2019 iMac Fan Noise Sound—Normal?

[ScottCFrancis]

My 2019 iMac runs the fan at around 1200 RPM the majority of the time. I can just barely hear it.

Occasionally a louder, clicking-like sound starts up and will go for a while; sometimes it stops on its own. It's not too loud, but it's louder and more noticeable than the normal near-silent fan sound.

I'm not sure if it's some sort of second fan or if it's the same fan that's normally running and the noise is just changing.

Has anyone else experienced this? If so, do you know why it happens?

I'd greatly appreciate any insight on this.

My config: 3.7 GHz i5, Radeon Pro 580X, 2 TB SSD, 40 GB RAM including 32 GB from OWC

Here's a clip of the noise:

 

[JacobHarvey]

You are not alone. I have the same CPU and GPU configuration and experience that exact same fan noise. The iMac is usually completely silent for the first 20 mins after booting/waking then that slight clicking/rattling sound usually appears. A few other recordings made by others with their 2019 iMacs suggest it is not an isolated issue. There is no second fan so the noise is likely coming from the single main cooling fan.

Although the fan noise in my previous 2009 iMac is about the same in terms of loudness (or maybe slightly louder), that older Mac produces a constant soft whine which I prefer to this clicking/rattling noise. Some have used manual fan control programs to reduce the fan speed to 1000 RPM which they say completely eliminates this fan noise in the 2019 iMac.

Others have asked for a replacement iMac. At the moment I'm not yet bothered enough to go through the effort of asking for a refurbished replacement iMac (which may or may not also have this same fan noise - who knows?). Also, I have an HP 24" all-in-one as a family computer with an i7-8700T and that thing sounds like some sort of turbine whenever it starts doing something (it makes the 2019 iMac seem comparatively silent overall, even with its slight rattle)

 

[JacobHarvey]

Also this thread from 2017 shows that the same type of noise was present in at least some iMacs from that year as well: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/imac-5k-2017-fan-noise-is-this-normal.2076516/

(I can't tell if the recorded noise really was that loud or was just amplified by the recording method)

 

[ScottCFrancis]

You are not alone. I have the same CPU and GPU configuration and experience that exact same fan noise. The iMac is usually completely silent for the first 20 mins after booting/waking then that slight clicking/rattling sound usually appears. A few other recordings made by others with their 2019 iMacs suggest it is not an isolated issue. There is no second fan so the noise is likely coming from the single main cooling fan.

Although the fan noise in my previous 2009 iMac is about the same in terms of loudness (or maybe slightly louder), that older Mac produces a constant soft whine which I prefer to this clicking/rattling noise. Some have used manual fan control programs to reduce the fan speed to 1000 RPM which they say completely eliminates this fan noise in the 2019 iMac.

Others have asked for a replacement iMac. At the moment I'm not yet bothered enough to go through the effort of asking for a refurbished replacement iMac (which may or may not also have this same fan noise - who knows?). Also, I have an HP 24" all-in-one as a family computer with an i7-8700T and that thing sounds like some sort of turbine whenever it starts doing something (it makes the 2019 iMac seem comparatively silent overall, even with its slight rattle)

Thanks for your reply. I also have the 2009 iMac and came to the same conclusion—the 2019 is quieter, but the noise is more annoying. I was hoping for silent from the 2019 given the SSD and 10 years of technological progress. Thanks again for your detailed reply.

 

[thadoggfather]

I’m not sure if this is the same noise a family member is reporting but she got the base 27” 2019 with 256gb and said she can hear the fan

Probably not worth a swap if most / all do it, could have another with the same and worse issues too

 

[gribbet]

Please Google for the 'SSD Fan Control' app - works perfectly and it's free too.

It allows you to control the fan speeds based on temperature using Manual, Auto or SMART (SSD) fan control for the Hard Disk and Optical drives.

No problems after swapping my HHD with a Samsung 860 Eco and using it.
This was on an iMac 2009 27 inch running High Sierra.