2020 Intel 5K iMac ticking noise

[AAPLGeek]

My 2020 Intel iMac makes a faint ticking noise similar to the seconds hand of an analog clock and I need to decide if its normal or something to get checked out before my AC+ runs out in the coming weeks. It’s something I noticed within the first month of ownership almost 3 years ago, but it doesn’t seem to have gotten worse since then. The machine has otherwise performed flawlessly with zero unexplained shutdowns or crashes.

It’s worth noting that this noise is only audible in a silent room and I have to put my ear right above the USB ports to hear it. In addition, the machine has to be in a sleep or a powered off (but still connected to the mains) state, although the frequency of this noise is noticeably faster during the sleep state.

If you have a 5K Intel machine, could you do a quick check to see if your machine makes the same noise? I’d mostly like to avoid the hassle of lugging the iMac to the store and any potential damage that may occur during diagnostics or repair.

 

[JacobHarvey]

Hi there.

I own both a 2019 27 iMac and a 2020 27 iMac in my household. The 2019 iMac has the exact same ticking noise you describe ever since I purchased it brand new 5 years ago but it hasn't gotten worse. I remember being a bit irritated it, but was more irritated by the thought of lugging it back to Apple for them to likely give me the run around for an issue that is not major and possibly stuffing something else up in the process.

I have since gotten used to it and it is only when the room is dead silent that I can hear the ticking (or if I put my ear against the fan grille). There were a few threads years back with other people complaining about the ticking noise but some people stating their iMac was totally quiet.

The 2020 iMac is definitely quieter and doesn't seem to have any ticking noise even when placing my ear against the fan grille. I am thinking the differences in noise might've been due to apple using different suppliers for the fan (and variation between them) or slightly crap QC allowing noisier fans to slip through.

Edit: Apologies I skipped past the fact that you only hear it during sleep or turned off. Yes I hear strange ticking noise on mine too in that state but it became much less noticeable after moving it to a different power socket and using a new surge protected power board in the house (not sure if the wiring in the house or fluctuations in the wider electrical grid supplying my house could be causing something in the iMac's PSU to make these odd noises). Maybe if there are any electrical engineers out there they could provide a more educated guess

 

[AAPLGeek]

Hi there.

I own both a 2019 27 iMac and a 2020 27 iMac in my household. The 2019 iMac has the exact same ticking noise you describe ever since I purchased it brand new 5 years ago but it hasn't gotten worse. I remember being a bit irritated it, but was more irritated by the thought of lugging it back to Apple for them to likely give me the run around for an issue that is not major and possibly stuffing something else up in the process.

I have since gotten used to it and it is only when the room is dead silent that I can hear the ticking (or if I put my ear against the fan grille). There were a few threads years back with other people complaining about the ticking noise but some people stating their iMac was totally quiet.

The 2020 iMac is definitely quieter and doesn't seem to have any ticking noise even when placing my ear against the fan grille. I am thinking the differences in noise might've been due to apple using different suppliers for the fan (and variation between them) or slightly crap QC allowing noisier fans to slip through.

Thanks for replying. Just to confirm you hear this noise when the machine is asleep or powered off? Because for me, it goes away when the machine is active.

Could you do a simple test? Put the machine to sleep with no thunderbolt peripherals connected and check if you hear any ticking noise putting your ear right above the USB ports.

To me it seems to be coming from the PSU as the fan is obviously off in the sleep and powered off state.

 

[AAPLGeek]

Edit: Apologies I skipped past the fact that you only hear it during sleep or turned off. Yes I hear strange ticking noise on mine too in that state but it became much less noticeable after moving it to a different power socket and using a new surge protected power board in the house (not sure if the wiring in the house or fluctuations in the wider electrical grid supplying my house could be causing something in the iMac's PSU to make these odd noises). Maybe if there are any electrical engineers out there they could provide a more educated guess

For me it's audible with or without the surge protector, but only when I put my ear to the back of the machine in a totally silent room.

It's particularly odd to me how the frequency of this noise varies between the sleep and power off state. During sleep, it's like 2x the frequency of the ticking noise in the powered off state.

 

[JacobHarvey]

Ok I've listened more carefully to each iMac in a silent environment, and the ticking sound I remember is much less prominent but still present on the 2019 model when it is asleep (but the fan ticking noise when it is running is still clearly there). The 2020 just seems to have a rapid squeaking noise somewhat like very slight coil whine when it is sleeping (or turned off but still connected to power).

However, these noises (when the machines are turned off or in sleep mode) are very difficult to hear (I need to really put my ear close to the back of each iMac to hear it) compared to the fan noise I hear on the 2019 when it is running (regardless of whether it is idling or actually doing something)

 

[AAPLGeek]

Ok I've listened more carefully to each iMac in a silent environment, and the ticking sound I remember is much less prominent but still present on the 2019 model when it is asleep (but the fan ticking noise when it is running is still clearly there). The 2020 just seems to have a rapid squeaking noise somewhat like very slight coil whine when it is sleeping (or turned off but still connected to power).

However, these noises (when the machines are turned off or in sleep mode) are very difficult to hear (I need to really put my ear close to the back of each iMac to hear it) compared to the fan noise I hear on the 2019 when it is running (regardless of whether it is idling or actually doing something)

Thank you for testing it out again. On my unit it's pretty easy to hear in silence and sounds distinctly like a clock ticking inside the iMac. I also don't hear any other squeaking noise or coil whine.