Tomorrow I’ll return the squeaking Mac Studio and pickup a MacBook Pro 16 M1 Max. Apple may or may not fix this problem at some point but I’ll never know….
While you're paying a premium for things you didn't really need (display, built in keyboard, etc) - I can say the current iteration of MacBook Pros are
really nice. I picked up a a 14" MacBook Pro and had to get a fully specced version or what 1.5 months. I'm using it in clamshell mode with my Studio Display and it's just as fast as the Mac Studio in general us and utterly silent. The fans are off most of the time (even with the 32-Core M1 Max) and when they do turn on (around 2500 RPM) they are not audible in my silent office at normal working posture.
I was worried about heat, but the unit is barely warm to the touch. Not outright cool like the Studio, but I'll take a bit of warmth for silence.
---
Sidenote: when I was agonizing over whether to return my Studio I reread this thread and a few of the others here and there are several users claiming that "this is a workstation system; it will have fan noise" or "if you wanted silence you don't need a system this powerful" and I just want to go on record as saying I don't agree with that logic.
- I feel like many users on this forum are used to, and fine with, fan noise such as the Mac Pro or MacBook Pro which is a very low tone that fades in the background. The Studio has a much higher pitched fan even ignoring the whine some units have.
- Also, I feel like most tech enthusiasts like us on this site understand that fans are important. I don't think twice about fan noise when my system is under load. The point was when idle or doing basic tasks there was no reason that the Mac Studio should have been clearly audible with a sizable amount of air being pushed out the back. The M1 Max does not need that much cooling when not under load and the PSU was pulling in a solid 11w in low times on my system which would have benefit from very slight cooling.
I love love loved the Studio, but something is off about it (and yes I know many people on here can't perceive it, it's fine). Unless Apple truly decided to make a system that idled at a single fan speed under all scenarios Max and Ultra, there's no reason I can think off as to why the Studio's cooling is the way it is. The M1 Max is not overclocked and the system is chillin' at 30-35 degrees Celsius. If it was a software bug I feel like Apple PR would have mentioned something given that this has come up in a few outlets. Either they simply designed it this way, it's a hardware/software flaw, or they artificially set the RPM high for some reason (though I won't go so far as to say they did it to hide a known frequency defect in the fans).
Perhaps it'll get a silent revision at some point.
