The whine I had was the fans. I could hear it when they spun up from idle and then off and on as they ran. Changes in fan speed impacted it and it disappeared when the fans spun down.
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Mac studio v1 fan noise - it's going to be one of the loudest Macs at idle.
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I picked the closest one ”further up” which was this
I’ll check out this other one now, since I’m genuinely curious.
“That noise, what is that?”
Isn’t evidence of coil whine from the PSU. If that’s the best evidence you and fallinangel have, I’m starting to doubt you as trustworthy sources.
I’m completely impartial and just want to see evidence.
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No. You don't. You just want to be right.
People that know what coil whine sounds like and tell you it is coil whine don't matter. You want "evidence". And disregard your fellow forum members as "untrustworthy sources". This isn't a courtroom. How about you step down from your high horse and consider that there are people here that have experience with coil whine?
Your claims can’t be peer reviewed.
You are making a claim without any supporting evidence to back it up.
All I’m asking for is evidence, rather than your opinion.
I‘m not saying you’re wrong, but claiming something to be true isn’t the same as proving it to be true.
You have an interesting hypothesis, which is not impossible to back up with evidence if your hypothesis is correct.
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it's right in the forum rules:
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So how would the holes cause a whine in some units and not others? No, the holes are not the cause of the whine, they simply let it be heard.
A tear down to look at the power supply can not identify the source of power supply whine. And the whine could be coming from coils (usually) or capacitors, if it indeed it is coming from the power supply at all.
It's not necessarily true that the fan noise is the same between the Max and Ultra Studios. They have cooling systems made of different material (there's a 2 pound difference in the cooling blocks) and may have a different fin size and spacing (yet to be verified) that the air flows through because of the copper vs aluminum construction. That could account for differences in the characteristics of the fan induced sound between models. And if fan problems are the origin of the whine sound (which I doubt) then faulty fans could also be emitting other noticeable sounds in addition to the whine.
I have stopped paying as much attention since I returned for a MBP and got back to work, but I always described it as a whine, and I can't recall seeing anything solid on the cause. There is some interesting suggestive evidence, but that's about it (unless I missed something).
In the end, the cause didn't matter much to me, because I couldn't stand the whine. I looked at my options and went with the MBP. It's louder than the Mac Studio with the fans spun all the way up (5800/6300), but there's no whine, and it takes a solid amount of load to get the fans spinning at all (2500 when they come on, which I can only barely hear if it's very quiet).
- Power-related issues. Mine (in terms of the whine) didn't respond at all to load, and most coil whine I've heard before did. Also, the spectral graphs on prior pages showed no changes as load changed. On the other hand, with Apple support, the place we got to in their troubleshooting decision tree was to check other devices on the same power circuit in the house (I didn't want to pick it up from the store and spend a couple hours on that, because I thought that would be unlikely).
- Fans themselves. The best evidence that I've seen here is that the frequency of the whine responds to changes in fan speed (i.e. motor). You can see in prior spectral graphs that decreasing to 1100rpm moves the frequency of the whine lower, and I recall this from mine, too.
- Air path. This one is related to the fan theories and the interesting additional evidence here is that covering parts of the exhaust hole pattern has different effects on the amount of whine (and shows up in spectral graphs). On the increasing side, I and a number of others had observed that the whine stops at some fan speed (for me, I think it was 1700) with enough additional airflow.
In the end, the cause didn't matter much to me, because I couldn't stand the whine. I looked at my options and went with the MBP. It's louder than the Mac Studio with the fans spun all the way up (5800/6300), but there's no whine, and it takes a solid amount of load to get the fans spinning at all (2500 when they come on, which I can only barely hear if it's very quiet).
Well, coil whine is not a constant thing - a coil whine at idle is a rare thing, from my experience. I don't see what kind of load can this Mac Studio present to the power supply at idle, so that it causes a coil whine. People quoted 11-15W of power at idle. That is nothing, I don't see how it can induce coil whine from the power supply components.
Usually, coil whine is present when there is load, and it is quite common thing in powerful GPUs - but it is drowned by their cooling systems.
Some years ago, I had a powerful for its day Dell XPS laptop. It had a terrible coil whine, and it was observed when the graphics card was in use. The problem was never solved, I used it as it was.
So to conclude if the Mac Studio power supply is exhibiting coil whine at idle at these minimal power consumption levels, then that is entirely a design problem with the power supply. Think about it - 15 or 20 W of consumption is nothing, it doesn't even need the 1300RPM cooling of the fans.
Usually, coil whine is present when there is load, and it is quite common thing in powerful GPUs - but it is drowned by their cooling systems.
Some years ago, I had a powerful for its day Dell XPS laptop. It had a terrible coil whine, and it was observed when the graphics card was in use. The problem was never solved, I used it as it was.
So to conclude if the Mac Studio power supply is exhibiting coil whine at idle at these minimal power consumption levels, then that is entirely a design problem with the power supply. Think about it - 15 or 20 W of consumption is nothing, it doesn't even need the 1300RPM cooling of the fans.
That‘s an excellent point.
Differences in ambient room temperature (even if it could cause the metal openings to expand/contract enough to create whistle) would be negated once the computer reaches running temperature.
Loose tolerances in the case itself or assembly could cause enough variation so that some cases whistle and others don’t, but Apple isn’t exactly known for loose tolerances.
it’s possible covering some of opening with the tape just blocks the sound from exiting the machine (since high frequencies don’t pass through solids as easily as low frequencies), or it could be the restricted airflow from the tape creates back pressure, changing the air pressure within the unit in a way that interacts with a moving part inside that’s creating the high pitched sound.
pretty much worthless speculation on my part, but there it is.
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In my case I can listen the fan but if I flip the mac studio from the side, the noise reduces, whereas if its sitting from the base, increases. It seems that the space beneath the mac against a table, helps to increase the noise
It’s typical of v1 of a new apple product, no doubt they’ll have ironed out all the production problems soon enough … hopefully…
Why I didn’t wait for the new mini . I bought a Mac Pro cheese grater when it first came out , loads of issues on that such as the Bluetooth and airport being wired the wrong way round etc 🤦♀️
Why I didn’t wait for the new mini . I bought a Mac Pro cheese grater when it first came out , loads of issues on that such as the Bluetooth and airport being wired the wrong way round etc 🤦♀️
I have the base ultra, and am in the US and the fan noise is very noticeable. I will return this machine, which will be a first for an apple computer in 25 years for me. I would love to hear the noise coming from the people who say it's silent, I don't know if I just got a "good" one, but it is not coil noise, it is a blower, constantly blowing, sounds like a have a small usb fan on my desk, it never ramps up, or down, it would be tolerable if I were processing 4k video, but I'm just web browsing and it's loud. Granted I work in a quiet environment, so if you have a lot of white noise, or background noise, you probably wouldn't hear it.
I keep reading about people exchanging for a different one, but I can't imagine it would make a difference, it's just too much air flow going through the vents in the back. Apple should have gone with a different form factor, or external power supply.
Disappointing for a "desktop" machine. For any studio recording, sensitive mics will pick up the noise if they are within 5 feet. I can still hear it 10 feet away. I think this computer will go down with the cube G4 as a one time shot, which was quieter by the way, I actually liked the G4 Cube. It's what I seek, a quiet, powerful, desktop computer.
It's concerning as a long time apple user, it's a major step back from what they were. I would have just preferred a 27 inch iMac, with external power supply and M1 Max with options for more memory, over a block desktop noise generator.
I keep reading about people exchanging for a different one, but I can't imagine it would make a difference, it's just too much air flow going through the vents in the back. Apple should have gone with a different form factor, or external power supply.
Disappointing for a "desktop" machine. For any studio recording, sensitive mics will pick up the noise if they are within 5 feet. I can still hear it 10 feet away. I think this computer will go down with the cube G4 as a one time shot, which was quieter by the way, I actually liked the G4 Cube. It's what I seek, a quiet, powerful, desktop computer.
It's concerning as a long time apple user, it's a major step back from what they were. I would have just preferred a 27 inch iMac, with external power supply and M1 Max with options for more memory, over a block desktop noise generator.
The stories in this thread are varying to where people buy another Mac Studio and say its quiet and later say sorry no its noisy too. Also I wonder if there truly is a quiet system, will it make the noise later. In the end, I felt it was too much money to spend and have these kinds of quality concerns.
My Studio was delivered on a Thursday. I powered it up on Friday. I returned it on Saturday and got a MacBook Pro which isn't ideal but has been pretty phenomenal.
I've watched the videos and listened to their fans and my Max Studio sounds nothing like those as it's absolutely silent. Both fans are running at around 1320 rpms and I can't hear anything till I put my ear up to the unit. I have great hearing as I can easily hear the fan from my air purifier in the other room. I've also had my 20 year old nephew listen to it and he said it's silent as well. I can feel the air coming out of the vent but it doesn't create a noise. After reading all these threads and the noise complaints I was expecting mine to either whine or hear a whoosh from the vents. Honestly, I had to look at the monitor to make sure it was booted up.
I should say I would still rather have a Mac Studio if I weren't worried about the annoying whistle, but I won't be trying again until time passes e.g. it comes with an M2. Maybe the new Mac Pro will also be more interesting to me than a Mac Studio. It's a shame. If yours is quiet or you don't care about the noise, that's cool for people like that. If mine didn't whistle I probably wouldn't have found this thread at all.
The fix is to lower the fans but this should not be the responsibility of any owner to come up with a fix. Apple needs to step in and fix this. Running at 1100 RPM (Which keeps the core components just as cool) and putting some sound deadening material 3-4" behind the exhaust of the Mac studio does however fix quite a bit.
Mine run at a constant 1336 or so and no noise coming from my unit. My 2012 Mac mini made more noise than this Studio Max does. The videos I've watched with people recording the fan noise and mine doesn't make a peep even when I max out the processors. I was going to use the Fan Control program to max out my fans so I could actually hear what it sounds like but I am afraid I may jinx my luck. lol
Let's face the truth, I think it is time:
1. Apple designed a new Mac Studio computer
2. They decided to set the dual fan assembly to a minimum of 1350RPM
3. They said in a public announcement that it is very quiet, almost inaudible (which is not the same as silent, and the specs for sound are higher than other Macs)
4. In reality, it is noisy to some, and inaudible to others
5. The fans never ramp up even in load conditions - this means that the high RPM is not needed at idle
6. Anyone who does not like it should return it, to "vote with their wallet". And that includes defective units that may make more noise than usual.
7. It is very possible to have sonic differences because of production variances - don't like it, return it.
Keeping a Mac Studio computer that does not meet your needs in terms of sonic performance is like accepting Apple did the right thing.
If your Mac Studio is noisy and you don't like it, then return it. Apple will not fix it via software. Apple may fix the issue in the next generation Mac Stidio.
End of story.
Disclaimer - I do not own the Mac Studio, nor do I plan to buy it, because of its sound profile. I like my silent computing environment with my Mac Pro 2013, and my Mac minis 2018 and 2020.
1. Apple designed a new Mac Studio computer
2. They decided to set the dual fan assembly to a minimum of 1350RPM
3. They said in a public announcement that it is very quiet, almost inaudible (which is not the same as silent, and the specs for sound are higher than other Macs)
4. In reality, it is noisy to some, and inaudible to others
5. The fans never ramp up even in load conditions - this means that the high RPM is not needed at idle
6. Anyone who does not like it should return it, to "vote with their wallet". And that includes defective units that may make more noise than usual.
7. It is very possible to have sonic differences because of production variances - don't like it, return it.
Keeping a Mac Studio computer that does not meet your needs in terms of sonic performance is like accepting Apple did the right thing.
If your Mac Studio is noisy and you don't like it, then return it. Apple will not fix it via software. Apple may fix the issue in the next generation Mac Stidio.
End of story.
Disclaimer - I do not own the Mac Studio, nor do I plan to buy it, because of its sound profile. I like my silent computing environment with my Mac Pro 2013, and my Mac minis 2018 and 2020.
Yes, don’t like it - return it/don’t buy it.
This is how Apple designed it to work (except for coil whine, which is unacceptable).
This is how Apple designed it to work (except for coil whine, which is unacceptable).
If noise is your only reason, maybe think of getting one and utilising the 14 day return policy. My Studio Ultra at full CPU chat is quieter than the 2013 Mac Pro I used to use at work (at load) and also as quiet as the M1 Mini I've got sitting underneath it on my desk (I can't hear either). If I manually ramp the fans up on the Studio, it make noise, though nowhere near as loud and my 2010 Mac Pro, but on automatic fans, it's just as quiet as the M1 Mini, regardless of what I ask it to do.
I may be one of the lucky ones.