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New 27" iMac - humming normal?

mac.fly

mac.fly

macrumors regular
Original poster
Apr 8, 2008
110
1
UK
My new iMac 27" (i3, 3.2GHz) is not so quiet as my previous iMacs -
I can hear a low humming noise! Not very loud, but I don't like it.
It grabs my attention... :confused:
It sounds like a fan motor or a transformer.
I can also feel a corresponding vibration.
Is this normal now? Does anyone else have this problem too?
Would you recommend to return/exchange this iMac?
Thanks!
 
Mine has a very, very quiet hiss. It's clearly the fan. I wouldn't call it a "problem" in the slightest. However, there's no way for any of us to know if yours is unusually loud or not.
 
xraydoc said:
Mine has a very, very quiet hiss.
It's clearly the fan. I wouldn't call it a "problem" in the slightest.
However, there's no way for any of us to know if yours is unusually loud or not.
Click to expand...

I don't mean the hiss (this is normal) - I mean a hum.

When it's quiet in the room, I can still hear it when sitting
about 5 feet away from the iMac. From there I hear absolutely
nothing of the hiss you mentioned.

Is this normal?
 
I've got the same issue. My previous 24" 2.8GHz iMac was silent. My new i7 has the hum you're talking about. The hum is quiet but noticeable. It goes from relatively loud to quiet with a period of about a second. It's definitely not fans, screen or disk so I'm guessing transformer. It also seems to be loudest around the left hand side and top edges near where the transformers are.

I guess I can live with it so long as it's not a sign of impending failure, but I'm disappointed that my new iMac appears to be a step backwards compared with my 24" model which still is a really excellent machine.
 
I have the i7 2.93 ghz 2 TB HD & I don't hear anything at all. I was quite surprised at how quiet it is. Seems to be a difference between the 1 TB & 2 TB drives.
 
Serif said:
It goes from relatively loud to quiet with a period of about a second
Click to expand...

My hum is constant! :confused:

Serif said:
I guess I can live with it so long as it's not a sign of impending failure, but I'm disappointed that my new iMac appears to be a step backwards compared with my 24" model which still is a really excellent machine.
Click to expand...

I think I will not live with it. If I can't get a quieter one, I will try to find a (slower) 27" of the old generation.

Regarding "impending failure" read:
http://discussions.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=12089174&tstart=0
 
mac.fly said:
Regarding "impending failure" read:
http://discussions.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=12089174&tstart=0
Click to expand...
Thanks for the link. It makes interesting reading and ties in with what I'm experiencing. As regards the earlier comment of this maybe something to do with hard drive size, I have the 2TB drive fitted but it is normally spun down because I only use it for backup / archiving. My main drive is the SSD.

I'm pretty certain that it is possible to get a relatively quiet i7 machine; they wouldn't ship them out making this sort of noise as standard. Just debating whether to risk sending it back and getting something worse instead. Other than the noise the machine seems fine.
 
Seagate hard drives are dead silent (at least on my new 2010 iMac)


Hitachi hard drives....make rattle,clunk,hum noises
 
Serif said:
As regards the earlier comment of this maybe something to do with hard drive size...
Click to expand...

I have a 1TB HD built in - and the hum.
Two other iMacs here (21.5-inch) also have 1TB HDs and are totally quiet.
 
ˆˆˆˆ
Yep that's the same model Seagate as I have and it's silent...so maybe it could be your fans?
 
Your iMac should be perfect. If there is something that stands out, then chances are it needs to be addressed and there is something wrong.
 
I had a similar noise to the one you're describing and i was about to take it back but before you do just try going to disk utility and repairing your disk.

Since i did that it's been silent!!
 
I have just received my 27" i7 refurb, after problems with the first one I received with a bad yellowing screen I was very pleased to see this one has a very good screen, however it does have a bad humming issue.

Using a SPL meter (that I bought to set up my home cinema) I am getting reading of 52-56 db when placed near the Imac, it cycles from 52 to 56 in a period of about a second, constantly.

My 24" iMac is much quieter, my SPL meter only goes down to 50 db so I cant measure the noise from that.

I'm not sure what to do, I don't really want to return it as it has a good screen, bit it does seem overly noisy, if it was an easy fix I would be happy to have it repaired, as I would hate to send this back and get a replacement with a bad screen.

Julie
 
sinar said:
My 24" iMac is much quieter, my SPL meter only goes down to 50 db so I cant measure the noise from that.

I'm not sure what to do, I don't really want to return it as it has a good screen, bit it does seem overly noisy, if it was an easy fix I would be happy to have it repaired, as I would hate to send this back and get a replacement with a bad screen.
Click to expand...
This sounds remarkably like my own situation. I was expecting my new 27" to be as quiet as my 24" and by all accounts it should be. I'm pretty sure now that the humming we're hearing is noise from one of the two power transformers. I decided that the constant humming would drive me distracted eventually so have bitten the bullet and got in touch with Apple. They're going to see if they can repair rather than replace; that way I hopefully get back a machine with just the one known problem corrected.
 
UPDATE:

Today my iMac was exchanged.
First, when I switched it on, it was quiet - just as my other iMacs. I was so happy!
But then, during the transfer from the external TimeMachine drive,
the same humming developed - maybe even a bit louder!
For me this noise is unacceptable and I'm really disappointed!

How can I get a quiet 27" iMac?

Is it more likely to get a quiet one when buying a 27" of the old generation?
 
mine sounds like stomach growling or something like that
i called applecare and they told me to take it the apple store because its only 7 days old and they will test it out which means of course they wont find anything ..

im wondering if i should just stop being picky and just deal with it
 
mac.fly said:
UPDATE:

Today my iMac was exchanged.
First, when I switched it on, it was quiet - just as my other iMacs. I was so happy!
But then, during the transfer from the external TimeMachine drive,
the same humming developed - maybe even a bit louder!
For me this noise is unacceptable and I'm really disappointed!

How can I get a quiet 27" iMac?

Is it more likely to get a quiet one when buying a 27" of the old generation?
Click to expand...


That's awful, mine seems to have quietened down a bit now, but I have no idea why, it's still much noisier than my 24" though.
 
lobeyonekenobi said:
I had a similar noise to the one you're describing and i was about
to take it back but before you do just try going to disk utility
and repairing your disk. Since i did that it's been silent!!
Click to expand...

Unfortunately this didn't help!
 
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