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2011 iMac Screen Noise

Shaun.P

Shaun.P

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Jul 14, 2003
1,601
24
Omicron Persei 8
There are many documented cases of a high pitched noise (or whine) when you lower the screen brightness on the last two iMac iterations (2009 and 2010 model).

It seemed to affect all 2009 - 2010 iMacs. The noise is like a very high pitched dog whistle. I went through 4 iMacs and ended up getting a refund in 2009 - despite loving the iMac very much - I just couldn't stand the noise - which only went away when the iMac was in full brightness. If the noise is away I'd be more than happy to buy one.

I was wondering if those who noticed the problems with the 2009/2010 iMacs would be willing to post their experiences of the new 2011 model?

Thanks in advance.
 
Shaun.P said:
There are many documented cases of a high pitched noise (or whine) when you lower the screen brightness on the last two iMac iterations (2009 and 2010 model).

It seemed to affect all 2009 - 2010 iMacs. The noise is like a very high pitched dog whistle. I went through 4 iMacs and ended up getting a refund in 2009 - despite loving the iMac very much - I just couldn't stand the noise - which only went away when the iMac was in full brightness. If the noise is away I'd be more than happy to buy one.

I was wondering if those who noticed the problems with the 2009/2010 iMacs would be willing to post their experiences of the new 2011 model?

Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...

None here. Mine is set on auto brightness so it bounces anywhere from 1/2 bright to full bright depending on time of day and whether my room lights are on.
 
until now i've gone through seven 27" imacs - all of them immediately sent back to apple after checking them out.

1st imac: 2009 2.8 i7 refurbished - dog whistle
2nd imac: 2010 2.93 i7 refurbished - dog whistle
3rd imac: 2011 3.1 i5 retail - no dog whistle but a stuttering fan
4th imac: 2011 2.7 i5 - dog whistle, although quieter than in the 2009/2010 models - maybe because it's a new one? however, i still can't stand it (i'm a musician)
5th imac: 2011 2.7 i5 - same as 4th imac...
6th imac: 2010 2.93 i7 refurbished - dog whistle PLUS bad fan (fan is whining)... (wow, and this is "apple certified")
7th imac: 2011 3.1 i5 retail - dog whistle

wondering how long this send/return-nightmare will last...

anyhow, it's a fact that most people won't hear it because of untrained ears or bad hearing in general.

SHAME on apple for not fixing this in more than two years...
 
Last edited:
urartu said:
until now i've gone through four 27" imacs - all of them immediately sent back to apple after checking them out..............
Click to expand...

The noise of a dog whistle is at a frequency above the highest a human being can hear.

If you've heard this noise - on three occasions, I suggest it's nothing to do with Apple. More like it's something to do with your hearing - you really ought to seek the advice of a Doctor. ;)
 
John T said:
The noise of a dog whistle is at a frequency above the highest a human being can hear.

If you've heard this noise - on three occasions, I suggest it's nothing to do with Apple. More like it's something to do with your hearing - you really ought to seek the advice of a Doctor. ;)
Click to expand...

Well if he's hearing dog whistles and higher octaves, wouldn't his hearing be better than most humans?
 
It's a term.

And I had it on 3 of the 2010 models, and just noticed now I have it on the 2011 one, and it's ben 3 weeks, so not sure what to do.
Don't think there's a send it in and fix it solution.
 
John T said:
The noise of a dog whistle is at a frequency above the highest a human being can hear.

If you've heard this noise - on three occasions, I suggest it's nothing to do with Apple. More like it's something to do with your hearing - you really ought to seek the advice of a Doctor. ;)
Click to expand...

ok, i've should have written "dog whistle" as it is a term for "(very) high pitch noise". it's like a tinnitus (ringing in the ears). of course, i can't hear a dog whistle. my ears are perfectly fine.

i've had my fifth imac today (another 2011 2.7 i5 27") - it still has this issue.

i'm trying to upgrade from my 2007 24" 2.4 c2d which doesn't have this annoying high pitched bleeping.

anyway the problem is described here as well:

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/923532/ (with sound example)
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/905618/
http://www.mactalk.com.au/10/82362-high-pitched-noise-27-imac.html
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1018776/

the noise goes away when brightness is set to maximum or minimum.
 
My 2011 27" iMac is perfectly ok. The 2010 iMac I sold few month ago had the PSU buzzing.
 
urartu said:
until now i've gone through four 27" imacs - all of them immediately sent back to apple after checking them out.

1st imac: 2009 2.8 i7 refurbished - dog whistle
2nd imac: 2010 2.93 i7 refurbished - dog whistle
3rd imac: 2011 3.1 i5 retail - no dog whistle but a stuttering fan
4th imac: 2011 2.7 i5 - dog whistle, although quieter than in the 2009/2010 models. however, i still can't stand it (i'm a musician)

wondering how long this send/return-nightmare will last...

anyhow, it's a fact that most people won't hear it because of untrained ears or bad hearing in general.

SHAME on apple for not fixing this in more than two years...
Click to expand...

It will last until Apple says no more or you stop returning them.
if it is the LCD/Brightness inverter on the iMac then goto a store and have them swap out a display in the iMac, if its the HDD or a Fan same thing.
 
ZMacintosh said:
It will last until Apple says no more or you stop returning them.
if it is the LCD/Brightness inverter on the iMac then goto a store and have them swap out a display in the iMac, if its the HDD or a Fan same thing.
Click to expand...

problem is, the apple service tech here in town can't hear it, so he won't change it (acuesthesia deteriorates with age, the technician is ~50 yrs.)

again, this video clearly illustrates the issue:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_8MWUH9ZhL0

i know there are imacs without the dog whistle (e.g. my imac #3 - i should have kept it and get the fan exchanged...)

i'm a mac user since my first computer and never had quality issues with past machines like this...

apple really has disappointed me this time...

here's another thread describing the same issue, frequency seems to be ~16 kHz:

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/2746068?threadID=2746068&tstart=-2
 
My 27" Cinema Display at work has the noise. My 2009 27" iMac at home is completely silent.
 
urartu said:
ok, i've should have written "dog whistle" as it is a term for "(very) high pitch noise". it's like a tinnitus (ringing in the ears). of course, i can't hear a dog whistle. my ears are perfectly fine.
Click to expand...

And I don't think that commenter needed an addendum for his joke to be understood...
 
Wirelessly posted (iPhone 4: Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3_3 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8J2 Safari/6533.18.5)

urartu said:
discofuel said:
Keep it on maximum brightness and uses Shades.

http://www.charcoaldesign.co.uk/shades
Click to expand...

well, this is a hack...

i don't want to hack a new mac...

thank you anyhow
Click to expand...

You don't seem to understand what the term "hack" means. That is just a app to change brightness.
 
It's as much of a hack for dimming the screen as Photoshop is a hack for graphic design ;)
 
max brightness = max power consumption

where is the "greener apple" then?

sorry, shades is a hack - period.
 
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