I don't doubt people are having issues of this sort. Hope you folks can figure ways to stifle the noise or correct the actual problem.
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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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Subsequent to the analysis I did in the link above, I’ve obtained a more sensitive microphone and have conducted further testing. Using the excellent REW (Room EQ Wizard) with a lower noise floor UMIK2 from MiniDSP, I can repeatedly show the frequency and amplitude of the noise from my Mac Studio Max.
The below graph is the net change in db over frequency with the Studio off vs. on. There is a 24db net change in sound pressure at 2.6kHz and a lower amplitude change of 15.5db at 400Hz. The 400Hz appears to be the normal ”whooshing” that we don’t mind, whereas the 2.6Khz is the irritating “whistle” or “whine” that we despise.
As mentioned before, I have two Studio Max in two different cities and both exhibit the noise, so I haven’t bothered to try for a return with Apple. I think I’ve passed the one year mark now anyways so I’ve learned to live with it.
Wow, I must have gotten a lucky lot - my Studio never whines or whistles...
Yeah I can't hear mine at all. Only when the room is completly quiet and I move my ear to the studio I can hear a quiet humming.
It's simply the most quiet Mac I ever had (besides the fanless MBA which obviously is completly silent)
Finally some actual measurements! And that 2.5 kHz frequency area is where we’re most sensitive. Great work.
The question remains if it’s only some of the units that will have this noise peak. As you describe it (I never had a Mac Studio my self) it could either be some electrical whining or a fan that’s poorly designed/defective.
I don’t know if you have been hiding under a rock, but we have had A LOT of actual measurements. Some from people with the whining issue and some from people without. Only some have the whine at 2.6kHz.
I did recordings myself, and I have a friend with a recording booth, and no where did I record the whine. A faint fan noise for sure, in the 400Hz area, but nothing else peaked In any recording, not even when the Mac Studio was under pressure - just more fan noise.
Same here! Have to put my ear up to the back of the machine to hear anything and then it's a very soft swooshing
sound.
Ok… I was just surprised to still read posts like: “mine doesn’t have noise” like they’re suggesting that it’s not an issue or people are too sensitive 😊
Posts like that are not so relevant unless they have pulled their machine apart and shared pictures of part and serial numbers etc.
I think these comments are just as relevant as the ones reporting issues are. It tells us all that this is not a general issue, but rather specific to some Mac Studios.
I agree, I would love to know what sets them apart, but few people are interested in voiding warranty just to satisfy the curiosity of forum members. It has been mentioned that there are at least two PSUs in play, and perhaps that is the differentiator?
I agree, I would love to know what sets them apart, but few people are interested in voiding warranty just to satisfy the curiosity of forum members. It has been mentioned that there are at least two PSUs in play, and perhaps that is the differentiator?
Coming from the i7 Mac Mini where the fan spins up for any little work and heats up like a fireball; this Studio Mac is amazingly quiet, cool to the touch, and no more spinning beach balls.
It is indisputably the quietest desktop computer I have ever used. I understand everyone is different and also there may be some machines that are louder than others but seriously, it is quiet.
Agreed. It is sad that some of us got lucky and the fact "luck" if we can call that is involved, it doesn't speak well of Apple's rep and the hit 'n miss facet to this and other Apple items.
Well, I took note of all the reports of fan noise on here and went for an M2Pro Mac Mini instead, its totally silent and cold, performance is amazing, I run a small pro studio with it, and its the best computer I have ever had, it cost about £200 more than the Mac Studio, and I dont care, it works flawlessly for me! and I have zero whistling/fam noise
My M2Pro Mini was silent under normal usage, but the moment I started heavy tasks such as lightmap calculations for large scenes in Unity, building/compiling in Unreal Engine, 3D rendering in Maya, etc., the fans would spin up like crazy turning the Mac Mini into a jet engine.
I finally returned it, bought a Mac Studio (base model) and so far haven't been able to hear the fans even when working with the most demanding tasks. The machine stays cool and silent no matter what I throw at it. The cooling system on the Studio is simply much better, and it's clearly designed to sustain cpu/gpu heavy workflows for extended periods of time.
I finally returned it, bought a Mac Studio (base model) and so far haven't been able to hear the fans even when working with the most demanding tasks. The machine stays cool and silent no matter what I throw at it. The cooling system on the Studio is simply much better, and it's clearly designed to sustain cpu/gpu heavy workflows for extended periods of time.
Good luck with that until you start putting any load on it.
Exactly. Quiet work when at idle (or light loads) is of course desirable, but quiet work under heavy load is of paramount importance.
If a mac made rustling leaves noises then I would probably buy one... fall is probably my favorite season. But a nonstop mini vacuum cleaner? I'll pass....
I would go with "birds lightly chirping"
I checked out the M2 Mac Mini in the store, and just opening a whole bunch of YouTube videos in Safari, as well as every standard program, the fans sped up and it was significantly more noisy than my M1 Max Mac Studio at home running the same, or even bigger, work load.
The Mac Mini simply isn't made for heavy workloads, and the Mac Studio is, and though it can certainly be a noisy MoFo, the Mac Studio is generally more quiet under load...
The Mac Mini simply isn't made for heavy workloads, and the Mac Studio is, and though it can certainly be a noisy MoFo, the Mac Studio is generally more quiet under load...
I mean I almost literally have to put my ear against it to hear the fan. It's never once kicked into overdrive for any task I've ever thrown at it. Granted, I'm not doing super intensive stuff, but I certainly can't say that about any laptop I've ever owned and even my 5K iMac would kick in once in a while.
I only bought the Studio last year because the Mini Pro was still using Intel and I wasn't sure if the base Mini would be good enough. But you're making me glad I have the Studio. It drives me nuts when fans kick in just for streaming video. My Studio has never once done that.
It is quite silent even in heavy test, probably there was something wrong with that Mac mini / setup.
Sometimes the stores are pretty warm too.
My M1 mini is quieter than my Studio. The mini is silent to me from close distances. I can hear the fan on the studio when I'm close to it.