14'' M3 Max new owners - fan noise?

[Badfish12]

Anyone with a maxed out 14" M3 Max have any insight on fan noise?

I've seen some reviews that show the fans kick up, but seems they were all testing doing heavy loads, sometimes with high performance mode enabled.

Was curious for more low/medium loads/normal power mode, how has the fan noise been for ya'll? People coming from a 14" M2/1 Max - is it different? Does low power mode still help with lowering fan noise?

 

[cpnotebook80]

I have the 14" M3 Max 16/40 64gb 1TB and i can confirm the fan noise and boy the heat being pushed out. I was rendering a small clip in topaz AI and the idle temp is 40'c with 0 RPM and after 10-20 seconds, the temp pushes to 70'c with fans at 5k rpm or more like a jet engine. the laptop was on my lap and i had to lift the laptop up and it was like hot hot under. I waited for render to finish and temp went down faster than the fans. I did see Luke Miani do the test on his youtube channel and confirmed the same with the fan noise. I am wondering if 16" is better with fan and temp management. I also am sitting on couch and doing some editing etc and if the fans kick up like that all the time, its going to be annoying.

I don't know about the prior models and if any fan/heat issues occurred since I'm jumping from my m1 mbp to this 14" m3 max. So this is new to me.

 

[vividbreeze]

The post above yours made me feel more comfortable about my 14" 16/40 M3 Max arriving Monday then your post made me think I made a mistake again lol

If you were to have it docked how far would you need it to be to be comfortable in terms of noise levels?

Well, the overall performance is impressive, other benchmarks such as Blender or Xcodebenchmark show significant improvements of almost 3x. When I use automatic mode the fans don't kick in - or only on low speed which I'm totally fine with (and only on a rare occasion in full speed). Only on high speed they become really annoying (as I am not used to it from the M1). I thought of "upgrading" to the 16" version, but it's too large for me. 14" are just perfect.

I will do some more tests with my everyday live settings (running more VMs and Docker Containers) and make a final judgement.

 

[[maven]]

Some anecdata.

Personally, I am only really interested in CPU cores. And in that regard, both my old 14" M1 Pro (8P+2E cores) and new 14" M3 Max (12P+4E cores) behave similarly:

When stressing *all* P-cores — so 8 on the M1 and 12 on the M3 — (from an otherwise idle system), the fans will become audible after roughly 40 secs of sustained CPU load in both machines and then ramp up further. The time might be a tad longer on the M1, but is roughly in the same ballpark.

As far as I can tell, Low-Power mode lowers the maximum frequency which allows for a lower (and thus quieter — but still audible) maximum fan speed. For me, this resulted in ~15-20% slower performance.

 

[buran-energia]

"Intel Mac PTSD level fan noise" is what I want to avoid. Coming from Intel 16 inch 2019, I want a machine that is silent when compiling xcode in normal mode. I'm curious how 16 inch m3 pro vs. m3 max performs in terms of fan noise when pushing mostly the CPU.

 

[macphoto861]

It seems Luke Miani said “next week, we’ll test 16” vs 14” m3 max” , but I’m betting fans are not an issue on the 16”, they were not in the past.

I don't think I ever heard my M1 Max fans (beyond a very gentle whir that I specifically had to listen for), while my M3 Max fans definitely spin up under heavy load. This is just one point of reference, but building previews in Lightroom Classic produced no noticeable fan noise on the M1, while the M3 gets noticeably loud (not as bad as I remember the i9 being, but still not an insubstantial amount of noise).

 

[Ma2k5]

I don't think I ever heard my M1 Max fans (beyond a very gentle whir that I specifically had to listen for), while my M3 Max fans definitely spin up under heavy load. This is just one point of reference, but building previews in Lightroom Classic produced no noticeable fan noise on the M1, while the M3 gets noticeably loud (not as bad as I remember the i9 being, but still not an insubstantial amount of noise).

Makes sense.

The M3 Max going to 12 performance cores from 8 was always going to change the game. As an M1 Max 16” user I concur I don’t ever really hear the fan, even gaming it’s quite low!

 

[jbachandouris]

Whisper quiet. Had it since the 7th. Launch Day. First Space Black Best Buy had received.

 

[richard371]

14” 18GB/512 SSD. Space black.

That’s not the m3 max.

 

[richard371]

But its too big to haul around. 🤷🏻 My 14" shipped a few hours ago, so I will at least give a try

Agreed. The 14 is already up there in size. My 16/40 runs cool and only gets warm with fans running when I do extreme intensive tasks like Lightroom AI noise reduction. My old M1 does a 50mp raw in 2 min, M2 pro=40 sec, M3 max=18 sec. This thing is fast.

 

[richard371]

Just did some testing on low power mode and the MBP performs more like a non Max pro model. Fans were silent and not >2500 rpm or hotter then 85C. I ran 8-50mp images through Denise AI and it took about 35sec each vs 15. Geekbench 6 was 2050 single core and 15332 multi. Ill leave it on automatic but it nice knowing I can make it behave more like the pro model without the noise and heat if needed. It's great to have the extra power esp with the AI stuff. If you want to run it as a game machine on your lap maybe the 16 is a better option. For me I'm very pleases with the 14" 16/40 Max

 

[Onimusha370]

Don't want to hijack this thread in anyway but I'd just add that on my 16 inch, I've also noticed a lot more noise compared with my M1 Pro model. When doing basic tasks I thankfully never hear the fans still, but as soon as I boot up a game or start stressing the GPU in Lightroom, the fans will ramp up and be audible. This is very different to how the M1 series behaved where it'd be almost impossible to get the fans to come on audibly.

I do kind of miss the silence of my old laptop, but I think it's worth the trade off for the big gains in performance.

 

[brooklyn360]

Great video to compare the MAX 14'' and 16".


Max Tech compares 14" and 16" MAX MBP

 

[richard371]

Sometimes it's docked to a 4k 27" etc no issues. It will be louder the 16 in very heavy tasks but so far I have not had any deal breakers. I can exchange until Jan but I love the size of the 14. I handled the 16" monolith at the Apple Store and passed.

 

[Ma2k5]

I got the 14/30 Max early and after testing I’m going to return it and hold on to the 12/18 M3 Pro. The improved overall performance is not worth the extra heat, noise, and hit to my wallet. Playing games like RE: Village and Deus Ex: Mankind Divided at 60+ fps in near silence on the Pro is something to behold.

Question now is do I return what I have in favor of the same processor but with a RAM and storage upgrade? I’m thinking no as Windows in a VM should run OK with 8 GB allocated and I can use an external SSD if needed. Not sure I really want to spend another $1k plus factoring in AppleCare.

I got 12/18 with 36GB/1TB and I think it’s truly the best of the bunch. Awesome battery life, minimal heat/noise.

 

[saturnotaku]

Would it run WoW well for a few years?

An M3 Pro is overkill for WoW considering the game runs perfectly on an M1 Air.

 

[lclev]

I got my 14" M3 max 16/40 on Wednesday. On Thursday I exported an hour of HD video with graphics and special touches from Premiere Pro which took about 7 minutes. I had it plugged in with 2 - 27" 4K monitors attached. The fans definitely ramped up. TG Pro showed them maxed out and I could hear them running but it was no louder than my M1 Max got doing the same type of project. Also the minute it was done the fans backed down and it cooled right down. The M3 is definitely faster than the M1.

I also opened up about 300 wedding photos I had done in Lightroom. The photos were in RAW format and I played around with them then exported them as jpegs just to see what would happen. The M3 was fast and snappy. The fans never came on. Export speed seemed to be a bit faster than when I did the project on my M1. Either way it was fast.

I was initially concerned about fan noise, heat output and throttling with the M3 based on what I had read. I can sit with it on my lap and let it export and while it gets warm it is not uncomfortable. My M3 is behaving just like my M1 did only maybe a little snappier and faster but, I really don't see a huge step up from the M1 to the M3 but it is a fast machine.

 

[vividbreeze]

I have the 14" M3 Max with 30 GPU and the fan is annoying. The CPUs heat up pretty fast compared to my M1 notebook. Especially, e.g. when I use the Magic Mask or the Depth Mask for 1min scenes. Sure I can use the Low Power Mode, but then what's the reason to get an M3 Max? And it isn't a fan problem, the CPU get to > 60 degrees Celsius pretty quicky, e.g. while simple stress rotation a simple 3D Model in Blender. I really thinking of returning mine.

 

[richinaus]

worth a read.

Apple MacBook Pro 14 2023 M3 Max Review - The fastest CPU in a 14-inch laptop

Notebookcheck reviews the new Apple MacBook Pro 14 M3 Max with 16 CPU cores and 40 GPU cores.

www.notebookcheck.net

 

[cfm56d7b]

16 M3 Max, similar config. Even running two virtual machines and building software inside (but not heavy builds), I never heard the fans either.

I did more research today. According to iStat Menus, the fans did turn on briefly after the video conference has started and stopped about 7 minutes after. The average speed was 2.5K RPM. So the fans do turn on but they are much quieter than the fans inside Intel-based Macbook Pro. Learned something.

 

[cpnotebook80]

Doing it now and seems to be quite with temp at 55'c and no fans for while and then fans went to 2400 rmp but no noise. It took the 20 sec clip 4.5 minutes to complete. I ran a temp monitor and it seems the GPU was never used or was very low in utilization.

With higher power mode, the clip took 2 min to render and can confirm again the fan ramp up at the end at 5k with temp at 55-60'c. Also, power monitor does show gpu being used a bit fluctuating between 28-40%. Could be the app itself for this example.

I left the On Battery and On Power adapter to automatic for now and work on some other tasks tomorrow.

 

[ProXMac]

Anyone with a maxed out 14" M3 Max have any insight on fan noise?

I've seen some reviews that show the fans kick up, but seems they were all testing doing heavy loads, sometimes with high performance mode enabled.

Was curious for more low/medium loads/normal power mode, how has the fan noise been for ya'll? People coming from a 14" M2/1 Max - is it different? Does low power mode still help with lowering fan noise?

Yup, I have the 16 core M3 Max, and I'm wondering if maybe the 14 core would run cooler. It's like Intel Mac PTSD level fan noise. Worst was it was just sitting on my desk had Xcode open and for some reason with no program running, fans went to 5000 RPM just charging few other apps open, and I wasn't even using Xcode.

It's so bad, I almost wonder if there is a glitch or bug , sorta like the 15 Pro heating issue. However I did watch Luke Mianis video and it did seem to confirm the fans are jet engine level noise at times.

I'm hoping to see other people talk about their 14 core variants, but im def trying to debate if the portability is worth the random noise, 16" has no fan noise.

 

[ProXMac]

"Intel Mac PTSD level fan noise" is what I want to avoid. Coming from Intel 16 inch 2019, I want a machine that is silent when compiling xcode in normal mode. I'm curious how 16 inch m3 pro vs. m3 max performs in terms of fan noise when pushing mostly the CPU.

It seems Luke Miani said “next week, we’ll test 16” vs 14” m3 max” , but I’m betting fans are not an issue on the 16”, they were not in the past.

 

[MLVC]

14" 14 core M3 Max, have yet to hear the fans turn on.

 

[ProXMac]

You had that noise on high power mode? My understanding is that mode just cranks up fans super quickly on 14” in order to prevent throttling faster, so not surprised about that.

Have you tested fan noise at normal power mode/low power mode?

Yes I was plugged in (coming from a 16” , I always had on high power mode) , I’ve now changed it to automatic mode, will be testing over next few days to see. As I agree I know that’s part of the intention of the mode , though 16” chassis never heard. And reviews of M1 and M2 14” never seemed to be overly loud.

All I had was Xcode open, and the SwiftUi preview just chilling, wasn’t even interacting.

My house is not heated as well, this was in the morning and 67 degrees Fahrenheit on a cold table.

I wanna know if anyone has the 14 core CPU , 30 core GPU 14” and how they find their fan.