the performance / temps by fan tweaking / undervolting? What software do you use? I've heard some people using Volta - but its site says that undervolt is compatible only with 2013-2015 models only. Has the site not been updated or is it actually true? If it is true - what software are you using?
 
1. We are yet to determine this one, hopefully by the end of this week we will have something from one of the Apple guys, a patch or something more substantial than the guessing game we are playing right now.

2. From my understanding this shall be fixed with a patch, similar to the GPU problems that were happening back in 2016.

3a. Mine is stable around 97degrees for extended periods of time, if I'm in AC room this drops to around 90ish, but thats all 6 cores running at 100%. (i7)

3b. Normally, the keyboard is slightly warm, nothing hot, when you're ramping at 50% CPU or higher, the keys do get hotter, but this is expected for a machine of this size. Plus I wouldn't imagine you're planning on typing away an essay when the CPU is at 50%.

3c. I use mac fan control occasionally to have the fans running at 3000rpm, if I am rendering something, I'll have the fans running at max. The MBPs would happily run at 97c with the fans at 80% as opposed to 90c with the fans at 100%. The exhaust noise is loud at 100% RMP, but if you're rendering, it's something you can expect.
 
I have a 2.2/16/560x/1 TB model - so not exactly what you're looking at, but close.

Answers:

1. I've not had a kernel panic.
2. I've not had crackling speakers.
3. I can't answer temps and such, but performance wise it equals the 2.6/16 I had (in fact, it scores slightly higher on average on Cinebench, and about 1% lower on Geekbench. The 2.2's keyboard is noticeably cooler than was the 2.6.

Overall, I think it's a good machine - I still can't stand the keyboard, trackpad size, USB-C only, no Magsafe, etc., but it's the first MBP that is significantly faster (CPU wise) than the 2014 and 2015 models (note that the graphics of the 2016 were substantially better than the 2015).
 
One user stated they aren't having sound problems with the Mojave Beta 4 (the crackling thread), so one can assume, this is purely software.
 
Naimfan said:
I have a 2.2/16/560x/1 TB model - so not exactly what you're looking at, but close.

Answers:

1. I've not had a kernel panic.
2. I've not had crackling speakers.
3. I can't answer temps and such, but performance wise it equals the 2.6/16 I had (in fact, it scores slightly higher on average on Cinebench, and about 1% lower on Geekbench. The 2.2's keyboard is noticeably cooler than was the 2.6.

Overall, I think it's a good machine - I still can't stand the keyboard, trackpad size, USB-C only, no Magsafe, etc., but it's the first MBP that is significantly faster (CPU wise) than the 2014 and 2015 models (note that the graphics of the 2016 were substantially better than the 2015).
Click to expand...

I have both 2.2Ghz and 2.6Ghz for testing, and I agree with you. 2.6 runs much hotter. You can even tell the temp difference when both are in idle (let alone the full load).

And even for some heavy users 2.2 and 2.6 don't make any performance differences.

But I decide to keep 2.6 then return 2.2 just because I can get 2.6 at a much lower price (some business secrets).
 
Another question - how much is the difference between 555x and 560x?
1. Performance wise - how much is 560 is faster? If I understand it right, they are both TDP limited on the mac?
2. Thermals - does 560 run hotter? Any noticeable influence on battery life?
3. How (un)capable is the 555 one? I will use the machine for Unity/Unreal Engine (Although that's not my main focus).

Battery life:
How much do you get in average?
 
semistandard said:
Another question - how much is the difference between 555x and 560x?
1. Performance wise - how much is 560 is faster? If I understand it right, they are both TDP limited on the mac?
2. Thermals - does 560 run hotter? Any noticeable influence on battery life?
3. How (un)capable is the 555 one? I will use the machine for Unity/Unreal Engine (Although that's not my main focus).

Battery life:
How much do you get in average?
Click to expand...

We compared both GPUs here:
Thoughts and Tests on the 2.2GHz MacBook Pro
 
Premal212 said:
1. We are yet to determine this one, hopefully by the end of this week we will have something from one of the Apple guys, a patch or something more substantial than the guessing game we are playing right now.

2. From my understanding this shall be fixed with a patch, similar to the GPU problems that were happening back in 2016.

3a. Mine is stable around 97degrees for extended periods of time, if I'm in AC room this drops to around 90ish, but thats all 6 cores running at 100%. (i7)

3b. Normally, the keyboard is slightly warm, nothing hot, when you're ramping at 50% CPU or higher, the keys do get hotter, but this is expected for a machine of this size. Plus I wouldn't imagine you're planning on typing away an essay when the CPU is at 50%.

3c. I use mac fan control occasionally to have the fans running at 3000rpm, if I am rendering something, I'll have the fans running at max. The MBPs would happily run at 97c with the fans at 80% as opposed to 90c with the fans at 100%. The exhaust noise is loud at 100% RMP, but if you're rendering, it's something you can expect.
Click to expand...
Is 3000rpm is the maximum on Mac? If no - what are the temperatures when you make the fans run at the maximal speed?
 
semistandard said:
Is 3000rpm is the maximum on Mac? If no - what are the temperatures when you make the fans run at the maximal speed?
Click to expand...

3000 is 50-55% of the Max. The minimum that they always run at is 2000.

Temps hit around 90-95c when under heavy load from rendering a video say. (Fans at 100%)
 
Premal212 said:
3000 is 50-55% of the Max. The minimum that they always run at is 2000.

Temps hit around 90-95c when under heavy load from rendering a video say. (Fans at 100%)
Click to expand...

Have you tried undervolting? If you did, how much temps improvement do you get?
 
semistandard said:
1. The kernel panic issue - are there certain scenarios in which it occurs which can be avoided? Or it just happens at random? How common is the issue?
Click to expand...
It seems many people incur them when the MBP goes into sleep mode. I've not had any so I cannot say one way or another.

semistandard said:
2. Crackling speakers - same question. Also some people claimed that changing MIDI option from 44.100 to 48.000 fixes the problem for them. Does it work for everyone? Again, is it widespread?
Click to expand...
My speakers don't have any issues, I don't change any midi values so I have no idea. People who have the problem claim its widespread, people who don't tap the breaks on that notion.

semistandard said:
3. Temperatures / Performance - those of you who ran synthetic benchmarks or did another forms testing.
a. What is the maximal boost temperature it maintains? For how long can it maintain it? Is it stable? How are the temperatures during the load?
b. How are the surface temperatures? Are there any areas on the upper side (touch bar, palm rest, certain regions of the keyboard) of the laptop that get uncomfortable to touch when under load?
c. How much can you improve the performance / temps by fan tweaking / undervolting? What software do you use? I've heard some people using Volta - but its site says that undervolt is compatible only with 2013-2015 models only. Has the site not been updated or is it actually true? If it is true - what software are you using?
Click to expand...
a. 100c
b. above the keyboard gets hot, my keys were warm but not too hot
c. I don't undervolt, I limit the wattage, and my temps are lower, to the point where I don't go near 100c anymore.
 
semistandard said:
Have you tried undervolting? If you did, how much temps improvement do you get?
Click to expand...

Nah there’s no need for anything like that. I’m a firm believer that once these patches come out, it will just work.

I wouldn’t like to think that I need to worry about any of this. I leave that to the professionals
 
I've suspected that... I've just seen that some people claimed that they've managed to undervolt their macs.
May be they've meant Bootcamp + XTU?
Or that's impossible either?

maflynn said:
c. I don't undervolt, I limit the wattage, and my temps are lower, to the point where I don't go near 100c anymore.
Click to expand...
Are there any statistics on effects on performance / wattage?
I've seen the author of this thread provide some statistics with limiting the wattage... but can anyone comment on the actual temperatures / CPU frequency when limiting the wattage?
For example - what limits do you use and how does it affect the temperatures and the performance?
 
What wattage do you set?
How much does it affect the performance and what temps do you get?
 
I have mine set to 40 watts, and I'm seeing temps in the high 50s to low 60s during my day to day usage. That includes having various apps open including remote access, office apps browsing/youtube. Its plugged into a monitor and AC.

I stopped running benchmarks weeks ago, since I'm more or less using it as it should and I'm happy with the temps and performance. I will say that the ambient temps are rather warm about 26c right now, and that should be taken into consideration.
 
I'm not on the beta, I'd rather wait for it to be released - I had it on my iMac and it destroyed the installation to such a degree that I had to reformat the drive and reinstall from scratch. Since then, I've been very wary.

Others may have more input or better results, as my issues was not on DP4, but an earlier DP
 
maflynn said:
I have mine set to 40 watts, and I'm seeing temps in the high 50s to low 60s during my day to day usage. That includes having various apps open including remote access, office apps browsing/youtube. Its plugged into a monitor and AC.

I stopped running benchmarks weeks ago, since I'm more or less using it as it should and I'm happy with the temps and performance. I will say that the ambient temps are rather warm about 26c right now, and that should be taken into consideration.
Click to expand...

I noticed this when booting up my 2016, the keyboards were comparable in temperatures when light/medium load, the ambient temp makes a massive difference.
 
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