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I know this answer is "buy something else to make your life eaiser" but hear me out - either a USB-C monitor, or a thunderbolt dock. I got a USB-C monitor last

I know this answer is "buy something else to make your life eaiser" but hear me out - either a USB-C monitor, or a thunderbolt dock. I got a USB-C monitor last time I upgraded (LG 27" 4K) and having a single cable to plug in, which not only carries the display signal, but also charges my MBP, AND carries the USB signal so that I can plug wired keyboard and anything else into the hub in the monitor still feels ridiculously futuristic to me.

MikeKusold 6y ago
Any recommendations on a TB3 dock? I recently searched for one, and none of the top rated ones can support a 16" MBP power requirements. One of the manufacturers even went as far as saying "How often do you really use your CPU/GPU at 100%?"[0] Dell and HP have higher powered docks, but there are many conflicting reports on if it can deliver 96W to non-dell/hp laptops. TB3/USB-C is a giant mess that is too confusing for even techies to reliably navigate. [0] - https://www.caldigit.com/using-the-16-macbook-pro-with-the-caldigit-ts3-plus/ https://www.caldigit.com/using-the-16-macbook-pro-with-the-c...
- philjohn 6y ago
  Looking at the link, if you peg the CPU and GPU to 100% even the charger that comes with the MBP will struggle. Another 100w option is the Targus dock - https://us.targus.com/products/usb-c-universal-quad-4k-docking-station-100-watt-power-delivery-dock570usz https://us.targus.com/products/usb-c-universal-quad-4k-docki...
- Keloran 6y ago
  Personally I find the razer core x chroma really good It’s a hub secondary, and an egpu primarily, but it works fine to power my Personal 2019 mbp 13 (1.7 i7, 16gb) Personal Lenovo s740 Work 2019 mbp 16 (2.8 i7, 16gb)
- indemnity 6y ago
  CalDigit TS3 Plus: I have a 16” MBP and two 4K monitors, keyboard and mouse attached to it. Charging works fine even though I don’t think it pumps same power as PSU out. I do a lot of Rust programming and use VMs too. Haven’t run into a situation where it runs out of juice while attached.
  - cjcampbell 6y ago
    I can second this recommendation. Not cheap, but this dock has been excellent.
fphhotchips 6y ago
Yeah, sure, but at least on my Macbook Pro 16, Thunderbolt/USB-C monitors both instantly make the area near the touch bar hot enough so as to be uncomfortable to the touch. If you're sharing a screen via video conference, you can easily hit 90c, with the CPU throttling hard the whole time.
- philjohn 6y ago
  That's because the second you plug an external monitor in (at all) it switches off the iGPU and spins up the dGPU on the old 15" and new 16" ... what you're feeling is the dGPU pumping out heat.

MikeKusold 6y ago

Any recommendations on a TB3 dock? I recently searched for one, and none of the top rated ones can support a 16" MBP power requirements. One of the manufacturers even went as far as saying "How often do you really use your CPU/GPU at 100%?"[0] Dell and HP have higher powered docks, but there are many conflicting reports on if it can deliver 96W to non-dell/hp laptops. TB3/USB-C is a giant mess that is too confusing for even techies to reliably navigate. [0] - https://www.caldigit.com/using-the-16-macbook-pro-with-the-caldigit-ts3-plus/ https://www.caldigit.com/using-the-16-macbook-pro-with-the-c...

philjohn 6y ago
Looking at the link, if you peg the CPU and GPU to 100% even the charger that comes with the MBP will struggle. Another 100w option is the Targus dock - https://us.targus.com/products/usb-c-universal-quad-4k-docking-station-100-watt-power-delivery-dock570usz https://us.targus.com/products/usb-c-universal-quad-4k-docki...
Keloran 6y ago
Personally I find the razer core x chroma really good It’s a hub secondary, and an egpu primarily, but it works fine to power my Personal 2019 mbp 13 (1.7 i7, 16gb) Personal Lenovo s740 Work 2019 mbp 16 (2.8 i7, 16gb)
indemnity 6y ago
CalDigit TS3 Plus: I have a 16” MBP and two 4K monitors, keyboard and mouse attached to it. Charging works fine even though I don’t think it pumps same power as PSU out. I do a lot of Rust programming and use VMs too. Haven’t run into a situation where it runs out of juice while attached.
- cjcampbell 6y ago
  I can second this recommendation. Not cheap, but this dock has been excellent.

fphhotchips 6y ago

Yeah, sure, but at least on my Macbook Pro 16, Thunderbolt/USB-C monitors both instantly make the area near the touch bar hot enough so as to be uncomfortable to the touch. If you're sharing a screen via video conference, you can easily hit 90c, with the CPU throttling hard the whole time.

philjohn 6y ago
That's because the second you plug an external monitor in (at all) it switches off the iGPU and spins up the dGPU on the old 15" and new 16" ... what you're feeling is the dGPU pumping out heat.