Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
I set up my new base Mac Studio yesterday and must say it's pretty quiet and unobtrusive. Used a sound meter app, at head level, to measure the following conditions:

1. With nothing turned on in the room, I get a minimum reading of 27 dB and average of 30 dB

2. Windows 10 tower PC on the floor, idling at the desktop, measures minimum of 35 dB and 36 dB average

3. Mac Studio 1-foot away from me on the desk measures minimum of 29 dB and average of 31 dB

At times I have to strain to discern the sound of the Mac Studio's fan against my own breathing, that's how quiet it is. Sure, it isn't completely silent like my M1 Mini but there isn't any annoying coil whine, whistling, or other disturbing frequency emanating from the base M1 Max Mac Studio. Once I place it in a more permanent location 2-3 feet away I'm sure I won't be able to hear the Mac Studio. Heck, the fan on my Windows 10 work laptop, also a foot away, easily drowns out any perceptible sound from the Mac Studio. I love having the front ports and SD Card more than I expected and originally ordered an M2 Pro Mini. It is a tough choice between the new M2 Pro Mini and base Mac Studio but "noise" is not a concern or differentiating factor.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Mojoxer
This may or may not be true. When I put my fingers over the leftmost holes when the fan is on, it reduces the rotation speed from ~1320 rpm to ~1310 rpm. This change may be enough for another resonance inside the system.

View attachment 2151604
(Not really visible with this chart resolution. But you can see that the rpm value is not 100% constant.)
I am also investigating this route. If only we could open the damn thing with normal screws i would take it out of the housing for a test.
I also tried to have the fans run at different speed. Funny enough. It helps. But then the fans are adapting their speeds bit just a hair an i get even weirder noises….what a fail this machine is…noise whise i mean
 
  • Like
Reactions: DirkSchreib
I set up my new base Mac Studio yesterday and must say it's pretty quiet and unobtrusive. Used a sound meter app, at head level, to measure the following conditions:

1. With nothing turned on in the room, I get a minimum reading of 27 dB and average of 30 dB

2. Windows 10 tower PC on the floor, idling at the desktop, measures minimum of 35 dB and 36 dB average

3. Mac Studio 1-foot away from me on the desk measures minimum of 29 dB and average of 31 dB

At times I have to strain to discern the sound of the Mac Studio's fan against my own breathing, that's how quiet it is. Sure, it isn't completely silent like my M1 Mini but there isn't any annoying coil whine, whistling, or other disturbing frequency emanating from the base M1 Max Mac Studio. Once I place it in a more permanent location 2-3 feet away I'm sure I won't be able to hear the Mac Studio. Heck, the fan on my Windows 10 work laptop, also a foot away, easily drowns out any perceptible sound from the Mac Studio. I love having the front ports and SD Card more than I expected and originally ordered an M2 Pro Mini. It is a tough choice between the new M2 Pro Mini and base Mac Studio but "noise" is not a concern or differentiating factor.
Great. Please record it with your phone. Not fancy stuff, just somehow close to the back of the mac studio without pointing directly to the fan exhaust. I have yet to hear a silent one and i would like to compare it to mine.
 
Great. Please record it with your phone. Not fancy stuff, just somehow close to the back of the mac studio without pointing directly to the fan exhaust. I have yet to hear a silent one and i would like to compare it to mine.
Will definitely do so when I get home later tonight.
 
  • Like
Reactions: pappl
Your silent Mac Studio is for US-region (110V 60Hz AC)?

Aren‘t all Studios the same with 110V@60 - 240V@50 PSU for all regions and only AC-cable is different?
 
@Fenderborn, here's a recording. The first 25 seconds are with the Mac Studio shut down to get a baseline of ambient sound levels. If your speakers are turned up be prepared for the Mac startup gong sound. Let me know your thoughts or questions.

The Mac Studio definitely sounds quieter in person compared to the video playback on my Z Fold 4. It sounds as if the phone's mic is picking up static and higher frequencies or perhaps it's speaker distortion with the volume on max. Enjoy!

Mac Studio fan sound
 
and this air whistling was totally preventable. I wonder who’s hairbrained idea it was over at  to machine all these microscopic holes in the back for exhaust.
Totally unnecessary.
For perspective, my mini-ATX PC case is also riddled with holes for ventilation. Mac Studio rear vent screen is aesthetically more pleasing and keeps out debris better than large slits or gaps. The whistling shouldn't have made it through testing and QC like it did. Unfortunately for Apple we hold them to much higher standards (their pricing is part of the problem too). I am quite pleased with my Mac Studio. It is not M1 Mini silent but is still very quiet. Definitely not a disturbance of any sort while working at my desk. After just a few days I already had moments where I thought the Mac Studio was off but it was actually on. Very quiet indeed.
 
Last edited:
  • Love
Reactions: George Dawes
@Fenderborn, here's a recording. The first 25 seconds are with the Mac Studio shut down to get a baseline of ambient sound levels. If your speakers are turned up be prepared for the Mac startup gong sound. Let me know your thoughts or questions.

The Mac Studio definitely sounds quieter in person compared to the video playback on my Z Fold 4. It sounds as if the phone's mic is picking up static and higher frequencies or perhaps it's speaker distortion with the volume on max. Enjoy!

Mac Studio fan sound
Thx for the upload. Yes. Definitly some static noise at the beginning because the cellphone is amplifier „anything“ at that moment. To be honest yours is less noisy then mine. But when you go closer there this higher frequency sound, which in my opinion is very annoying. But it seems bearable on your machine.

 
Thx for the upload. Yes. Definitly some static noise at the beginning because the cellphone is amplifier „anything“ at that moment. To be honest yours is less noisy then mine. But when you go closer there this higher frequency sound, which in my opinion is very annoying. But it seems bearable on your machine.

View attachment 2152724
The high-pitch whistling that's present in your recording, do you actually hear it from the machine yourself?

What I mean is, I can certainly hear a high-pitch frequency in my own recording but that pitch is absent in reality. My phone's microphone is picking up static/frequency/sounds that are not normally audible to me. I don't know if I'm making any sense. Or it may not be the mic at all and the extra sounds I'm hearing during playback of my own recording is distortion due to the speakers amplifying the noise-to-signal ratio at max volume.

Sorry I don't have better gear to make a proper recording, but what I'm trying to say is the Mac Studio sounds much more pleasing and quiet in person than what's recorded (and played back) on my phone. When I listen to my recording it doesn't feel like an accurate representation of the actual Mac Studio on my desk. With my own ears next to the vent there's no high pitch sound, but I certainly hear a high pitch from my phone's speakers.

My 16GB M2 Pro Mini arrives today. I will set it up and make a recording of the Mini as well to compare before returning it to Apple.
 
The high-pitch whistling that's present in your recording, do you actually hear it from the machine yourself?

What I mean is, I can certainly hear a high-pitch frequency in my own recording but that pitch is absent in reality. My phone's microphone is picking up static/frequency/sounds that are not normally audible to me. I don't know if I'm making sense. Or it may not be the mic at all and the extra sounds I'm hearing during playback of my own recording is distortion due to the speakers amplifying the noise-to-signal ratio at max volume.

Sorry I don't have better gear to male a proper recording, but what I'm trying to say is the Mac Studio sounds much more pleasing and quiet in person than what's recorded (and played back) on my phone. When I listen to my recording it doesn't feel like an accurate representation of the actual Mac Studio on my desk. With my own ears next to the vent there's no high pitch sound, but I certainly hear a high pitch from my phone's speakers.

My 16GB M2 Pro Mini arrives today. I will set it up and make a recording of the Mini as well to compare before returning it to Apple.
I know what you mean. But yeah. Mine makes this kind of noise. After using fan control software i can make it less noisy.
I made sure that there is no other noises in the room. Here a video with fan control.

 
I know what you mean. But yeah. Mine makes this kind of noise. After using fan control software i can make it less noisy.
I made sure that there is no other noises in the room. Here a video with fan control.

View attachment 2152864
Your second video is more representative of what my Mac Studio sounds like in person -- just the whoosh of air up close and no other harmonics or high-pitch frequency.
 
Your second video is more representative of what my Mac Studio sounds like in person -- just the whoosh of air up close and no other harmonics or high-pitch frequency.
Unfortunenatly i will stay like that. When i wake it up after sleep it start action on his own by changing, ever so slightly, the fanspeed so i have on and off high pitch moments.
 
Just following through with my word. Set up my 16GB M2 Pro Mini and, as expected, it is quieter than the Mac Studio and near silent. Even with my ear right up to the vent it is difficult to hear the movement of air. At two inches away the M2 Pro Mini is practically silent, even when running CPU and GPU benchmarks concurrently.

I'm not posting a video because any noise in the recording is just static or speaker distortion. In person the M2 Pro Mini is not making any sounds that are detectable beyond two inches away.
 
Just following through with my word. Set up my 16GB M2 Pro Mini and, as expected, it is quieter than the Mac Studio and near silent. Even with my ear right up to the vent it is difficult to hear the movement of air. At two inches away the M2 Pro Mini is practically silent, even when running CPU and GPU benchmarks concurrently.

I'm not posting a video because any noise in the recording is just static or speaker distortion. In person the M2 Pro Mini is not making any sounds that are detectable beyond two inches away.
Great to know. Thx for the feedback
 
All this talk has me wondering about a slightly related topic.

Does anyone know if Apple makes updates/changes to their products during the cycle without a specific announcement.

In the auto world, small fixes such as this fan noise would be fixed during the product cycle, with different part numbers and all within the same production cycle/mode year. Just normal ongoing “bug fixes”.

It makes me wonder if say Apple isolates the cause of the fan noise, would they potentially fix it during the current production cycle so that units produced more recently may not have the issue?
 
  • Like
Reactions: Think77
Does anyone know if Apple makes updates/changes to their products during the cycle without a specific announcement.

This happens all the time. Small changes get made to things. All manufacturing is like this - some components get improved, some get cheapened, some get replaced with alternative suppliers.

The Ipad 2, notably, received a significant CPU upgrade during its life - later-built units ran cooler and had better battery life. Even chips themselves are updated during their lifetime in production - "stepping".
 
… so i have on and off high pitch moments.
My last unit is the same (purchased in autumn, september i think).

It got better over time (going longer between “whinny” crisis 😁)

I tried and returned 2 units and kept the 3rd one (ordered directly from Apple)

All of them more or less the same, the first one was worse by having also “crickets” coming from PSU (bottom intake holes)

Meanwhile i moved to Europe, switching to 230V … different environment same behavior

I kind of adjusted to it and learn to ignore it when it does throw the tantrums 😁 . Sometime it goes longer without screaming.

It is hardware related for sure …

Funny story:
one evening, my wife suddenly : “hey, listen … what is screeching in the house ?” 😂😂
Me: Thank you God ! This is what i was hearing all these months 😂

She couldn’t hear it when we were back in the states 🙂
 
Last edited:
  • Haha
Reactions: Fenderborn
My last unit is the same (purchased in autumn, september i think).

It got better over time (going longer between “whinny” crisis 😁)

I tried and returned 2 units and kept the 3rd one (ordered directly from Apple)

All of them more or less the same, the first one was worse by having also “crickets” coming from PSU (bottom intake holes)

Meanwhile i moved to Europe, switching to 230V … different environment same behavior

I kind of adjusted to it and learn to ignore it when it does throw the tantrums 😁 . Sometime it goes longer without screaming.

It is hardware related for sure …

Funny story:
one evening, my wife suddenly : “hey, listen … what is screeching in the house ?” 😂😂
Me: Thank you God ! This is what i was hearing all these months 😂

She couldn’t hear it when we were back in the states 🙂
Yeah my psu is also alive. But its not very loud.
My girlfriend still thinks that the machine is silent….
 
  • Like
Reactions: MistD
Can you remove the case top and run the computer caseless (except for the base)? That should quiet down the fans a lot, assuming that the floor noise level of the Mac Studio's fans is capable of being near silent.

 
Can you remove the case top and run the computer caseless (except for the base)? That should quiet down the fans a lot, assuming that the floor noise level of the Mac Studio's fans is capable of being near silent.

That would certainly prove the theory that it's the case itself being the culprit. (all those holes), but I don't think I want to ditch the warranty and I don't know about the ports..
 
I am not sure you can actually turn on the Mac Studio without the casing… If I remember correctly, you can’t turn on the Mac Pro 2013 with the case installed.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Cape Dave
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.