...as I've heard in many reports, it isn't silent. To my ears, it is easily louder than my 2017 5k 27" iMac, definitely louder than the M1 Mini (never even heard the fan on that). It's been a while since I got rid of my TrashCan Mac Pro, but I think it's in the realm of that one, maybe just a touch louder. Mine is a Max model with 32 GPU cores.

The noise is purely fan noise in my situation (no whine as I've read about from others). Kind of reminiscent of those small fans that you might have on an older 3.5" hard drive external enclosure, like those from OWC or other vendors. Not quite as loud as the fan in my Synology that lives in my closet next door. Constant, even at idle. I have it sitting at the back of my desk behind a monitor, probably about 3 feet from my head.

I deal with enough audio that I am 95% sure I'll send it back and stick with the M1 Mini for now. I've got nothing else significant in my office that makes any unwanted noise, so adding this white noise would be a pain for much of my work. I could try and create some sort of enclosure for it to muffle the noise, but that doesn't seem like something I want to bother with necessarily. My hope was that Apple might release a software/firmware update to address this, and that might still be coming, but without any indication that it is, I know that this would bother me long term if I were using it as my daily driver.

You may want to get the opinions of others on the forum. I would be happy to test it out for you if you want to send it my way.

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Saint Cloud, Minnesota, where the weather is wonderful even when it isn't.

I'm surprised that it would need more ventilation than an M1 at the same workload, particularly considering the processor is also in the 16" MacBook Pro.

I think something is wrong.

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/12/2022 11:36PM by mattkime.

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mattkime
I'm surprised that it would need more ventilation than an M1 at the same workload, particularly considering the processor is also in the 16" model.

I think something is wrong.

I would tend to agree. If you send it my way I can probably nail down the problem.

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Saint Cloud, Minnesota, where the weather is wonderful even when it isn't.

Lots of reports on this, in both directions. Some say quiet, others say loud.

Only a 14 day return window if you got it from apple, FWIW.

In the keynote when they said "the fans are so quiet you will never hear them..." I *knew* they made noise.

Im also perplexed by it being louder than the 16" MBP M1M. The thermals in the Studio should be far more efficient. Its not any faster, so that's no it...

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Edited 999 time(s). Last edit at 12:08PM by jdc.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/13/2022 12:25AM by jdc.

Yeah, the idle fan speed seems to be a nudge too high for people working in an environment without a lot of ambient noise. In a populated office-space, most people can't hear the fans at all, but in a sound-studio or cozy home-office it may be too much.

Audio guys are using Macs Fan Control to set the fans down to 1100 RPM from the default 1300 RPM. Seems to make a huge difference while still permitting it to cool reasonably well. (YMMV.)

One of dozens of similar threads:
[duc.avid.com]

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Good report, Clay. And definitely troubling and gives me pause on upgrading. I enjoy a pretty silent office, and that wouldn't work for me either. As others noted, it may be fixable with an Apple update.

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M1 2020 Mac mini (16G 2T) • Ventura 13.x • Dual 25" Acer 1440p LCDs • M1 2020 13" MBAir (256G 8G) •

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mattkime
I'm surprised that it would need more ventilation than an M1 at the same workload, particularly considering the processor is also in the 16" MacBook Pro.

I think something is wrong.

Well, the Ultra is twice (or more) the size of a standard M1. Even at idle, it’s got to make more heat.

Sure, but Clay has a Max.

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pdq

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mattkime
I'm surprised that it would need more ventilation than an M1 at the same workload, particularly considering the processor is also in the 16" MacBook Pro.

I think something is wrong.

Well, the Ultra is twice (or more) the size of a standard M1. Even at idle, it’s got to make more heat.

I had heard about the fan speed control trick but hadn't tried it yet. I just installed the Mac Fan Control and bumped it down from 1300 RPM to the minimum 1100, and that helps a good bit. I can still hear it, but at least right now in the daytime there is too much other ambient noise to tell if it will be quiet enough or not. Based on the improvement from 1300 to 1100, if I could bump it down to about 900 RPM, I would imagine I would essentially never hear it in my situation.

I don't like having to go this route with a machine just out of the box, but it might be worth keeping so we'll see. I'm sure Apple is aware/has heard complaints about this, but it remains to be seen whether they can do anything to address it.

Just curious, how far is the computer from you?

My hack has multiple 120mm fans (5 or 6). So it will be an improvement for me!

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Lux Interior
My hack has multiple 120mm fans (5 or 6). So it will be an improvement for me!

Yeah, for sure. Apple has generally done a good job of cooling with a thought towards noise. This one just seems a bit louder than I'd expect given my experience with the Mini and iMac. My frustration is because of that comparison. In your case, I'm sure the Studio will be a big improvement in terms of noise compared to your Hack.

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rich in distress
Just curious, how far is the computer from you?

The answer is in the OP: Three feet.

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Saint Cloud, Minnesota, where the weather is wonderful even when it isn't.

Ah!… thanks!!