Drivers & Software

[ateslik]

excellent link, thank you! The subject and first few posts in that thread don't allude to the external monitor / GPU driver being the suspect, but obviously they arrive at that same conclusion - after TWO HUNDRED AND FOUR PAGES OF COMPLAINTS as of this writing.

AMD and Apple - looking at you! DO SOMETHING!

[alekseykurylev]

I have the same problem! AMD needs to update its drivers, it has already been half a year and nothing changes!

APPLE MacBook Pro MVVL2RU/A, 16", IPS, Intel Core i7 9750H 2.6ГГц, 16Gb, 512Gb SSD, Radeon Pro 5300M - 4096 Mb

[schertlerbombe]

I have the same problem as mentioned above. Basemodel 16inch MBP i7 5300M.

As soon as i connect an external Monitor to the Macbook (open lid) it gets realy hot and the fans start to get loud, even in idle system state. Batterylife is also cut down in half with a 2. monitor!

A machine that is supposedly able to drive up to 4 4k screens should not use 40% of its gpu tdp to drive something as light as a 720p projector. 

I know that those 18-20 Watts „radeon high side“ are the due to 100% memory clockspeed triggered by multiple monitors to avoid tearing, but there has to be another way to handle this.

Maybe introduce some sort of scaleable idle memory clockspeed depending on the amount of monitors connceted:

Internal: stock clockspeed

Internal + 1 external: 50% clockspeed

internal + 2 external: 75% clockspeed 

internal + 3 or 4 external: 100% clockspeed

(I hope this makes sense)

Some people report of those 20 watts with 1 external monitor (macbook in clamshell mode) so there has to be  a driver issue,

This behavior is inacceptable in a Laptop in this pricerange, i hope AMD and Apple work on a driver fix.

Also, Bootcamp-windows suffers from similar issues, a driverupdate is long oderdue...it has been more than 6 Months!!!

[halls123away]

Holy cow this issue is so annoying. Zoom calls with fans blasting away is awful.

Is AMD every going to update the drivers for the macbook Pro 16"??? I think we're still on the same drivers as day 1

[connormac]

During appointment today at the Apple Store Genius Bar..

Me to Apple Service Manager:
"Are there any MacBooks in the current Apple product lineup which would not have this same heat and noise issue in the same scenario?" (Scenario: Clamshell, USB-C to DP, 2560x1440, 60Hz)

Apple Service Manager to me:
"No"

Read my full letter to Mr Tim Cook here

[hardcoregames_]

ateslik wrote:

excellent link, thank you! The subject and first few posts in that thread don't allude to the external monitor / GPU driver being the suspect, but obviously they arrive at that same conclusion - after TWO HUNDRED AND FOUR PAGES OF COMPLAINTS as of this writing.

AMD and Apple - looking at you! DO SOMETHING!

Thought you might have missed that. I am on the Apple forum regularly.

[jessedow24]

Created an AMD account just to like this page.  It is a very annoying problem.  AMD Please fix!!!!!!!

[davidbenda]

AMD has to do something with it. I know that they don't care about MacOs drivers but at the end of the day this issue related to their GPU. Their reputation has been damaged because of Apple.

AMD, Please do something! 

[tompiess]

As has been said above, this excessive power draw of GPU memory due to a single display connected is simply lazy implementation. Have a look at this link, where trying to adjust certain resolution/refresh rate configuration causes the GPU to switch to lower memory clock speed [1250MHz (~19W) => 150MHz (~4W)].

Promised link here: https://community.amd.com/thread/214891?commentID=2793350 

[orlick]

I just created an account to express my frustration and helplessness with this annoying an OBVIOUS bug. What a disgrace AMD, what a disgrace Apple that you are blind about your customers problems. And please don't joke that this is an expected behaviour because it's not! 

I was observing Macbook sensors data via iStat Menus with several configurations and it looks like below:

1. Macbook Pro without external display connected: Radeon Pro 5500M: ON, GPU Power consumption (IDLE): 4-6W
2. Macbook Pro with 1440p 27" 60Hz DELL 2720DC screen connected: Radeon Pro 5500M: ON, GPU Power consumption (IDLE): ~18W
3. Macbook Pro with the DELL screen connected in clamshell mode: Radeon Pro 5500M: ON, GPU Power consumption (IDLE): ~18W

All the connections have been done directly via USB-C connectors without any dongles.

You wanna tell me that it's normal that 3072×1920 Macbook screen is 3 times less heavy on discrete Radeon GPU than 2560 x 1440 DELL monitor which has much lower resolution? Furthermore, when I'm opening 4k video on Chrome using my single Macbook screen, GPU power usage is ~11W which is still way better than with lower resolution external display connected doing absolutely nothing! Come on AMD.