I saw several reports of manufacturing defects on the 2021 MacBook Pros on MacRumors but there were usually far more that said that theirs were perfect. So maybe a manufacturing or assembly defect. It happens. Especially given the current environment in China. So you bring it into the store, they fix it and you're made whole. If I had an issue, I'd just bring it in expecting it to be repaired. It's happened in the past, though not in five years.
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Mac Studio Max - it's not that quiet
- Thread starter sixers22
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I saw several reports of manufacturing defects on the 2021 MacBook Pros on MacRumors but there were usually far more that said that theirs were perfect. So maybe a manufacturing or assembly defect. It happens. Especially given the current environment in China. So you bring it into the store, they fix it and you're made whole. If I had an issue, I'd just bring it in expecting it to be repaired. It's happened in the past, though not in five years.
This is very puzzling. Quite a few people are reporting noise with the Mac Studio, but at the same time equal number are reporting quiet. It must be a manufacturing problem.
Got my ultra today and so far it's extremely quiet. Have to put my ear right next to the back to even hear the fans then as I pull away once I get back over the top of the device don't hear a thing!
Mine arrived today. I noticed the high pitch whine immediately after I turned it on. I was not expecting this. It's really disappointing. It's the kind of noise that would drive me crazy. I can't really hear the fans without getting close to the back, but this noise is easily heard from my normal seating position. Back it goes.
This is a Max. Is the sound showing up in Ultras as well?
This is a Max. Is the sound showing up in Ultras as well?
I returned an M1 Max Studio because of the high pitched wine sound. It was giving me headaches. Also the studio is picky with monitors. I had to use HDMI on my LG monitor since using a USB-C to Display port cable didn't work all too well for me.
I ended up ordering an M1 iMac and am loving it so far. Everything runs so fast and its completely silent.
I understand that everyone is busy but I'd love it if someone took one of these into the Apple Store to debug it, fix it, and then fix the problem in the factory. It could be bad bearings, something in the airflow on the bottom or the exhaust or even something sticking in the way of the intake or exhaust that's easily fixed.
I took mine to the Apple store before returning it. But, they didn't really have much to work with on a computer that new (including not having the tools to open it).
When the case was entered, it was flagged for capture, so they would have ordered me a replacement. The senior advisor I spoke with (the store directed me to call main support to see if they had any ideas other than what they could do) said that a replacement like that comes from a different queue, so it wouldn't be the back of the line like a new order, but the supply chain realities would likely impact it.
Ultimately, I returned it for a MBP14 with the same specs, so I could get back to work (it's been great; more fan noise under load, but silent otherwise and no whine). But, I did provide that senior advisor a recording of the sound and a spectral graph of that audio file.
Well, you did all that could be expected.
I suspect that Vadim at Max Tech could find the source of it but it would cost $2,000 - $4,000 to get one to tear down.
If you mean for the channel to tear one down that exhibits a whine, someone who doesn't need a replacement Studio right away could try to get Max Tech to buy it at retail for investigation. Pretty sure the channel can afford it
They already did tear down a Max and an Ultra.If you mean for the channel to tear one down that exhibits a whine, someone who doesn't need a replacement Studio right away could try to get Max Tech to buy it at retail for investigation. Pretty sure the channel can afford it
That teardown was insane. Imagine not being able to put it back together again. One small fear that I have whenever I take a Mac apart. Just keeping track of the screws, tape and other stuff is a worry. It helps that they are doing video of everything so that they can see how they did it when they go to put it back together again.
But I'm sure that they have the money given that they can buy five of them at a time.
I'm glad they do that and not me! I have taken apart an old MacBook Pro to swap out the CD-ROM drive – remember those?? – for a hard drive back when the battery was replaceable but even then it was nerve wracking and nowhere as complicated.
I had a bunch of paper cups and put the various sized screws in separate cups. I replaced the HDD with an SSD on a 2008 MacBook Pro 17 and did a few other things to it. I haven't worked on Macs since around 2015. I would work on a mini, though. We have a 2018 and I would like to add RAM to it. I've heard that the difficulty is moderate. I would like to put an SSD in my 2010 iMac but there's no hurry.
The fact is people who have a problem or perceived problem are about 8 times more likely to complain then someone who is having no issues talking about how quiet their computer is, so I doubt that half the people who have purchased the Studio are having noise problem, more than likely it is a very small percentage of people who are having issues, but they are a very vocal minority.
Ya but I have had 3 and they all exhibit the high frequency noise. I think it’s more likely the noise floor for others in their environment may be covering up the higher then normal frequency being exhausted out of the back. And as with anything, once you hear it, there is no unhearing it.
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Nope. Some simply don't have it. Just look at the spectrum analysis. Nothing there.
Then that would lead me to believe it’s a power supply lottery and with the new 10 random security serial numbers there is no way of knowing if you are getting a later build revision or not.
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We have 2 different power supplies being used in the Max Studio, and also in the Ultra Studio's. I doubt all the supplies of one type have the problem or the number of complaints should have been higher. But if its a batch problem in one of the supplies it could explain why someone might get a couple "bad ones" in a row if they were shipped using the same batch of supplies.
3 effected ones over the course of 1 month would be A. Either extremely bad luck or B. More widespread then people think.
the way to tell is to use an RTA or spectrum analyzer to confirm the whine isn't your tinnitus.
i was beginning to think mine was afflicted until i realized i was 'hearing' it in impossible locations like inside my car in the garage. it was my mild tinnitus which i had learned to tune out. confirmed by measurement using my RTA there was no tone.
I am very skeptical of all of these brand new members on here with usernames like "Wind2022" or "Fan Gate" that are trying to push the idea that the Mac Studio is loud. It is making people that otherwise would never even think about the minor fan sounds listen so closely that they are convincing themselves that it is too loud. They are also making potential new Mac Studio buyers worried and making them second guess or not buy at all. I would not be surprised if this is a corporate espionage campaign by an Apple competitor. It wouldn't be the first time. My Mac Studio is the quietest computer I have ever owned. Every audio clip I hear sounds like boosted fan noise to make it sound bad. I am sick and tired of these forums being used as disinformation campaigns by "users" with ulterior motives.
I would say now that I'm on my 3rd unit I have never described the high pitched noise as being loud. I do feel like the fans can without a doubt be heard with he Mac Studio right in front of you and running in the mid 1300 RPMs. The high pitch noise emitted is not loud either. It can be somewhat annoying at times. As for it being my quietest Mac ever I'd say no way in hell. Here are ALL the Macs I've owned that I would say run more quiet. Just my opinion. You'll notice they all run hotter chips and they were all quieter IMHO. * denotes exceptionally quiet. For the record the Mac Studio is still the best value especially if you need 32GB + of memory. This represents at idle nothing else going on and where placement of Mac and it's most logical placement for the Macs footprint.
PowerMac 7300/180 1997
iMac 1998
iBook Blueberry 1999/iBook Tangerine 1999
PowerMac G3 1999
PowerMac G4 1999
PowerBook G3 FireWire Pismo
iMac DV SE 2000
PowerMac G4 Cube 2000 *
PowerBook G4 Ti 2001
PowerMac G4 Quicksilver 2001
PowerBook G4 17” 2003
PowerMac G5 2003
Mac Mini 2005
iMac G5 17” 2005
iMac 24” 2006
Mac Pro 2006
MacBook Pro 17” 2011
iMac 27” late 2012
iMac 27” Mid 2017
iMac M1 Silver 24” *
MacBook Pro M1 Pro 2021 *
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I had a few of those, and the Quicksilver was definitely louder at idle.
I had a beige PowerPC 8500 before the Quicksilver, and that was also loud at idle.
My MacBook Pro 2011 17” wasn’t quiet, especially if you launched an app, which was usually all it took to get the fans to start ramping up.
i had a iMac 2013 27” (the last one with an NVIDIA GPU), and that one was quieter than the Mac Studio at idle, but rendering videos or scrubbing too quickly in a complex timeline could get the fans going.
At one studio I worked at I had a 2013 Mac Pro, but I couldn’t tell you how loud it was over the constant fan noise from the Power Mac G5 running the raids at the other end of the studio.
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