My i9 /Vega 20 experience

[Pangalactic]

So I went to the Apple store yesterday and bought a top of the line MBP 15" (Vega 20/Core i9/ 1TB/ 32GB RAM).

Started up the laptop - all good. So I've decided to torrent a movie and download all the apps I will need.

20 seconds later - the fans kick in! I was really surprised as nothing really intensive was happening. I thought perhaps it's the installations going on, so I waited till they finished.

No, it's not the installations! The fans literally kick in at ANY opportunity! I'm literally sitting with one torrent app open, and it's like I'm next to a freakin vaccum cleaner!

To make matters worse - it started draining the battely. I'm not kidding, a simple torrent download was eating up like 1% a minute, with fans going full throttle.I've stared using my laptop at 22:00, and by 1:00 it was completely dead. Not even doing anything hard, just downloading stuff. And Apple will get rightfully bashed for still not including energy saving options, especially on these powerful machines. And it gets REALLY REALLY HOT, to the point where I was getting doubtful about keeping it on my laps.

Went back this morning and returned it. They might have as well stuck a GTX 1080 inside.

Morale of the story - If you are buying the new MacBooks (especially the i9 variations) - get ready to enjoy your vacuum cleaning orchestra every time you touch it.

 

[Padsterman]

I am about to cancel an i7 32g Vega 20 order and then order an i9 32gb Vega 20 and now I read this!! wtf!!

One reason for me ordering an i9 is that some apple stores they are in stock and ready for pickup today whereas there seems to be a wait for the i7

 

[Pangalactic]

I am about to cancel an i7 32g Vega 20 order and then order an i9 32gb Vega 20 and now I read this!! wtf!!

One reason for me ordering an i9 is that some apple stores they are in stock and ready for pickup today whereas there seems to be a wait for the i7

That is actually the exact reason I got it, it was immediately available and ready to buy. However, I really hated the experience on this. Fans on almost all the time, heats up like it's winter in Siberia outside, and worst of all there is no way to limit CPU usage on tasks where I completely don't need it, which kills the battery in minutes.

 

[HumpYourWayUp]

My i9 is not problematic at all. But then again I do not buy a Pro machine in order to pirate movies from the internet but use it for productive things!

Have you checked the activity monitor to see which process is eating up all the resources?
Maybe Spotlight is indexing the hard drive. A little more info and a little less rant would be good!

I am about to cancel an i7 32g Vega 20 order and then order an i9 32gb Vega 20 and now I read this!! wtf!

Relax I think there is something wrong with the OP´s machine and/or attitude.
I kid, I kid

 

[0-0]

very strange. mine has amazing battery life and not been hotter than any other apple laptop I've owned in the past.

 

[IngerMan]

I would have waited at least 48-72 hours to see if it was consistent or just initial indexing.

 

[Pangalactic]

But then again I do not buy a Pro machine in order to pirate movies from the internet but use it for productive things!

I'm too lazy to look for a facepalm, but did you know people actually produce free-to-watch amateur movies that you can download? Learning something new every day

Have you checked the activity monitor to see which process is eating up all the resources?
Maybe Spotlight is indexing the hard drive

It's whatever app I'm using. If it's downloading then Free Download Manager, if it's browsing then Chrome and so on
nothing suspicious, but the battery dies in no time. The problem is not the apps, but that you can't limit the power usage of the laptop.

Relax I think there is something wrong with the OP´s machine and/or attitude.

Definitely the attitude, thank you, you've solved the problem! You should be working in customer support with such amazing skills

 

[IdentityCrisis]

Agreed. Something was hammering it in the background. I doubt the one app would cause that or it was inefficient.

 

[Pangalactic]

I would have waited at least 48-72 hours to see if it was consistent or just initial indexing.

Well, I've left if overnight and checked in the morning. Basic stuff like just tying works fine, but once you open a video or start downloading the engines kick in.

 

[Non-Polar]

It blows my mind that people still try to say that machines this capable and powerful take several days to index.

 

[unglued]

If that happens to my new i7 that pos is getting returned asap, very unacceptable for the cost Apple greeds for.

 

[puma1552]

Machine was almost certainly still indexing. Relax, it takes a couple days to really finish and you might think it's done but wait another day and you'll see how instantaneous the computer responds to everything, then you will know it's really done. My new MBP just took a couple days, and I only have like 80 gigs of stuff and now it runs amazingly well. I think you returned it prematurely, personally. Also probably wouldn't have run straight for the sketchy torrents during initial setup either, but to each their own.

 

[SuperMatt]

The machine is doing tons of stuff when it is new. Loading system software that's newer than what it shipped with, spotlight indexing, doing the first Time Machine backup, etc. I'd surprised you'd return it without calling Apple support or even, at the minimum, opening activity monitor to see what's going on.

 

[puma1552]

The machine is doing tons of stuff when it is new. Loading system software that's newer than what it shipped with, spotlight indexing, doing the first Time Machine backup, etc. Ridiculous to return it without even opening activity monitor to see what's going on....

One good way to tell when it's really done indexing is running a few additional on demand Time Machine backups after the first one. That first big one is, well, big, but it's not uncommon to have several more in the hundreds of megs or even a couple gigs thereafter in the first few days. Once the Time Machine calms down, IME that's generally a good indicator of when the machine is done.

 

[SoyCapitanSoyCapitan]

I just don’t understand people who can spend that much money on hardware and then openly say they pirate movies and apps which hurts filmmakers, app developers and content creators.

Pirate websites are run by syndicates who earn a lot of money from ads and they fund extreme movements with that money.

If your post was about lawful uses and a professional workflow issue I might sympathize with your heat issues.

 

[leman]

To make matters worse - it started draining the battely. I'm not kidding, a simple torrent download was eating up like 1% a minute, with fans going full throttle

You were using an app that requested 100% CPU uptime. Whether it was the torrent software or something else, who knows. But don't blame the hardware for crappy software. Same thing would have happened on any other computer — if a program requests a lot of CPU time, the OS delivers.

P.S. Just opening some websites (I have seen this with MR front page multiple time) will sometimes request high CPU uptime. Watch your activity monitor and with time, you will learn what apps and websites are resource hogs. Wining about the fact that your machine performs as it should is hardly a solution.

 

[FrostyF]

If you haven’t allowed enough time to index and confirmed it’s not indexing anymore, you’re overreacting.

 

[Pangalactic]

The machine is doing tons of stuff when it is new. Loading system software that's newer than what it shipped with, spotlight indexing, doing the first Time Machine backup, etc. I'd surprised you'd return it without calling Apple support or even, at the minimum, opening activity monitor to see what's going on.

1) I had the latest Mojave already installed, there was no system software to load
2) there is no way spotlight would be working for several days as people suggest. Unless it’s an absolutely terribly written piece of software, it would be done in an hour most. Run an antivirus on a new Mac (which does the approximately same thing) and you will see that it gets the job done in like 30 minutes
3) didn’t do the backup so don’t know
4)in the activity monitor I just saw the regular programs like Chrome and Free Download Manager eating away at the battery.RAPIDLY. And there is no way to limit power consumption on the Mac for tasks that are not important.

 

[FrostyF]

1) I had the latest Mojave already installed, there was no system software to load
2) there is no way spotlight would be working for several days as people suggest. Unless it’s an absolutely terribly written piece of software, it would be done in an hour most. Run an antivirus on a new Mac (which does the approximately same thing) and you will see that it gets the job done in like 30 minutes
3) didn’t do the backup so don’t know
4)in the activity monitor I just saw the regular programs like Chrome and Free Download Manager eating away at the battery.RAPIDLY. And there is no way to limit power consumption on the Mac for tasks that are not important.

Confirmed you have no clue what you’re talking about.

 

[Pangalactic]

You were using an app that requested 100% CPU uptime. Whether it was the torrent software or something else, who knows. But don't blame the hardware for crappy software. Same thing would have happened on any other computer — if a program requests a lot of CPU time, the OS delivers.

P.S. Just opening some websites (I have seen this with MR front page multiple time) will sometimes request high CPU uptime. Watch your activity monitor and with time, you will learn what apps and websites are resource hogs. Wining about the fact that your machine performs as it should is hardly a solution.

That’s exactly my point, the crappy software of MacOS doesn’t allow any form of power management for this machine. It does perform exactly as it should, by waisitng its powerful resources when they are totally not needed. Which Inam not happy about.

 

[puma1552]

1) I had the latest Mojave already installed, there was no system software to load
2) there is no way spotlight would be working for several days as people suggest. Unless it’s an absolutely terribly written piece of software, it would be done in an hour most. Run an antivirus on a new Mac (which does the approximately same thing) and you will see that it gets the job done in like 30 minutes
3) didn’t do the backup so don’t know
4)in the activity monitor I just saw the regular programs like Chrome and Free Download Manager eating away at the battery.RAPIDLY. And there is no way to limit power consumption on the Mac for tasks that are not important.

Well, the rest of us have working computers and can confirm through experience that it took a couple days, while you have a computer in a box back at the store and can't confirm anything.

Go ahead though, don't listen to anyone and just continue to complain.

And what does the time it takes to run an Antivirus scan on a Mac (lol) have to do with initial machine indexing? The answer? Nothing, nothing at all.
[doublepost=1543699179][/doublepost]

That’s exactly my point, the crappy software of MacOS doesn’t allow any form of power management for this machine. It does perform exactly as it should, by waisitng its powerful resources when they are totally not needed. Which Inam not happy about.

Well then no computer made by Apple will work for you, will it? Go buy a windows box then.

 

[FrostyF]

Enjoy your Windows laptop; I hear they’re silent.

 

[puma1552]

Torrenting and antivirus software. Lol, 1993 called, it wants Sean Parker and John McAfee back.

 

[John-117]

My i7 Vega 20 MBP's fans were noticeably high for the first day and half with super light workloads (YouTube, app installations, syncing files, etc.) but now runs whisper quiet unless I'm actually doing proper work in FCPX, Motion, AE, PS, etc.

Would recommend letting it run a while to let it index, and sort other macOS software before going for a return.

 

[Clix Pix]

Seems to me that when first setting up a machine and subsequently having it indexing and performing other first-time under-the-hood tasks that it would be a good idea to have the thing plugged into a power source rather than depending on battery power. This would be particularly important if the user is right off the bat doing extensive downloading/installation of apps and at the same time downloading something from a torrent site.