How loud should an iMac be?

[spinstorm]

I'm not complaining about the amount of sound my new 2012 iMac makes before I say anything else.

I've seen lots of threads about how noisy or quiet the iMacs are and honestly I have no idea what noisy is and what quiet is.

I don't believe any computer is totally silent, even an all flash MacBook Pro because they have fans and if if they are spinning at the lowest speed they will make a noise.

That noise probably won't be audible if there is other noise in your house, room or even outside but it will be audible if you sleep in the same room at night. because there isn't any noise then (where I live there isn't but if you live in a city that may be different).

So what is quiet? And what is noisy?

[chrishe]

i can hear the fan running all the time on my new 27 inch iMac.called apple and they say its normal?

[PaddyPoke]

I can hear the fan on my new 27" 2012 iMac. It sounds like a fan running at 1200 rpm, as it should I take the people saying their iMacs are completely silent with a grain of salt.

However my 2012 13" retina Macbook pro, DOES NOT make any fan noise/sound what-so-ever, during everyday tasks. It is completely silent.
So it is possible.

edit:
I have a replacement iMac on the way, due to high pitched (Probably because to the power-supply) noise, so I will compare the fan sounds when it arrives.

Other edits: forum newbie

[rpg51]

silent 95% of the time. I love it.

[majkom]

my 2011 21incher is silent, but one thing makes it little bit loud/annoying - HDD - its vibrations are transmitted via imac stand on the desk - deep brooming sound - i had to switch the desk (had one from ikea - filled with paper) for one more solid - loudness fell down, but still, I can hear it during nights...

[Binarymix]

My external HD makes more chatter than the iMac.

[chrishe]

the guy at apple said that it could be as the new imac is very thin and the fan could be closer to the casing so you can hear the fan more than the older iMac.

[Paul-B]

27" late 2012 iMac:

fan runs all the time. But it is soooo quiet. Sky plus box, external hard drive even the cat's purring is louder...

[Fishrrman]

An iMac is NOT going to be "completely silent". There is a fan inside, and most units have rotating hard drives.

As such, they are going to generate some sounds, but as a rule, they run -very- quietly. Now and then the fan might speed up when the processor is running under a heavy load, but even then, they aren't -that- "loud".

I'm amused by those in this forum who claim that the "noise" from their iMacs (and MacBooks) is "too loud". Obviously, they haven't spent the last nine years sitting next to a PowerMac g4 tower!