The new Mac Studio comes with a lot of power, but with it also comes a bit more noise.
It’s 25dB at idle which is as loud as the Mac Pro (rack mount). As it will tend to sit closer to the user than a Mac Pro would, which means it will be perceived to be louder as well.
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(More here:
https://quietmac.netlify.app)
Because it employs smaller blower fans, they emit a more unpleasant noise vs larger fans. For example, with the Mac Pro, the large fans are quiet and smooth whereas the blower fan to cool the memory is louder and higher pitched.
Until there are real samples in the wild, it remains to be seen if it is unpleasant or not.
I hoped with moving from inefficient Intels to the super efficient Apple Silicon fan noise would be lower in the high-end desktop range, but It seems the design philosophy is to use a higher than needed fan speed, but less variability.
This equates to fans running faster than required so that when tasks that spike GPU and CPU usage it will tend to stay quieter rather than creating the more obvious noise of variable fan speeds.
Mine is arriving in April, so won’t be able to test before then.
But if you're looking for something super quiet, the Mac Studio won't beat the currently unbeaten (and unavailable) iMac Pro for top end desktops.
However, you will only notice this if you have a quiet office. People sharing offices or those with noise floors above 30/35dB, will not notice it at all. Also if you're not sensitive to low fan noise, it's not anything to particularly to worry about.
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Post release update:
It looks like my initial assessment is accurate - it's one of the loudest macs at idle.
Apple has designed a computer that exhausts say 150 watts of heat at idle, as opposed to say 60 watts of heat at idle. The upside to this is that the fans do not move much, the downside of this is we have fans that are going much faster than they need to be at idle.
It's more complicated than what I've put above about because a) I don't know how much thermal energy the fans are designed to blow out at idle b) it doesn't take into account the thermal energy store of heating up the heatsink. But the result is the same, a consistent fan speed at idle which has a large thermal buffer so it doesn't spin up and down often.
Is this going to be a problem for me?
It depends on the noise floor in your office. What is it? If it's above 30/35dB it will likely be "silent". If it's around 25dB, you will likely notice it. Use the decibel X app on your iPhone to measure sound (it's free, but doesn't appear so). I don't recommend you use the Apple watch, because it doesn't go below 30dB.
Also, if you do have a quiet office, you may not care about fan noise - many people do not.
For reference my office is as quiet as 24dB.
Why is this not a problem for most reviewers?
Many professional reviewers may work in offices with other people, the noise floor there is likely much louder than those who work from home. They also may not be sensitive to it.
Is the Mac Studio a "loud Mac"?
It is one of the loudest at idle, but the reviews show that is barely spins up during workloads and has excellent thermal properties. At idle, it will be almost as loud as a Mac Pro - and may be perceived to be louder as it's closer than a Mac Pro would usually sit - At load, it has excellent cooling and will tend to be quieter than many other Macs, including laptops.
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Delivery update:
My Mac Studio arrived today and as is expected, one of the loudest Macs at idle.
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Good:
- The fan sound is more pleasant than the Mac Pro 2019 blower. It is much less annoying and doesn't feel like it's cramming buckets full of air every second. I think many people will be fine with it.
- When forcing it to 1,100 RPM it is easy to tune out - It is still louder than an iMac Pro at 1,100 RPM.
Bad:
- At the default 1,300 RPM it is more noticeable. It is not "silent"
- It has a higher fan speed than is needed at idle. The fan speed is overkill at idle.
- It's going to be hard to clean - Dust may be a problem in future.
Ugly:
- It exhibits a whine at 2.14Kh. This tone varies a lot in terms of when it appears. It is annoying.
Overall, I would likely keep it if 1,100 was the default and it didn't exhibit the terrible whine. So maybe with a firmware update and the whine fixed, I'd buy it.
For now - I'm sending it back. I might wait to see if the iMac Pro makes a return next year.
