Mac Studio Max - it's not that quiet

[Dom.S]

I caved today and phoned Apple about mine. They've arranged a replacement – which is going to be some time as you'd expect – but I get to keep the current one in the meantime, so that's a result in my books. In a way the delay is a positive, as if it is a dodgy batch of hardware there's less chance of the replacement being affected.

Either the replacement will be significantly quieter/less noticeable, or it'll be the same and I'll just have to accept that they are all like this. (That feels a bit unlikely given some people are saying they can barely hear theirs, even in quiet environments, but who knows.)

If the replacement is the same I'll still be glad to have gone through the process, as otherwise I'd have had a constant niggling doubt that I'm putting up with a faulty unit for no reason. I hate returning stuff, but I'd really like to keep the Studio for 5+ years and so far the weirdly noticeable, distracting noise is the only thing keeping it from being perfect, so it's got to be worth a shot.

 

[pshufd]

I caved today and phoned Apple about mine. They've arranged a replacement – which is going to be some time as you'd expect – but I get to keep the current one in the meantime, so that's a result in my books. In a way the delay is a positive, as if it is a dodgy batch of hardware there's less chance of the replacement being affected.

Either the replacement will be significantly quieter/less noticeable, or it'll be the same and I'll just have to accept that they are all like this. (That feels a bit unlikely given some people are saying they can barely hear theirs, even in quiet environments, but who knows.)

If the replacement is the same I'll still be glad to have gone through the process, as otherwise I'd have had a constant niggling doubt that I'm putting up with a faulty unit for no reason. I hate returning stuff, but I'd really like to keep the Studio for 5+ years and so far the weirdly noticeable, distracting noise is the only thing keeping it from being perfect, so it's got to be worth a shot.

I hate returning things as well. If you do keep a model with the sound, you could put up some kind of partition between you and the system. I have my M1 mini behind a monitor because it's the best place for it given the ton of cables connected to it. I have no plans to upgrade to the Studio - if I needed more compute, I'd probably get another mini.

 

[Apple2GS]

Was it an M1 Max or Ultra unit?

I returned 2 base model M1 Max Studios.

I've decided to wait for the next Mac Mini, I just need an M1 with 32GB of RAM, used for development with several VMs.

 

[Jamooche]

I've been tempted to order some in-stock custom configs from B&H, but they won't accept returns for open boxes and I'm afraid of getting a Studio that has the high pitched whine fan noise. I don't mind fan noise, but this sounds like it's a bad batch of fans.

Yes, opened computers are not returnable, but defective computers are returnable. The high pitched sound is a defect for sure.

 

[Dom.S]

I hate returning things as well. If you do keep a model with the sound, you could put up some kind of partition between you and the system. I have my M1 mini behind a monitor because it's the best place for it given the ton of cables connected to it. I have no plans to upgrade to the Studio - if I needed more compute, I'd probably get another mini.

If all else fails I might mount it under my desk, but after 7 years of scrabbling around behind an iMac whenever I want to plug something in, it would be a shame to lose the convenient access to ports. I can live with/get used to some slight fan noise though, and I'm hoping that's the only sound the replacement will make…

 

[vddobrev]

I returned 2 base model M1 Max Studios.

I've decided to wait for the next Mac Mini, I just need an M1 with 32GB of RAM, used for development with several VMs.

This is exactly my use case as well. Software development with large JVMs and I need 32GB RAM. I don't need GPU power. I need it to be silent.

 

[pshufd]

If all else fails I might mount it under my desk, but after 7 years of scrabbling around behind an iMac whenever I want to plug something in, it would be a shame to lose the convenient access to ports. I can live with/get used to some slight fan noise though, and I'm hoping that's the only sound the replacement will make…

What I want to do if I want to plug something in to the iMac right in front of the wall is plant my right knee on the table and then bring the other one up and just plug things in or take them out from over the iMac. I bought two steel frame tables in the 1990s from a big company going out of business and I'd guess that they could support 1,000 pounds each. I've seen aluminum port hubs that look like they were made to go with the iMacs but I do understanding wanting to use the front ports on the Studio as they are there. It's hard to find USB-C port hubs too.

 

[ctoLarsson]

I have the exact same issue. A ringing sound at 2.2 kHz. I have the Studio Ultra.

I've made some measurements and the conclusion is that it can't be silenced if it's on top of the desk. The only solution would be to place it in a cabinet.

Covering the left side (seen from the back) actually just reflects the sound in the other direction so I think the improvement that some people have reported is just that.

Attaching a recording of the sound, and another file where I just isolated the (approx) 2.0-2.4 kHz frequency area.

Has anyone managed to get it actually repaired?

 

[pshufd]

I have the exact same issue. A ringing sound at 2.2 kHz. I have the Studio Ultra.

I've made some measurements and the conclusion is that it can't be silenced if it's on top of the desk. The only solution would be to place it in a cabinet.

Covering the left side (seen from the back) actually just reflects the sound in the other direction so I think the improvement that some people have reported is just that.

Attaching a recording of the sound, and another file where I just isolated the (approx) 2.0-2.4 kHz frequency area.

Has anyone managed to get it actually repaired?

View attachment 1998270
View attachment 1998272
View attachment 1998271

I'm impressed that you put this together.

I hope that Apple does resolve this. Maybe Max Tech could draw more attention to this problem with a series of tests on the Studio vs the mini. I have never seen any complaints on fan noise on the mini.

 

[StudioMacs]

Maybe Max Tech could draw more attention to this problem with a series of tests

I may have missed it, but I didn’t know the Max Tech YouTube channel had one of the whistling Mac Studios.

 

[pshufd]

I may have missed it, but I didn’t know the Max Tech YouTube channel had one of the whistling Mac Studios.

They don't to my knowledge. They would have to find one or have someone submit one.

 

[marklcfc]

Been reading this every day for about a month, I ended up buying one as I can't keep wondering one way or the other, its been despatched today, due next week which is much quicker than expected. I hope I'm not being sent a returned one.

 

[radiotamarillo]

I have the exact same issue. A ringing sound at 2.2 kHz. I have the Studio Ultra.

I've made some measurements and the conclusion is that it can't be silenced if it's on top of the desk. The only solution would be to place it in a cabinet.

Covering the left side (seen from the back) actually just reflects the sound in the other direction so I think the improvement that some people have reported is just that.

Attaching a recording of the sound, and another file where I just isolated the (approx) 2.0-2.4 kHz frequency area.

Has anyone managed to get it actually repaired?

View attachment 1998270
View attachment 1998272
View attachment 1998271

Thanks for posting this, it illustrates and demonstrates the "high pitched noise" problem concisely, captures the nauseating phasey quality and matches my experience with a CTO Max.
Your spectrogram also closely matches my analysis with RX, including the multiple harmonics, and also the traces on your graph, right up at the top end, around 22kHz. Although inaudible, and therefore not nearly as problematic as the fundamental, those ultra high multiples can arguably still be "felt", and contribute to the headache-inducing irritation of the sound. I thought it was an artifact until I saw how the traces precisely matched fan spinup from sleep in my testing. I recorded my samples at 24bit/48k. May I ask how you recorded your samples?

With regard to repair, I returned mine as at that time there were no spare parts available to Apple service agents.

 

[vddobrev]

I still have the question that I raised before in the thread: Why two small turbine fans? Why not one bigger turbine fan at slower RPM? There is so much space in the cooling department of the Mac Studio, why not one big fan instead of two? Less chances of interference or harmonics... two fans will never spin at the same RPM, and could induce interference in sound. Also a big fan means lower RPM and lower noise floor.

 

[Sun Baked]

I don't know, almost sounds like a home a/c return air duct whistle.

 

[jasnw]

If you tune a radio onto a digital transmission signal it sounds just like this. Maybe this is the Studio phoning home to Mother Apple?

 

[vddobrev]

If tune a radio onto a digital transmission signal it sounds just like this. Maybe this is the Studio phoning home to Mother Apple?

Indeed! ET phone home!

 

[southerndoc]

Would love to order one, but I'm afraid it'll be annoying listening to the fan. I'll wait until the M2's are out.

 

[pshufd]

Would love to order one, but I'm afraid it'll be annoying listening to the fan. I'll wait until the M2's are out.

It's been reported on MacRumors news forum and Max Tech did a segment in a video on this problem so it may get more attention from Apple now.