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Bet the M1 Ultra is much louder than the M1 Max. Twice the silicon, no architectural differences. Unless Apple dramatically downclocks and undervolts the Ultra, it’ll make more heat than the Max. One more reason to opt for Max if you don’t explicitly need the Ultra’s extra cores or front side TB4 ports.

If Apple does reduce clocks to stay inside a power envelope, the Max will probably outperform the Ultra in lightly threaded tasks.
 
Bet the M1 Ultra is much louder than the M1 Max. Twice the silicon, no architectural differences. Unless Apple dramatically downclocks and undervolts the Ultra, it’ll make more heat than the Max. One more reason to opt for Max if you don’t explicitly need the Ultra’s extra cores or front side TB4 ports.

If Apple does reduce clocks to stay inside a power envelope, the Max will probably outperform the Ultra in lightly threaded tasks.

There are architectural differences. The Lunchbox Ultra is 2 lbs heavier because the materials used for cooling are different to the Lunchbox Max.

I think speculating on the noise or thermal throttling is pure conjecture at this point.
 
Looking forward to seeing what we learn in a few days.

The M1 Ultra at idle will be the same as the M1 Max - if weren't the case, they would list it in their specs which they have historically done. As Chevron has alluded to, the heatsink of the ultra will be made from copper for better thermal conductivity. At full load, it may very well be louder.
 
That’s my position as well, Apple gives us numbers, but they don’t specify clearly under what conditions they are measured, and their "wireless web surfing" load test doesn’t stress the system too hard.
To be fair, producing noise data that is actually relevant to their users is no trivial matter, the number of variabels at play do not lend themselves to being expressed as a single figure of merit.

Those of us who care will have to try it in our own environments, with our own loads, and using our own standards of judgement. I happen to care a lot, and I’ll use it in a very quiet (usually) setting, with neither AC nor even forced air ventilation. Neither Apples numbers, nor some reviewers opinion using subjective standards in an unknown environment matter really. In a short while, I will know. I dared buy the system unheard, because it seems that Apples designers actually cared about cooling and airflow, the Studio has ample omnidirectional air intake, and very open outlet which typically produces low pressure and thus little in the way of turbulence noise, and furthermore the outlet is directed away from the user, so there is no direct path for mechanical fan noise to the ears. Given the design I don’t see how they could fail to cool 50-odd Watts of M1 Max quietly. But if they did, I’ll whine louder than any cooling fan! ?
 
For me this will be a deal breaker as I run a recording studio. Even when just monitoring the mix fan noise is a constant distraction. And for big mixes the machine will get hot for long periods of time. When recording instruments in the control room every db makes a difference and anyone that says just move away from the computer - that’s easy if there’s an assistant operating the computer, but if working solo you literally have to have the mouse, monitor and keyboard right next to you at all times. Building an iso cabinet is an option, but if this machine is noisy I’m ruling it out and going for the 14” 8-core MBP
 
For me this will be a deal breaker as I run a recording studio. Even when just monitoring the mix fan noise is a constant distraction. And for big mixes the machine will get hot for long periods of time. When recording instruments in the control room every db makes a difference and anyone that says just move away from the computer - that’s easy if there’s an assistant operating the computer, but if working solo you literally have to have the mouse, monitor and keyboard right next to you at all times. Building an iso cabinet is an option, but if this machine is noisy I’m ruling it out and going for the 14” 8-core MBP

You know I would wait personally. The talk of noise with this machine is very premature and we don't know anything concrete at this stage.

As a recording studio owner too, I am optimistic that the noise levels will be very good with the Studio. The M1 Max MBP has proven to be very good and keeps cool, the 13 M1 MBP I have is basically noiseless. So I would assume that the M1 Max Studio will be just as good, if not better with the larger case and cooling architecture. The Ultra is more unknown, but I would still wait to have more info.
 
I know how much the noise is from my Mac Pro 2009 but I can live with it, unless heat would be an issue.
 
I have a recording studio, too. Never been bothered by the noise from my 12 core 5,1 cheese grater. No, I'm not (yet) deaf... the computer lives in an air-conditioned machine closet. That's where the Ultra is going when it shows up in a few weeks. Happily, my MOTU Audio Interface doesn't need TB3; 3 Meter TB2 cables are still available, so the closet is within reach of my interface rack.
 
Get something like an APC NetShelter CX, if you can't build a soundproof cabinet yourself. It has proper rack spaces to fit something like the rack mounted version Mac Pro. And it looks more like furniture than server room cabinets.
 
Jason Snell (Six Colors) reviewed his Studio (Max) and reports the fan is always on and is noticeable in a quiet office environment. He also stated that the fan noise was more noticeable than his iMac Pro. He did tax the system and couldn’t get the fan to ramp up, so that’s a positive.
 
The new Mac Studio comes with a lot of power, but with it also comes a bit more noise.

It’s 25dB at idle which is as loud as the Mac Pro (rack mount). As it will tend to sit closer to the user than a Mac Pro would, which means it will be perceived to be louder as well.

View attachment 1970575

(More here: https://quietmac.netlify.app)

Because it employs smaller blower fans, they emit a more unpleasant noise vs larger fans. For example, with the Mac Pro, the large fans are quiet and smooth whereas the blower fan to cool the memory is louder and higher pitched.

Until there are real samples in the wild, it remains to be seen if it is unpleasant or not.

I hoped with moving from inefficient Intels to the super efficient Apple Silicon fan noise would be lower in the high-end desktop range, but It seems the design philosophy is to use a higher than needed fan speed, but less variability.

This equates to fans running faster than required so that when tasks that spike GPU and CPU usage it will tend to stay quieter rather than creating the more obvious noise of variable fan speeds.

Mine is arriving in April, so won’t be able to test before then.

But if you're looking for something super quiet, the Mac Studio won't beat the currently unbeaten (and unavailable) iMac Pro for top end desktops.

However, you will only notice this if you have a quiet office. People sharing offices or those with noise floors above 30/35dB, will not notice it at all. Also if you're not sensitive to low fan noise, it's not anything to particularly to worry about.
the reality is different...its clearly more silent in idle and under load than a lot of imacs
Its on level 3 after the mac mini, imac pro and mac pro...so every 27" intel imac is louder under load and idle
I will try to make a video with my prof audio system , under idle, new installed macOS and under full load under Maya
 
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I'll take the liberty of quoting Jason Snells article directly in full as regards noise:
Speaking of chugging, I should mention that the Mac Studio has a fan—about half of its volume is taken up with a cooling system—and that fan seems to run constantly. It’s very quiet, throwing out low-level white noise that I couldn’t hear unless I sat in my office when it was completely quiet. But the sound is very much there, in a way my iMac Pro fan never was, and if you’re ultra-sensitive to fan noise in quiet environments, you will notice it. The good news is, not only is it quiet, the noise also seems fairly consistent. I threw graphics- and CPU-intensive tasks at the Mac Studio, and I couldn’t get the fan to sound any louder, at least to my ears.

It gives a fair idea of how Apple approached the noise properties of the Studio. A very low level noise from an always on fan, that on the plus side tend to stay constant and not call attention to itself by ramping up and down. I'm a bit divided on that choice, (I appreciate the semi-passive approach), but we'll see how it works out. It will depend a lot on the absolute level of that noise floor. He does say that it is very low. We'll see.
 
Review up on ARS, with one person's take:

But in both cases, the size of the cooler and the power efficiency of Apple’s chips keep the Studio nearly dead silent no matter what you’re doing with it. My air-cooled Intel and AMD systems both spin up audibly when crunching on lengthy video-encoding jobs or playing games, but the Studio’s fans were never audible.
 
I'll take the liberty of quoting Jason Snells article directly in full as regards noise:


It gives a fair idea of how Apple approached the noise properties of the Studio. A very low level noise from an always on fan, that on the plus side tend to stay constant and not call attention to itself by ramping up and down. I'm a bit divided on that choice, (I appreciate the semi-passive approach), but we'll see how it works out. It will depend a lot on the absolute level of that noise floor. He does say that it is very low. We'll see.
Thank you, that’s a really good analysis and in line with what I assumed it would be according to Apples figures.

Louder at idle than most, but quieter at load than most as well. It remains to be seen how unpleasant it is or not, which is down to personal preference.
 
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Only useless unboxing Videos on YouTube right now...there is one Video from a YT'ber in Switzerland (German though...):

I assume he is reviewing the Mac Studio M1 Ultra (maxed out version)

He is reporting a constant low volume air-flow that is clearly audible. Maybe not as loud as recorded in the video but still....damn it.

Fast forward to 16:05


I will get my Ultra next week but if that is the case and I can't tweak the fans with TG Pro or another tools to a silent level during idle / low system load, I am going to return it.
 
Most of the reviews are plugging the Mac Studio to the Studio Display thus limited by the TB cable length. In the real world, particularly in audio related workplace, you will try to hide the Mac as far away as possible if not behind some sound proofing. I manage to run 4k60Hz display with 5m HDMI cable, then with wireless KB and mouse the fan noise isn’t going to be in your face, like the iMac or MBP.
 
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I'll take the liberty of quoting Jason Snells article directly in full as regards noise:


It gives a fair idea of how Apple approached the noise properties of the Studio. A very low level noise from an always on fan, that on the plus side tend to stay constant and not call attention to itself by ramping up and down. I'm a bit divided on that choice, (I appreciate the semi-passive approach), but we'll see how it works out. It will depend a lot on the absolute level of that noise floor. He does say that it is very low. We'll see.

He couldn't make the fans get loud either:

 
I'd imagine you could use istat menu or some other piece of software to control your fan noise. By default MacOS spins up the fan a little early.
 
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