The new iMac is a lot noisier!

[temas]

IMO you should work on narrowing your needs towards choosing which Mac first. I don't see any realistic scenario that the choice of machine can stretch from the 21.5" iMac to iMac Pro.

Yeah thats a good point. And thanks also for the info regarding 1 fan in the 27". I was evidently misinformed yesterday at the Apple store.

I should point out that my current set up consists of a 2014 quad core MBP 2.5ghz i7/16gb/512 SSD and 2 x 2012 quad core Mac Minis both 2.3ghz i7/16gb/1tb SSD and 3 external 1tb SSDs. I have everything networked together using Vienna Ensemble Pro over ethernet.

The set up gives me some pretty serious processor muscle power with a theoretical combined geek bench score of >34,000, but the downside is that it is a somewhat complicated workflow. And I feel like I'm torturing my MBP; the fans are working like crazy all day long.

I have pretty much set my sights on consolidating all my current Apple hardware and exchanging it for a iMac Pro. Buying a current iMac would probably be a 1 year replacement for the MBP, with the Mac Minis still taking a share of the workload.

 

[Mejoco_LC475]

My 2017 27" i7 32GB RAM 1TB SSD is effectively silent with general use. I've only had it since Friday but the only time I've heard the fan was when importing about 6000 photos and 60 videos into Photos. Very happy with my choice.

Good to hear, this is the exact spec I'm considering.

 

[joema2]

....my current set up consists of a 2014 quad core MBP 2.5ghz i7/16gb/512 SSD....I feel like I'm torturing my MBP; the fans are working like crazy all day long....I have pretty much set my sights on consolidating all my current Apple hardware and exchanging it for a iMac Pro. Buying a current iMac would probably be a 1 year replacement for the MBP, with the Mac Minis still taking a share of the workload.

The 2014 and 2015 MBP are quite loud under modest CPU loads -- much more than an i7 iMac from 2013 to 2017. I can understand you wanting a quieter machine for your audio production work. A 2017 i7 iMac 27 would be significantly quieter than your MBP. I know this because I own a 2015 and 2016 MBP, my coworker has a 2014 MBP and I also own a 2013, 2015 and 2017 iMac 27. I use all these for professional video editing. The 2014 and 2015 MBP are quite loud under modest CPU loads. The 2016 MBP is a little better but louder than the 2017 i7 iMac with both under moderate loads. The MBP has to work so much harder that the fans spin up quicker than an iMac.

This thread title is "new iMac is a lot noisier!". Than what? According to the OP video it's noisier than "last year's iMac". What he didn't clearly say in that statement was he's comparing last year's i5 iMac 27 to the 2017 i7 iMac 27. This in turn led many people to the false conclusion that the 2017 i7 iMac is louder than previous recent i7 iMacs. It is not. It is not louder than my 2013 i7, nor louder than my 2015 i7. In some FCPX workloads it is quieter than the 2015 because transcoding is more efficient.

There is pretty good evidence the 2017 i7 can be louder under high CPU loads than the 2017 i5, but that is not new. This has been the case for years. What is new is this thread's sudden awareness of this fact. This was typified by the OP video which was based on a lack of experience.

Another new factor is the 2017 i5 is now fast enough on certain workloads to equal some previous-generation i7 iMacs. If that is adequate performance for your case, then get the i5 since it is less expensive and may be quieter under high loads. Whether it actually IS quieter depends on your specific workload. Your software and workload may simply run faster on the i7 without any significant noise issue -- there's no way to know without testing. OTOH if the i5 is fast enough this reduces some noise concern. If I was using an iMac for an audio workstation I'd carefully evaluate this area.

But either i5 or i7 2017 iMac will be a lot faster than your 2014 MBP and both will be quieter.

Re the iMac Pro, unfortunately we don't know much about it, esp. regarding acoustic noise and whether it supports hardware acceleration for video transcoding. For my video work I was not impressed with the 12-core Mac Pro D700 -- it was quiet but without Quick Sync it was much slower than my 2015 or 2017 iMac on H264 transcoding or editing. However if the iMac Pro has some solution for this I might get one when it's available.

 

[Jack Burton]

isn't 27 also 1 fan and only iMac pro 2 fans?

Yup! I wish the new iMacs were cooled like the iMac Pro. I bet they could make the 7700k pretty quiet with a second fan.

But if the early looks are enough to go on, the iMac Pro loses ram upgradability. That's gonna cost iMac Pro users big time to upgrade from Apple on what is an already expensive machine.

 

[propower]

I should point out that my current set up consists of a 2014 quad core MBP 2.5ghz i7/16gb/512 SSD and 2 x 2012 quad core Mac Minis both 2.3ghz i7/16gb/1tb SSD and 3 external 1tb SSDs. I have everything networked together using Vienna Ensemble Pro over ethernet.

IMO - If you are making good use of two i7s (even Minis) via Vienna Ensemble + an i7 Laptop - I can't see any current iMac being a single computer replacement - unless you were willing to change workflow to make it fit (ie - render VI tracks rather than keeping them all live - which is what I will be doing when needed). I am more the other extreme of few VI's and mostly audio tracks. For you - 12 Core MP would be my first suggestion - and I have seen ~ $3K ones with 1TB SSD and 64G Ram that would be quite the deal for this use - probably <1/2 the price of a 8 Core iMacPro with RAM. But of course you would be buying a dead end platform with all the limitations it entails - Graphic shortcomings especially. Regardless for pure audio work (and of course reasonable performance for all else) the 2013 MP is the one today. iMacPro is certainly of interest for this and will likely be great - but we need more details before we will know. I suspect Apple will keep the paradigm of quiet computing for even moderate loads. For true heavy lifting I would suspect something like the current iMac to still be likely.

PS - 2012 Mini i7 - I had one for a while and the fan noise on those with not even much load was the worst I ever had with a Mac... are yours quiet??

 

[Chancha]

IMO - If you are making good use of two i7s (even Minis) via Vienna Ensemble + an i7 Laptop - I can't see any current iMac being a single computer replacement - unless you were willing to change workflow to make it fit (ie - render VI tracks rather than keeping them all live - which is what I will be doing when needed). I am more the other extreme of few VI's and mostly audio tracks. For you - 12 Core MP would be my first suggestion - and I have seen ~ $3K ones with 1TB SSD and 64G Ram that would be quite the deal for this use - probably <1/2 the price of a 8 Core iMacPro with RAM. But of course you would be buying a dead end platform with all the limitations it entails - Graphic shortcomings especially. Regardless for pure audio work (and of course reasonable performance for all else) the 2013 MP is the one today. iMacPro is certainly of interest for this and will likely be great - but we need more details before we will know. I suspect Apple will keep the paradigm of quiet computing for even moderate loads. For true heavy lifting I would suspect something like the current iMac to still be likely.

PS - 2012 Mini i7 - I had one for a while and the fan noise on those with not even much load was the worst I ever had with a Mac... are yours quiet??

Not him but I got an i7 Mini 2012, for at least a year I used it daily as a live streaming encoder machine where for hours the temp stays at 90 degrees+ with fans at max speed. It is loud, but not MBP loud, and the fact that it is a headless desktop means you can move it somewhere away from your ears or box it behind something which helps a lot.

And I have to concur with him inclining to the iMac Pro, digital ensemble is probably one of the perfect use cases where the iMac Pro really excels in with the core count and completeness as an AIO. With adding the iMac Pro, he will probably still keep the 2 Minis in the cluster and only leave the MBP out. How much noisier or quieter the iMac Pro is than the 2017 iMac is yet to be seen, technically having 2 fans running at slower speed should take care of the same air intake, however the Pro's internals will be significantly hotter while it still only has one exhaust, I can imagine it may sound like a pipe organ under full fan speed.

The trashcan is ironically quite a suitable machine for this task like the above said, but also as pointed out the end of life nature also puts it as a pretty unsound investment, namely the I/O bandwidth limited to TB2 and the internal SSD speed/capacity. You may be able to find a good deal for a 2nd hand though.

 

[DRuser]

I have my third one on the way, if it's a dud I will give up for now, will be interesting to hear how the fans is on that one.

Did you get your third one meanwhile?

 

[tozz]

Did you get your third one meanwhile?

I did, it has the same noise level as my first, ie very quiet. I actually have my second one at home since UPS is **** and I compared them, noticeable difference in noise level at idle.

 

[DRuser]

I did, it has the same noise level as my first, ie very quiet. I actually have my second one at home since UPS is **** and I compared them, noticeable difference in noise level at idle.

Very interesting! Thanks for sharing

 

[Foxglove9]

I own the i5 570 base model wth 512 SSD and it is noisier than the iMac i5 (late 2009) that I replaced. The old 2009 model with an aftermarket SSD was practically silent at idle. The new iMac I can hear the fan going all the time. It's definitely not loud, my external Western Digital HD is louder, but the fan on the iMac is one of the first things I noticed while using my new machine.

 

[rodanmusic]

I got the i7 7700k 2017 iMac, and I have to say that it is definitely louder than the i5.

However most of the time it is pretty much silent. When I can hear it, the noise is like a slight background hum. I have my 2012 mini next to it and the mini gets a lot louder at full load.

I do music production with Bitwig Studio, and I can get the fans to come on full speed with heavier projects. At first I thought it might bother me, but now it seems I don't even notice it when it does come on.

It's really minor in my personal opinion, but I think the only way to know if it is going to bother you when writing music is to get one and test it out.

Honestly the i7 "feels" a lot faster and snappier than the 3.5ghz i5 7600 to me. I guess I could be imagining it, but this computer flies. Applications open quicker, songs load faster, windows react faster. Pretty much everything seems more smooth and instantaneous to me. As a result I will be keeping the i7 and dealing with the minor fan noise.

I think the radeon pro 580 might have something to do with the smoothness as well. Playing Pillars of Eternity (which I assume isn't a hugely demanding game) is recognizably more fluid and smooth. The characters movement isn't choppy and everything seems to happen without glitching.

I would say 90% of the time I use it the fan speed hovers around 1100-1200rpm.
When I open plugin intensive songs i am occasionally getting fan speeds of around 2600 -2700 rpm. This is detectable with my music playing but still not that distracting.

I am sitting approximately 2 - 2 1/2 feet from the iMac.

 

[EugW]

Honestly the i7 "feels" a lot faster and snappier than the 3.5ghz i5 7600 to me. I guess I could be imagining it, but this computer flies. Applications open quicker, songs load faster, windows react faster. Pretty much everything seems more smooth and instantaneous to me. As a result I will be keeping the i7 and dealing with the minor fan noise.

I think the radeon pro 580 might have something to do with the smoothness as well. Playing Pillars of Eternity (which I assume isn't a hugely demanding game) is recognizably more fluid and smooth. The characters movement isn't choppy and everything seems to happen without glitching.

For every day use, the i7 7700K / 580 and i5 7600 / 575 feel identical to me, even with dual-screen use.

It's only with CPU-intensive applications does the i7-7700K feel noticeably faster to me.

 

[rodanmusic]

For every day use, the i7 7700K / 580 and i5 7600 / 575 feel identical to me, even with dual-screen use.

It's only with CPU-intensive applications does the i7-7700K feel noticeably faster to me.

Interesting. That's definitely not the case for me. Whether that means the graphic card is pulling more weight, or there was an issue with my i5 7600 I'm not sure. All I know is that it seems to run a lot more smooth in general.

I would see things like stuttering when making videos or windows full screen, or some minimal stutter when using mission control with a lot of open windows and applications. Finder would also lag slightly when loading folders with a large amount of large files. Also as mentioned before, character movement would occasionally stutter/glitch in Pillars of Eternity on the i5.

Loading tracks I've written in Bitwig on the i5 took quite a bit longer too.

For me, all of these issues are gone on the i7.

 

[Ethosik]

Interesting. That's definitely not the case for me. Whether that means the graphic card is pulling more weight, or there was an issue with my i5 7600 I'm not sure. All I know is that it seems to run a lot more smooth in general.

I would see things like stuttering when making videos or windows full screen, or some minimal stutter when using mission control with a lot of open windows and applications. Finder would also lag slightly when loading folders with a large amount of large files. Also as mentioned before, character movement would occasionally stutter/glitch in Pillars of Eternity on the i5.

Loading tracks I've written in Bitwig on the i5 took quite a bit longer too.

For me, all of these issues are gone on the i7.

That might all change with High Sierra and them putting the windowserver on Metal. Even on my top of the line 2016 Macbook Pro I see UI lag. Even with my iMac with the 580 I can see UI lag. I tested High Sierra and it was much better. It was still a little bit buggy, but I consider that to be because it is in beta.

 

[rodanmusic]

That might all change with High Sierra and them putting the windowserver on Metal. Even on my top of the line 2016 Macbook Pro I see UI lag. Even with my iMac with the 580 I can see UI lag. I tested High Sierra and it was much better. It was still a little bit buggy, but I consider that to be because it is in beta.

I'm very excited to see how the new OS performs, but i will be waiting for at least a year before upgrading due to the new file system.

 

[ka111n]

Hello! After reading all the pages I did not understand the difference between 7600 and 7600k noise. I have a MacBook Pro 15 late 2013 i7 and sometimes the fan turns on for no reason and the laptop heats up. It's horrible. I like to play games, encode video, use a virtual machine and sometimes use a second monitor. Should I go with 7600k to get 580? The difference in price is about 250 dollars. Sorry for my bad english. Thank you.

 

[jlseattle]

It's funny how we get so much more picky as we move forward in technology. Just think, in another 10 years cell phones might have the processing power of your current i7 iMac and it will run cool. Remember you are running on currently "cutting edge" technology. Those cores run hot. So the system will need to keep them cool AND do that in a confined space. My old mac pro used to sound like a wind tunnel and would heat the computer room (never had to run the heat in that room). I think the iMac Pro would be similar. It's a confined space and it will produce both heat and noise. Just be patient. Let yourself get used to the noise. If it is painful than you might have to go down to a lessor machine. Just appreciate the technology and beauty of your Mac and the abilities and capabilities it gives you. Nothing is going to be perfect. Not even a mac.

 

[mikepro]

So, another data point. Just received my i7 580. Fans will spin up in Handbrake encode, but not to any sort of objectionable level. Certainly waaaay waaaay quiter than my 2015 15" rMBP 2.5GHz i7. That thing only goes between quiet and leaf blower. This is nothing compared to that!

 

[propower]

So, another data point. Just received my i7 580. Fans will spin up in Handbrake encode, but not to any sort of objectionable level. Certainly waaaay waaaay quiter than my 2015 15" rMBP 2.5GHz i7. That thing only goes between quiet and leaf blower. This is nothing compared to that!

If you ever wish - You can turn Turbo OFF on the 3.8 and the temps will stay in the 80s at worst and no additional fan noise.

PS - tolerance of noise with computers is a purely personal thing. Some don't mid - some do. To say that tech is causing it is not entirely true. The 2013 MacPro has an excellent thermal design. The Hex is a good equivalent for the 2017 iMac i7. The MP runs 45 degC at 100% CPU *** EDIT - Meant to write 65degC here**** - the imac runs 95degC and full on fans. Every custom PC builder knows these tings. The fact that the iMac retains style at the cost of running i7 CPUs (especially) Hot is an Apple thing. Not a technologic necessity.

 

[SaSaSushi]

PS - tolerance of noise with computers is a purely personal thing. Some don't mid - some do. To say that tech is causing it is not entirely true. The 2013 MacPro has an excellent thermal design. The Hex is a good equivalent for the 2017 iMac i7. The MP runs 45 degC at 100% CPU

Just curious where you're getting your data on the Mac Pro temps. This Anandtech review of the Late 2013 Mac Pro says it's more like 95°C at 100% (with twice the power consumption):

The CPU hit a similar temperature, with most cores hovering around 95C.

- the imac runs 95degC and full on fans. Every custom PC builder knows these tings. The fact that the iMac retains style at the cost of running i7 CPUs (especially) Hot is an Apple thing. Not a technologic necessity.

A non-personal, objective point: The fans that I rarely hear on my i7 4.2GHz are quieter than those on the Late 2013 iMac that it replaced.

 

[propower]

Just curious where you're getting your data on the Mac Pro temps. This Anandtech review of the Late 2013 Mac Pro says it's more like 95°C at 100% (with twice the power consumption):

The CPU hit a similar temperature, with most cores hovering around 95C.
A non-personal, objective point: The fans that I rarely hear on my i7 4.2GHz are quieter than those on the Late 2013 iMac that it replaced.

Many apologies - I just changed that to 65degC not 45! 40-45degC is my normal operating temps on the MP Hex I used for audio over the last 3 years. Note this is just for CPU loading on the Hex machine - not video encoding. For the Video encoding I do (light weight) it still never went above 65degC. In 3 years - I never heard the fan ramp up on that machine. I also agree that the 2017 iMac fan at 2000+ RPM is not bad compared to others I have heard (mac mini 2012 and a MBP I had a few years ago). Regardless I am a real anti fan noise nut in my mixing area. The imac is literally the only fan in that room. Gas fire place even! 2017 iMac at 1200RPM is no problem at all. 1800 would bug me after a short while though.

In all honesty i was very close to just keeping the i7. For audio work i would be surprised if i ever got any fan ramp up. But i also routinely do simple video encoding for youtube and just was not comfortable with the CPU getting pegged to 95degC in 30 seconds and ramping fans >2000RPM. You will have to ask me months from now whether it was a good choice or not. So far - no problem.

 

[SaSaSushi]

In all honesty i was very close to just keeping the i7. For audio work i would be surprised if i ever got any fan ramp up. But i also routinely do simple video encoding for youtube and just was not comfortable with the CPU getting pegged to 95degC in 30 seconds and ramping fans >2000RPM. You will have to ask me months from now whether it was a good choice or not. So far - no problem.

Thanks for the correction on the MP temps.

As you mentioned, it's an entirely subjective matter and fully dependent on your use case. While the fans on my 2017 are quieter than my Late 2013 they would still annoy the hell out of me if they were engaging regularly. So for me personally, it's not about a greater tolerance for noise but rather a near total absence of it. The CPU temps on my i7 idle in the high 40s to low 50s and I have trouble getting it over the 70s aside from gaming and video encoding.

 

[josfx]

yesterday I received my new 2017 i7 iMac 27"... and I have to say it's quieter than my old Core Duo 3,04Ghz 2008 24" iMac. The difference is quite noticeable.
I must admit that I have just not stressed it as I had only time for installing software (I preferred a fresh start)... but I did some Geekbench benchmarks and the rpm were always 1190-1200 and no sound at all.

btw... which software are you using to get the temperature? I have used istats menu but only the rpm are shown and no temperatures at all

 

[SaSaSushi]

which software are you using to get the temperature? I have used istats menu but only the rpm are shown and no temperatures at all

I had the same problem with iStat Menus when I first switched to the 2017 iMac. I mailed Bjango and they advised me to download the app again from their website and install it. That fixed it.

 

[josfx]

thanks