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Whine or No Whine - Does Your Mac Studio Suffer From It?
- Thread starter southerndoc
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I think there is enough people experiencing this that I'm not going to order one. Will wait for the M2 CPUs and maybe subsequent models. B&H has a pretty strict return policy, and they're the only ones with the 64GB/2TB models in stock. At least with purchasing from Apple you can return it within 14 days no questions asked.
Hopefully Apple addresses this as it looks like 30% are experiencing the high-pitched whine.
Thank you all for your vote and comments.
Hopefully Apple addresses this as it looks like 30% are experiencing the high-pitched whine.
Thank you all for your vote and comments.
No, it's one of the Ultras. It showed up after about 3 weeks. Interestingly enough, I installed the latest beta of MacOS 12.4 and it's now gone...not sure from the reboot, random luck, or they tweaked something in the OS firmware?
Just received my base level Mac Studio today. No whine, fans barely audible. Only play WoW these days and running on a Benq 27 1440p, 144 refresh rate, settings 7 but shadows and water set to fair. Most areas, fps stuck on 144, some notorious areas in Shadowlands can briefly drop to 60+ but this is for awful outdoor bosses and bad aoe. This is temporary though and still remains completely playable. Fans stay around 1330 when in game, and temps between 45 and 51. Super pleased with this computer, and also there is no whine. I’m a Hades Canyon NUC survivor, with the resonating fan problem. I know, I was running the gauntlet, especially buying the Studio during Mercury Retrograde, as my wife informed me 😁
I received mine this weekend and its already packed up to go back. Really disappointed as I wanted this to work. I had the whine and the sound of a 10 year old computer with the fans constantly on, it's louder than my PC with multiple Noctua fans. I've been reading comments for about 6 weeks on here and had to hear it for myself, and now I have the comments where people are saying they have to put their ear close to it to hear it is really surprising. I could hear the fans on the one I got with it under the desk and then still walking away from my desk to the window (about 15 ft)
I am also on my second. I have no apple care. But in europe you have 2 years warranty for private persons. I hope, if apple acknowledges an error with the fand, that they replace my unit without much discussions
Yes. Its „loud“. Its for sure no, very close to your monitor desketop machine like apple is promoting it (if they dont change the standard rpm curve and/or the whining fans
My Max is completely silent at 1350 rpms. I've ramped up the Fans via Fan Control to see what it would sound like at 3500 rpm. No whine.
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I dont hear the whine when i put them at 100%. Its just when it try to ramp up to 1325 and tries to keep it at that rpm. My first unit hat a real fan issue. Left fan was making a weird noise at 100%. The reseller agreed on that. Here i am talking about that whine noise. I hear it every now and then when the fans try to stay at said rpm.
Set up my Studio today (M1 Max) and sure get the high pitched whine (which changes with RPM).
Fan noise is quite loud for the machine being idle, but that's OK. Don't see why it's necessary, but oh well so be it. But the high pitched whine is unacceptable. Going to return mine tomorrow. I'm past the 2-weeks return window so it'll have to be repaired or replaced or whatever. Wish me luck!
Fan noise is quite loud for the machine being idle, but that's OK. Don't see why it's necessary, but oh well so be it. But the high pitched whine is unacceptable. Going to return mine tomorrow. I'm past the 2-weeks return window so it'll have to be repaired or replaced or whatever. Wish me luck!
I wonder about the choice of two smaller, louder fans over a single larger fan. The high RPM at idle and symmetric placement seems to invite unwanted interaction like the whine. Was it for redundancy? To save money? Why run at that RPM while idle?
It was perfect for my needs, but I could not tolerate the noise. I hope future Studio models have better design.
It was perfect for my needs, but I could not tolerate the noise. I hope future Studio models have better design.
Indeed. Good luck with the repair. If it had happened, or happens in the future, with mine, I’d be expecting them to fix or replace it pronto. I have a hearing impediment that means I can hear certain frequencies and not hear other frequencies, and something like that would make it an intolerable machine for me to use.
The whine noise is, „normal“ according to the reseller. After i got my replacement, i told them that second unit makes also soe kind of noise. They said all fans work like that. They did not took it back. I should contact apple if i am not happy
Today I was fortunate and Apple (online) agreed to exchange my Studio for a brand new one, even though I was past the 14-day window.
In any case, the employee on the phone was not aware of any issue with the Studio's fans, so I guess Apple is keeping this one very quiet, no pun intended.
If my new unit will still have the whine, I'll then return it and go for a different Mac, whichever it will be by then. Estimate for exchange delivery is July 1st! Disappointing, but at least I get the chance to return the unit should the new one have the same issue.
In any case, the employee on the phone was not aware of any issue with the Studio's fans, so I guess Apple is keeping this one very quiet, no pun intended.
If my new unit will still have the whine, I'll then return it and go for a different Mac, whichever it will be by then. Estimate for exchange delivery is July 1st! Disappointing, but at least I get the chance to return the unit should the new one have the same issue.
Any chance you could record it for us? Iphone MIC will do the job. Just needs to be close enough
Here is an iPhone 13 Pro Max recording of a Mac Studio Max to help Fenderborn out.
It is somewhat humorous to be seeking, or providing, an audio recording of something "silent".
Normally the fans on this example idle between 1325 and 1339 RPM. Never seen the Mac break 1350 RPM unless done manually. Unless I get very close to the machine, as in within a few inches, it is silent with a room noise floor of 28 db (in the best case). I never hear any whine no matter how hard I try. In the recording it can be heard whining on idle, the speed ramps up to max then back down to idle. On the return to idle the whine is greatest.
So while I can make a recording that makes my Mac whine and sound loud what matters is the sounds I can perceive when it is in use. It is perceptually, to me, "dead silent". Apple needs to do a rethink on their approach to cooling as they risk loosing their market of younger users and those with more sensitive hearing.
It is somewhat humorous to be seeking, or providing, an audio recording of something "silent".
Normally the fans on this example idle between 1325 and 1339 RPM. Never seen the Mac break 1350 RPM unless done manually. Unless I get very close to the machine, as in within a few inches, it is silent with a room noise floor of 28 db (in the best case). I never hear any whine no matter how hard I try. In the recording it can be heard whining on idle, the speed ramps up to max then back down to idle. On the return to idle the whine is greatest.
So while I can make a recording that makes my Mac whine and sound loud what matters is the sounds I can perceive when it is in use. It is perceptually, to me, "dead silent". Apple needs to do a rethink on their approach to cooling as they risk loosing their market of younger users and those with more sensitive hearing.
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M1 Ultra. Has the whine from the start. I am sure this is some interference with the fans and other circuitry like the power supply. You can hear that it is an electronic whine from my recording at this post: https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...ting-high-pitched-noise.2343201/post-31087454
I'll exchange it once, waiting 2 months. If it happens with the replacement, I'll return it.
Interestingly, I was able to minimize (but not completely remove) the whine at the default fan speed of 1300 rpm, by resonating the whine at its maximum for my device, which is at 1190 rpm for 8-10 hours, using Macs Fan Control.
I'll exchange it once, waiting 2 months. If it happens with the replacement, I'll return it.
Interestingly, I was able to minimize (but not completely remove) the whine at the default fan speed of 1300 rpm, by resonating the whine at its maximum for my device, which is at 1190 rpm for 8-10 hours, using Macs Fan Control.
Mine sounds very similar. But dont you agree, even at the beginning, that there is an underlying sound? Like a higher pitched sound? I manage to minimise the noise by changing the fan rpm from 1325 to 1275. I am sure fhe machine ia still cool enough. But its much less of that annoying “background noise”.
That machine definitely has a whine. Perhaps if we received the machines from some users that think the computer has no whine, we would also be irritated by it. I think this issue is very widespread but most users don’t think it is a problem (which is great for their use case).
I am pretty sure my replacement will have the same issue now. Perhaps I should just return this one and be done with it.