Mac Studio 2023 fan noise - It's significantly quieter than the previous gen! Base fan speed lowered from 1300RPM to 1000RPM. Still whines a little

[hoodlum90]

This is from a review.

Apple’s Mac studio just got an upgrade, but does it beat last year’s version?

We put the new machine through its paces to find out whether it managed to sustain the hype and speed

www.independent.co.uk

There is however one important change to last year’s version. The Mac studio that we reviewed last year had a slightly audible whirr, which was not annoying but equally not entirely ignorable. Reports after the release indicated that our unit was not alone – although not every Mac studio was affected.

This year’s Mac studio appears to have avoided this problem, at least in our case. The fans have been altered slightly to make them less audible, and the unit that Apple sent this time around is practically silent.

 

[pransu]

Starting at 4:48 mark, he started talking about the fan noise and he said he did not hear anything. That's the first YT review that I can find about fan noise on M2 Studio so far. Hopefully we can get more feedback this coming weeks.

 

[Sharky II]

Fan noise talk here @ about 12mins. He says that he can NOW hear the fans (vs his M1 Ultra?) - and while he doesn't mention it, you can actually hear the whine when he turns the mic up!

 

[Nismo73]

What is he saying when he puts his ear to it?

 

[AdamSeen]

Fan noise talk here @ about 12mins. He says that he can NOW hear the fans (vs his M1 Ultra?) - and while he doesn't mention it, you can actually hear the whine when he turns the mic up!

That is slightly worrying, and yes that’s the whine sound for anyone who doesn’t know what the whine sounds like. It doesn’t make a lot of sense though, the new studio should be a lot quieter.

What is he saying when he puts his ear to it?

He’s saying his very happy with the fan noise, especially since he’s a terrible fusspot about them.

 

[edubfromktown]

Plenty of people had no whine, so it sounds more like a quality control thing than some intractable design fault.

Yes.

Got my 2022 base max a week after release and it still runs (just as) super quiet.

 

[AdamSeen]

Fan noise talk here @ about 12mins. He says that he can NOW hear the fans (vs his M1 Ultra?) - and while he doesn't mention it, you can actually hear the whine when he turns the mic up!

After watching the video, it makes more sense now. He's running topaz video and that’s what’s making the fans spin on the ultra.

 

[AdamSeen]

On another note, watching the YouTube videos it is clear that the state of tech reviewing is atrocious nowadays. Everything is just pure heuristics to them and they’ve got no idea how to utilise the compute. It’s like they can’t read a spec sheet, understand what the hardware is… does anyone run a channel where they cover things that isn’t just loads of panning on nice cameras and talking about video production? Someone who can actually push computers to their limits deterministically and make a decent analysis on it?

 

[Freida]

Well, most of them are all about video and video editing. Not useful at all as people from VFX, Music production, Math, Science etc. have different needs than stupid video editing. Its very hard to get a good review and all these clown offer is pretty much nothing. So disconnected and often their clickbait thumbs are so idiotic that its pure insult to most people. Look at Max Tech videos - he blatantly lies in most of his thumbnails and treats the audience like bunch of (insert THE word here).

On another note, watching the YouTube videos it is clear that the state of tech reviewing is atrocious nowadays. Everything is just pure heuristics to them and they’ve got no idea how to utilise the compute. It’s like they can’t read a spec sheet, understand what the hardware is… does anyone run a channel where they cover things that isn’t just loads of panning on nice cameras and talking about video production? Someone who can actually push computers to their limits deterministically and make a decent analysis on it?

 

[fromgophonetoiphone]

On another note, watching the YouTube videos it is clear that the state of tech reviewing is atrocious nowadays. Everything is just pure heuristics to them and they’ve got no idea how to utilise the compute. It’s like they can’t read a spec sheet, understand what the hardware is… does anyone run a channel where they cover things that isn’t just loads of panning on nice cameras and talking about video production? Someone who can actually push computers to their limits deterministically and make a decent analysis on it?

It's simply not profitable to do these kind of MKBHD-like reviews. Anandtech is practically dead these days.

 

[Sharky II]

After watching the video, it makes more sense now. He's running topaz video and that’s what’s making the fans spin on the ultra.

Doesn't really help with the whine, though.

I wouldn't be surprised if the sound was exactly the same on the M2 Studio and simply 'measured differently'

 

[Traverse]

If you listen to the Upgrade podcast Jason Snell stated that Apple confirmed to him that they refined the cooling design and he comments that it is indeed quieter.

 

[Velin]

Well, most of them are all about video and video editing. Not useful at all as people from VFX, Music production, Math, Science etc. have different needs than stupid video editing. Its very hard to get a good review and all these clown offer is pretty much nothing. So disconnected and often their clickbait thumbs are so idiotic that its pure insult to most people. Look at Max Tech videos - he blatantly lies in most of his thumbnails and treats the audience like bunch of (insert THE word here).

Agree. 99% of these lame uTube reviews are about whether their new Mac box can make more uTube videos. I hate these reviews, because these zero-effort eight minute adverts could be vomited up using a PowerMac G4 and iMovie from 1999.

Very little about other real-world use cases. Zero analysis of I/O — yet things like the new HDMI 2.1 port and the Thunderbolt / USB-c ports are critically important to many of us. Give us some damn port tests! Wifi, hello, is it working, how well, etc. Or, how about comparing the M2 GPU/unified memory against a standalone card with VRAM? Instead we get crickets. It takes months and months to get anything useful other than “I bought a new Studio.” Worthless.

 

[fromgophonetoiphone]

Plenty of people had no whine, so it sounds more like a quality control thing than some intractable design fault.

That may be but the specs changed for better acoustic performance, more in line with the Mac Mini. We can talk about perception all we want because maybe some are totally fine with the M1 Mac Studio. It may be quieter than previous PCs or old MacBooks that they used to use.

 

[Ashenoa]

Yes.

Got my 2022 base max a week after release and it still runs (just as) super quiet.

No it is not. It is a fault, an error in design, confirmed by apple technician to me. You just cannot hear it.

 

[Adult80HD]

No it is not. It is a fault, an error in design, confirmed by apple technician to me. You just cannot hear it.

Sorry, no. I have three. Only one of them makes the whine, and only occasionally. The other two are silent, all of the time. It does not effect every Studio.

 

[jmho]

I sent my M1 Ultra Studio back because of the noise and then posted like several hundred posts in the whine thread arguing with everyone who said that the whine isn't real.

I just received my M2 Ultra Studio and I can confirm that it's basically silent. Hooray!

 

[Ashenoa]

Yes.

Got my 2022 base max a week after release and it still runs (just as) super quiet.

No it is not. It is a fault, an error in design, confirmed by apple technician to me. You just cannot hear it.

Sorry, no. I have three. Only one of them makes the whine, and only occasionally. The other two are silent, all of the time. It does not effect every Studio.

well.
It could depend on your placement or the occasion. Mine is silent most of the time. The whine just happens randomly and only in a very silent room.

I gathered so many reports and people who installed 100s of Mac Studio said that EVERY studio they touched had the whine in the end.
Mine was for repairs at Apple and they confirmed it being there but within parameters. So...maybe there are slight variations in production lines etc. but IT IS A MAJOR ISSUE and if it is fixed in further models, I am happy. Silly me bought a first edition, so my crying is not too loud

 

[Feek]

You just cannot hear it.

*sigh*

You'll say the same to me then, right? My Mac Studio Ultra has no whine, no whistle, nothing. I can just about hear the fans but they're muted to the level of being effectively inaudible by mounting it under my desk but it does not exhibit the 2.1-2.4kHz sound that others are complaining about. To suggest it does make the sound but I can't hear it is frankly insulting.

 

[Ashenoa]

*sigh*

You'll say the same to me then, right? My Mac Studio Ultra has no whine, no whistle, nothing. I can just about hear the fans but they're muted to the level of being effectively inaudible by mounting it under my desk but it does not exhibit the 2.1-2.4kHz sound that others are complaining about. To suggest it does make the sound but I can't hear it is frankly insulting.

Read my other comment, above.
It is not insulting. I have a tinnitus from DJaying and have hearing issues when loud noises are around me. Under the desk is wise, the further way it is the better. You managed to control the fan noise to nearly zero...so..you made a wise decision with the mounting. Nevertheless: Put any studio on a table and work with it for 1 Week and tell me there is no whine again.

 

[Feek]

Nevertheless: Put any studio on a table and work with it for 1 Week and tell me there is no whine again.

I had the Studio on my desk for a couple of months before I mounted it under the desk.

It does not make a whistle/whine.

I have listened to videos people have posted which include the sound and I can hear it. Mine does not make that sound.

It is not insulting.

Yes it is. I've told you something and you're telling me that I'm wrong. That's insulting.

It is a fact that my Mac Studio does not make the whine/whistle that others do. Mine isn't the only one, you can see that by reading other threads in this forum or are you basically calling us all liars?

 

[novagamer]

I had the Studio on my desk for a couple of months before I mounted it under the desk.

It does not make a whistle/whine.

I have listened to videos people have posted which include the sound and I can hear it. Mine does not make that sound.


Yes it is. I've told you something and you're telling me that I'm wrong. That's insulting.

It is a fact that my Mac Studio does not make the whine/whistle that others do. Mine isn't the only one, you can see that by reading other threads in this forum or are you basically calling us all liars?

Fan noise and coil whine are 2 distinct things. The M1 Studio exhibited both to varying degrees. I expect 2/3 of this forum to not be able to even hear the coil whine because their ears are too damaged. Without professional equipment you don't really "know" if it's there or not, unless you have been to an audiologist recently AND happen to be running a task which makes the machine exhibit the coil whine.

The fan noise can be dealt with effectively by putting it father away. The coil whine bounces around all over the place and is usually task-dependent, and again aging or damaged ears won't be able to hear it, it's much higher than 2-3khz typically. This is why anecdotal experience isn't really valid, but it is totally valid that it doesn't affect you at all, whether it's because yours doesn't exhibit the issue or because you can't physically hear it. You'd need a spectrum analyzer and high-quality recording equipment to really tell and that's just not practical - if it doesn't bother you that's awesome and it's kind of irrelevant whether you have the problem or not, if it doesn't affect you it isn't a problem after all

Then you get into personal tolerances too, some people can hear it and don't care because it's mild. Some people are driven mad especially in quiet environments. I wouldn't take it as a personal insult.

Regardless, I am glad to read the M2 is meeting the needs sonically for more people this time that had issues the first time, that's really good news and I'd like to get one if it pencils out financially for me.

 

[AdamSeen]

From what we've seen, it does seem likely the whine is still there for some units (you can hear it in this video):

However, it will most likely only happen once the machine is being revved up rather than all the time. Not ideal, but I could live with that.

 

[jmho]

From what we've seen, it does seem likely the whine is still there for some units (you can hear it in this video):

However, it will most likely only happen once the machine is being revved up rather than all the time. Not ideal, but I could live with that.

Yeah, the M2 definitely still has the same high pitched "metallic" sound-profile as the M1 when the fans are going.

Fortunately it seems pretty tough to get the fans going so I don't really care.

When I'm actually doing work I'll probably have music on. The dealbreaker with the M1 was that I'd be reading documentation or browsing the internet late at night and have to hear EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE all the time.

Right now I'm installing macOS Sonoma and I can hear my light bulbs more than I can hear the studio.

 

[Sharky II]

Yes, with my M1 Studio about 2 meters away, I can hear the LED bulbs in the room and my 30" ACD CCFLs whine when not at full brightness over the Mac Studio - and I can't hear/notice any difference in ambient sound when the Mac Studio when it turns off! I can hear the slight hiss from my studio monitors over the Mac Studio, too.

I was actually googling 'LED bulbs that don't whine' as I have lots of small lamps in the room and one of two of them seem to make some noise.

I haven't tried running at a lower fan speed but curious about affects on dust (and temps)