You can or cannot hear your iMac 2012 at idle

echomango · Apr 15, 2013

Can't hear it. I'm in a room with a grandfather clock that is loud and clear but no, can't hear the imac. When I put my head behind the machine and near the middle I can hear a very soft whooshing sound that I assume is the fan.

When using the program after effects and it renders a large file the fans kick in sometimes and are easy to hear. Otherwise, nope. Wonderfully quiet.

Hakiroto · Apr 15, 2013

Yes, in a silent room I can hear the fan.

Bigtree · Apr 15, 2013

Yes I can hear my 27in i7 3 tb fusion drive. My old 24 iMac I never heard.
Called Apple to register my complaint. It is rather loud too.

Nismo73 · Apr 15, 2013

This is interesting that people have brought my thread back up since today I received my refurb base 27...Was going to go for the high end one again, but decided for the $1529 base for my needs (Well, will probably change my mind again)

So anyway, I'm typing with it now and I would say it sounds just like the one I had before. Guessing it's perfectly normal.

This one has just the regular hard drive (it's the WD w/ Blackmagic speeds of 120ish read and write) Can hear it accessing it once in a while, but ever so slightly. Everything is speedy though...

LCD · Apr 15, 2013

I never heard a fan in one of the first 2012 iMacs off the line even if I stuck my ear up to the back of it. I received a replacement on December 26th and I couldn't hear the fan in front of it in a quiet room either. However from the back of the machine, I could hear it running all the time, barely. A 2012 Mini I got in January sits two feet away from me and I can't hear its fan idling either.

An NEC EA232WMI monitor I bought for the Mini from B&H in NYC had a loud backlight whine. It cost me $50 to return it. An Asus display I got from Amazon to replace it is as quiet as the iMac displays. If there was a problem with the Asus, it wouldn't have cost me anything to return it. Leave B&H & J&R to the New Yorkers.

RoastingPig · Apr 15, 2013

disabled internal hdd and have external ssd with seagate thunderbolt adapter and this thing is only audible with ear to the machine

Nautilus007 · Apr 15, 2013

I can hear it while laying in bed.

autopoiesis · Apr 16, 2013

I can always hear the fan (27 i5, 3tb-fd, 675) in a very silent room. It's not loud, but it's definitely louder than my dead silent iMac 2009. I had an exchange machine last week (not because of the fan, but because of the screen) with the same fan noise level, maybe a tiny bit less noisy. But the screen of the new one had this yellow tint issue and practically the same level of backlight bleeding, so I send it back and kept my original machine. Now I have to get use to to this smooth fan noise what I practically did already.

beeinformed · Apr 16, 2013

My late 27 2012 iMac computer is totally silent and I've never heard any noise/sound from it since the day I received it.

Hakiroto · Apr 16, 2013

I've worked with a few late 2012 27" iMacs and I find it hard to believe that people can say they hear absolutely nothing coming from them. Maybe it's down to the user's hearing but in a silent room I can always hear the very quiet whirring of the fan. It's not that noticeable at all but it's definitely there.

Serban · Apr 16, 2013

Hmm i think only the 27" can make a fan noise that you can hear it in idle..maybe the 27" has a bigger fan.

On my 21.5 imac i can't hear anything, but i didn't try to listen from a closer spot than 1m.

But i notice that every time i touch the imac to power on i sense the power through the aluminium case if you touch it gentle

nay one else notice that?

Mac32 · Apr 16, 2013

Jeez, this question again?

YES, you can hear the fan if you listen carefully in a completely silent room. It's a very soft sound, and it shouldn't be an annoyance to even the most sensitive ears. Just get the iMac, and enjoy..

bmcgrath · Apr 16, 2013

Seriously.

If you're saying a rotating hard drive & fan make zero noise at all you're crazy. These components are going to make noise. Minimal noise.

These are 'quiet' machines. Not silent machines. And if you're returning for a slight whirring of air going around the components it's just crazy!

Arfdog · Apr 20, 2013

And this is why the 2012 imac is so quiet.

lanata · Apr 22, 2013

I can't hear mine, and I'm in a very quiet room.
Sometimes I don't know if I hit the power button right because is so silent!

orangezorki · Apr 23, 2013

Well, I'm in the market for a powerful desktop to last me a few years, and am getting fed up of waiting for a Mac Pro that doesn't require a hand crank or a working knowledge of semaphore.

One of the things worrying me is that, the last time I was looking for a desktop, in 2006, I ordered a maxed out 24" iMac. It looked great, but I could always hear this occasional click coming from the screen. I guess it was the hard drive, and it wasn't loud, but because it was coming from exactly where I was looking and focusing my attention it was extremely distracting. I ended up getting one of the first Mac Pros. Even though I'm sure it was louder overall, because it was coming from 'over there', even if that was to the side or under the desk, it never bothered me at all.

So, might I have the same problem if I opted for the current 27" iMac? I know that I could get a SSD, but the only option is very expensive, yet still does not hold enough to keep everything I need internal. If there was a smaller, e.g. 256GB option, I might splash for a drobo 5D, but the way the current options are, the total price would be stratospheric.

David

iF34R · Apr 23, 2013

I haven't heard anything from it period.

lanata · Apr 23, 2013

orangezorki said:
Well, I'm in the market for a powerful desktop to last me a few years, and am getting fed up of waiting for a Mac Pro that doesn't require a hand crank or a working knowledge of semaphore.

One of the things worrying me is that, the last time I was looking for a desktop, in 2006, I ordered a maxed out 24" iMac. It looked great, but I could always hear this occasional click coming from the screen. I guess it was the hard drive, and it wasn't loud, but because it was coming from exactly where I was looking and focusing my attention it was extremely distracting. I ended up getting one of the first Mac Pros. Even though I'm sure it was louder overall, because it was coming from 'over there', even if that was to the side or under the desk, it never bothered me at all.

So, might I have the same problem if I opted for the current 27" iMac? I know that I could get a SSD, but the only option is very expensive, yet still does not hold enough to keep everything I need internal. If there was a smaller, e.g. 256GB option, I might splash for a drobo 5D, but the way the current options are, the total price would be stratospheric.

David

I have a Late 2012 iMac 21.5' and some time to time you can hear a very low "click", which happens like 2 times a day. So, nothing to worry about (and I'm almost obsessive compulsive).

Andrew*Debbie · Apr 24, 2013

Can't hear ours

I can't hear ours at idle.

3.2GHz core i5, GTX 675MX, 1TB Fusion drive.

I can hear a click when the machine wakes from sleep. Possibly the disk drive ??

We live in a very quiet rural area. No neighbours and not many cars.

I can hear the mid-2010 iMac 11,2 on my desk at work. Well I can if the Mac Pro next to it is shut down. The Mac Pro is noisier.

CaptMike · Apr 24, 2013

Cannot hear it at all

You can or cannot hear your iMac 2012 at idle

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