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@Torrin

Thanks for sharing that information. Good to know, that Apple has caught wind of the issue. In the meantime, I received confirmation that my "damaged" iMac arrived at wherever it was supposed to go. Still waiting for shipment of a new one, though!
Should hopefully be shipped out soon. When I spoke to them they told me a new one can't be sent til they have received the old one back. My replacement is ready to ship, just waiting for UPS to return original before they'll send my replacement.
 
I replied to a thread on Apples forums yesterday about someone having a similar issue with last years model, where I asked if the issue was solved since I was experiencing something similar. An AppleCare senior advisor called me today and asked if they could replace mine so that they could take a look at it. I asked if there was any known issues with the fan that they had confirmed on other machines and he said there was not.

I was a bit reluctant to part with it, for what he said would be about a week, but still agreed to it. As much as I would hate going through all the hassle if there's nothing wrong, I will always be wondering if I don't do it. And since they responded so quick, it makes me think that there's something wrong that maybe they do not want to admit. In any case, I'm impressed with how they handled it.
 
Ok, so my replacement is on its way and scheduled to arrive Wednesday or Thursday next week. Any updates from you guys?
 
Hi everyone,

i got my i7 / 512 SSD / 395 on wednesday. (shipped from Ireland) Same here: fan is constantly running and clicking. I've had a Mid 2010 27" SSD iMac before which was absolutely silent. After reading this thread I called AppleCare yesterday and they had a 'high alert notice' in their system and immediately connected me with a Senior AppleCare Specialist. He told me that they where aware of the problem but still trying to figure out what's wrong. He called me again this morning and told me that he talked to the engineers and that they want my iMac for further inspection.



@AnTaR3s: I'm from Vienna too :)
 
They reveived mine yesterday and told me that they are waiting for clearance from the engineering team before they send me a new one.
 
I have the 21.5" 4k with 1tb FD - I cant hear any fan yet and definitely no clicking. In fact, I don't like plugging in my ext HDD as that's so noisy!
 
Ok, so my replacement is on its way and scheduled to arrive Wednesday or Thursday next week. Any updates from you guys?
They've only just sent yours ?
Received my replacement yesterday. Don't think it's clicking but of course I can still hear the fan but think that's normal.
 
They've only just sent yours ?
Received my replacement yesterday. Don't think it's clicking but of course I can still hear the fan but think that's normal.

Oh no, if its significantly louder than the 2012 machine, then I will have to return it again...without replacement since I don't want to wait another 2-3 weeks until its convenient for them to send me a new one. I'll do some basic noise tests next week...
 
They've only just sent yours ?
Received my replacement yesterday. Don't think it's clicking but of course I can still hear the fan but think that's normal.

@SeanD1: Would be great if you could monitor it for a day and could give feedback whether your fan is definitely not clicking (i.e., improved over your previous one) or not. In case it is, I would have to send mine in as well I guess...
 
the 2012 and 2013 are more silent because they have dGPU Nvidia
the 2014 and 2015 are Amd

Sorry, that does not make any sense. Why is it then, that I can hear the new iMac's fan at 1200rpm, when I can't hear my 2012 iMac's fan at 1200rpm?
Sorry man, but your argument has no foundation.
 
Sorry, that does not make any sense. Why is it then, that I can hear the new iMac's fan at 1200rpm, when I can't hear my 2012 iMac's fan at 1200rpm?
Sorry man, but your argument has no foundation.

I'm curious about this too.

I can't hear the fan really, but I can hear the air flow caused by the fan at 1200 RPM. I'm not sure if I'm just paying too much attention or it's actually louder.

I luckily have access to two of the new iMacs, and they're both the same in this regard.
 
So after a day on my replacement, I can no longer hear any clicking noise. I do however hear air flow, however this is very slight and is consistent so doesn't bother me.
I think because the newer iMacs vent straight out from under the hinge compared to blowing out the top on the older models, it may make it seem louder.
If I put my ear against the vent, it doesn't sound 100% smooth however, as if the fan might be slightly off balance.
Im going to give it a few more days. If it stays as it is I will be happy as its a great machine otherwise!
Ill update if the noise changes and I've spent more time with it.
 
Geez, you guys live in an anechoic chamber?
I honestly don't understand how anyone can complain about the fan noise on the new iMac 5K.

Either my iMac is much quieter than others or some owners are way to picky......I have to slam my ear against the iMac to hear anything.
.....and yes, my hearing is fine as we have annual mandatory hearing checks at work.
 
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I have the the new i5, 395 2tb fusion drive model. I tilted my mac back an put my ear up the the vents at the the bottom and couldn't ear anything if only a very faint fan sound. Just as quiet and my nmp is. Setting back a foot and a half away can't hear anything fan, hdd, nothing. Just my keyboard clicks. Its an awesome computer.
 
Just thought I'd add a data point here: About three weeks ago, I had brought my Late 2013 21" iMac in tot he Apple store for a longstanding issue: the fan would rev up to maximum (over 4000 RPM) for no reason. The CPU wasn't under load, not much would be going on. Eventually, it would quiet back down, only to rev right up again after a while. There didn't seem to be any predictable pattern to it. Ultimately it started just being constantly on which was annoying as hell, so that's when I took it in.

It passed all diagnostics, but the Genius bar folks agreed this wasn't right, so it the fan was replaced under Applecare. Took about two days, and the fan hasn't revved up to max since. All quiet finally.
 
Clicking sounds are not right, but I wonder how many people who complain about hearing the fan have them placed up against a wall or the back of an enclosed desk? This would make the fan sound reflect back towards you as compared to some one who had their iMac completely open to air in the back. Just a thought.
 
If there is absolutely no traffic on the road outside, I can just about hear the fan. The only thing that has so far got it briefly above 1200 RPM was running the Apple Diagnostic test on boot-up, though I confess I have yet to run any 'torture tests'..
Most of the time though I'm enjoying music from the ridiculously good built-in speakers :D

i5 3.3 Ghz, 8GB RAM, 512 SSD, M395
 
I live in a very quiet area and therefore don't have any surrounding noise to block out the fan noise, not that it bothers me.
I did a quick test earlier. My room is 4db usually and 6db when iMac is on. This is with an iPhone app so is not accurate but there is a clear difference.
 
Geez, you guys live in an anechoic chamber?
I honestly don't understand how anyone can complain about the fan noise on the new iMac 5K.

I think it is fair to complain when an older model (2012) is subjectively silent, and the new one is not. The fact that you don't hear anything on your machine might only mean that you got an iMac from the "good" pile. For me, the fan + airflow was definitely noticeable, where it is not with the 2012 machine. It was not loud, or very disturbing, but still clearly noticeable. The clicking fan on the other hand would have driven me crazy by now!
 
The fact that you don't hear anything on your machine might only mean that you got an iMac from the "good" pile.

Either my iMac is much quieter than others or some owners are way to picky......

Well as I said above....

Maybe yours is an exception and has an issue?
Mine is pretty much completely silent unless I'm hammering it pretty hard and fan starts to ramp up, even then it's nothing to get excited about.

Based on a lot of the forum threads and all the negativity I wouldn't doubt a lot of people will make a mountain of a problem out of nothing.

Our IT department at work has just installed 12 new iMacs in a sealed conference room.......with all 12 of them running it's completely silent in that room. Turning them all off makes zero difference in ambient noise.
Says something....
 
Well as I said above....

Maybe yours is an exception and has an issue?
Mine is pretty much completely silent unless I'm hammering it pretty hard and fan starts to ramp up, even then it's nothing to get excited about.

Based on a lot of the forum threads and all the negativity I wouldn't doubt a lot of people will make a mountain of a problem out of nothing.

Our IT department at work has just installed 12 new iMacs in a conference room.......all 12 of them running it's completely silent in that room. Turning them all off makes zero difference in ambient noise.
Says something....

Well yes, and I really hope that the one I got was an exception. I can only say that when I had both models running next to each other, I could clearly hear the 2015 model, and the 2012 model was silent...it is true that the new model was not loud, but if it is loudER than the 2012 model, I consider it a problem.
 
Does this sound normal to you? It is not loud but sound weird to me. At 1200rpm
https://www.dropbox.com/s/2r3ak36q389jidc/VID_20151108_212347.mp4?dl=0

Hi Panosher

Hard to say. I also had some problem recording the clicks and the audio file in the first post is a poor representation of what I actually heard. For me personally, these "clicks" were definitely audible and annoying. I think I can hear some of these clicks in your video as well, but since you are not sure of this yourself, we might be imagining things here. After all, only a few people were affected by this problem. If your iMac sound does not annoy you, I would not bother with a replacement.
 
Hi Panosher

Hard to say. I also had some problem recording the clicks and the audio file in the first post is a poor representation of what I actually heard. For me personally, these "clicks" were definitely audible and annoying. I think I can hear some of these clicks in your video as well, but since you are not sure of this yourself, we might be imagining things here. After all, only a few people were affected by this problem. If your iMac sound does not annoy you, I would not bother with a replacement.

Hi AntaR3s,

I listen to your video and it sounds the same to me. Mine was also shipped from Ireland.
I have talked to applecare and am visiting the store tomorrow to get an exchange or order a replacement as I have also noticed some slow performance which is not excused for this kind of hardware (i7,32GB ram, 1TB ssd) such as type latency, poor browser (both ff and chrome). spinning beach ball etc.

I am visiting Vienna for Christmas by the way :)
 
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