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Mac Studio Max - it's not that quiet

vddobrev said:
All you people that are returning the Mac Studio, make sure to give feedback to Apple why you are returning it, i.e. tell them that you could not tolerate the noise emitted by the computer.
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When I returned mine the employee asked me if it had an issues. I explained the situation to them and they responded saying that they had “gotten a few of these now.”

petvas said:
I have the Mac Studio with the M1 Max and I hear nothing, even when my room is quiet. Maybe I am not that sensitive, but I guess someone could be annoyed by any sounds if he/she would be looking for them..
Returning the Mac Studio because of that is pretty ridiculous, unless of course it points to a defect (which I doubt).
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It’s not ridiculous if you notice it in normal use. I think people that get new devices and hide in a pitch black closet and crank the screen brightness to max to check the corners for uneven lighting are ridiculous. I merely used my Mac Studio in the same context as I used my iMac and noticed there was constantly a low hum. When I had my fan on it went away but then I noticed occasional whine. I have it 14 days and I was still noticing it and it was an objectively worse attritube to the computer it was replacing. This made me sad because I loved the Studio.
 
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Traverse said:
When I returned mine the employee asked me if it had an issues. I explained the situation to them and they responded saying that they had “gotten a few of these now.”



It’s not ridiculous if you notice it in normal use. I think people that get new devices and hide in a pitch black closet and crank the screen brightness to max to check the corners for uneven lighting are ridiculous. I merely used my Mac Studio in the same context as I used my iMac and noticed there was constantly a low hum. When I had my fan on it went away but then I noticed occasional whine. I have it 14 days and I was still noticing it and it was an objectively worse attritube to the computer it was replacing. This made me sad because I loved the Studio.
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Interesting how some can view returning an item you're unhappy with as ridiculous.

IMO, if you're not happy with the item, then you have the right to return it. Easy as that.

If there are issues with fan noise, I would hope that Apple would recognize the issue, correct, and make it right.
 
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Apples Apples Everywhere said:
Having said that, I can live with the annoying high pitched albeit quiet sound its making now.
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That’s what is so hard to explain on these forums (and people seem to be defensive). The Mac Studio was not “loud.” The fans were always running in a fashion that reminded me of my old MacBook Pro under load. Annoying, but not “loud.” The pitch also was high, but not “loud.” I couldn’t hear it from another room of course, but when at my desk I noticed both a a low, but ever-present ambient sound. I did not have this with my 2017 iMac so it was a downgrade in that regard.

[maven] said:
There are no "dead silent" Mac Studios.
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So much this. I’m so tired of seeing people post “mine is dead silent” or “mine makes no noise whatsoever.” I’m assuming there are units that do not make that high-pitched sound, but there are no “silent” Mac Studios as they ALL have 1,300 RPM fans which Apple even says are 15 db. You just can’t hear it based on your setting and personal biology which is totally fine. But there are no “silent“ and “non silent” models
 
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Apple2GS said:
Has any Mac Studio developed the high pitched whine after running for a few days? Or has it always been from day 1 and never develops over time?
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I only noticed the fans at first. About a week into ownership I noticed a high-pitched wine until I turned my head. Took me a bit to realize it was the Studio. When the Studio was put to sleep the sound stopped.
 
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Traverse said:
I never thought the country made a difference. Given how many variables there are in office surroundings and individual‘s hearing it’s hard to gauge whether this is a design issue, a variance issue, or a software optimization issue. I considered keeping it and maybe trying to exchange it under Apple Care in the future but I really HATE the hassle of returning items and if it turns out this is never “fixed” and it’s just a lottery I don’t want buy and return until I find a good unit. That is uncomfortable and wasteful to me.



It’s the fans. I listed carefully as I put the computer to sleep and woke it up. It makes a very loud wine as the fans start up (which is fine) but then the whine comes back randomly. It must be something in the fan motor or dampening.



It may just be puffing, but the Apple Store contact asked me why I was returning it and I explained the issue briefly and they responded “that interesting, we’ve gotten a few of these now. Not sure what’s going on.“
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Totally, I am 100% with you on that, it is a lot of wasted time. The problem is, I just need a machine urgently...

Maybe your story from the store is a good sign. If they know, the issue might seem to be prevalent enough that they address it soon somehow.
 
BSPBSP said:
Totally, I am 100% with you on that, it is a lot of wasted time. The problem is, I just need a machine urgently...

Maybe your story from the store is a good sign. If they know, the issue might seem to be prevalent enough that they address it soon somehow.
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I feel like the lucky Mac Studios not making the high pitched noise at first will develop it later on. It’s a huge bummer.
 
Apples Apples Everywhere said:
Oh sorry for the bad vibes. I’m just trying to figure out where do I go from here, having an annoying sound coming from my Mac Studio. Still mulling….
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I guess many of us are... If I get a similarity specced MBP, it will be almost $1K more and I would be almost wasting a beautiful Display in clamshell mode. Not ideal at all. Right now I am almost willing to take the exchange lottery and just feed into the attention hoping that it is addressed soon...
 
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BSPBSP said:
I guess many of us are... If I get a similarity specced MBP, it will be almost $1K more and I would be almost wasting a beautiful Display in clamshell mode. Not ideal at all. Right now I am almost willing to take the exchange lottery and just feed into the attention hoping that it is addressed soon...
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I guess I would be OK with paying more but my setup uses Quad 4K over display port which only the Mac Studio and the Mac Pro actually support.
 
mac1984 said:
I wonder if Apple will eventually come out with an update to reduce the fan speeds lower at idle time.
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The only concern with that is when I used iStat Menus To lower the fan speed the high-pitched whine became worse. I have no proof of this theory, but it makes me wonder if Apple partially chose that RPM intentionally because it was the optimal speed to hide it
 
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BSPBSP said:
I guess many of us are... If I get a similarity specced MBP, it will be almost $1K more and I would be almost wasting a beautiful Display in clamshell mode. Not ideal at all. Right now I am almost willing to take the exchange lottery and just feed into the attention hoping that it is addressed soon...
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Is clamshell mode reliable now? Last time I tried it wasn't so hot.
 
Traverse said:
The only concern with that is when I used iStat Menus To lower the fan speed the high-pitched whine became worse. I have no proof of this theory, but it makes me wonder if Apple partially chose that RPM intentionally because it was the optimal speed to hide it
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I think that might be the only reason.

Still does not make sense.

Engineering team obviously knows the the cpu temperature (or the entirety unit) does not make a difference with either 1100 or 1300 . It’s very likely unit was designed to be running at the almost silent 1100.

They properly found out the coil noise last minute but unit must ship. So…
 
Apples Apples Everywhere said:
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….
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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.
 
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BSPBSP said:
Same route I was considering, actually configured one last night just to see the delivery date...
Just to confirm, the 16 inch MPB turns the fans off while idle, but the 14 inch runs them constantly as well, do I remember that correctly?
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I got a MacBook Pro 14" today and the only model they had in stock was the fully loaded M1 Mac 32-Core version which would run the hottest. The entire setup and normal usage the fans never even turned on. When running Geekbench earlier (clamshell connected to Studio Display) they came on at 2400 RPM and have remained on, but it is inaudible to me.

It's sitting in the same spot as the Studio was about 2.5-3 feet away from me. I put my ear up to the back vent about 1" away and I can feel and hear a slight airflow, but when I work in a normal position I can not hear it and the until is barely warm to the touch (I will say the Studio was always cool to the touch, but I'd expect that given the fan discussion - ha!)

Up until that, even when in clamshell to the Studio Display the fans were off. Personally I'm fine with them running at an inaudible 2400 RPM to keep the unit in the low to mid 40s Celsius.
 
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Traverse said:
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.
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Thanks for the great info! Putting my money where my mouth is, there is *no way* I can pay so much for a clearly screwed up Mac Studio product even if I can mitigate/tolerate the noise. No offense to those who disagree. I have a feeling I’ll sell or trade the Macbook Pro in once the next Mac Pro comes out. I ordered a USB4 hub as well, availability was a little rough.
 
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Traverse said:
I got a MacBook Pro 14" today and the only model they had in stock was the fully loaded M1 Mac 32-Core version which would run the hottest. The entire setup and normal usage the fans never even turned on. When running Geekbench earlier (clamshell connected to Studio Display) they came on at 2400 RPM and have remained on, but it is inaudible to me.
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It hadn’t occurred to me that non-base-model items would be in stock. I canceled the base 16 and got a loaded 14 instead. Thanks Traverse!

Regarding who needs what, my use case needs quad 4K displays. Which sadly works great on a 10 year old Windows computer but low end Macs just won’t do that.
 
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Here you can find the official technical specs for the Mac Studio: https://support.apple.com/kb/SP865?locale=en_US
15dB from the operator position is what Apple is saying for idle and wireless web surfing.

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