MacBook Pro 2016 15" w/ Touch Bar battery and overheating problems

Question

I bought my base model 15" MacBook Pro w/ Touch Bar the day it was released, and I just received it yesterday. I've been copying and downloading all the data and files that I needed and the battery didn't last me more than 5 hours, if even 4. I have no idea what is wrong with it, but it's really overheating and I almost never hear the fan running, which also alerts me.

Today I played Crossfire, a game with very basic graphics, on Windows 10 Bootcamp and it was ON FIRE! I had to close the game because of the laptop's temperature. Again, I did not hear the fan.

Things I've done:

• Reset the System Management Controller (SMC)
• Run hardware diagnostics by restarting and pressing the D key while booting. This was the first time I actually clearly heard the fan. The overall results were that it found no hardware problems.
• I called Apple, but they had no idea what they were telling me as they were following a written script, although a Senior Advisor was talking to me regarding the issue.

Now I have had it just for two days so far, and I have a two-week return period. Should I wait more and see how everything will work out, or should I return it?

Has anyone experienced the same issue? Is there anything else for me to try?

Answer 1

The problem you discribed is exactly the same that I have with my new MBP 15" Touchbar (2,9Ghz, Radeon 460). The reason why it's overheating is, that the fans do not automatically accelerate when there's a higher workload. They are continuously running at 2000 rpm.

My solution: Use iStat Menus

There you can manually increase the rpm to medium (3500-4000rpm) and high (4500+). You will see, if you manually adjust the fans, the MBP will work great and there won't be any overheating issues.

BUT that's not how a notebook should work. It must automatically adjust the fans. I talked to several apple support guys (In Germany) and they all told me, that they havent experienced such a thing yet. I did the same things like you, resetting NVRAM, resetting SMC and I even reinstalled the OS. Nothing helped.

It may be a firmware issue that will be fixed in the future. However it seems like just a minority of MBP Touchbar customers are facing this issue. Most likely I will exchange my notebook in January (since it's not available at the moment xD )

Answer 2

How did you reset the SMC? There are different processes depending on Mac model. Just to make sure, in your case the process is as follows:

1. Shut down your computer
2. Keep the power cable plugged in.
3. Press at the same time shiftoptioncontrol (on the left side of the keyboard) and the power button
4. Let go
5. Turn your computer back on with the power button.

Also, do you actually know what the temperature is? If so, please add this to your question as it's a bit hard for the community to help/comment without knowing what it is. You can use software such as Monit, Fanny (an unfortunate name!) or iStat Menus to measure temperature and fan speed.

Regardless, as a point of reference, this resource (which can be filtered) will give you an idea of the wide range of temperatures that Macs can work with. It may be a bit too early to include any data for your model, but there is a lot of data for MacBook Pro models listed. As an aside, my MBP temp is regularly between 66 and 81 degrees, and my fans are regularly at 6200 RPM when my CPU usage is high.

All that said, if I was in your shoes and confident that it's overheating and the fans aren't activating as they should, then I'd be making a Genius Bar appointment to have them test it. If a Genius Bar appointment isn't possible, and you have the option of returning it, then maybe that's what you should do and buy another one.

Finally, in terms of your battery life, was the 4hr-5hr range just your initial range, or has it only lasted that long consistently? I ask because downloading and copying all the data you needed on your MBP is likely to be a much greater burden on your battery than normal everyday usage.

Feel free to post back if you get any more info or have any other questions.

Answer 3

A brand new computer should not give you such problems. I would return it within the two-week time window and ask for a full refund.

Some people I work for need to buy new MacBook Pros, but it's hard to recommend them right now. For one person in particular, battery life is crucial. Everything I've heard so far about battery life, the new Apple MacBook Pros are lemons.

It's very disappointing, especially since it's been such a long time since these models were updated — people have been waiting for them. They're not selling these new machines any cheaper either, they ought to work at least as good as the previous generation!

Hopefully they'll come up with a revision that fixes the issues — meanwhile, if you can still get a full refund on your brand new MacBook, that's what I'd do.

Answer 4

My 15" MBP w/ touchbar was overheating as well with as simple a task as streaming Netflix. I was roaming around the internet about temperature conditions and if cold weather could mess up my MBP as where I store it it could get very cold. I came across the setting of putting the "hard disk to sleep when possible" as a potentially damaging setting for my MBP in cold weather and I realized that maybe it had something to do with my computer overheating. I then unmarked the setting a lo and behold, I am now streaming Netflix without my laptop becoming hot. Try seeing if you have that setting on then turn it off and run your laptop, it could potentially help.

Answer 5

I am having the exact same issue, & even after apple provided a replacement device to me today at 6pm this issue has not been resolved.

Backstory: My original device was picked up 2 weeks ago, from the Pasadena store. Immediately that night I noticed that the heat was so bad the equipment was hot to touch, and even spreading to the sides and top other portions of the device. I reported it via online chat and immediately apple business contacted me the next day scheduling a Genius Bar appointment. During that appointment the genius tech wouldn't tell me what was wrong but stated after only a couple minutes that the device needed to be sent to engineering once it was returned for investigation, and they would provide a replacement no questions asked. The replacement device arrived tonight and 30 minutes into using it (Safari, Sublime text install, and web browsing on a solid surface it was so hot that it begin causing other issues( slowed keyboard response onscreen, screen flicker, lag). I contacted support again, and they immediately setup an appointment with Genius Bar for 6am tomorrow. I am really losing faith in this model but don't know what to do at this point because it appears that no one knows what the root cause of the issue is. Friends of mine have the same model without issues. If anyone has any details please share.