Also, turbo boost switcher has dramatically improved thermals. Turning off turbo shaves like 10C off low usage temp without much of an impact on usability.
It runs hot as hell and has some serious charging/graphics issues.
My company has issued about 40 of them, about about 12 have had to be returned to apple for graphics problems.
Seems to play nicer with my other (Dell) monitor but when I was using Garage Band (only on the external monitor!) it got so loud I had to quit GB and let it cool down... and I still never went over about 20% CPU. The fans are pretty normal when I only use the built-in monitor, but the case still gets way too hot to rest on my legs.
I'll try the right side power, thanks for the tip!
Thanks a lot for the tip! Funny, that's how I had it connected with the previous monitor and I didn't have trouble with the clamshell mode.
FWIW right-side power didn't help, nor did the turbo switcher AFAICT (I'm not doing anything CPU-intensive) -- but as soon as I put the monitor in the left and the power in the right the fans dropped way down. Still running, which is annoying, but not especially loud.
I find it maddening that a $3600 computer has a problem like this, and Apple doesn't even tell you about it.
Unfortunately despite some temporary relief nothing solved the problem and I remain at 2800 RPM with 93% idle CPU, though now without TurboBoost! :-)
On the positive side, the offending MBP now has its apple-face to the wall and the fans seem slightly quieter that way. Next I will look into locking it in a refrigerated safe.
Something to do with Thunderbolt proximity sensor, problem went away as soon as I would switch to the left side.
As I commented above on another similar suggestion -- power on right and monitor on left appears to be the trick.
Both fans are running loud enough to notice: 2600RPM, about 27%, and that's about average when it's not asleep. It's too loud to watch a quiet movie without headphones.
If I had full control of my kit, I would seriously consider ditching the 16" MBP in favor of a 27" iMac just in the hope that the cooling system isn't a complete disaster.
As for the ARM question, I am very much looking forward to buying an ARM Macbook Air (or whatever) for personal use.
But since I have no idea exactly when one will show up that does what I need; and since I expect the Intel Macs to be supported for many years to come; and since especially for a desktop it's also quite nice with other OS's; I wouldn't hesitate to buy an Intel Mac if I needed one.
Just not the damned 16" MacBook Ventilator.