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zafar9999

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Apr 8, 2010
14
0
Is it normal or is it just my macbook air that you can hear a faint whirr of the fan.. about a foot away from the laptop. If there are no other sounds in the room, i can pretty consistently hear it.
 

johndellis

macrumors newbie
Aug 26, 2009
10
0
I just got mine today. When doing very little, it is silent. When playing a game, it is pretty loud.
 

aristobrat

macrumors G5
Oct 14, 2005
12,292
1,403
The fan's job is to manage the inside temperature.

When you do very little with a laptop, the processor and other components generate little heat, so the fan doesn't have to run hard to keep things cool.

When you do intensive things like play games, rip video, or when Spotlight does the first index of your new notebook, it generates a lot more heat. The fan has to spin faster to keep things cool.

Typically, the faster the fan spins, the more audible it becomes.
 

mac jones

macrumors 68040
Apr 6, 2006
3,257
2
Fans make noise.

The fan in the revD is about 1/2 to 1/3 as loud as previous versions.

( BTW, it constantly amazes me how much cpu flash uses.

Apple is perhaps correct to put their foot down on this.)
 

ReallyBigFeet

macrumors 68030
Apr 15, 2010
2,952
129
Really only hear mine when I'm pushing the CPU...running Skype, playing a Steam game, etc.
 

bcaslis

macrumors 68020
Mar 11, 2008
2,184
237
Is it normal or is it just my macbook air that you can hear a faint whirr of the fan.. about a foot away from the laptop. If there are no other sounds in the room, i can pretty consistently hear it.

All current mac laptops have fans running at low speeds. The 13" MBA has a fan running at 2000rpm by default. In a completely quiet room I can hear it if I'm very close to it. But any noise in the room at all and it can't be heard.
 

zafar9999

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Apr 8, 2010
14
0
Thanks for all the responses. They were very informative.

When the computer isn't doing anything at idle (no flash etc) , it seems like some of you can hear it and others can't.

If you guys are using it in bed in a quiet room when on your stomache/chest, is that close enough for it to be audible?

I use to have a macbook pro, and i used it the same way and i don't remember being able to hear it. maybe its a higher pitched noise and thats why i can hear it?
 
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