Mac studio v1 fan noise - it's going to be one of the loudest Macs at idle.

[Walt Stearns]

Reading through the postings on this subject, I don’t know what to think. As for the issue of irritating noise or just plain loud running fan noise, perhaps that is the price you pay when acquiring the first run of units out the factory.

Having received my Apple M1 Max Studio with 32-core GPU, 1TB SSD storage and 64GB unified memory straight from the factory in Shenzhen, China last week, I can state this is by far the quietest running deck top computer I have own thus far.

To point out, I have been using Macs since 2004 starting with the MacPro 4,1 to 5,1 switching over in 2019 to a 27 iMac i9 (3.6 GHz 8-core) CPU with the Radeon Pro Vega 48 graphics and 64GB of 2667 MHz DDR4 OWC memory installed to now this Apple M1 Max Studio. Compared to all its predecessors, this Studio is as silent as death, plus the cooling fan system keeps it running cooler than anything I had yet, including two 14-inch M1 MacBook Pros that I also work with. Here is a screen grab from today of what Macs Fan Control was experiencing.

 

[sclavus]

Whine, i can live with fan noise, but this whine is annoying, i can't ignore that sound also in case i have my working laptop (and this laptop is pretty loudly) next to the mac studio. I am going to return my mac studio, i should have the new one immidiately, or the second day, so i am currious...hopefully there will be change.

well, i have returned my Mac Studio affected by high pitched noise, and i have the new one next to me...i can hear fan noise (as before) but not that high pitched sound...and i think is it much more better, so i can be satisfied

 

[Walt Stearns]

Unless your hearing is as sensitive as a dog, any kind of whining noise should not be audible to human ears. On mine, fan noise does not begin to become audible to around 1900 - 2000 rpm, which is still quieter than my 2019 27-inch iMac was at the same speed.

 

[bobcomer]

Unless your hearing is as sensitive as a dog, any kind of whining noise should not be audible to human ears. On mine, fan noise does not begin to become audible to around 1900 - 2000 rpm, which is still quieter than my 2019 27-inch iMac was at the same speed.

The whining noise is well within human hearing range. (unfortunately) It's only in the 2000-3000Hz range and humans can hear 20Hz-20000Hz. (I have hearing loss for the high end of that range, somewhere over 10000Hz)

 

[Walt Stearns]

I then would say you still have an unacceptable apple studio if it produce enough noise at normal fan speed for you to hear.

 

[bobcomer]

I then would say you still have an unacceptable apple studio if it produce enough noise at normal fan speed for you to hear.

And I would agree, I wouldn't be complaining if I didn't. There seems to be a lot of them and no guarantee you'd get a better one if you returned yours..

 

[Jrshelby]

Unless your hearing is as sensitive as a dog, any kind of whining noise should not be audible to human ears. On mine, fan noise does not begin to become audible to around 1900 - 2000 rpm, which is still quieter than my 2019 27-inch iMac was at the same speed.

I've had 4 Mac Studios, 3 replacements obviously, and you can without a doubt hear the high pitch noise emitting from them. The noise is obviously in the range of human hearing.

 

[bukalemun]

Unless your hearing is as sensitive as a dog, any kind of whining noise should not be audible to human ears. On mine, fan noise does not begin to become audible to around 1900 - 2000 rpm, which is still quieter than my 2019 27-inch iMac was at the same speed.

As you get older you start to lose hearing of frequencies over around 15 KHz. The whine is at around 2 KHz which can be heard by most older people.

 

[kooky]

Studio Max BTO. I received mine direct from Apple on May 15th (Box says Foxconn Yousong Longhua on it, which I assume is ex-China) and all I can hear is a slight fan whoosh. So definitely no whine.

I was hesitant to order, given the forum, but on the other hand I thought that perhaps the problem has been rectified by now. So maybe it has? I can't see many new owners posting with the problem?

Interestingly, I have an iMac Pro, and that was truly silent. I'll miss the iMac Pro for that. The whoosh is noticeable in comparison but thankfully I can tuck it behind the display further back.

I do recall reading a post mentioning the Studio was silent to begin with, and the noise appeared after some weeks - so I will order AppleCare for it, at least if something happens down the track I'll have options.


BlackMagic Disk speed test:

iMac Pro: Write: 2900 Read: 2400
Studio Max: Write: 6500 Read: 5800


Happy days!

 

[Pilou77]

Studio Max BTO. I received mine direct from Apple on May 15th (Box says Foxconn Yousong Longhua on it, which I assume is ex-China) and all I can hear is a slight fan whoosh. So definitely no whine.

I was hesitant to order, given the forum, but on the other hand I thought that perhaps the problem has been rectified by now. So maybe it has? I can't see many new owners posting with the problem?

Interestingly, I have an iMac Pro, and that was truly silent. I'll miss the iMac Pro for that. The whoosh is noticeable in comparison but thankfully I can tuck it behind the display further back.

I do recall reading a post mentioning the Studio was silent to begin with, and the noise appeared after some weeks - so I will order AppleCare for it, at least if something happens down the track I'll have options.


BlackMagic Disk speed test:

iMac Pro: Write: 2900 Read: 2400
Studio Max: Write: 6500 Read: 5800


Happy days!

I wrote on this forum on May 20 to say that my Mac studio was perfectly silent. For 2 days I have perceived a high-pitched noise like an ultra-pitched sound that enters my ear. It never does it at first but after 30 minutes or 2 hours. There is no rule. There is no rule. I get up and get my hands on the ventilation grid and the frequency changes and becomes even higher and disappears after 2 minutes. This is inexplicable. I make it clear that it is not the noise of the fans that is a problem for me: it is imperceptible, but this noise that seems to come from the power supply and looks like an ultra sound that only dogs can hear. Except that unfortunately the human being too. I'm in Apple care and I'm waiting to make my decision. Max 64/32/4TB ordered on April 1st and received on May 20.

 

[kooky]

I wrote on this forum on May 20 to say that my Mac studio was perfectly silent. For 2 days I have perceived a high-pitched noise like an ultra-pitched sound that enters my ear. It never does it at first but after 30 minutes or 2 hours. There is no rule. There is no rule. I get up and get my hands on the ventilation grid and the frequency changes and becomes even higher and disappears after 2 minutes. This is inexplicable. I make it clear that it is not the noise of the fans that is a problem for me: it is imperceptible, but this noise that seems to come from the power supply and looks like an ultra sound that only dogs can hear. Except that unfortunately the human being too. I'm in Apple care and I'm waiting to make my decision. Max 64/32/4TB ordered on April 1st and received on May 20.

That sounds so annoying. I'm assuming given the short ownership period, that dust would be eliminated as a cause.

I notice you mention power supply. I am on 230V. Are you on 120V? Do you think it's possible to try a different power outlet completely (perhaps via an extension cable if need be) - even better something on a different fuse? At best case scenario even taking it to a different location entirely (if that's possible) - just to eliminate voltage fluctuations or interference issues as being the root cause of this? (Something I have not seen discussed as yet, but I do know fluctuations in voltage happen).

Does 64/32 mean 64c GPU 32 GB RAM? Mine is 10c CPU / 24c GPU / 32 GB RAM (base model Max)

 

[bukalemun]

That sounds so annoying. I'm assuming given the short ownership period, that dust would be eliminated as a cause.

I notice you mention power supply. I am on 230V. Are you on 120V? Do you think it's possible to try a different power outlet completely (perhaps via an extension cable if need be) - even better something on a different fuse? At best case scenario even taking it to a different location entirely (if that's possible) - just to eliminate voltage fluctuations or interference issues as being the root cause of this? (Something I have not seen discussed as yet, but I do know fluctuations in voltage happen).

Does 64/32 mean 64c GPU 32 GB RAM? Mine is 10c CPU / 24c GPU / 32 GB RAM (base model Max)

Not OP but I was also on 230V. This is definitely a power supply whine and it does not go away. I have a regulator on the main electricity for the house. The whine does not stop on different outlets. I tried a UPS. Still no change. I returned it and currently waiting for the replacement hoping it will be rectified during this time.

 

[DirkSchreib]

It is „Electromagnetically induced acoustic noise“. I‘m not sure it comes from the power supply. The whine on my Studio Max (230V) changed a little when I changed the RPM of the fan. My best guess is still the whine from the fan motor.
BTW: I ordered an MacBookPro as a replacement. If the problem is solved on newer Studios I will switch back.

 

[kooky]

Do these noises happen in recovery mode? (or the screen where you select a startup disk?)

 

[bukalemun]

It is „Electromagnetically induced acoustic noise“. I‘m not sure it comes from the power supply. The whine on my Studio Max (230V) changed a little when I changed the RPM of the fan. My best guess is still the whine from the fan motor.
BTW: I ordered an MacBookPro as a replacement. If the problem is solved on newer Studios I will switch back.

It is coming from a circuitry, that’s definite in my case. Perhaps not the power supply, but a component. It is not an analog sound from the motor. It definitely changes with the fan speed but changes sharply.

Do these noises happen in recovery mode? (or the screen where you select a startup disk?)

Yes.

 

[Random_Matt]

It's good to know that different versions of the same model can vary, and thus some make more noise than others.

It's the whine which is most annoying, first unit did not have this. Cannot be bothered to send another one back to be honest, and will habituate hopefully.

 

[Crispe]

Mine has developed the high pitched whine now. Took about a month. It's still quite low, but its there. I used to turn the machine on and hear virtually nothing, almost dead silence. Now a few seconds after pressing the power button I hear like something flick on and the whine commence along with a slightly more audible fan, but only slightly.

I've got pretty ****** hearing, so it might be louder than I am perceiving it. For now it is bearable but hoping it doesn't progress (at least until the supply chain eases up).

 

[LiE_]

I don't have a Mac Studio but I have been reading this thread as a potential buyer. Having been stung by loud fan noises in the past from Apple I'm doing my research first.

I see quite a few people have been playing with the fan RPM to improve fan noise. If I had to guess it sounds like the fan motor noise that is causing the most upset. Having built dozens of custom PCs over the years and using many different fans there are quite a lot of fans that produce a motor noise/hum at certain RPMs. Fans are a funny thing, many producing different sound profiles at the same RPM as another fan and certain sound profiles are definitely more obtrusive and annoying.

I think I'll be avoiding the Mac Studio.

 

[DirkSchreib]

I see quite a few people have been playing with the fan RPM to improve fan noise. If I had to guess it sounds like the fan motor noise that is causing the most upset. Having built dozens of custom PCs over the years and using many different fans there are quite a lot of fans that produce a motor noise/hum at certain RPMs. Fans are a funny thing, many producing different sound profiles at the same RPM as another fan and certain sound profiles are definitely more obtrusive and annoying.

To make it clear: This is not mechanical noice from the fan motor, but some electromechanical whine/hiss from a coil.
Maybe from the motor or some other components in front of the motor.

 

[LiE_]

To make it clear: This is not mechanical noice from the fan motor, but some electromechanical whine/hiss from a coil.
Maybe from the motor or some other components in front of the motor.

The motor noise is an electrical noise.

 

[lcubed]

misquoting wilberforce:

Flipping a coin will be more reliable than getting input from MR forums about how much noisy is any given device.
It is impossible to sort the valid opinions from the invalid (yet strenuous) ones. Also, due to the extremely unrepresentative sample of people posting, the majority opinion is often also invalid.

 

[southerndude39]

misquoting wilberforce:

Flipping a coin will be more reliable than getting input from MR forums about how much noisy is any given device.
It is impossible to sort the valid opinions from the invalid (yet strenuous) ones. Also, due to the extremely unrepresentative sample of people posting, the majority opinion is often also invalid.

Exactly.... if I had listened to some on this forum I would not have bought the Mac Studio. Negative reviews will almost always be posted more often than the positive ones. I love this machine and would definitely recommend it to others.

 

[Sharky II]

What’s great are the reports of the machine developing the whine later. So if you get a ‘good’ one you still can’t relax - it can happen at any moment!!! 😭

 

[fstoprm]

Had my machine since date of release, zero issues.

 

[Riot Nrrrd]

I’m being forced by my work to ditch my old warhorse cheese grater personal MacPro5,1 at home because they won’t let computers with unsupported OSes (Mojave in my case) connect to the network anymore, as of the end of June 2022. (Trying hacks to run Monterey on it would break important functionality, so that’s out.)

I can’t read 57 pages of posts - is it still the general consensus that the M1 Ultra Mac Studio is more or less immune to this whine issue?

The thought of paying an extra $2,000 to ensure I don’t get one with the noise seems ludicrous, but if I keep it 10 years (like I have with my present cheese grater) it might pay for itself in lessened aggravation.