Mac Studio Max - it's not that quiet

[lcubed]

diagnostics? details please

 

[saulinpa]

Diagnostic: Hold the power button down on boot. Then hold Command (⌘)-D. https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202731 Near the end of the tests it ramps the fan up to max. I didn't think of getting my db meter out to measure.

 

[hugodrax]

Well the Mac Ultra uses Copper which offers a significant cooling capacity vs Aluminum.

 

[Diskutant]

A swiss youtuber says you ca hear the fan constantly, but it's very quiet.
With the micro near the fan you can hear it here: (it's a M1 Max with 64 RAM)

 

[F-Train]

Ultra silent. Max noise.

I guess I'll know soon enough. I just ordered an M1 Max and Apple is delivering it in the next couple of hours.

 

[Realityck]

Unfortunately, both are reviews of an Ultra model. While I don't wish a bad unit on anyone, I hope this isn't an "Ultra silent / Max noisy" situation. I guess we'll see as more people start receiving their units. I would sadly, pay the extra for the 48-GPU ultra if this does turn out to be the case.

Be interesting to find if the 2 pound heavier copper cooling with the Mac Studio w/M1 Ultra also makes it more quiet then the lighter aluminum cooling involved Mac Studio w/M1 Max?

 

[m1maverick]

this is the usual culprit.

Surely Spotlight indexing can't be that intensive that it would result in a noisy system.

 

[JEuro2285]

I guess I'll know soon enough. I just ordered an M1 Max and Apple is delivering it in the next couple of hours.

nice, let us know after you're setup bud

 

[weckart]

None of these YouTuber reviewers loaded a fan program just to see what the rpms are?

How would the fan programs know what the sensors are on a totally new product that hasn't hit the shops yet.

 

[Apple2GS]

Just got the base model Studio and I'm surprised that the fans are constantly running. Even with no applications started and the system idle. My 2018 Mac Mini and MacBook M1 Pro are silent without noticeable fans noise unless under heavy load.

Seems odd that a M1 in a laptop doesn't need the fans constantly running but a desktop does. Maybe a software update will change this behavior?

 

[Realityck]

How would the fan programs know what the sensors are on a totally new product that hasn't hit the shops yet.

I imagine macs fan control v1.5.11 would be accurate enough as it supports M1 MAX and the M1 Ultra is two of them.

 

[m1maverick]

Seems odd that a M1 in a laptop doesn't need the fans constantly running but a desktop does. Maybe a software update will change this behavior?

It's a new system, this is day one in customers hands. I wouldn't be surprised to see Apple address it.

 

[fisha]

Seems odd that a M1 in a laptop doesn't need the fans constantly running but a desktop does. Maybe a software update will change this behavior?

Yeah, but a Max looks about 8x the size of a base m1, and the ultra 16x the size ... The shell of the laptop might dissipate heat from the the small chip, but not 16x that amount ... hence a fan for a basic flow of air to take the heat away.

 

[Halbertus]

Unfortunately I seem to have the same experience as anyone else with their Mac Studio Max. I have been using it for about 2h and the fans are constantly audible. It is not terrible loud but clearly audible. Feels a lot like the Mac Pro 2013 or an iMac with spinning Hard drives.
For comparison I have used all of the following macs for several weeks. None was ever even noticeable.
- Mac mini m1
- MacBook Pro m1 Pro 16“
- MacBook Air m1

This is on the same level as my thrashcan Mac Pro.

Quiet Operation is very important to me. Got a little disappointed with the Mac studio so far

 

[m1maverick]

Unfortunately I seem to have the same experience as anyone else with their Mac Studio Max. I have been using it for about 2h and the fans are constantly audible. It is not terrible loud but clearly audible. Feels a lot like the Mac Pro 2013 or an iMac with spinning Hard drives.
For comparison I have used all of the following macs for several weeks. None was ever even noticeable.
- Mac mini m1
- MacBook Pro m1 Pro 16“
- MacBook Air m1

This is on the same level as my thrashcan Mac Pro.

Quiet Operation is very important to me. Got a little disappointed with the Mac studio so far

I have a 2013 Mac Pro (6 core, 16GB, D300 GPUs) and it is absolutely silent. I am surprised to read the number of comments from people who said the 2013 Mac Pro was noticeably audible.

 

[jasoncarle]

I am writing this on my Mac Studio Ultra, 64 Core GPU, 128GB mem, and 4TB SSD and it's dead silent.

 

[Mac Hammer Fan]

Unfortunately I seem to have the same experience as anyone else with their Mac Studio Max. I have been using it for about 2h and the fans are constantly audible. It is not terrible loud but clearly audible. Feels a lot like the Mac Pro 2013 or an iMac with spinning Hard drives.
For comparison I have used all of the following macs for several weeks. None was ever even noticeable.
- Mac mini m1
- MacBook Pro m1 Pro 16“
- MacBook Air m1

This is on the same level as my thrashcan Mac Pro.

Quiet Operation is very important to me. Got a little disappointed with the Mac studio so far

If there isn't thermal throttling on intensive tasks I don't care. The fan noise of my old Mac Pro 5,1 is definitely louder.

 

[ufomism]

If there isn't thermal throttling on intensive tasks I don't care. The fan noise of my old Mac Pro 5,1 is definitely louder.

I’m sure my 5,1 is louder but it sits on the floor under my desk… the Studio would be right in front of me.

 

[saulinpa]

I have a 2013 Mac Pro (6 core, 16GB, D300 GPUs) and it is absolutely silent. I am surprised to read the number of comments from people who said the 2013 Mac Pro was noticeably audible.

You need an app that uses the GPUs. Then the fan takes off.

 

[brerlappin]

Is it quieter than the 27" late-2014 retina iMac?

 

[AdamSeen]

Is it quieter than the 27" late-2014 retina iMac?

It is not: https://quietmac.netlify.app/ (2dB difference)

 

[Nismo73]

Oh no copper-gate.

 

[cmbarclay]

Ok I have mine set up facing a wall. I can faintly hear the fans very quiet though. More like a very silent white noise. For me not distracting at all.

 

[jasoncarle]

I am writing this on my Mac Studio Ultra, 64 Core GPU, 128GB mem, and 4TB SSD and it's dead silent.

Replying to myself here, I am a music nerd and I pay close attention to background sound levels. If the Mac Studio were making noise I would hear it and mention it.

 

[CodeSpyder]

I bought a Mac Studio Max. It’s replacing a mid 2010 iMac running off an external SSD (a real trooper) and joining forces with my MBP 16 inch. Let me start off by saying that I've been so excited for the Studio. It's what I have wanted from Apple for a long time. From what I had read in the lead up to the Studio’s release, I knew there was going to be some potential fan noise. But I’ve got to be honest, at first I thought there was something wrong with my unit because its a constant, pretty annoying whirring sound even when under the most basic of use (using Notes with no other applications open). I'm finding it hard to gauge whether or not I'm being overly sensitive to the sound and noticing it more and more because of it, so I would love your thoughts on your own experiences with the Mac Studio Max fan noise.

Of course all of this is completely based on personal factors like the environment and surrounding noises, sound sensitivity, etc. I will add that my office is very quiet and that my Studio also has plenty of space around it to breathe. I’ve spent the last few hours doing some light web browsing and watching Youtube in Safari, and the fan noise has been apparent the whole time. To add to this, I didn’t think that when I lay on the couch 3 metres away from the Studio and watch a video on my iPad that I would still hear the the Studio in the background (whilst running no apps).

I don’t think we’ve heard from a lot of the big Tech YouTubers about this as they all mostly bought Ultras, of which use the copper heat sink over the aluminium found in the Max. I’ve heard a number of the tech YouTubers with the Ultra say that their units are near silent. I’m having a very different experience with my Max. I just really did not expect it to make more noise than my 2010 iMac (yes, the iMac could sound like a fighter jet occasionally under load but at least it wasn't a constant high pitched whirring sound)

I understand the design but his thing is always blowing quite a decent amount of cool air out the back and it almost seems unnecessary to me personally, given the amount of noise it makes. Other than that I love the Studio. Just curious if others have experienced the same thing?

Check Activity Monitor to try to isolate the process that is causing this. There could be a power bug that Apple will need to address with an update. Since the computer is new, it could have some gotchas.