I suspected as much which is why I didn't bother with the ~£300 upgrade from the default 2.6Ghz i7 to the 2.9Ghz i9. The MBP already struggled with the old i7

I suspected as much which is why I didn't bother with the ~£300 upgrade from the default 2.6Ghz i7 to the 2.9Ghz i9. The MBP already struggled with the old i7 and with no redesign I couldn't see how they could handle the i9 without extreme thermal throttling. Turns out they can't but ship it anyway!