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Mac studio v1 fan noise - it's going to be one of the loudest Macs at idle.
- Thread starter AdamSeen
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So why do you need technical analysis? Why not return the problematic system and get another one? Of the second unit exhibits the issue you've reached you now have your decision.
this thread had me convinced that the 'whine' was present on my ultra until i measured it.
nope, i was trying so hard to hear the 'whine', i started noticing my tinnitus again.
i was even hearing the 'tone' in places where it was impossible (like inside my car)
Moderator Note:
Posts have been deleted, edited. Enough with the bickering.
Posts have been deleted, edited. Enough with the bickering.
I’m not sure why someone would keep a computer they don’t like, and tell everyone about it, when the exact same computer is available without the parts they don’t like.
Because I’m a nerd and I find acoustics and psycho-acoustics very interesting. I’ve enjoyed reading about auditory sensory adaptation and fletcher munson curves.
It’s pretty interesting that a 25 dB whistle that should be “inaudible” can be like torture to me and some others. Most fan noise doesn’t affect me at all.
I hear you. I don’t even own a Mac Studio but the noise issue has tweaked my nerdy interest as an audio engineer.
It's not doing it perfectly, but it is helping. (and it's not an Apple cloth, I went cheap.
Well, as one who likes my computer and has the noise -- there's no guarantee that a replacement will not have the sound, and you've wasted the gas and time to return it. And the new one might be worse!
Once Apple admits it's a problem (if), and they say new ones wont have it, then I'll return it.
I wouldn’t drive anywhere. I would demand Apple send me a unit fit for purpose, and then send the defective one back upon receiving a satisfactory product (as I have done with them in the past).
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I'd still have to drive it to a UPS drop off point, and I'd have to take the time to set up a new one, with absolutely no guarantee it would be any better, and probably worse.
Mine has a spike at around 2640Hz and mostly near the right fan, not at 2100 like most that have analyzed it. I haven't seen anyone else exactly like mine yet.
Icubed I forgot to thank you for your very instructives explanations ;-)
The peak on my Mac Studio occurs only when fans are running at 1100 rpm, there isn’t any when fans are operating automatic at 1330 rpm.
So I won’t use anymore manual speed.
Left is right in-front of the fans, right is from my head level 3 feet away.
Interestingly of the 3 bands at 2, 2.3, and 2.6 kHz it seems like it might just be the one at 2 kHz mixed with the 14 kHz that are escaping.
My two OWC Thunderbay RAID0 enclosures produce about 60db of fan noise in back and 40-45db from where I sit. Unless the Mac Studio whines I think I'm good. I'll find out this weekend.
Rather than look at numbers I prefer to actually listen.
My mac studio is on my desk in a very quiet room. Its simply silent. If I put my ear to the back then I can just about hear some noise from the air blowing slowly through the holes. Even when I push the processing to use all cores the fan speed barely changes.
My mac studio is on my desk in a very quiet room. Its simply silent. If I put my ear to the back then I can just about hear some noise from the air blowing slowly through the holes. Even when I push the processing to use all cores the fan speed barely changes.
Apple won't officially admit a problem of this kind, where some people think it is acceptable and others do not. Apple knows people are unhappy. The service representative processing my return immediately knew what I was talking about and said they had processed a stream of similar requests.
The most likely outcome is the problem will be silently fixed in later batches. Maybe that fix is a new fan vendor or fan design change. The initial batches will circulate until they find a customer that does not mind the noise.
I was excited by the promise of quiet desktop power and sad to return mine when it did not meet that expectation. The idea is good. The execution is lacking. My experience with the Macbook Pro and Mini had me believing the "totally silent" reviews. My biggest lesson from this is when reviewers relentlessly hammer some point in lock step, be very suspicious.
You're right, that's probably the best i could hope for, but it'll be enough for me. Once word that there is an improvement in new units, I'll either send mine back if I can, or trade it in.
I really think it's going to take a total redesign of the fan assembly to fix it.
If they never get better, I guess a MBP Max may be my next purchase. I wish you could easily take the batteries out and I'd treat it like a desktop. I've had bad luck with Apple laptop batteries and them staying stationary on a desktop... (never had a battery puff up on a Windows laptop, but Apple, yep)
On a hopeful note, I expect the next Studio model will be better. We got bit by early adopter fever. I know I had a bad case.
I have to wonder if pandemic work from home and/or supply chain madness combined to let this one get away from Apple.
Yep, me too.
I don't think it was the pandemic at all, it's just Apple trying to be different. The fan profile, 2 fans, always spinning, min speed 1300 rpms out of the box, never really ramping up speed much, even under load -- I have no idea what they were thinking. It's probably a miracle that so many are really quite.
I just set my Studio up last night. If there is any noise, I'm pretty sure I can't hear it.
I've got OWC Express 4M2 on Mac mini M1, original fan was awful, I replaced it with a less noisy but it's still disturbing fortunately I'm not using it very often.
I just picked up my Mac Studio yesterday and noticed this sound that I can’t help but notice:
drive.google.com
The sound you’re listening for is like a disk drive spinning/whirling or a signal-like sound. You can’t miss it. It’s sitting roughly 2 feet away from me, and underneath my monitor.
It only seems to happen when I’m using the computer, but when it goes to sleep mode or when I don’t pose any activity for awhile it goes away. It’s very obnoxious. Is this normal?
New Recording 2.m4a
drive.google.com
The sound you’re listening for is like a disk drive spinning/whirling or a signal-like sound. You can’t miss it. It’s sitting roughly 2 feet away from me, and underneath my monitor.
It only seems to happen when I’m using the computer, but when it goes to sleep mode or when I don’t pose any activity for awhile it goes away. It’s very obnoxious. Is this normal?
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