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

[MistD]

it's been a few months since I've returned mine (end of march). I've installed a bunch Mac Studios over the past few weeks (not mine but systems my customers bought). also, I visited a friend who owns a Mac Studio (who said to me that his is dead silent. funnily enough this guy also owns Hi-Fi equipment worth tens of thousands...). my observations: absolutely every single Mac Studio I touched has the whine! it doesn't matter if it was manufactured in march or august. the thing is that most people just can't hear it. and of course it depends on the noise level present at the various workplaces. often the whine simply can't be heard because of this.

also, I'm 100% convinced that the source of the whine are the fan motors. or a lousy designed PWM driving the fans. just do a reboot of the Mac Studio. it will stop the fans for a few seconds during the restart. the whine is present as soon as the fans are starting to spin up again.

100% i agree with you. I am on my second unit and the whine it’s pretty much identical to the first one.

Same spec, different manufacturing date, same whine.

On mine i tried covering the exhaust in different ways: the whine it’s still there but muffled.

So, i have the same feeling: pretty much all of them are the same.

If you installed multiple units with the same issue … the picture is clear

 

[lcubed]

100% i agree with you. I am on my second unit and the whine it’s pretty much identical to the first one.

Same spec, different manufacturing date, same whine.

On mine i tried covering the exhaust in different ways: the whine it’s still there but muffled.

So, i have the same feeling: pretty much all of them are the same.

If you installed multiple units with the same issue … the picture is clear

or you could have tinnitus (like me).
figured it out when i could hear the 'whine' in places my mac studio wasn't

 

[MistD]

Nah, i’m good 🙂 My ears are “dead silent” when my mac studio it’s off 😂

 

[MistD]

Here's a video with my second unit. Pretty much the same as my first.
I recorded the video in my home office, at night, using my phone (iPhone 12 mini), the phone mic placed next to the exhaust.

At around 0:20 sec you will hear also the change in pitch. Didn't do anything to cause it, the pitch happens by itself.

 

[gusping]

it's been a few months since I've returned mine (end of march). I've installed a bunch Mac Studios over the past few weeks (not mine but systems my customers bought). also, I visited a friend who owns a Mac Studio (who said to me that his is dead silent. funnily enough this guy also owns Hi-Fi equipment worth tens of thousands...). my observations: absolutely every single Mac Studio I touched has the whine! it doesn't matter if it was manufactured in march or august. the thing is that most people just can't hear it. and of course it depends on the noise level present at the various workplaces. often the whine simply can't be heard because of this.

also, I'm 100% convinced that the source of the whine are the fan motors. or a lousy designed PWM driving the fans. just do a reboot of the Mac Studio. it will stop the fans for a few seconds during the restart. the whine is present as soon as the fans are starting to spin up again.

Thanks for this. I'm new to the whole Studio NoiseGate (slowly giving up on waiting for an MX Pro mini). From your experience, is the noise only audible in a near-silent room, or can you still hear it over quiet background noise. I am often listening to music etc, but I know that if it can hear it over typical background noise (e.g. window open on a summer's day), that would really annoy me.

 

[mikeboss]

you definitely need to be in a very quiet environment in order to hear the whine. in a typical office with other people around I was unable to hear it.

 

[kofman13]

so worried to get mac studio lol. so many people said the tape trick fixes it but now some people say it doesnt

 

[Killerbob]

so worried to get mac studio lol. so many people said the tape trick fixes it but now some people say it doesnt

And the vast majority do not have any issues or do not hear it at least... Even here in the forums, a survey showed under 30% with complaints.

 

[handheldgames]

Amazing! 76 pages and still going. At this point we have undeniable proof some Mac Studios make noise. Nothing has changed in newly manufacture machines and it's safe to say Apple is not changing the the design. Since M2 chips are faster and hotter, it's safe to conclude the next revision will have this 'feature' and perhaps be a but louder as well.

 

[Feek]

some

This is the important thing.

There are various people in this thread saying that every Mac Studio makes the noise. There is no concrete evidence that that is the case. I’ve monitored my Ultra with an audio analyser and I have no sign of a whine / noise at around 2.4 kHz.

The thread title is also a little misleading. It specifically refers to fan noise but the majority of the discussion appears to be about a whine.

 

[ColdCase]

A whine is much more annoying to me than fan (white) noise. I have a high end DVD player that has a whine, another same model that is silent. My base Max +2TB is silent. I've read lots of complaints about OWC raid enclosures but my Flex 8 is silent. My LaCie big 8s have some fan noise along with the room air filter. My small refrigerator will sometimes whine. Turn the room AC on and it doesn't matter

 

[gusping]

Is there a consensus on whether the Ultra or Max model is more affected, or do both appear to suffer? (Sorry, not followed this super closely since launch)

 

[MistD]

Is there a consensus on whether the Ultra or Max model is more affected, or do both appear to suffer? (Sorry, not followed this super closely since launch)

I think it's just luck ... I don't know at this point. There has been reports on some Ultras showing the same behaviors.

Others reported that theirs was quiet at first and started to whine later on (weeks or months later).
Some users are saying that theirs are completely silent (aside for the usual and normal "hums" of the fans)

The 2 Max units I tried were almost the same, both of them same config, both of them "Made in Malaysia" (If it has anything to do with it , I don't know), different manufacturing dates etc., both affected by the whine.

 

[Riot Nrrrd]

Here's a video with my second unit. Pretty much the same as my first.
I recorded the video in my home office, at night, using my phone (iPhone 12 mini), the phone mic placed next to the exhaust.

At around 0:20 sec you will hear also the change in pitch. Didn't do anything to cause it, the pitch happens by itself.

I can barely hear that. In fact, I wasn't sure I was hearing anything - because my cheese grater Mac Pro 5,1 is louder than it, even in idle mode.

I'm holding on for a possible M2 Mac mini next month but if they don't introduce one, this video might help me decide that I can put up with the whine if it's this low level. I'm pretty used to the cheese grater making a constant sound by now.

 

[SmallDane]

I can barely hear that. In fact, I wasn't sure I was hearing anything - because my cheese grater Mac Pro 5,1 is louder than it, even in idle mode.

I'm holding on for a possible M2 Mac mini next month but if they don't introduce one, this video might help me decide that I can put up with the whine if it's this low level. I'm pretty used to the cheese grater making a constant sound by now.

I also cannot hear the whine on this specific video. But I suggest you go back in this and the other threads and find other videos where you can clearly hear the whine before you make a decision.

Also remember that the "quality" of the sound is often more important than the volume. A normal fan noise is not necessarily annoying even at quite high volume. But a constant whine can be annoying even if it's only barely audible.

 

[gusping]

I think it's just luck ... I don't know at this point. There has been reports on some Ultras showing the same behaviors.

Others reported that theirs was quiet at first and started to whine later on (weeks or months later).
Some users are saying that theirs are completely silent (aside for the usual and normal "hums" of the fans)

The 2 Max units I tried were almost the same, both of them same config, both of them "Made in Malaysia" (If it has anything to do with it , I don't know), different manufacturing dates etc., both affected by the whine.

Thanks for the response. My main concern is not getting a Mac Studio that whines out the box, but one that develops over time, potentially after the warranty ends. I'm also curious how loud the machine is at idle. From my brief reading it seems to idle at 1300rpm fan speed. My intel 2018 mini is dead silent for most light tasks, so maybe the Studio would actually be louder. Who knows. I should probably just buy one and try the damn thing for 14 days.

 

[pdoherty]

This is the important thing.

There are various people in this thread saying that every Mac Studio makes the noise. There is no concrete evidence that that is the case. I’ve monitored my Ultra with an audio analyser and I have no sign of a whine / noise at around 2.4 kHz.

The thread title is also a little misleading. It specifically refers to fan noise but the majority of the discussion appears to be about a whine.

No “concrete evidence”? How about just “evidence”, because someone earlier in the thread said he was setting up multiple Studios at his work place and they ALL had the noise.

 

[ColdCase]

What about the poll here where 70% reported no whine, 30% said there was some. There seems to be evidence that some whine, but the notion of all seems to be discredited ? Using the 30% whiners number, statistically there is a good chance an individual would have 10 of them. Seems like about 10% of those that have a whiney child are annoyed, where 90% don't care. Regardless, 30% is not a good thing IMHO.

 

[MistD]

I also cannot hear the whine on this specific video

This for me it's proof enough that some users are simply not hearing some frequencies.

If you can't hear a distinct and constant high pitch frequency in my video (separate from fans airflow "hum") and a tone increase between 0:20 to 0:26 (turn up your volume) ... then for me it's pretty clear

Some of us simply can't hear it ...
I was thinking about going for unit #3 .. but I might just accept the second one I have.

 

[SmallDane]

This for me it's proof enough that some users are simply not hearing some frequencies.

If you can't hear a distinct and constant high pitch frequency in my video (separate from fans airflow "hum") and a tone increase between 0:20 to 0:26 (turn up your volume) ... then for me it's pretty clear

Some of us simply can't hear it ...
I was thinking about going for unit #3 .. but I might just accept the second one I have.

I tried listening again with headphones on. And yes, this time I can hear the whine. It is much less than in other videos where I had no trouble hearing it even without headphones. But I agree it is there.

I'm extremely noise sensitive myself so I think the recording simply isn't very good honestly. It's not a frequency that should be affected by age-related hearing loss I believe.

 

[kofman13]

Here's a video with my second unit. Pretty much the same as my first.
I recorded the video in my home office, at night, using my phone (iPhone 12 mini), the phone mic placed next to the exhaust.

At around 0:20 sec you will hear also the change in pitch. Didn't do anything to cause it, the pitch happens by itself.

just listened with noise cancelling headphones and i hear the sound. but i only hear it when you jam the phone literally into the vent of the mac mini. as soon as you move the phone away i cant hear it anymore. and my headphones are max volume. so im guessing you cant hear it unless you ear is next to the vent just like in the video? i only heard the wine when the camera was literally next to the vent, then no whine when you move away

 

[MistD]

just listened with noise cancelling headphones and i hear the sound. but i only hear it when you jam the phone literally into the vent of the mac mini. as soon as you move the phone away i cant hear it anymore. and my headphones are max volume. so im guessing you cant hear it unless you ear is next to the vent just like in the video? i only heard the wine when the camera was literally next to the vent, then no whine when you move away

The phone's mic it's not that good at picking the sound when moved away from the vent.

Think about it this way: it's the same sound signature but faint, faded away. I can hear it in a quiet room (even if I don't put my ear next to it).

It's not super loud but it's there in the background like a faint constant "metallic" noise + some changes in frequency on and off, from time to time.

Those changes in frequency seems to get pretty far apart, lately.
I hope they will disappear for good ... but the constant faint "metallic" noise it's there

During daytime, if you have some background activity around you, it's fine. I can notice it during daytime if I really struggle to pay attention, but at this point it's just my mind searching for it.

If you use headphones, not an issue at all.

If that "metallic" sound signature was gone, the normal noise from airflow (just that "hum") it's absolutely fine.

PS: I want to do some test and leave the thing on for multiple hrs. I noticed today that it gets "toned" down if I use it for prolonged period of time. Maybe I'm lucky and something needs to get a "break-in" period 😁

 

[Feek]

No “concrete evidence”? How about just “evidence”, because someone earlier in the thread said he was setting up multiple Studios at his work place and they ALL had the noise.

I can hear the whine on the videos, my Studio DOES NOT make the same noise.

I don't know how I can make it clearer for you to understand.

 

[kofman13]

The phone's mic it's not that good at picking the sound when moved away from the vent.

Think about it this way: it's the same sound signature but faint, faded away. I can hear it in a quiet room (even if I don't put my ear next to it).

It's not super loud but it's there in the background like a faint constant "metallic" noise + some changes in frequency on and off, from time to time.

Those changes in frequency seems to get pretty far apart, lately.
I hope they will disappear for good ... but the constant faint "metallic" noise it's there

During daytime, if you have some background activity around you, it's fine. I can notice it during daytime if I really struggle to pay attention, but at this point it's just my mind searching for it.

If you use headphones, not an issue at all.

If that "metallic" sound signature was gone, the normal noise from airflow (just that "hum") it's absolutely fine.

PS: I want to do some test and leave the thing on for multiple hrs. I noticed today that it gets "toned" down if I use it for prolonged period of time. Maybe I'm lucky and something needs to get a "break-in" period 😁

Interesting. Sorry if I missed your earlier posts but have you tried the tape trick to cover holes? Also the other trick where you plug something into every port or cover unused ports with tape (that worked for some people because they think the air escaping through unused ports also makes whistle )

 

[MistD]

Yeah, I tried covering the ports multiple ways. The only result from that is a reduced intensity of sound, but the whine it's still there , this time much more subdued.

I tried to quickly block the vent entirely, on and off, and I can hear a slight increase in sound pitch, kinda like the fans are working harder (but with the distinct sound pitch increase, like revving up the high pitch noise)

Last night after working multiple hrs on it, I had a feeling that the whole situation got better (milder "metallic" noise, the high pitch almost non-existent ... etc.). It felt like the whole unit "warmed" up and performed silently in a way.

It's something related to electronic circuitry for sure: a PSU coil whine, fans motors ... or something else on the motherboard (although I don't think there is anything on the motherboard that can create such noise).

One more thing I have to try: use the unit in another house. Maybe I have bad electric wiring that is inducing this kind of stuff (although, my previous iMac was totally fine)