Resolved Does your 2012 MBA have fan noise?

[UHFrank]

I bought a 2012 base 13" MBA yesterday and at times the fan sounds like there's a CD spinning loudly. Has your MBA made that sound? I plan on taking it back later today after work for an exchange. I just want to know if this is normal. Thanks everyone


Update - I exchanged it for another one, there was definately something broken in the fan assembly

 

[jmfel1926]

i have a 11'' Air 2012 and the fans sound normally when the Cpu is overloaded. anything more than a simple fan noise should be a defect. do you hear that sound all the time ?

 

[ilkevinli]

Yes ever since I install Mountain Lion my fans will spin up to 5500 rpm which is really LOUD.

 

[KPOM]

Download iStat Pro and when it is loud, check the RPM. Normally it is around 2000 rpm and very quiet. When the CPU gets hot, it can spin as high as 6500 rpm and will be noticeable. Most of the time it is a little bit quieter than the 2011s, though.

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Yes ever since I install Mountain Lion my fans will spin up to 5500 rpm which is really LOUD.

I haven't noticed this any more under Mountain Lion than Lion. Perhaps there is an incompatible program draining resources. Have you checked Activity Monitor to see if something is eating up a lot of CPU time?

 

[UHFrank]

yea it's more than just fan noise, it's a clicking/cd spinning fast noise. i'll definately take it back

 

[luvskot]

I have honestly not heard the fan on my 2012 MBA 11 inch, but I've only had it a month. The only time I hear the fan on my 13 inch Pro is when there is a lot of trash to delete.

 

[iSee]

yea it's more than just fan noise, it's a clicking/cd spinning fast noise. i'll definately take it back

You can also try resetting the SMC (Generally that involves restarting your mac and when the grey screen comes up, holding down a certain key combo. I don't remember the exact details, but no doubt a quick Google search or Apple's support site can answer that question.)

I'm not sure why, but every so often it's settings can get corrupted and resettings it seems to put things back to normal.

 

[mousouchop]

The 2012 MBA still has the symmetrical fan blades, not the asymmetrical design of the rMBP? Seems like every fan-having device they make could benefit from the rMBP fans. They should quietly roll them out to all devices. Seems like you wouldn't have to change anything else hardware wise, unless the side air vents on the rMBP are a requirement of the asymmetric fans.

 

[mattopotamus]

the only time I have heard the fan is when i was encoding using handbrake.

 

[MacLappy]

My 2012 macbook air is noticeably more silent in comparison to both the 2011 and 2010 models. I am assuming that it does have some form of asymmetrical blade design, considering that the chassis does look almost identical to the earlier models, upgrading the blade design would probably explain the rather apparent difference in perceivable fan volume.

 

[SpoekGTi]

The 2012 MBA still has the symmetrical fan blades, not the asymmetrical design of the rMBP? Seems like every fan-having device they make could benefit from the rMBP fans. They should quietly roll them out to all devices. Seems like you wouldn't have to change anything else hardware wise, unless the side air vents on the rMBP are a requirement of the asymmetric fans.

http://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/MacBook-Air-13-Inch-Mid-2012-Teardown/9457/2



Well if you look @ step 12 the MBA 2012 is having the same fan as his bigger brother the rMBP so yes we do have a-symmetrical fans in it. I only hear my fan when i play Diablo 3 or if i'm doing some photo work in iPhoto, even when playing WoW i don't hear him at all

 

[robdrj45]

I rarely hear my Air's fans, though I normally only web surf, email, watch videos, etc. I do remember hearing them when installing ML - IIRC, the Apple download instructions said they would turn on briefly during the install process.

In general, my Air stays a lot cooler/quieter than my old HHD laptop which would turn its fan on/off regularly.

 

[riley41090]

the only time i hear mine is after streaming a TV show for a bit, they spin up to around 5500 and the temperatures hit 80+. i know these temperatures are normal but is this the right reaction by my macbook air to a short spell of streaming with nothing else running?

 

[mousouchop]

http://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/MacBook-Air-13-Inch-Mid-2012-Teardown/9457/2



Well if you look @ step 12 the MBA 2012 is having the same fan as his bigger brother the rMBP so yes we do have a-symmetrical fans in it. I only hear my fan when i play Diablo 3 or if i'm doing some photo work in iPhoto, even when playing WoW i don't hear him at all

Thanks for that. Completely slipped my mind to check ifixit.

Also, as a former WoW player, it's surprising to hear that this doesn't bring the MBA to its knees. I'm willing to bet any sort of raiding will cause the fan to go into overdrive.

 

[Brian Mage]

2012 MBA 13" i7 8gb

My fans spin up when I'm playing games
LIMBO (i expected fans here)
RC Mini Racers (was surprised by fans here)

But is dead quiet at all other times including viewing lots of flash online.

My MBA was delivered with Lion and I got the free upgrade to ML. However I didn't install the Firmware updates for Lion (the cooling/fan speed ones) before I put ML on it. So i am a little concerned that i have missed the boat with that one.
Should i be concerned? I'm sure the local store could put lion back on, install the firmware and the reinstall ML, but that seems like a lot of messing around which could lead to bugs... What would you guys do?

 

[SpoekGTi]

Thanks for that. Completely slipped my mind to check ifixit.

Also, as a former WoW player, it's surprising to hear that this doesn't bring the MBA to its knees. I'm willing to bet any sort of raiding will cause the fan to go into overdrive.

Well it turns on to roung 4k rpm when doing end game content (so Dragon Soul) but it isnt particular noisy and it won't even top out on 6.5K rpm

 

[Purple2012]

I cant hear mine at all.
I literally have to press my ear to the case to hear anything.