It's well-known that dogs can hear outside the normal human hearing range for most. Given wide variances in people, I think it reasonable to assume that this is a possibility. That the frequency can be detected, isolated and reproduced lends strength to the hypothesis.
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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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It's well-known that dogs can hear outside the normal human hearing range for most. Given wide variances in people, I think it reasonable to assume that this is a possibility. That the frequency can be detected, isolated and reproduced lends strength to the hypothesis.
I would absolutely love it if my Studio were powered an Alder lake, it could do more of what I want to do rather than having 2 Mac's, I'd have one. (My other Mac is an Intel Mini)
Just build a Hackintosh. I've built many in the past but I haven't since getting my 2021 MacBook Pro.
But then it would sound like a Jumbo Jet, so not sure how it would be better for you. As I recall, you’ve mentioned you are very noise sensitive?
I'm in IT, so the licensing is an issue. Anyway, I gave up building my own PC's at least 20 years ago. Hardware really isn't something I care about much, I'm a software guy.
I do like playing with new things though, that's why I bought the Studio.
. I kind of wish I had gone with a Macbook Pro though, live and learn...I never hear my i7 intel Mac mini, nor my Lenovo Thinkpad X13 with a Ryzen 5 either, nor my Dell XPS15. My desktop i9, I can definitely hear under load, but not idling. I can hear the Studio over the desktop i9 at idle. (yeah, I'm a computer geek, I know. <g>)
And no, I'm not noise sensitive at all, I even have some hearing loss from way too many ear infections as a kid and being around way too many high speed printers when I was younger. It's the pitch of the whine in my studio that somewhat bothers me.
Mine is also quiet, the reason some are saying most are quiet is that it is the same people here that are saying their Studios are noisy time and time again, most people who have quiet machines can't be bothered with posting that Studios are quiet. Mine is 24 inches from my ears and under normal use unless I put my ear right next to the rear vent I can't hear a thing, unless I crank up the noise.
How do you know there are a lot of Studios in the refurb store, as far as I know Apple does not post number of units. And refurbs can be for any reason maybe people returning their Studios before 14 days because they want to go from a Max to a Ultra or maybe the reverse, you don't know that so when you are asking someone to prove their statement that most Studios are quiet, I can ask you the some thing about your statement regarding the refurb store that the availability of Studios is because of fan noise.
That doesn't make it so. If you have proof to say a majority are quiet, present it, if you don't, which I know you don't, don't say it.
Because I watched it, and no, I don't know the reason for sure, nor have I said it was a fact that they were returns. I just suspect that it's returns based on what I've seen here and other places. You know how rare 5th gen iPad Pros have been? (That's actually why I watch and I have never seen one refurb). 14" MBP's are rare too, and they were both released before the Studio and you'd expect to see them as refurbs.
The proof is in the pudding. There are but a few folks in here complaining about the whining. If the majority had this problem, if it was widespread, these forums would be full of complaints and there would a public outcry. Instead there are a few threads in here, and a few reviewers who can prove this cool whine.
The majority of Mac Studios do not have this issue - whether you say so or not doesn’t make it so. Even in the one poll I saw, 70-80% said there was no coil whine, i.e. a majority.
The majority of Mac Studios do not have this issue - whether you say so or not doesn’t make it so. Even in the one poll I saw, 70-80% said there was no coil whine, i.e. a majority.
Noise of the Mac Studio is much more than most people will tolerate. The 27” iMac was no where as noisy
Unfortunately I returned mine
Unfortunately I returned mine
And on that note, let's see if we can get back to figuring out why some Mac Studios have coil whine?
As stated previously one reviewer documented that there are at least two different PSUs being used in the Mac Studios. Could that be the reason why some folks have an issue, and others do not? Has anyone figured out how to identify the PSU used in their Mac Studio, without opening it up?
As stated previously one reviewer documented that there are at least two different PSUs being used in the Mac Studios. Could that be the reason why some folks have an issue, and others do not? Has anyone figured out how to identify the PSU used in their Mac Studio, without opening it up?
The 27" iMac was quieter when idle but much louder under load. So is Mac mini. So are the MacBooks Pro. But not under load. I'd suggest to buy one of those for light computing duties. Or MacBook Air, which is 100% silent.
25dB at idle/load from operator's position is perfectly fine for MOST people in both Mac and PC world. Do you really not know how much noise any gaming or workstation PC tower makes? HP Z4 workstation is 45dB at idle, anything with Nvidia 3090 is unbearable, unless your speakers are blasting on full volume... Heck, even 2019 Mac Pro is louder than the Studio.
My Intel 6 core Mac mini 2018 sounds like a hairdryer under load, which is nearly all the time I do something in Logic with virtual instruments.
It would be really good to get some perspective here. The Studio is a VERY QUIET workstation computer. Not the quietest at idle, but VERY QUIET under load. When it's working. At the music/video/photo studio - hence the name 😉
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It depends on which iMac you have. The boxy design could get really loud at load. This model sucked air in from the bottom and pushed it out a thin slit near the top back of the iMac and it could make a lot of noise forcing the air out through this narrow passage. The 2009 and 2010 iMacs can get really hot because of the thermal design. The back case is designed as a heat sink but the case can get very hot if there is poor air circulation behind the iMac. I have 2009 and 2010 iMac 27s. These models generally had three fans for HDD, ODD and everything else.
The blade iMacs have the cooling vent somewhat near the middle of the back. This model is overall quieter than the other models even though the fan can move a lot of air and I think that this is due to the large iMac itself being between the fan and the operator. These systems have one fan. I am typing on a 2014 iMac 27 right now.
There are a number of tips and tricks to keep running these things quietly though.
The thing is that Apple Silicon is just so far ahead in efficiency and even the base Studio will kick iMacs in general, except those requiring the GPU capabilities of some of the later models. If you want that kind of power in a more quiet package, the Mac Pro may be the better option.
I admit I have not read all the posts but curious - does this noise exist on all of the Studios from lowes Max to highest Ultra? Any variance with respect to the amount of unified memory?
One last bit of information for the road:
Depending on what Audiologist you talk to they're going to draw the lines at different dB. But let's take this guide.
So Apple specify 15dBA at operator position...let's say probably on a desk about 800mm away...that about works out right using equations and the sound power level specs...as I've shown earlier, and posted a link to a calculator so you can do it yourself.
1. Anyone with mild hearing loss or more will not be able to hear it...in fact they probably will not be able to hear it even with their ear up to the back of it....they will think it's "silent".
2. Those on the higher side of "normal hearing" won't be able to hear it either...and will barely be able to hear it up close...also unlikely they'll be able to make out the tonal components which are below 24dB even at 30mm...they will think it's virtually silent, regardless of location...
3. As I've shown earlier, to hear the tonal components at 1m, you would need to be able to hear down to at least 0dB...and that was with a reflective surface 300mm behind the Mac (wall)...no reflective surface, not a chance...
4. Those with very sensitive hearing, i.e. -10dB or more...it'll probably drive then nuts in a quiet room...and they will hear the tonal components very clearly, possibly even without a reflective surface nearby, unless masked by much louder sounds in the same bandwidth...
Depending on what Audiologist you talk to they're going to draw the lines at different dB. But let's take this guide.
So Apple specify 15dBA at operator position...let's say probably on a desk about 800mm away...that about works out right using equations and the sound power level specs...as I've shown earlier, and posted a link to a calculator so you can do it yourself.
1. Anyone with mild hearing loss or more will not be able to hear it...in fact they probably will not be able to hear it even with their ear up to the back of it....they will think it's "silent".
2. Those on the higher side of "normal hearing" won't be able to hear it either...and will barely be able to hear it up close...also unlikely they'll be able to make out the tonal components which are below 24dB even at 30mm...they will think it's virtually silent, regardless of location...
3. As I've shown earlier, to hear the tonal components at 1m, you would need to be able to hear down to at least 0dB...and that was with a reflective surface 300mm behind the Mac (wall)...no reflective surface, not a chance...
4. Those with very sensitive hearing, i.e. -10dB or more...it'll probably drive then nuts in a quiet room...and they will hear the tonal components very clearly, possibly even without a reflective surface nearby, unless masked by much louder sounds in the same bandwidth...
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There seems to be no specific configuration that causes the coil whine. However, one reviewer who opened up two Mac Studios noticed that they had different PSUs.
IMO - two different PSUs would have different airflows, possibly triggering different noise-maps.
IMO - two different PSUs would have different airflows, possibly triggering different noise-maps.
this ignores the ambient sound level in the explanation. the ambient sound level in most circumstances forms the floor. for example, if the ambient sound level is 25 dbC and the your instrumentation/hearing can distinguish -10 dbC, and your source is 15 dbC re 1m, you still can't distinguish below 25 dbC.
(i use dbC simply because it's much flatter than dbA and more applicable for noise control purposes which is > 85 dB like lawn mowers and rock concerts))
What you have offered is speculation not proof, I can offer the same speculation that most people using the Studio find it quiet by the polls done here informal or not. You offer you speculation that because the Apple store has refurbished Studios that the reason must be that they are "noisy" but I can speculate that maybe people are purchasing and returning to upgrade and downgrade, maybe they decided they want a laptop instead, maybe they decided they wanted an iMac, hell maybe they decided to by a Dell computer, that is just as valid as your speculation.
Right now it looks like the refurb store has one configuration in stock the stock model with the 512GB SSD drive, hardly a landslide of studio computers, the most I have seen is 3 maybe four different configurations and there is no way of knowing how many they have of each configurations. Right now there are 16 different configurations of the M1 MacBook Pro 16" and 32 different configurations of the M1 MacBook Pro 14" I think I will speculate that the reason they have so many is that customers are finding that they throttle too much and are returning them, just as valid as the noise concern with the Studio and you have no hard/true proof otherwise.
I know my experience with my Studio Ultra that I have had since the day they first shipped is that it is completely quiet, my hearing is fine I can certainly hear a 2.1 or 2.2 kHz whine if it was there and I can hear the fans, if I dial up the speed of the fans to max, I can hear them just fine when they are at 3,400 RPM, I stop hearing them about 1,650 RPM.
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I never needed proof because I never stated anything as fact. I just asked for proof from someone that did state something as fact.
You can see they have different coils as well, the one on the left has a much bigger 2nd coil than the one on the right - are coils causing the noise and or airflow? Also 2 heatsinks on the one on the right.