Mac Studio Max - it's not that quiet

[JEuro2285]

gregs gadgets got the base Max and said its very quiet... did you guys see the tear-down vid from max tech

 

[Jamooche]

Art is Right also says the M1 Max has a constant hum:

So, we need to spend about $1k more to get a quiet computer now?

 

[Jamooche]

Another review where they say that the Ultra is nearly silent :

Mac Studio and Studio Display — Prolost

prolost.com

"After letting the Mac Studio with M1 Ultra render hundreds of frames with its 64-core GPU pegged the entire time, I placed my hand behind the box and felt the slightest waft of warm-ish air gently emitting. If I pressed my ear to it, I could just barely hear the fans over the other sounds in my studio."

 

[niteflyr]

I'm not an audio pro. Just saying that right upfront. But, seriously, I have to put my ear up to the exhaust to even hear its running on my Studio max at idle. Only a whisper of cool feeling air out of the the exhaust. I Replaced my 2017 iMac with this. I could actually hear my 2017 I7 quad core iMac at idle from seated position, barely. But as a retired airline pilot, I can say, the I7 quad core iMac sounds like a departure rush at Ohare under load compared to this. I ran an hour long Handbrake encode soon after setting up this Studio Max , no increase in fan speed or noise level. No heat build up. Very impressive.

 

[Grilled Cheese]

It’s typical for reports of noise (or lack thereof) to be subjective and unintentionally misleading to others. This is usually due to the effect of ambient background noise masking the computer noise.

For example, some claim that 2013 Mac Pros are “absolutely silent”. I’ve watched many reviews of the Mac studio that claim it’s inaudible. I also heard many people say that they have never heard any noise from their M1 Max MBP. Unfortunately in a very quiet workspace none of these claims hold up.

My recording studio is extremely quiet, and so I kept my 2013 Mac Pro in an enclosure. With the enclosure open, I could hear it up to 10 feet away even when it's just idling. My M1 Max MBP is silent when the fans are off, but those fans do turn on regularly and it becomes quite audible. These are both very quiet computers and are probably inaudible for many people, but to anyone who is sensitive to sound or working in a soundproof environment, you’ll hear them. The Mac Studio appears to be no different. Commendably quiet, inaudible to some, but definitely audible in quiet environments.

 

[Jrshelby]

I bought a Mac Studio Max. It’s replacing a mid 2010 iMac running off an external SSD (a real trooper) and joining forces with my MBP 16 inch. Let me start off by saying that I've been so excited for the Studio. It's what I have wanted from Apple for a long time. From what I had read in the lead up to the Studio’s release, I knew there was going to be some potential fan noise. But I’ve got to be honest, at first I thought there was something wrong with my unit because its a constant, pretty annoying whirring sound even when under the most basic of use (using Notes with no other applications open). I'm finding it hard to gauge whether or not I'm being overly sensitive to the sound and noticing it more and more because of it, so I would love your thoughts on your own experiences with the Mac Studio Max fan noise.

Of course all of this is completely based on personal factors like the environment and surrounding noises, sound sensitivity, etc. I will add that my office is very quiet and that my Studio also has plenty of space around it to breathe. I’ve spent the last few hours doing some light web browsing and watching Youtube in Safari, and the fan noise has been apparent the whole time. To add to this, I didn’t think that when I lay on the couch 3 metres away from the Studio and watch a video on my iPad that I would still hear the the Studio in the background (whilst running no apps).

I don’t think we’ve heard from a lot of the big Tech YouTubers about this as they all mostly bought Ultras, of which use the copper heat sink over the aluminium found in the Max. I’ve heard a number of the tech YouTubers with the Ultra say that their units are near silent. I’m having a very different experience with my Max. I just really did not expect it to make more noise than my 2010 iMac (yes, the iMac could sound like a fighter jet occasionally under load but at least it wasn't a constant high pitched whirring sound)

I've seen a few people tweet about the Max and its fan noise and found this one interesting "Bought a Mac Studio this morning, but I ended up returning it in the evening as the continuous “whistle-quiet” fan noise was too much for me in my quiet room, compared to the virtually inaudible Mac mini. I didn’t realize that I was more interested in silence than in performance."

I understand the design but his thing is always blowing quite a decent amount of cool air out the back and it almost seems unnecessary to me personally, given the amount of noise it makes. Other than that I love the Studio. Just curious if others have experienced the same thing?

I’m 100 percent in agreement. My Mac is annoying at idle even without and apps open. Considering a return to be honest. And the short thunderbolt cable provided with the studio display limits the placement on the Mac Studio. Quite disappointe!!

 

[George Dawes]

From reading Reddit it looks like the max has a constant hum and gets annoying while the ultra truly is silent ..

Think I’ll get a Mac mini when they update it .

https://www.reddit.com/r/mac/comments/tgxeyw
…I like the look a lot, much better than the previews, but I'm really disappointed by the idle noise. Even when doing nothing, the fans spin at 1300RPM and the lowest you can set them manually is 1100RPM. There's no need for it, either. The air coming out the back is ice-cold.

Both speeds are easily noticeable/hearable and MUCH louder than my MacBook Pro (14" M1Pro 10C/16GB/1TB) where the fans either don't run at all or at a level where I can't hear them. Even if the fans spin at a faster RPM there, there are still much quieter...


…..
Everything you just said, I completely agree and I’m surprised by it. Also went with a Max.

From what I’ve read, the Ultra is much quieter due to the use of copper so we haven’t heard any of the YouTubers complain about any noise as they all went with maxed out ultras.

I’ve just been doing some light web browsing and YouTube and the fan is more than noticeable.

I’m coming from a 2010 iMac running off an external SSD, and this is unexpectedly more noisy, constantly…

oh dear ..

 

[Grilled Cheese]

Is it a confirmed fact that the fans are always on in both the Studio Max and Ultra?

 

[Chancha]

I think for Max owners if they are really bothered, just use one of the temperature sensing apps with fan controls, create your own fan curve to turn off the fans until the machine gets hot to a certain degree.

From user reports we have seen so far, this is as quiet as pretty much all desktop PCs that has a fan in it. I don’t know what computer all you guys came from, as long as it isn’t a fanless M1 MacBook Air then this Mac Studio is no worse than what you had or would have. (but mine hasn’t arrived yet so maybe I will change my mind when I hear it.)

 

[Chancha]

Is it a confirmed fact that the fans are always on in both the Studio Max and Ultra?

Apple almost never shipped desktop with its fans off when idling. Always spin at a certain minimum RPM upon startup.

 

[Grilled Cheese]

Apple almost never shipped desktop with its fans off when idling. Always spin at a certain minimum RPM upon startup.

Yes I understand. However M1 Max MBPs have no fan activity at idle. It’s a bit of a surprise that the same M1 Max chip inside a larger enclosure with better airflow architecture would behave differently.

 

[MayaUser]

Diagnostic: Hold the power button down on boot. Then hold Command (⌘)-D. https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202731 Near the end of the tests it ramps the fan up to max. I didn't think of getting my db meter out to measure.

of course, that is what diagnostic does, testing the hardware, meaning the fan/fans as well from 1200rpm to the max allowed. This is since 2014 for sure since the new diagnostic was released

 

[MayaUser]

Art is Right also says the M1 Max has a constant hum:

So, we need to spend about $1k more to get a quiet computer now?

or go with intel and amd for 2k more

 

[MayaUser]

It’s typical for reports of noise (or lack thereof) to be subjective and unintentionally misleading to others. This is usually due to the effect of ambient background noise masking the computer noise.

For example, some claim that 2013 Mac Pros are “absolutely silent”. I’ve watched many reviews of the Mac studio that claim it’s inaudible. I also heard many people say that they have never heard any noise from their M1 Max MBP. Unfortunately in a very quiet workspace none of these claims hold up.

My recording studio is extremely quiet, and so I kept my 2013 Mac Pro in an enclosure. With the enclosure open, I could hear it up to 10 feet away even when it's just idling. My M1 Max MBP is silent when the fans are off, but those fans do turn on regularly and it becomes quite audible. These are both very quiet computers and are probably inaudible for many people, but to anyone who is sensitive to sound or working in a soundproof environment, you’ll hear them. The Mac Studio appears to be no different. Commendably quiet, inaudible to some, but definitely audible in quiet environments.

in a laser perfectly quiet room everything has a noise, even a fanless mac , with perfect hearing you can still hear the static SoC noises...so this is not silent or has a little "hum" are childish at this point after decades of intel or amd jet pack. Since apple silicon this is improved massively

 

[cpnotebook80]

I am writing this on my Mac Studio Ultra, 64 Core GPU, 128GB mem, and 4TB SSD and it's dead silent.

I agree - I have a base ultra and same, it’s quite and maybe I’m not doing anything intensive to have fans speed up, But after installing tgpro, I see fan speed at 1100-1300 shown but no noise.

 

[cpnotebook80]

gregs gadgets got the base Max and said its very quiet... did you guys see the tear-down vid from max tech

That tear down was intense and didn’t expect him to do that on his first review haha of the unit - I hope humpty dumpty Mackey can be put together again ?

 

[weckart]

I imagine macs fan control v1.5.11 would be accurate enough as it supports M1 MAX and the M1 Ultra is two of them.

I've just seen Luke Miani's quick look at the Ultra and he isn't sure the temp monitoring programmes are that accurate right now.

 

[MayaUser]

at idle both should sound the same since the fans are probably identically
copper is not an insolation material
Maybe under load the aluminium cooling is letting the fans ramp up sooner than the copper one

 

[Rockadile]

Yes I understand. However M1 Max MBPs have no fan activity at idle. It’s a bit of a surprise that the same M1 Max chip inside a larger enclosure with better airflow architecture would behave differently.

Maybe it's because the power supply is inside unlike the MBP.

 

[MayaUser]

Yes I understand. However M1 Max MBPs have no fan activity at idle. It’s a bit of a surprise that the same M1 Max chip inside a larger enclosure with better airflow architecture would behave differently.

The 14" has fan activity at idle, the 16" it doesnt, but also remember the power supply also produce heat, and the mbp doesnt have it inside
So compare this to the intel mac mini, or an imac

 

[AdamSeen]

Sound is relative to the noise in the environment. When giving readings on whether it is inaudible or loud, can you let us know what your background room ambient noise is?
eg.

studio ultra.
24db ambient
can hear fan - annoying/fine

This will help everyone understand the issue more quickly, especially if there’s an issue between the ultra and max.


use iPhone and app decibel x

 

[Puonti]

use iPhone and app decibel x

Can you recommend some other noise metering app, one that both respects user privacy and is a premium purchase (for the relevant measurement feature), rather than subscription-based with a limited trial?

 

[Grilled Cheese]

There is absolutely no point whatsoever in using a phone app to measure sound levels below ~35db. They are physically incapable of providing accurate results.

Using your phone (no matter which app you use) to measure SPL below 35db is like using a truck weighbridge to measure the weight of a small pile of feathers… in the wind.

The only way to get accurate measurements is to use specialised sound metering equipment in an extremely well soundproofed environment.

 

[AdamSeen]

Can you recommend some other noise metering app, one that both respects user privacy and is a premium purchase (for the relevant measurement feature), rather than subscription-based with a limited trial?

I cannot, decibel x is free for me. There is a premium subscription but I can take sound readings without that subscription.

There is absolutely no point whatsoever in using a phone app to measure sound levels below ~35db. They are physically incapable of providing accurate results.

There is point and it does work. Once you see the correlation between users reported results and loudness you will change your mind. Decibels are a logarithmic scale, inaccuracies aren’t going to make much difference. Also it’s 100x better than having no readings.

 

[Puonti]

The only way to get accurate measurements is to use specialised sound metering equipment in an extremely well soundproofed environment.

I agree with this part, and you're not wrong about the rest if the goal is to measure how loud the Mac Studio is when removed from its surroundings (as much as possible). Some people in this thread are interested in that of course, because while Apple provides such numbers their test setup might not be perfectly obvious or directly applicable to our own situations.

There's a wide variety of environments and circumstance where Mac Studios will be used, and more data about that is not a bad thing. In hindsight that data might end up being just an interesting artifact but ultimately not meaningful for purchase decisions, but I'd say this is par for course with a new product launch - on this forum at least.

And even if the iPhone is not a perfect tool for the task, there's likely more useful information to be gleamed from "iPhone model + app used + ambient reading / above vent reading / operator position reading" (plus whatever notable details you can share about the room) than "I stuck my ear near the rear vent and couldn't hear anything".

We don't know how someone really hears things and interprets what they hear, after all, and people's personal assessment of their own hearing and how they experience sound is generally biased if it's even shared.