MBP 2017 nTB Fan Turning On

[bhatiak]

Hey,

I have a 2017 13" nTB MBP with 16gb/256gb. I feel as if it struggles to do things that should not be an issue for a laptop of this price. I'm currently running skype, powerpoint, IINA, and 3 chrome tabs - and the fan is on full blast. Why is my 2000$ laptop getting hot with such simple tasks?

Also, sometimes it will get lag spikes out of no where. I'll plug in my external 1080p monitor, and all the animations get super choppy for about 10 minutes. Like opening mission control, scrolling through dock, opening/closing apps, and dragging windows around.

Definitely not feeling like this expensive laptop is worth all the hype.
[doublepost=1509261012][/doublepost]This is what Etrecheck shows:

EtreCheck version: 3.4.6 (460)

Report generated 2017-10-29 03:07:38

Download EtreCheck from https://etrecheck.com

Runtime: 2:07

Performance: Excellent



Click the [Lookup] links for more information from Apple Support Communities.

Click the [Details] links for more information about that line.



Problem: Computer is too slow

Description:

Skype, Powerpoint, IINA, Chrome (3 tabs) and fan is working super hard



Hardware Information: ⓘ

MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2017, Two Thunderbolt 3 ports)

[Technical Specifications] - [User Guide] - [Warranty & Service]

MacBook Pro - model: MacBookPro14,1

1 2.3 GHz Intel Core i5 (i5-7360U) CPU: 2-core

16 GB RAM Not upgradeable

BANK 0/DIMM0

8 GB LPDDR3 2133 MHz ok

BANK 1/DIMM0

8 GB LPDDR3 2133 MHz ok

Handoff/Airdrop2: supported

Wireless: en0: 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac

Battery: Health = Normal - Cycle count = 32


Video Information: ⓘ

Intel Iris Plus Graphics 640 - VRAM: 1536 MB

Color LCD 2880 x 1800


Disk Information: ⓘ

APPLE SSD AP0256J disk0: (251 GB) (Solid State - TRIM: Yes)

(disk0s1) <not mounted> [EFI]: 315 MB

(disk0s2) <not mounted> [APFS Container]: 250.69 GB


USB Information: ⓘ

USB30Bus

VIA Labs, Inc. USB2.0 Hub

VIA Labs, Inc. USB Keyboard

Logitech Gaming Mouse G502

USB31Bus

VIA Labs, Inc. USB3.0 Hub


Thunderbolt Information: ⓘ

Apple Inc. thunderbolt_bus


Virtual disks: ⓘ

Macintosh HD (disk1s1 - APFS) / [Startup]: 250.69 GB (194.00 GB free)

Encrypted: Yes (Unlocked)

Physical disk: disk0s2 250.69 GB (194.00 GB free)

(disk1s2) <not mounted> [Preboot]: 250.69 GB

Physical disk: disk0s2 250.69 GB

(disk1s3) <not mounted> [Recovery]: 250.69 GB

Physical disk: disk0s2 250.69 GB

(disk1s4) /private/var/vm [VM]: 250.69 GB

Physical disk: disk0s2 250.69 GB



System Software: ⓘ

macOS High Sierra 10.13 (17A405) - Time since boot: about 4 days


Gatekeeper: ⓘ

Mac App Store and identified developers


Kernel Extensions: ⓘ

/Library/Extensions

[loaded] com.malwarebytes.mbam.rtprotection (3.0 - SDK 10.12) [Lookup]



System Launch Agents: ⓘ

[not loaded] 8 Apple tasks

[loaded] 159 Apple tasks

[running] 121 Apple tasks


System Launch Daemons: ⓘ

[not loaded] 37 Apple tasks

[loaded] 170 Apple tasks

[running] 121 Apple tasks


Launch Agents: ⓘ

[running] com.brother.LOGINserver.plist (? a1772de2 41ad4933 - installed 2017-08-31) [Lookup]

[loaded] com.google.keystone.agent.plist (Google, Inc. - installed 2017-09-27) [Lookup]

[running] com.malwarebytes.mbam.frontend.agent.plist (Malwarebytes Corporation - installed 2017-09-20) [Lookup]

[running] com.staticz.soundcontrol.agent.plist (Dominic Feira - installed 2017-09-25) [Lookup]


Launch Daemons: ⓘ

[not loaded] com.apple.installer.cleanupinstaller.plist (? 1963bf56 0 - installed 2017-09-25)

[loaded] com.bearisdriving.BGM.XPCHelper.plist (? dfd10116 307b8b98 - installed 2017-09-30) [Lookup]

[loaded] com.google.keystone.daemon.plist (Google, Inc. - installed 2017-10-12) [Lookup]

[running] com.malwarebytes.mbam.rtprotection.daemon.plist (Malwarebytes Corporation - installed 2017-09-20) [Lookup]

[running] com.malwarebytes.mbam.settings.daemon.plist (Malwarebytes Corporation - installed 2017-09-20) [Lookup]

[loaded] com.microsoft.autoupdate.helper.plist (Microsoft Corporation - installed 2017-10-11) [Lookup]

[loaded] com.microsoft.office.licensingV2.helper.plist (Microsoft Corporation - installed 2017-08-15) [Lookup]


User Launch Agents: ⓘ

[loaded] com.skype.skype.shareagent.plist (Skype Communications S.a.r.l - installed 2017-10-29) [Lookup]

[running] com.spotify.webhelper.plist (Spotify - installed 2017-10-24) [Lookup]

[loaded] com.valvesoftware.steamclean.plist (? 4823d45a d03dc231 - installed 2017-09-07) [Lookup]


User Login Items: ⓘ

Magnet Application

(/Applications/Magnet.app)


Internet Plug-ins: ⓘ

o1dbrowserplugin: 5.41.3.0 (installed 2017-09-06) [Lookup]

googletalkbrowserplugin: 5.41.3.0 (installed 2015-12-11) [Lookup]

QuickTime Plugin: 7.7.3 (installed 2017-09-21)



Safari Extensions: ⓘ

[enabled] uBlock Origin - Chris Aljoudi/Raymond Hill - https://www.github.com/el1t/uBlock-Safari (installed 2017-10-28)


3rd Party Preference Panes: ⓘ

None


Time Machine: ⓘ

Auto backup: NO - Auto backup turned off

Volumes being backed up:

Macintosh HD: Disk size: 250.69 GB Disk used: 56.68 GB

Destinations:

[redacted]TimeMachine [Local]

Total size: 499.88 GB

Total number of backups: 2

Oldest backup: 2017-10-22, 12:24 AM

Last backup: 2017-10-28, 8:20 PM

Size of backup disk: Adequate

Backup size 499.88 GB > (Disk used 56.68 GB X 3)


Top Processes by CPU: ⓘ

65% Skype

30% kernel_task

25% WindowServer

20% Google Chrome

11% Google Chrome Helper


Top Processes by Memory: ⓘ

1.48 GB kernel_task

664 MB softwareupdated

473 MB Microsoft PowerPoint

461 MB Skype

293 MB WindowServer


Top Processes by Network Use: ⓘ

Input Output Process name

693 MB 665 MB Skype

2 MB 1 MB mDNSResponder

111 KB 21 KB netbiosd

31 KB 43 KB apsd

0 B 4 KB SystemUIServer


Top Processes by Energy Use: ⓘ

66.62 Skype

20.06 WindowServer

19.16 Google Chrome

10.44 Google Chrome Helper

6.74 coreaudiod


Virtual Memory Information: ⓘ

7.56 GB Available RAM

3.31 GB Free RAM

8.44 GB Used RAM

4.25 GB Cached files

354 MB Swap Used


Software installs (last 30 days): ⓘ

Background Music 0.1.1: (installed 2017-09-30)

Sound Control: (installed 2017-09-30)

Microsoft Excel for Mac: (installed 2017-10-10)

Microsoft PowerPoint for Mac: (installed 2017-10-10)

Microsoft AutoUpdate: (installed 2017-10-11)

Microsoft Word for Mac: (installed 2017-10-11)

Microsoft Outlook for Mac: (installed 2017-10-11)



Install information may not be complete.


Diagnostics Events (last 3 days for minor events): ⓘ

2017-10-26 18:01:43 PrintUITool Crash [Open]

Cause: objc_msgSend() selector name: respondsToSelector:

2017-10-24 19:28:42 Last shutdown cause: 0 - Power loss

 

[New_Mac_Smell]

Skype seems to be using an unusually large amount of processing power, make sure you have the latest version of that and possibly reinstall it. Otherwise Chrome is notorious for being a terrible RAM and CPU hog on a Mac, so try use Safari as your first choice or live with the terrible optimisation that Google use.

P.s. your computer has the lower wattage CPU in it, so it'll run turbo-boost for a lot of tasks, and so consume more energy, resulting in more heat. The computer is not going to break, but it may well run warmer when completing certain CPU intensive tasks.

P.p.s., your computer should have cost $1699 from Apple, I'd take it back to wherever you brought it from and as what the extra $301 was for.

 

[bhatiak]

Skype seems to be using an unusually large amount of processing power, make sure you have the latest version of that and possibly reinstall it. Otherwise Chrome is notorious for being a terrible RAM and CPU hog on a Mac, so try use Safari as your first choice or live with the terrible optimisation that Google use.

P.s. your computer has the lower wattage CPU in it, so it'll run turbo-boost for a lot of tasks, and so consume more energy, resulting in more heat. The computer is not going to break, but it may well run warmer when completing certain CPU intensive tasks.

P.p.s., your computer should have cost $1699 from Apple, I'd take it back to wherever you brought it from and as what the extra $301 was for.

Im Canadian, so the base model nTB is just over 1700 here. After the SSD and RAM additions, it gets to around 2200. Then factoring in tax and apple care, it adds up to a beautiful 2800$ I got it on a slight discount from that $2800.

What I'm wondering is why Skype, 3 chrome tabs, and powerpoint are CPU intensive...? My 1000$ windows laptop from 2012 could do it without much trouble. It just doesnt make sense that a macbook pro in 2017 would find any of these CPU intensive. Its not like I'm rendering 4k videos or doing some insane coding/compiling. Just doesnt make any sense to me.

I always read that Mac's are so great because "they just work". Now it seems like I have to micro-manage all the programs I use because they may or may not work well on MacOS. I dont recall having these issues on my old laptop.

 

[New_Mac_Smell]

Well the version you are talking about costs $1733 in US dollars, which isn't far off what the US price is, both pre-taxes. Anyway, not worth complaining about the price of it, could have been made out of solid gold and cost you $30,000, not going to make it any better though.

As I said they are using a large amount of CPU, this is not normal and nothing to do with the Mac or the OS. If a programme is badly written it will have memory leaks and can cause issues on the CPU - this could also just be a bug. This is why I asked if you had the latest versions or to re-instal. But the issue here seems to be with Skype, and how it's working on MacOS, not with the hardware inside the computer. So try re-installing the software, if that fails try a fresh OS instal as things sometimes go wrong as with any OS, failing that try calling Apple, they do have a helpline for these kinds of issues which is free to arrange a call with.

 

[ZapNZs]

Were you actively using Skype in a conference when you ran Etrecheck?

 

[bhatiak]

Were you actively using Skype in a conference when you ran Etrecheck?

Yep, I was in a call on Skype when I ran EtreCheck
[doublepost=1509305789][/doublepost]

Well the version you are talking about costs $1733 in US dollars, which isn't far off what the US price is, both pre-taxes. Anyway, not worth complaining about the price of it, could have been made out of solid gold and cost you $30,000, not going to make it any better though.

As I said they are using a large amount of CPU, this is not normal and nothing to do with the Mac or the OS. If a programme is badly written it will have memory leaks and can cause issues on the CPU - this could also just be a bug. This is why I asked if you had the latest versions or to re-instal. But the issue here seems to be with Skype, and how it's working on MacOS, not with the hardware inside the computer. So try re-installing the software, if that fails try a fresh OS instal as things sometimes go wrong as with any OS, failing that try calling Apple, they do have a helpline for these kinds of issues which is free to arrange a call with.

I wasn't really complaining about the price, I was commenting in regards to your point that my MBP should have cost 1699$. Also, I have the latest version of Skype, I installed it an hour or so before this happened. I'm a bit confused about the reinstall OS aspect. How would I go about doing that? Is that any different from reformatting my MBP and then backing up from TimeMachine? Could you please elaborate, I really want to get to the bottom of this...

 

[project_2501]

check out my review and very detailed documenting of overheating issues .. some very serious (heat causes failing adhesive in display) .. video and pic evidence of superhigh and loud fans .. doing basic stuff like Netflix ..

and also the support hell with Apple..

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/2017-macbook-pro-13-non-tb-review.2056971/
[doublepost=1509308802][/doublepost]

Yep, I was in a call on Skype when I ran EtreCheck
[doublepost=1509305789][/doublepost]

I wasn't really complaining about the price, I was commenting in regards to your point that my MBP should have cost 1699$. Also, I have the latest version of Skype, I installed it an hour or so before this happened. I'm a bit confused about the reinstall OS aspect. How would I go about doing that? Is that any different from reformatting my MBP and then backing up from TimeMachine? Could you please elaborate, I really want to get to the bottom of this...

my 3 year old £500 cheap Thinkpad doesn't overheat or struggle doing these tasks...

 

[bhatiak]

check out my review and very detailed documenting of overheating issues .. some very serious (heat causes failing adhesive in display) .. video and pic evidence of superhigh and loud fans .. doing basic stuff like Netflix ..

and also the support hell with Apple..

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/2017-macbook-pro-13-non-tb-review.2056971/
[doublepost=1509308802][/doublepost]

my 3 year old £500 cheap Thinkpad doesn't overheat or struggle doing these tasks...

Right this is stupid. Im on Skype right now with 6 tabs open in Safari, and my fans are loud as ****. What a joke.

 

[project_2501]

Right this is stupid. Im on Skype right now with 6 tabs open in Safari, and my fans are loud as ****. What a joke.

Im fighting to a refund.

Apple will never admit publicly they screwed up the 2016/2017 MacBook Pro design so badly.

 

[joefoong79]

if you want more fan why not getting touch bar at the first place which came with 2 fans and air ventilation on both sides of the case. you pay what you got and if too late for return then you might need to sell it to someone else to cut the losses.

 

[project_2501]

if you want more fan why not getting touch bar at the first place which came with 2 fans and air ventilation on both sides of the case. you pay what you got and if too late for return then you might need to sell it to someone else to cut the losses.

thanks joefoong but I believe any modern laptop, especially a pro device at £1800, should not be stressed by watching netwlfix at full screen on a 4k display - that is my contention - and that is why I am seeking a refund

 

[New_Mac_Smell]

thanks joefoong but I believe any modern laptop, especially a pro device at £1800, should not be stressed by watching netwlfix at full screen on a 4k display - that is my contention - and that is why I am seeking a refund

Are you sure you're not seeking to direct every possible question about the nTB model to your own thread?

4K is a lot of pixels for a computer without a GPU to provide. No idea how you somehow equivocate price with performance, when the bulk of that price if it was £1800 would be in the storage, so really not sure how a larger SSD would make a difference to perception of general performance.

Look, the nTB is the base model, it is not equivalent to the TB versions. It uses a lower wattage CPU and so if you stress it, it'll get hotter quicker. Don't think the nTB and the 15" Pro are in anyway the same machine, it's like comparing a MacBook Air to a MBP, or a Mini to an iMac, you wouldn't expect an Air with its weaker performance to be able to do what the MBP can. I appreciate the naming is odd and confusing, but the nTB version is the replacement for the cMBP that was on sale. I.e. lower performance designed for companies within the MacOS environment to populate employees without the added cost when it's not needed for the bulk of work.

So don't buy a nTB version if you plan on doing anything performance based, buy a similar priced and better specced Windows computer instead. Only buy a nTB version if you absolutely must, if you need the MacOS environment or just need a basic computer. But don't be fooled into thinking it's just as good as the other models, think of it more 4 years ago when the option was cMPB or a rMBP, it was way more obvious then and sadly isn't now and I blame Apples bizarre current lineup for that, you've got 3 computers (rMB/Air/nTB-MBP) all in a similar category, specs wise littler to differentiate them, only price, and people still seem to think that spending more money will result in a better product without taking into account the cost of the actual product before speccing it out.

Anyway, if your computer is overheating (I.E. shutting down and failing) then take it in to Apple. If it's just getting hot and the fans are running, it just means it's trying to cool the system. If this bothers you, then you should think about getting a different computer or developing a better understanding of computers before your next purchase.

 

[project_2501]

Are you sure you're not seeking to direct every possible question about the nTB model to your own thread?

4K is a lot of pixels for a computer without a GPU to provide. No idea how you somehow equivocate price with performance, when the bulk of that price if it was £1800 would be in the storage, so really not sure how a larger SSD would make a difference to perception of general performance.

Look, the nTB is the base model, it is not equivalent to the TB versions. It uses a lower wattage CPU and so if you stress it, it'll get hotter quicker. Don't think the nTB and the 15" Pro are in anyway the same machine, it's like comparing a MacBook Air to a MBP, or a Mini to an iMac, you wouldn't expect an Air with its weaker performance to be able to do what the MBP can. I appreciate the naming is odd and confusing, but the nTB version is the replacement for the cMBP that was on sale. I.e. lower performance designed for companies within the MacOS environment to populate employees without the added cost when it's not needed for the bulk of work.

So don't buy a nTB version if you plan on doing anything performance based, buy a similar priced and better specced Windows computer instead. Only buy a nTB version if you absolutely must, if you need the MacOS environment or just need a basic computer. But don't be fooled into thinking it's just as good as the other models, think of it more 4 years ago when the option was cMPB or a rMBP, it was way more obvious then and sadly isn't now and I blame Apples bizarre current lineup for that, you've got 3 computers (rMB/Air/nTB-MBP) all in a similar category, specs wise littler to differentiate them, only price, and people still seem to think that spending more money will result in a better product without taking into account the cost of the actual product before speccing it out.

Anyway, if your computer is overheating (I.E. shutting down and failing) then take it in to Apple. If it's just getting hot and the fans are running, it just means it's trying to cool the system. If this bothers you, then you should think about getting a different computer or developing a better understanding of computers before your next purchase.

I appreciate your input but let's keep things in perspective.

My £500 3 year old Thinkpad can play Netflix and iplayer and youtube full screen on a 4k display.
My 2015 MBPro 13" could also do that without problems.

So this means this new, more expensive MacBook Pro can't do what they can do? And after all this isn't a massive text mining calculation or 3d scene rendering .. this is just watching streaming video. Which my smartphone at £280 can do at HD resolution.

 

[New_Mac_Smell]

I appreciate your input but let's keep things in perspective.

My £500 3 year old Thinkpad can play Netflix and iplayer and youtube full screen on a 4k display.
My 2015 MBPro 13" could also do that without problems.

So this means this new, more expensive MacBook Pro can't do what they can do? And after all this isn't a massive text mining calculation or 3d scene rendering .. this is just watching streaming video. Which my smartphone at £280 can do at HD resolution.

So your Thinkpad and smartphone have 4k outputs at 60Hz? It could well be that they are both better computers, regardless of price, you paid for a small lightweight computer, not a power computer. Rendering 4K pixels is a hard job, I'm sure you think this is easy for a computer to do but it takes a lot of CPU power when there is no GPU, which would traditionally be used, to do this. You have a low power portable computer, as I said it's basically an Air, so of course your 2015 13" is going to be more powerful.

Anyway from what I gather you computer can and is playing this content just fine isn't it? So complaining about your £3000 5 year old toasters capability to toast bread isn't really going to change that fact. You're complaining about the fans being audible, not that the computer isn't able to play the content.

Have you considered a £100 4K Blu-Ray player to do all this stuff instead of hooking up a laptop? Or just using your £500 ThinkPad? Seems it would save a lot of headaches to just deal with the situation instead of this endless charade you've landed yourself into.

 

[project_2501]

So your Thinkpad and smartphone have 4k outputs at 60Hz? It could well be that they are both better computers, regardless of price, you paid for a small lightweight computer, not a power computer. Rendering 4K pixels is a hard job, I'm sure you think this is easy for a computer to do but it takes a lot of CPU power when there is no GPU, which would traditionally be used, to do this. You have a low power portable computer, as I said it's basically an Air, so of course your 2015 13" is going to be more powerful.

Anyway from what I gather you computer can and is playing this content just fine isn't it? So complaining about your £3000 5 year old toasters capability to toast bread isn't really going to change that fact. You're complaining about the fans being audible, not that the computer isn't able to play the content.

Have you considered a £100 4K Blu-Ray player to do all this stuff instead of hooking up a laptop? Or just using your £500 ThinkPad? Seems it would save a lot of headaches to just deal with the situation instead of this endless charade you've landed yourself into.

Yes my ThinkPad can drive the 4k display over displayport.

I'm bothered that the heat is killing my keybaord and also damaging the display in clamshell modem, which the apple repair team confirmed and that's why they replaced the display.
[doublepost=1509550385][/doublepost]

So your Thinkpad and smartphone have 4k outputs at 60Hz? It could well be that they are both better computers, regardless of price, you paid for a small lightweight computer, not a power computer. Rendering 4K pixels is a hard job, I'm sure you think this is easy for a computer to do but it takes a lot of CPU power when there is no GPU, which would traditionally be used, to do this. You have a low power portable computer, as I said it's basically an Air, so of course your 2015 13" is going to be more powerful.

Anyway from what I gather you computer can and is playing this content just fine isn't it? So complaining about your £3000 5 year old toasters capability to toast bread isn't really going to change that fact. You're complaining about the fans being audible, not that the computer isn't able to play the content.

Have you considered a £100 4K Blu-Ray player to do all this stuff instead of hooking up a laptop? Or just using your £500 ThinkPad? Seems it would save a lot of headaches to just deal with the situation instead of this endless charade you've landed yourself into.

The integrated Intel 6100 GPU in my 2015 MBP13 didn't have a problem. The iris 640 should do better as it has dedicated edram which the 6100 didn't. But the thermal design of the laptop is worse, especially at the overall skylake system is more efficient than the one in 2015 meaning it should make less heat for the same tasks.

 

[bhatiak]

Are you sure you're not seeking to direct every possible question about the nTB model to your own thread?

4K is a lot of pixels for a computer without a GPU to provide. No idea how you somehow equivocate price with performance, when the bulk of that price if it was £1800 would be in the storage, so really not sure how a larger SSD would make a difference to perception of general performance.

Look, the nTB is the base model, it is not equivalent to the TB versions. It uses a lower wattage CPU and so if you stress it, it'll get hotter quicker. Don't think the nTB and the 15" Pro are in anyway the same machine, it's like comparing a MacBook Air to a MBP, or a Mini to an iMac, you wouldn't expect an Air with its weaker performance to be able to do what the MBP can. I appreciate the naming is odd and confusing, but the nTB version is the replacement for the cMBP that was on sale. I.e. lower performance designed for companies within the MacOS environment to populate employees without the added cost when it's not needed for the bulk of work.

So don't buy a nTB version if you plan on doing anything performance based, buy a similar priced and better specced Windows computer instead. Only buy a nTB version if you absolutely must, if you need the MacOS environment or just need a basic computer. But don't be fooled into thinking it's just as good as the other models, think of it more 4 years ago when the option was cMPB or a rMBP, it was way more obvious then and sadly isn't now and I blame Apples bizarre current lineup for that, you've got 3 computers (rMB/Air/nTB-MBP) all in a similar category, specs wise littler to differentiate them, only price, and people still seem to think that spending more money will result in a better product without taking into account the cost of the actual product before speccing it out.

Anyway, if your computer is overheating (I.E. shutting down and failing) then take it in to Apple. If it's just getting hot and the fans are running, it just means it's trying to cool the system. If this bothers you, then you should think about getting a different computer or developing a better understanding of computers before your next purchase.

To be fair, apple advertises these MBPs as being able to run TWO 4k monitors. Regardless...asides from the lower TDP CPU and what not, I feel that there are other issues that might just be in the build quality of certain MBP nTBs.

Sometimes, when doing almost nothing, my kernel_task will spike to 40-50%...computer is cold to the touch, and yet my kernel_task is at 40-50% and everything feels choppy and slow. Now, that is most definitely not expected of a MBP in 2017.

My main concern with my MBP nTB is that the performance can be random...sometimes I'll have an external 1080p monitor running, with a bunch of apps open, and it handles everything without an issue (as expected). But other times, I'll have the same stuff open and I'll either get throttled to **** or the fans will go crazy. This is problematic for 2 reasons: 1) The apps/tasks I'm performing aren't even CPU intensive. 2) My MBP handled the same conditions the day before without an issue - so wtf is happening this time?

Any suggestions? Really trying to trouble shoot this issue...will probably reinstall OS to see if that might be the issue, somehow...

 

[New_Mac_Smell]

To be fair, apple advertises these MBPs as being able to run TWO 4k monitors. Regardless...asides from the lower TDP CPU and what not, I feel that there are other issues that might just be in the build quality of certain MBP nTBs.

Sometimes, when doing almost nothing, my kernel_task will spike to 40-50%...computer is cold to the touch, and yet my kernel_task is at 40-50% and everything feels choppy and slow. Now, that is most definitely not expected of a MBP in 2017.

My main concern with my MBP nTB is that the performance can be random...sometimes I'll have an external 1080p monitor running, with a bunch of apps open, and it handles everything without an issue (as expected). But other times, I'll have the same stuff open and I'll either get throttled to **** or the fans will go crazy. This is problematic for 2 reasons: 1) The apps/tasks I'm performing aren't even CPU intensive. 2) My MBP handled the same conditions the day before without an issue - so wtf is happening this time?

Any suggestions? Really trying to trouble shoot this issue...will probably reinstall OS to see if that might be the issue, somehow...

The point is it can and is more than capable of running these tasks, it just requires a little more cooling due to the CPU. If you want a dead silent computer then you need one without any mechanical parts, such as the rMB. And if you want a powerhouse that can easily perform tasks without sweating, then you need a full spec MBP, not the gutted NTb model.

The problems you describe are more systematic with the software you're using, as I believe I mentioned earlier, badly coded software can act like this. There could be open ended executions or other errors that are causing abnormally high CPU usage, or any other host of things. The best and only way to quantify this is to do a complete fresh instal and then a fresh instal of the software one by one. If you just re-instal the OS and then copy your data back, then you're essentially just copying any issue along with it.

If any of this is going to be a concern or a headache then you should consider a different computer. I appreciate if you've brought something marketed as 'Pro' and spend money on it, but the NTb-MBP is the minimum spec computer in the Pro lineup. Just as you wouldn't buy a 316 and expect M3 performance, you can't buy the NTb and expect 15" performance. So if this computer doesn't match what you want to do with it then reconsider, or adapt.

As was pointed out earlier your Skype appears to be the main issue, so I would start with that as a potential. Try get past the whole notion of "I spend money therefore this should work" and try problem solving the actual problem, it could be that Skype has a known bug or is a known problem like Chrome for MacOS, in which case complaining about Apple is not going to change that. So do some Google searches or hopefully someone here can point you in a direction.

 

[eddjedi]

New_Mac_Smell you're talking to a brick wall, several of us have already tried to reason and failed. Comparing a phone with a laptop is meaningless, as is comparing a Lenovo PC with a Macbook Pro, or a 2015 Macbook Pro with a 2017 Macbook Pro. They are all different machines with different performance and cooling properties (or in the phone's case a completely different architecture with no cooling at all.)

 

[bhatiak]

The point is it can and is more than capable of running these tasks, it just requires a little more cooling due to the CPU. If you want a dead silent computer then you need one without any mechanical parts, such as the rMB. And if you want a powerhouse that can easily perform tasks without sweating, then you need a full spec MBP, not the gutted NTb model.

The problems you describe are more systematic with the software you're using, as I believe I mentioned earlier, badly coded software can act like this. There could be open ended executions or other errors that are causing abnormally high CPU usage, or any other host of things. The best and only way to quantify this is to do a complete fresh instal and then a fresh instal of the software one by one. If you just re-instal the OS and then copy your data back, then you're essentially just copying any issue along with it.

If any of this is going to be a concern or a headache then you should consider a different computer. I appreciate if you've brought something marketed as 'Pro' and spend money on it, but the NTb-MBP is the minimum spec computer in the Pro lineup. Just as you wouldn't buy a 316 and expect M3 performance, you can't buy the NTb and expect 15" performance. So if this computer doesn't match what you want to do with it then reconsider, or adapt.

As was pointed out earlier your Skype appears to be the main issue, so I would start with that as a potential. Try get past the whole notion of "I spend money therefore this should work" and try problem solving the actual problem, it could be that Skype has a known bug or is a known problem like Chrome for MacOS, in which case complaining about Apple is not going to change that. So do some Google searches or hopefully someone here can point you in a direction.

I think you missed one of my main points....I'm not expecting this to perform like a 15" MBP. Is it unreasonable to assume that the nTB would be able to handle an external 1080p monitor with a few simple apps (Safari, IINA, and Powerpoint), which is my most common usage...And yes, thats all Im using, and the lag and issues arise with just these apps. And sometimes theres unusually high CPU usage when I'm not even doing anything, I'll just be at the desktop and the animations feel choppy and slow. So, I'd appreciate it if you stopped making it seem like I think this is some sort of super computer that should be able to handle whatever I throw at it, because I spent a lot of money on it.

I'm just expecting it to handle these simple tasks, however, it randomly appears to struggle with them. Sometimes it runs well, sometimes it doesnt - for the same set of apps. I guess my best approach at this point would be a clean reinstall of High Sierra, and then use time machine to bring my documents over..and reinstall my apps from scratch?

 

[eddjedi]

There is a theme to these "over heating" threads (although as has already been pointed out, the fan running does not mean the computer is over heating.) Third party apps. Skype, iPlayer, Chrome, all of which are known to be processor intensive. That's not the computers fault, it's the software. I've already given this example but Flash Player used to be a notorious processor hog on older PPC Macs. It wouldn't surprise me at all if Google and Microsoft deliberately make their software run worse on a Mac so they can say "look, Skype/Chrome runs much better on a Surface/Chromebook, buy one of those instead!"

It's hard to blame the computer unless you are ONLY running Apple software - and before you say that's ridiculous, consider that the majority of Windows owners use Skype, Office and Edge for their workflow.

 

[project_2501]

There is a theme to these "over heating" threads (although as has already been pointed out, the fan running does not mean the computer is over heating.) Third party apps. Skype, iPlayer, Chrome, all of which are known to be processor intensive. That's not the computers fault, it's the software. I've already given this example but Flash Player used to be a notorious processor hog on older PPC Macs. It wouldn't surprise me at all if Google and Microsoft deliberately make their software run worse on a Mac so they can say "look, Skype/Chrome runs much better on a Surface/Chromebook, buy one of those instead!"

It's hard to blame the computer unless you are ONLY running Apple software - and before you say that's ridiculous, consider that the majority of Windows owners use Skype, Office and Edge for their workflow.

As has been pointed out to you, the problem occurs with only safari.

 

[eddjedi]

Yes, but iPlayer in Safari which still probably uses some third party encoder or streaming service within the browser. Have you tried running one of Apple's own videos in Safari? Eg this one: https://www.apple.com/uk/apple-events/september-2017/

 

[project_2501]

Yes, but iPlayer in Safari which still probably uses some third party encoder or streaming service within the browser. Have you tried running one of Apple's own videos in Safari? Eg this one: https://www.apple.com/uk/apple-events/september-2017/

Do tell me what you mean by "third party encoder or streaming service"?

No plugins, no ad-ons, no extensions. Just plain fresh format and install MacOS and use Safari.

If you're suggesting we can't use Netflix or BBC Iplayer because they're not Apple .. well...

 

[eddjedi]

When I right-click on an iPlayer video I get this strange contextual menu similar to the Flash one (see attached) so it must be using a similar plug-in or library. What that is I don't know, it's hard to figure out these days now everything is driven by JavaScript. My point is it's not a plain HTML5 video like the Apple link I posted is.

 

[project_2501]

so based on not knowing, you've been saying I'm wrong?