Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
i have a 27" i7 also and I think it is one of the fans. its on a wooden desk and I havent tried putting a towel or mousepad underneath it or anything. it's sort of an oscillating, low pitch noise, that will get louder and softer, continually. i'm going to hold out and live with it for a while, once the i7's are more widely available, and I have the time to deal with replacing it if necessary
 
once the i7's are more widely available, and I have the time to deal with replacing it if necessary

But then you risk being outside the 14 day policy and are at the mercy of Applecare and the Genius bar. Why not make it right the first time?
 
well what if the replacement has dust under the screen, or the screen flickering problem, or the performance issue, or the same noise issue, or any host of other issues people are reporting with these. besides, what if I just give them a few months, let them work all the bugs out, then raise my issue and I will have a legitimate reason for them to update me with the latest hardware.

i dont know, we'll see. i'm going to think about it. i may give them a call today and see what they can do for me cause i can't be without a computer
 
what if I just give them a few months, let them work all the bugs out, then raise my issue and I will have a legitimate reason for them to update me with the latest hardware.

To be honest a humming noise is very subjective and you might get a genius or manager who doesn't hear it or think it is well within specs...etc. The least you should do, and I mean the absolute least you should do is call Applecare and raise the issue so that you start a case. That way if you do decide to wait it out, which I would not recommend, you can say "Hey this issue started when I first had it however it has only gotten worse and more annoying." Rather than pop out of the wood work a month or two down the line with something they might consider a benign issue.

Regarding dust under the screen or flickering screen, there are many more that haven't had any issues what so ever. So odds are that the new computer would be fine. However in the rare case there is an issue with the 2nd computer, just send that back as well. Obviously you don't seem to want to do that but at least it leaves you in the 14day windown where you have the most power as an Apple customer. After this you are at the mercy of Applecare and the local genius.
 
Listening to all the suggestions, I decided to change it. I really can't stand this constant vroom.

The phone support suggested an immediate swap after hearing the issue. So I'm now having a new i7 built for me - delivery first week of December...
 
While waiting for the replacement to ship, I Super-dupered my OS to an external drive, booted from it and un-mounted my internal 2TB. The machine turned into a dream. So quiet. Now I know what "dead quiet" means :)

The geekbench score fell from 8.400 (using the roaring internal monster) to 7.800 (with an external Transcend 320 GB). Not too bad.

Made me really think about ripping that glass off and plugging in a 256 GIG SSD internal drive (e.g. the 'reasonably priced' Crucial one)... but - still chickening out. Knowing me, I'm sure to inflict some irreparable damage.
 
i think realy someone should explain to apple that they produced already a silent computer before , the iMac g3 slot loader , i fitted a wd harddrive in it and its a quiet as a computer can get
so as apple was a bit advanced compare to pc`s back then , why not making the next iMac also fanless design with a big ssd drive from start , i mean where fans are there will always be noise , and a screen big as 27" some people dont even have tv`s of that size, should have enough room behind to cool the processor without fans
 
i think realy someone should explain to apple that they produced already a silent computer before , the iMac g3 slot loader , i fitted a wd harddrive in it and its a quiet as a computer can get
so as apple was a bit advanced compare to pc`s back then , why not making the next iMac also fanless design with a big ssd drive from start , i mean where fans are there will always be noise , and a screen big as 27" some people dont even have tv`s of that size, should have enough room behind to cool the processor without fans

There are certain things beyond Apple's control such as modern high capacity hard drives which due to their nature will make a certain amount of noise and vibration. The alternative is an SSD as you say, but that would only really be of interest to a small minority of owners since SSDs are low capacity and need to be supplemented with an external hard drive.

The 27" iMac is absolutely silent with an SSD installed, it's most likely the HDD causing vibration and noise issues.
 
ssd drives have low capacity ?
the newest one BiTMICRO'has build is a ssd flashdrive with 6.5 tb capacity ,
tb stands for terabyte ,i would not talk about low capacity there ;)
ok it costs a bit more then a normal hdd ,even if they would produce it for the public
look at the spec
bitmicro-6-5-tb,W-S-154108-1.png

but maybe if apple would order several hundred thousands of it ...it would become affordable ..sort of :D
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.