Poll: Mac Studio M2 whine noise?

[Colstan]

No? Poll states this (note it says M2 not M1) and poll has some Yes responses

You're working under the assumption that posters are answering this poll honestly. Thus far, this thread has no actual testimonials of folks with an M2 Mac Studio stating they experience the whine, just a handful of negative votes. As we both know, nobody on MacRumors has an agenda, everyone here is an honest angel, and would never portray an Apple product in a negative light. (Just see the gaming forum, everyone is so happy!) Before we condemn the latest Mac Studio revision, I'd like to hear descriptive posts from real owners, perhaps accompanied by audio recordings. Then I think we can make an informed decision.

 

[Ethosik]

You're working under the assumption that posters are answering this poll honestly. Thus far, this thread has no actual testimonials of folks with an M2 Mac Studio stating they experience the whine, just a handful of negative votes. As we both know, nobody on MacRumors has an agenda, everyone here is an honest angel, and would never portray an Apple product in a negative light. (Just see the gaming forum, everyone is so happy!) Before we condemn the latest Mac Studio revision, I'd like to hear descriptive posts from real owners, perhaps accompanied by audio recordings. Then I think we can make an informed decision.

Well then close the thread then. If people aren’t being honest. The thread is useless.

 

[AdamSeen]

Check out my post on whine noise for Mac M2 - I haven't detected it this generation. https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...pm.2391615/page-3?post=32253416#post-32253416

If you do come across a whining Mac Studio M2, please use audacity and the spectrogram feature to capture it - people would be very interested.

 

[Think77]

There are currently 5 yes’es in the poll. In order for the community here on the forums to better understand what you’re experiencing and when and to what degree: could you elaborate? Thanks a lot 😊 - it would help qualify the discussion. I, for one, am very interested in knowing more since I’m waiting for my M2 Max Mac Studio to arrive.

 

[Ethosik]

Some comments on the whine.

Really wish the Mac Pro wasn’t $3,000 more. I have found the studio frustrating with the whine.

 

[ChrisRRR]

Check out my post on whine noise for Mac M2 - I haven't detected it this generation. https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...pm.2391615/page-3?post=32253416#post-32253416

If you do come across a whining Mac Studio M2, please use audacity and the spectrogram feature to capture it - people would be very interested.

thank you for this!

 

[AdamSeen]

Some comments on the whine.

Really wish the Mac Pro wasn’t $3,000 more. I have found the studio frustrating with the whine.

Yeah, that sounds more like a traditional coil whine when the GPU is doing something intense, unlike the more general PSU(?) whine of the M1.

thank you for this!

You are most welcome.

 

[ikir]

I tested the M2 Pro Mac mini in January and just couldn't stand its fan "noise". It wasn't really loud but noticeable in comparison to my M1 Mac mini. The difference to the Mac Studio is just under 400€. If this one is silent, I'l gladly take it.

I have a Mac mini M2 pro and it is totally silent, only when you use 100% for some time or gaming you heard it, much more silent than a PC anyway.

 

[Ethosik]

Yeah, that sounds more like a traditional coil whine when the GPU is doing something intense, unlike the more general PSU(?) whine of the M1.

Doesn't bode well for the new studio though. There are many reports of people not having the whine with the M1 variant. I am still ticked off I replaced mine 5 times and they all faced the issue. I just gave up as I need a product for work, not a chore to return 500 more in hopes I get a "good" one.

Even if what he experienced was intense, that still means there is something wrong as he didn't have the issue with the M1 Studio.

 

[npn]

Mine is silent, at least since I powered it up about 12 hours ago.

 

[ikir]

The new Mac Studio is fine, people confuse fan noise or 100% GOU use whisper with the old whine

 

[Ethosik]

The new Mac Studio is fine, people confuse fan noise or 100% GOU use whisper with the old whine

I don’t care where the sound is coming from. I absolutely cannot stand the whine on my M1 Ultra. I should not have to deal with this for a system that was $5,000+. And replacing it five times all with the same issue? Come on, what is Apple doing?

Other people say they didn’t have any issues with M1. The fact that there was some whine in Luke Miani video doesn’t give me confidence and now I’m holding off upgrading.

 

[transmaster]

I was looking at this. I have considerable experience with inductor coils in my Amatuer radio equipment. In addition to coil whine there is also capacitor whistle. Coil whine is the same thing as transformer hum. Capacitor whistle is caused by capacitor vibrating, you see this only in AC circuits. Given the engineering Apple puts into it's electronics coil whine it is puzzling because in the design phase you design coils that are not resonate with any signal in the circuit. looking at the issue it seems on the Mac Studio this whine might be the air blowing through the vent in the back. I have an M1 MS and it is silent. The way to check this is to temporarily put tape across sections of the exhaust vent and see if there is any change.

 

[transmaster]

If this is indeed the cause the fix is easy. All you have to do is disrupt the airflow coming out of the studio. The best thing to use is the fine plastic mesh screens used in computer towers to filter incoming air. Just place a piece of it across the vent it will not affect the airflow but it would break up the airflow coming out the back so the are no resonances. I play Flutes and this makes perfect sense to me.

The Case of the Singing Studio — Basic Apple Guy

I have something to whine about regarding the Mac Studio.

basicappleguy.com

 

[transmaster]

This is what I am talking about. You can get this stuff is rolls. it is really cheap.

 

[bobcomer]

If this is indeed the cause the fix is easy. All you have to do is disrupt the airflow coming out of the studio. The best thing to use is the fine plastic mesh screens used in computer towers to filter incoming air. Just place a piece of it across the vent it will not affect the airflow but it would break up the airflow coming out the back so the are no resonances. I play Flutes and this make perfect since to me.

The Case of the Singing Studio — Basic Apple Guy

I have something to whine about regarding the Mac Studio.

basicappleguy.com

That describes my experience perfectly, even down to the 2.6KHz.

 

[transmaster]

Listening to the recording I have hear that same sound out of ceiling air ducts if the fan is running to fast.

 

[transmaster]

I was looking at a tear down of the Mac Studio. It only has 2 discrete inductors a wrapped torrid, and a wrapped axial. Both appear to use 22AWG wire. These are not free air coils I have never had this type of inductor whine. In my world these could be in transmitters running 1000's of volts, big amps, and big RF.

 

[Fenderborn]

I currently have the M1 Max Studio, no whine but in a very silent room the fans are noticeable. I will be receiving the M2 Max Studio later this day and post my experience.

I do have an ear for coil whine noises as I returned my LG 27 Oled screen twice because of the coil whine noise.

Would love to hear your opinion when you receive your M2!

 

[MistD]

Some comments on the whine.

Maybe after some “high profile” youtuber bring this issue into broad daylight some people will stop defending Apple so blindly.

As i kept mentioning in this forum over and over again, this is poor quality control and/or deliberately lower hardware quality (coming from Apple or their supply chain).

It is coil whine, fans motors … etc. It has nothing to do with the holes.

When you see this thing not fixed in the gen 2 … what can you say ?

It is a bigger problem than some people try to minimize around here.

I had 3 units (M1Max) with the same behaviour, one after another …

Now … Can we stop pretending it’s a minor, isolated issue ? Thanks !

 

[Fenderborn]

Maybe after some “high profile” youtuber bring this issue into broad daylight some people will stop defending Apple so blindly.

As i kept mentioning in this forum over and over again, this is poor quality control and/or deliberately lower hardware quality (coming from Apple or their supply chain).

It is coil whine, fans motors … etc. It has nothing to do with the holes.

When you see this thing not fixed in the gen 2 … what can you say ?

It is a bigger problem than some people try to minimize around here.

I had 3 units (M1Max) with the same behaviour, one after another …

Now … Can we stop pretending it’s a minor, isolated issue ? Thanks !

Absolutly. People got mad at me when i said that ALL machines had it. I tested 3 Ultras and 16 Max‘s. This is not a. Small sample. Units where tested 7 months apart. So its also not a bad batch.

 

[Maury]

According to Apple's own spec pages, the M2 Studio is 6 db while the M1 version is 15. That seems like a significant drop in noise level.

Can anyone here that's used both comment? Is the M2 distinctly quieter than the M1 version? If so, I'm buying one today.

 

[Fenderborn]

According to Apple's own spec pages, the M2 Studio is 6 db while the M1 version is 15. That seems like a significant drop in noise level.

Can anyone here that's used both comment? Is the M2 distinctly quieter than the M1 version? If so, I'm buying one today.

I am in the same boat

 

[MacDadd3]

Alright, been sitting on the sidelines but here is my 2 cents as someone who has owned 5 Studios M1/Max/Ultra and now a M2 Ultra.

There are two noises folks described over the past year since release.
Fan Noise-

This was set at a particular speed by Apple for the M1 variance, I believe around 1300 rpm. Some folks could hear it depending on their environment. (I.e. how quiet the room is, or where the Max was positioned if it had room to bounce the sound etc) ALL MAC STUDIOS HAVE THIS NOISE. (In my experience and basing off the fact that it was correlated to the fan.)

Some folks didn’t like that, clean fan noise doesn’t bother me because it’s like white noise.

Enter the next noise— what folks described as coil whine, or a whistle, HIGH PITCHED NOISE.

This, was different than the fan, and it seemed like it was only evident in some Studios, regardless it was correlated to the fan speed. I’ll explain.

Folks (including myself) were able to get rid of this “whine” by lowering the fan speed to around 1100rpm etc (funny enough that’s something Apple did with the M2 tah dah!)

My favorite way to prove it was the fan and the grill holes in the back causing it was done by this gent basicappleguy

He just put tape over a section of the grills in the back and the noice went away. I was able to reproduce this using a sticky note.

Now DOES EVERY STUDIO HAVE THIS HIGH PITCHED NOISE???

Here is where I’m only going to opine since I don’t have the metrics for it. I believe only some of them have this, but this is further complicated by variances in folks hearing health and environmental factors

Some people just can’t hear that high pitched frequency. Other folks just don’t have a desk that’s up against the wall where the sound can bounce off, or have a refrigerator that emits a sound that would mask it etc etc etc.

My personal opinion as to the cause: I am not a hardware engineer so take it as literally an opinion. I believe this there is enough variability in the grill/holes manufacturing of the M1 Max that some were more susceptible to causing the sound. There are a ton of holes in that grill and consistency and QA I can only imagine is challenging. Particularly in the Max which has the softer aluminum cooling VS the Ultras Copper.

So my recommendation. Get the Studio, if you hear the noise and can’t ignore it, return it and try again. If you don’t want to deal with that, play with the environment see if that makes it better.


My report of the M2 Ultra is this, the fan is noise is clearly lower, and the “whine” has not been perceptible for me. I positioned it in a way that maybe is helping but so far, I’m not going to go looking for the noise.


Hope this helps.

 

[EugW]