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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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I've gone through 3x Mac studio's now (2x Max, 1x Ultra)... they ALL make the high pitch fan noise. I'm going to rage short AAPL.
Zero fan speed feature is incoming in Macs Fan Control: https://github.com/crystalidea/macs-fan-control/issues/582
Not sure when it will be released, but should be a killer feature for those in this thread - If a fan curve can be set.
Not sure when it will be released, but should be a killer feature for those in this thread - If a fan curve can be set.
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and especially :
With each of those two fans, the impeller is actually divided vertically and that basically separates the upper half from the lower half. We're then able to tune the pitch of the blades on the impeller separately on the top section and the bottom section. That allows us to control the acoustics. Also by adjusting the height of that separation, we can control how much air we're pulling into the fan from different sections of the box to optimize the overall thermal performance.
Ah, they tried to get too fancy with the acoustics and they forgot about manufacturing differences. That pretty much explains everything about the cooling system, even the fan speed profile. Our only hope is for them to unlock the fan speed and let us create our on speed profile to fit our own Studios. (or keep sending it back until you get a good one)
You’re right.
But any industrial process implies several obligatory steps with many verifications and tests to apply between them, at least:
1 - Feasibility mock-up
2 - Protype
3 - First of production
And these steps are for all components including custom made fans, so I’m wondering how a company like Apple who knows very well all these processes could be wrong.
May be they did check and approved steps 1, 2, 3 and they couldn’t follow the manufacture and testing because of the pandemic, and the fan unit production had some problems, since some Mac Studio do not have problem.
According to what Shelly Goldberg explained It seems that from a fan this set became a very sophisticated noise filter.
Anyway if you like to regulate yourself the fans speed on your Mac Studio "Free Macs Fan Control" is doing the job, find here attached for example what could be used to control fans speed depending of CPU Core Average temperature (any other sensor can be used, depending on what you are doing).
But any industrial process implies several obligatory steps with many verifications and tests to apply between them, at least:
1 - Feasibility mock-up
2 - Protype
3 - First of production
And these steps are for all components including custom made fans, so I’m wondering how a company like Apple who knows very well all these processes could be wrong.
May be they did check and approved steps 1, 2, 3 and they couldn’t follow the manufacture and testing because of the pandemic, and the fan unit production had some problems, since some Mac Studio do not have problem.
According to what Shelly Goldberg explained It seems that from a fan this set became a very sophisticated noise filter.
Anyway if you like to regulate yourself the fans speed on your Mac Studio "Free Macs Fan Control" is doing the job, find here attached for example what could be used to control fans speed depending of CPU Core Average temperature (any other sensor can be used, depending on what you are doing).
I use Macsfancontrol already, but I really need to get under the 1100 min to eliminate all the noise -- I think. Mine's a little different than the descriptions of other people. My whistle is at about 2640Hz, not the 2200, and I always hear the fans themselves, even at 1100. I'm thinking the heat profile can take a lower fan speed, at least I hope so.
I wonder if some enterprising third party will eventually sell a quieter fan for it. I'd even take this thing apart if I could change the fan.
Over-engineered.
Sadly my unit, M1 Max 32-core is not silent in light desktop usate, there is a high pitch constant sound, probably due to the type of PSU.
If I try temporary to set fans to 1100 from standard idle 1300rpm, the noise is still audible, and as fai I got other users feedback their units are totally silent.
Not a big issue for me but I will see how this evolve and ask for a repair/exchange if possible.
If I try temporary to set fans to 1100 from standard idle 1300rpm, the noise is still audible, and as fai I got other users feedback their units are totally silent.
Not a big issue for me but I will see how this evolve and ask for a repair/exchange if possible.
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There’s always issues with v1 of a new Mac , no doubt all the bugs , ok most of the bugs will be ironed out in a couple of years…
We really didn’t see this when Steve was in charge
We really didn’t see this when Steve was in charge
When I read this all, I am extremely lucky my Mac Studio 32GPU is silent. Even at 1333 RPM. (I even don't need Mac Fan Control.) Hopefully for many years. The Mac stands on my desk on a distance of 1.5 ft of my ears.(220 Volt). I hope that all the users here with complaints can exchange their unit and receive a quiet one.
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Not always and not an Apple specific issue, it is quite normal. This was happening with Steve as well, maybe more.
Hahahaha 😂
Yes we did
G4 Cube (which Mac Studio has been compared to) is a prime example of Apple missing the mark under Steve. The clear plastic had stress cracks and mold lines (pictured bottom left corner), and it overheated.
I agree about the stress cracks but mine personally never overheated. Matter pf fact I’ve never had any of my Mac’s with the exception of my late 2006 iMac overheat.G4 Cube (which Mac Studio has been compared to) is a prime example of Apple missing the mark under Steve. The clear plastic had stress cracks and mold lines (pictured bottom left corner), and it overheated.
I never had one, but I remember the stress cracks controversy. This was after watergate but thankfully it never got “gated.”
From Apples Plastic Era (may it RIP). People complaining about Studio's looks??? I think it looks elegant sitting in front of a monitor. The Cube? Just a stupid design.G4 Cube (which Mac Studio has been compared to) is a prime example of Apple missing the mark under Steve. The clear plastic had stress cracks and mold lines (pictured bottom left corner), and it overheated.
I 100% agree that the Cube has not aged well and the Studio has a quiet confidence about it. Id love to keep mine on my desktop , but unfortunately the quiet confidence does does translate to the Studio actually being quiet.
You couldn't hold the iPhone 4 in your left hand without reception strength plummeting, but it was fixed in v2 by redesigning where the antenna gaps were.
Meanwhile my v1 16" M1BP has been 100% problem-free.
I was supposed to get a new unit, but the service did a fan replacement on the second try. The first version was almost perfectly quiet on one side. After the replacement, the dominant whistling sound is gone, but various electrical whistles are still audible when listening up close, it's not just air. I wonder what the sound will be like in a few days...
In tests with one half covered, there are more "farmonic" sounds.
In tests with one half covered, there are more "farmonic" sounds.
Here are my observations after I unpacked my Mac Studio M1Max 32GB/32CPU/1TB yesterday...
Coming from a M1 Mac mini (16GB/1TB), which is absolutely silent (love it!) I was shocked to switch on the Studio. The constant fan noise is more than irritating (quiet workplace, used to the Mini).
Found the "Macs Fan Control" app and tried some settings...
First I set the fans to 1100rpm... big difference! much more acceptable... but then I noticed the random high pitch noise... not constantly but quite often it would kick in and be very annoying (beeping or constant high sound for a couple of seconds)... (at 1300rpm, I can't tell if there's no high pitch sound or if it's just not audible because of the higher fan noise...
)
After that I started to experiment with the rpm's. Currently I run 1180rpm, which is the lowest setting where the high pitch noise is not kicking in. if I go to 1170 or 1160 the high pitch noises will start. So from my point of view, this looks like it is related to the fan-bearings...
Bottom line... what a letdown, especially coming from the noise free Mini... Performance is not everything... I have not much hope for Apple doing something about this... as others have pointed out, this might be the reason for the fans running at (locked) 1300rpm's... suddenly a (to be released) M2 Mac mini wit a M2 Pro sounds much more like the way to go if you are interested in the luxury of silence and are willing to sacrifice some performance for it...
Coming from a M1 Mac mini (16GB/1TB), which is absolutely silent (love it!) I was shocked to switch on the Studio. The constant fan noise is more than irritating (quiet workplace, used to the Mini).
Found the "Macs Fan Control" app and tried some settings...
First I set the fans to 1100rpm... big difference! much more acceptable... but then I noticed the random high pitch noise... not constantly but quite often it would kick in and be very annoying (beeping or constant high sound for a couple of seconds)... (at 1300rpm, I can't tell if there's no high pitch sound or if it's just not audible because of the higher fan noise...
)After that I started to experiment with the rpm's. Currently I run 1180rpm, which is the lowest setting where the high pitch noise is not kicking in. if I go to 1170 or 1160 the high pitch noises will start. So from my point of view, this looks like it is related to the fan-bearings...
Bottom line... what a letdown, especially coming from the noise free Mini... Performance is not everything... I have not much hope for Apple doing something about this... as others have pointed out, this might be the reason for the fans running at (locked) 1300rpm's... suddenly a (to be released) M2 Mac mini wit a M2 Pro sounds much more like the way to go if you are interested in the luxury of silence and are willing to sacrifice some performance for it...
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In the time of your 'then' some of us were using analog tape and had no computers at all in our recording environments. With the shift to computer-based recording the inherent sound level of the machine is very, very important. And if it were a tenth of a decibel none of us would be complaining, obviously.
I've been using my maxed out M1 Ultra for about a month now and not once have I heard the fan spin up. I constantly have all 20 cores at max usage during bigger renders too. I downloaded MacFan or whatever it's called to max out the fans just to hear what it sounds like and do admit it can be pretty loud. I don't know what you guys are doing to have the fans spin up like that.
Its not the fans spinning up. Nobody has mentioned the Mac Studio is loud or the fans are up in the 3,500 RPM Range. It's curly the high pitched, beeping and whirling noises. We download the fan software to lower the fans from 1,330 ish to low 1,100. Either way, if you have those noises, you're not getting rid of them, especially once you've heard them. They tend to be ANNOYING.