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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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The butterfly keyboard could disable the device though. And it greatly reduced the usable life of the device. This is the only place that I know of talking about this problem. The Studio reviews I've gone through consider the Studio to be a quiet machine. I have to concur now that I have one.
My MacBook Pro brick doesn't generate much heat - certainly nothing like my Intel MacBook Pros. My basement is unheated and it's often 35-45 degrees overnight and during the day in the winter. I don't think that it needs to run the fan at all in that environment.
The power adapter you use for the MacBook Pro doesn’t have anywhere the workload the PSU in the Mac Studio deals with - hence, not comparable. Try hooking your MacBook Pro up to two TB 4K monitors, 10GbE Ethernet, TB NAS, TB Hub, TB SSD, USB Card Reader, and USB Lightning, and see how warm the power adapter gets...
The PSU in the Mac Studio is 370W, and the largest power adapter for a MacBook Pro is "only" 140W.
The PSU in the Mac Studio is 370W, and the largest power adapter for a MacBook Pro is "only" 140W.
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The “Studio reviews” I trust most are the ones from forums like this of which there are too many to my liking which report the coil whine (including my own).
But if you search YouTube, Reddit and so on you’ll find countless threads on the coil whine there as well (although I wouldn’t trust the YouTubers too much as they are just out there to make some affiliate money with devices they buy and return in quick succession - their actual skills usually do not extend beyond some video editing).
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Have you ever used an M1 that isn't the studio?
The studio IS objectively a quiet machine compared to most computers, but it's a step backwards when compared to all the earlier M1 machines.
This thread absolutely would not exist if it wasn't for the fact that a lot of us on this very nerdy Apple forum upgraded to a Studio from an earlier M1 version that was 100% silent at idle.
Also this thread would have died out long ago if it wasn't for all the people who can't hear the fans telling the people who absolutely can hear the fans that they can't hear the fans.
My late 2015 5K 27” iMac (intel) was quieter than Mac Studio when idle and under normal load but louder under heavy load + it had a “cleaner” fan noise (no whine, whistle, high pitch sound or any PSU “crickets” of any kind)
Anyway, we are running in circles regarding this topic 🙂
I had 3 units, purchased in summer, several weeks apart, one after another, ALL with almost the same whinny behavior.
For me, personally, it’s end of story.
Conclusion: Apple had some QA issues with the first gen of Mac Studio.
I hope the third or fourth gen, when i plan to upgrade, will be way better.
Anyway, we are running in circles regarding this topic 🙂
I had 3 units, purchased in summer, several weeks apart, one after another, ALL with almost the same whinny behavior.
For me, personally, it’s end of story.
Conclusion: Apple had some QA issues with the first gen of Mac Studio.
I hope the third or fourth gen, when i plan to upgrade, will be way better.
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My main reference is Max Tech who will complain about any problem, real or imagined, about Apple products. His comment on the Studio was that it was quieter than Apple implied.
Have you ever used an M1 that isn't the studio?
The studio IS objectively a quiet machine compared to most computers, but it's a step backwards when compared to all the earlier M1 machines.
This thread absolutely would not exist if it wasn't for the fact that a lot of us on this very nerdy Apple forum upgraded to a Studio from an earlier M1 version that was 100% silent at idle.
Also this thread would have died out long ago if it wasn't for all the people who can't hear the fans telling the people who absolutely can hear the fans that they can't hear the fans.
I have an M1 Pro MacBook Pro which I got in November, an M1 mini which I got in July 2021 and my daughter has an M1 MacBook Air which she got in February 2021. I've used it a few times in a pinch.
I can hear the fans. When I'm a foot away. I can't hear them when I'm farther away.
How many people are using 370 Watts with their studio? I have 2 4k monitors on my M1 mini, a NAS drive and three port hubs for USB devices And it runs quiet. Why do you need to spin the fans up so much if you're Studio is just idling?
I'm thinking I'll trade in my Studio on V2 when one comes out.
I am not saying you do, all I am explaining is that a 370W PSU will inevitably create much more heat than an external 140W power adapter, even when idling. When idling my Mac Studio is still providing power to a bunch of external peripherals, such as my TB Hub, TB SSD, and my USB peripherals, and I know that the 10GbE Ethernet port in the Mac Studio is both power-hungry and generates significant heat.
I too have a Mac Mini and my Mac Studio is just as quiet as it is, at least until the fans spin up further. At idling my fans are at 1330 RPMs and my Mac Studio is dead quiet. The fans go to 1500 RPMs, and it is noticeable.
Yeah, the fans are spinning at 1330 rpm to cool other components. They won't spin up until the CPU/GPU/RAM/SSD temps get a lot warmer because there is no need to, which is almost never. I have to turn on my Mac Pro to generate a some bias noise to keep from going crazy from the quietness in my room.
Right now my Mac Studio is pretty much idle, just streaming some music from YouTube. I have two TB 4K monitors (daisy chained), 10GbE Ethernet, TB NAS, TB Hub, TB SSD, USB Card Reader, and USB Lightning connected, and my temps are:
It is obvious that the TB ports generate heat, even in idle, and I am annoyed the 10GbE Ethernet port is not listed.
It is obvious that the TB ports generate heat, even in idle, and I am annoyed the 10GbE Ethernet port is not listed.
Generate heat sure, but just don't confuse temperature to equate to amount of heat produced. Since the CPU has a giant heat sync directly attached to it, it will stay cooler despite producing more heat than the other components.
If you want to know how much heat is produced by a system power consumption is what you should look at because minus the energy used by the fans/speakers/status lights all the energy consumed is going to heat.
If you want to know how much heat is produced by a system power consumption is what you should look at because minus the energy used by the fans/speakers/status lights all the energy consumed is going to heat.
I think this assumption it’s a little bit misguided because you are applying individual efficency percentage to the overall system.
That 7% it’s relative to the PSU itself, which can be a lot, not to the entire system.
In other words that 7% (“proprietary”) heat generated by PSU can be responsible, for example, for 60% of the overall system heat signature.
No it can't, if the computer say draws 100W from the wall, then PSU gives off 7W of heat (due to 93% efficiency) while the rest of the components give off 93W of heat.
(Now for simplicity I admit I am ignoring the motion energy of the fans, the radiant energy of WiFi/BT and sound energy of speakers. We could estimate those take less than 10W therefore it is about 83W of heat given off by the rest of the system and 7W by the PSU)
I think you are right. My mistake. 👍
I totally missed the fact that the PSU is the master "gateway" and it's total capacity is basically the total capacity power draw of the entire system.
I totally missed the fact that the PSU is the master "gateway" and it's total capacity is basically the total capacity power draw of the entire system.
I would avoid the refurbs as there is likely a greater chance of seeing this issue from a return. Starting tomorrow Apple will extend the return period to the first week in January due to the holidays. This would be a great time to purchase knowing you will have a couple months to get it setup and confirm that there is no issue for you. While there is a slim chance it could eventually become an issue, I think the risk would be much lower after 2 months. There is also the slower fan solution that seems to work for some people if it ever does crop up at a later date.
It is also looking more likely that we will see a M2 Mini pro in March (10cpu/20GPU Cores) with 32gb option. So if you are looking at a base config Studio and don't need the extra ports then you could wait for that. But I would not expect it to be much cheaper than the base config Studio once you spec out to 32Gb memory.
Good post above by hoodlum90.
I was concerned about the whine too so I waited a few months after release to purchase an Ultra.
My use is in a quiet recording studio environment and mine has been fine for four months now. For anecdotal purposes I do know four other engineers using their Studios (3 Ultras, 1 Max) without noise issues. Of course YMMV but I'd go for it.
I was concerned about the whine too so I waited a few months after release to purchase an Ultra.
My use is in a quiet recording studio environment and mine has been fine for four months now. For anecdotal purposes I do know four other engineers using their Studios (3 Ultras, 1 Max) without noise issues. Of course YMMV but I'd go for it.
Possibly. But alternatively – and assuming Apple is actually concerned at all about this issue – there is a chance they might check for it and be able to rectify it as part of the refurb process.
Either way I'll know soon enough. I ordered a refurb yesterday. After returning a BTO Max earlier this year I'm well familiar with the specifics of the noise and how irritating it is, and will be sending this one back too if it has it.
I think that it is easier to buy one if you have an Apple Store nearby to make the return experience easier. I bought one at The Apple Store to decrease my odds in case there are returns for the coil whine. What would be nice is if you could ask the store to set it up so that you could listen for yourself. Ideally in a quiet space - I don't think that those exist in an Apple Store though.
Really great video here guys. Examples of the noise from different distances. After watching with auto translated subtitles, he says it’s really annoying but it becomes easily bearable if you find the right fan speed with fan control to wear the whine becomes much quieter. But for him as an audio engineer he finds it unacceptable for the price he paid to fiddle with fan speeds. But he admits if you’re okay with that then it’s fine.
I’m still tempted to get it since when I’m working on audio engineering whatever I’m listening to is always much louder than any fan whine.