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Coolest (thermally) 16" MacBook Pro configuration?

Sowelu

Sowelu

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Aug 15, 2008
877
1,159
New York City
Hi all -

So I am thinking about getting the new 16" MacBook Pro as a larger display (up from a 13") and tons of storage are important to me (in addition to the new keyboard), but I don't want to spec it out to where it's always going to run hot, even during simple to moderate tasks.

So based on the current processor and GPU offerings, is there a specific configuration that will run the coolest? Or will any mix of CPUs and GPUs selected run at the same temperatures based on my usage?

I am looking to configure it with 32GB of RAM and 2TB SSD, it's just the CPU and GPU that I am unsure of. I can max both options out to the best offering to 'future-proof', but if the higher end GPUs and CPUs will make the MacBook run hotter, I'd rather spec it out with the lower-end options as a cooler and more quiet MacBook is top priority.

Any info from those who are CPU/thermal savvy would be greatly appreciated!
 
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Bumping for visibility because I too haven't seen any real word thermals on the different cpus for "daily" use.

It's totally fine fans are audible and it gets hot when doing a heavy load like a lightroom export. It's unacceptable if it's happening while just browsing youtube and reddit.
 
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Sowelu said:
So based on the current processor and GPU offerings, is there a specific configuration that will run the coolest? Or will any mix of CPUs and GPUs selected run at the same temperatures based on my usage?
Click to expand...

There is no such thing. The 6 core might (not sure though) run slightly cooler under full multi-core load, but you won’t notice any practical difference. In fact, the temperatures will be similar no matter which MacBook Pro you buy (13”,15”,16”). All these laptops cram powerful components into a compact chassis. The 16” does have much better cooking but it uses it to get more performance out of the CPU, not run cooler.

That said, the 16” will only run hot if you are heavily loading all cores. It can actually maintain relatively high loads on a single fire without ramping up the fans too much. The 15” could not do it.
 
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It runs hot playing video games, and when i analizws a large amount of music(400-1200 song) in serato.
I have not have the fans kick in during youtube. i havent been watching alot of 4k or anything though.
Windows runs hotter forsure which is obvious. Compared to my late 2011 15Inch i7 16gbRam Macbook Pro, it runs cooler forsure. So far thats about all i have for you.
 
If you want low power dissipation with larger storage space, get a MacBook Air and buy a 4Tb external SSD.
Honestly, if you are concerned about power dissipation, why in the world are you even looking at the highest spec Apple notebook computer?

Joe
 
Sowelu said:
Hi all -

So I am thinking about getting the new 16" MacBook Pro as a larger display (up from a 13") and tons of storage are important to me (in addition to the new keyboard), but I don't want to spec it out to where it's always going to run hot, even during simple to moderate tasks.

So based on the current processor and GPU offerings, is there a specific configuration that will run the coolest? Or will any mix of CPUs and GPUs selected run at the same temperatures based on my usage?

I am looking to configure it with 32GB of RAM and 2TB SSD, it's just the CPU and GPU that I am unsure of. I can max both options out to the best offering to 'future-proof', but if the higher end GPUs and CPUs will make the MacBook run hotter, I'd rather spec it out with the lower-end options as a cooler and more quiet MacBook is top priority.

Any info from those who are CPU/thermal savvy would be greatly appreciated!
Click to expand...
Usually the HK CPUs (which is the maxed out i9 2.4 GHz right now) are better BINs so it will in theory run cooler at the specified Intel voltage that is default on the CPU so I would just get the best configuration
 
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BeatWilson said:
It runs hot playing video games, and when i analizws a large amount of music(400-1200 song) in serato.
I have not have the fans kick in during youtube. i havent been watching alot of 4k or anything though.
Windows runs hotter forsure which is obvious. Compared to my late 2011 15Inch i7 16gbRam Macbook Pro, it runs cooler forsure. So far thats about all i have for you.
Click to expand...
That sounds promising, thank you.
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PROFESS0R said:
If you want low power dissipation with larger storage space, get a MacBook Air and buy a 4Tb external SSD.
Honestly, if you are concerned about power dissipation, why in the world are you even looking at the highest spec Apple notebook computer?

Joe
Click to expand...
As I mentioned, a bigger display as well as the new keyboard are the draw for me. If there was a 16" MacBook Air with the new keyboard, I'd buy it in a heartbeat.
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Super Spartan said:
Usually the HK CPUs (which is the maxed out i9 2.4 GHz right now) are better BINs so it will in theory run cooler at the specified Intel voltage that is default on the CPU so I would just get the best configuration
Click to expand...
Thanks for the info... So basically, the best (maxed out) CPU offering should handle thermals the best, even though it has more cores. What are BINs? 😊
 
One type of CPU is manufactured. Produced CPU´s are tested and sorted in BINs based on performance. So the HK variant is the same as the H. They just tested better.
 
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matram said:
One type of CPU is manufactured. Produced CPU´s are tested and sorted in BINs based on performance. So the HK variant is the same as the H. They just tested better.
Click to expand...

Source? I feel if you asked Intel that they'd say that's ridiculous.
 
Chips are categorized by quality/performance; binning. For the i9 in the 16” this means the better ones become 2.4 chips.
 
I would suspect 2.4G cpu plus 5300M GPU are the coolest combination. But again, only my speculation
 
miroki said:
I would suspect 2.4G cpu plus 5300M GPU are the coolest combination. But again, only my speculation
Click to expand...
So, the highest spec CPU, but paired with the lower powered GPU?
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viss said:
Chips are categorized by quality/performance; binning. For the i9 in the 16” this means the better ones become 2.4 chips.
Click to expand...
And the better ones perform better, therefore run cooler?
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Also, Apple rates the battery life as 11 hours for all CPU configurations, so does this mean that they all use the same amount of power, even though some have higher clock speeds, and more cores? I really am a CPU noob.
 
Sowelu said:
So, the highest spec CPU, but paired with the lower powered GPU?
[automerge]1574648808[/automerge]
Click to expand...

My reason is:
for CPU, the highest CPU is binned as the best quality, and it can run at lowest voltage while outputting maximum powers (at least it's true when compared with the other i9). low voltage means less heat.

as for GPU, I haven't really looked into it, but I would like to believe less computing units that 5300M has means less heat.

hence my guess.
 
My 2.3 i9 is running between 90 and 100 degrees celsius just running macrumors... its a little Annoying. I wish Mac OS had some better power usage customizations

I'm reading considering repasting my i9 with some thermal grizzly
 
Nacho98 said:
Source? I feel if you asked Intel that they'd say that's ridiculous.
Click to expand...
Going to back up the other poster here. That is how binning works. In fact, some lower end CPUs like i5/i3 are actually i7's with some of their cache or some of their cores turned off because they were no good. That's why they're cheaper and lower performance. It's called binning and it's exactly what Intel does.

Here's a great example actually. On the 13" MBP, both the i5 and the i7 have the exact same iris GPU. However the i7's GPU is clocked slightly higher. That's because it's a higher binned part that can handle the higher clocks at the same heat dissipation.

That being said, the binning doesn't matter in these cases too much when it comes to heat. The system will stay within the same thermal envelope, and a higher binned CPU will just run a tiny bit faster, but produce the same amount of heat as the slower CPU.
 
Interesting topic. This guy says at the end of the video that the i9 5500m ramps up the fans a lot faster than the base model.

 
Hazmat401 said:
My 2.3 i9 is running between 90 and 100 degrees celsius just running macrumors... its a little Annoying. I wish Mac OS had some better power usage customizations
Click to expand...
My 2.4 i9 is running at 53 C as I browse MacRumors right now.
 
I won't be using the graphics all that much so to me the 5300 is the way to go. But then I don't think the processor speed bump is worth the cash either. If you want to go with the 2.3GHz CPU you are forced into the 5500 graphics...

I wouldn't mind too much if I knew that the 2.4 i9 would generally run a bit cooler than the 2.3
 
I don't have the 16" and I'm not going to be buying one.

But as to which configuration runs "the coolest"?
I'll reckon that the "base model" will satisfy that requirement...
 
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