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Riwam

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Jan 7, 2014
1,095
244
Basel, Switzerland
There is a post in this forum of many people complaining about an annoying high pitch, low volume noise. They call it a "coil whine" although nobody (including Apple) seems to know what component of the nMP is the cause of it.

Some of them have returned their nMP for exchange, but the new machine made the same noise (even if the configuration was a different one)!

Others have resigned and hope for a kind of "FW update"coming from Apple.

It is not the quiet whisper of the warm air coming upwards (which is the way the nMP works) but a noise clearly heard in a quiet room and apparently changing with the load of the computer.
Some people have recorded it and it is no doubt annoying. You can find the noise files in that post and hear it by yourself.

I must still wait many weeks until my nMP with the help of God (and of Apple logistics, I do not know in which order to put both of them) finally arrives to me.
However I am worried to receive a "noisy" nMP of that kind.
After all one cannot put a nMP under the table on the carpet.
It must be on the table very near to the user!

Therefore may I ask for kind owners of a nMP who can with entire certainty say that their nMP is truly silent and please add the specs of their computer.

Of course I know that in a way it is a subjective criterium and the hearing sense is different from person to person and from age to age, but the noise heard in the above mentioned recordings is not a poltergeist but an absolute reality.

Otherwise Apple would not have accepted to replace without any discussion several difficult to obtain computers, as you can read in that post of the "coil whine" in this forum.

I very much hope that a truly silent nMP may be reported by the vast majority of owners of a nMP but, to tell the truth, I am somehow afraid.
A nMP costs a lot of money and it should accordingly work OK.

Thank you very much in advance for your kind help!
 

richard371

macrumors 68040
Feb 1, 2008
3,609
1,802
Keep in mind some people won't be able to hear this noise or notice it. I am certain every nMP has it until Apple changes something on their end.
 

ABCDEF-Hex

macrumors 6502
Feb 15, 2013
372
76
NC
Silent running

My nMP is deadly silent. I must qualify this by saying that I haven't put it under any stress at all. I'm only testing it for short periods while waiting for my new display. The only thing I can hear is my backup drive.

----------

Keep in mind some people won't be able to hear this noise or notice it. I am certain every nMP has it until Apple changes something on their end.

I'm glad you are CERTAIN that they all whine,
(I'll just return mine to Apple and explain to them that richard371 said that they are all defective.)

I am certain I can't hear it - even when I power down the backup drive.
 

ApplesAOranges

macrumors 6502
Jan 7, 2011
335
3
Who the hell would want to put the Mac Pro on the table (or on the floor) next to them? That´s just stupid. :confused:

You get extension cords and put the Mac Pro to another room. So you´ll have only mouse, keyboard and monitor in front of you. Zero noise.

iMac also is kinda annoying, that it has all the fans and computer insides humming in front of you and you cannot put it into another room since it has the monitor doh! Gladly there´s Mac Mini, but that is fairly weak computer. Sad that Apple doesn´t have something like iMac level power (and ports), but with in a "Mac Mini" enclosure.

With that said. I know about this winy noise, not in the ne Mac Pro, since I haven´t received it yet, but in MacBook Pro´s. I´ve had to return few of MBPs, because of this winy noise, gives you headache!!!
 

richard371

macrumors 68040
Feb 1, 2008
3,609
1,802
My Roomate said mine is dead silent. He can only hear the fan. Proof that not everyone can hear it. I can.

Also people that have received replacements still have the whine. I'm waiting to hear from someone who received a quiet replacement.

My nMP is deadly silent. I must qualify this by saying that I haven't put it under any stress at all. I'm only testing it for short periods while waiting for my new display. The only thing I can hear is my backup drive.

----------



I'm glad you are CERTAIN that they all whine,
(I'll just return mine to Apple and explain to them that richard371 said that they are all defective.)

I am certain I can't hear it - even when I power down the backup drive.
 
Last edited:

liquid stereo

macrumors regular
Jan 21, 2005
166
22
Saint Paul
No noise

My machine makes no noise other than the light breeze noise the hot air exits the top. I've run it for 6 hours straight with a parallel MPI code pegging all 8 CPUs. No noise.

The machine has 8-CPUs, 32GB, D700s and 1TB disk.




There is a post in this forum of many people complaining about an annoying high pitch, low volume noise. They call it a "coil whine" although nobody (including Apple) seems to know what component of the nMP is the cause of it.

Some of them have returned their nMP for exchange, but the new machine made the same noise (even if the configuration was a different one)!

Others have resigned and hope for a kind of "FW update"coming from Apple.

It is not the quiet whisper of the warm air coming upwards (which is the way the nMP works) but a noise clearly heard in a quiet room and apparently changing with the load of the computer.
Some people have recorded it and it is no doubt annoying. You can find the noise files in that post and hear it by yourself.

I must still wait many weeks until my nMP with the help of God (and of Apple logistics, I do not know in which order to put both of them) finally arrives to me.
However I am worried to receive a "noisy" nMP of that kind.
After all one cannot put a nMP under the table on the carpet.
It must be on the table very near to the user!

Therefore may I ask for kind owners of a nMP who can with entire certainty say that their nMP is truly silent and please add the specs of their computer.

Of course I know that in a way it is a subjective criterium and the hearing sense is different from person to person and from age to age, but the noise heard in the above mentioned recordings is not a poltergeist but an absolute reality.

Otherwise Apple would not have accepted to replace without any discussion several difficult to obtain computers, as you can read in that post of the "coil whine" in this forum.

I very much hope that a truly silent nMP may be reported by the vast majority of owners of a nMP but, to tell the truth, I am somehow afraid.
A nMP costs a lot of money and it should accordingly work OK.

Thank you very much in advance for your kind help!
 

ABCDEF-Hex

macrumors 6502
Feb 15, 2013
372
76
NC
Fair enough -

My Roomate said mine is dead silent. He can only hear the fan. Proof that not everyone can hear it. I can.

Also people that have received replacements still have the whine. I'm waiting to hear from someone who received a quiet replacement.

But when you say things like this:
"I am certain every nMP has it until Apple changes something on their end."

You imply that you are speaking for every nMP owner.
 

Phonzoxd

macrumors 6502a
May 28, 2013
633
451
But when you say things like this:
"I am certain every nMP has it until Apple changes something on their end."

You imply that you are speaking for every nMP owner.

He is saying he is certain all nMP have the noise, but not everyone can hear it.

So for example if he listens to every nMP, he will hear it, but maybe you will not.
 

ABCDEF-Hex

macrumors 6502
Feb 15, 2013
372
76
NC
If a nMP whines in the forest..............

He is saying he is certain all nMP have the noise, but not everyone can hear it.

So for example if he listens to every nMP, he will hear it, but maybe you will not.

but no one is there to hear it. - LOL

You should set up a poll. Most people who don't hear a whine probably won't respond. Is the OP going to say that very few people responded that their nMP is silent so that proves they all whine.

Right now there are only a few "whiners" out there - and you know who you are.
 
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Truthfulie

macrumors regular
Dec 18, 2013
248
0
I have not had a chance to hear the machine in a quite environment yet, just at the Apple Store. But if it's there after multiple replacements, it's probably there for all. Some people just don't hear certain high frequencies anymore as our ears become worsens over time.
 

richard371

macrumors 68040
Feb 1, 2008
3,609
1,802
Ok I will take back what I said about all having it but I will say this: After reading about this issue and peoples' replacements doing the same, I was 100% sure mine would have it before I got it and it does. I am certain that some people can't hear it such as my roommate. Maybe its one of those "once heard cannot be unheard"

I am also 100% convinced if I elect to have a replacement sent right now it will do the same. So rather then bump people back in line that are still waiting I will report the issue to Apple and wait until people get replacements where this is resolved.

He is saying he is certain all nMP have the noise, but not everyone can hear it.

So for example if he listens to every nMP, he will hear it, but maybe you will not.
 

Riwam

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Jan 7, 2014
1,095
244
Basel, Switzerland
Thank you

My machine makes no noise other than the light breeze noise the hot air exits the top. I've run it for 6 hours straight with a parallel MPI code pegging all 8 CPUs. No noise.

The machine has 8-CPUs, 32GB, D700s and 1TB disk.
.................................
I thank you for your info.
It is good news although the nMP I ordered has only 6 cores, 12 GB and D500.
I hope that nevertheless it will be as quiet as yours.
I do not understand why some people treat this matter as a kind of joke.
I certainly know that everybody listens differently and wrote it clearly.
Remarks about "noise in a forest" and the like are of little use and if they are funny I doubt it.
Thank you again. I appreciate your info.
Treating other people's questions seriously belongs to good behavior according to my humble opinion.
You do it.

----------

but no one is there to hear it. - LOL

You should set up a poll. Most people who don't hear a whine probably won't respond. Is the OP going to say that very few people responded that their nMP is silent so that proves they all whine.

Right now there are only a few "whiners" out there - and you know who you are.
.......................................................
If you find it funny, enjoy your own jokes.
My question regards serious people who take seriously the worries of others.
If I want to laugh I see a comedy at the cinema.
Here I expect help from the experience of other users and not jokes.

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I have had my mac pro for 2 days and i can't hear anything :confused:

I thank you very much.
May I know the configuration of your machine?
Thanks!

----------

My fiancé hears the coil whine in a quiet office, too. The fans are super silent but the headache-inducing high pitched noise persists.

"..............
May I ask you how do you intend to solve this problem?
If I am right you are in Germany and being myself in Switzerland the electrical conditions should be about the same for both of us as well as the shipping way.
However you have it already and I haven't yet, so the production batches are different ones.
What configuration do you have?
Thanks!
 

saschke

macrumors 6502
Feb 2, 2008
406
39
San Francisco, CA
May I ask you how do you intend to solve this problem?
If I am right you are in Germany and being myself in Switzerland the electrical conditions should be about the same for both of us as well as the shipping way.
However you have it already and I haven't yet, so the production batch are different ones.
What configuration do you have?
Thanks!

Riwam you can see my config in my signature. I am getting a replacement from Apple and am keeping my current nMP until the new one has arrived and I have transferred my data.
 

Riwam

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Jan 7, 2014
1,095
244
Basel, Switzerland
Thank you very much

----------

[/COLOR]

I thank you very much.
May I know the configuration of your machine?
Thanks!

----------

base


Thanks!:)

----------

Riwam you can see my config in my signature. I am getting a replacement from Apple and am keeping my current nMP until the new one has arrived and I have transferred my data.

Thanks! :)

----------

Mine is silent. Even under load all I hear is woosh of air

..................................

I thank you very much.
What is the configuration of your machine?
Thanks!
 

Zinn

macrumors member
Nov 3, 2006
35
0
Mine is silent, except for the chime it makes when it turns on and the air that comes out the top when I'm encoding videos.

EDIT - oh, but maybe I'm deaf since I can't hear the problem that affects 100% of units by scientific and proven analysis.
 

Riwam

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Jan 7, 2014
1,095
244
Basel, Switzerland
Mine is silent, except for the chime it makes when it turns on and the air that comes out the top when I'm encoding videos.

EDIT - oh, but maybe I'm deaf since I can't hear the problem that affects 100% of units by scientific and proven analysis.
....................................................................................
Nobody seriously believes that ALL of the nMP cause an annoying high pitch sound.
Nobody has the possibility of checking all the delivered or still undelivered machines for such a problem.
Obviously not even the manufacturer itself!
However obviously some machines do make that noise.
Different people with different configured nMPs hear it and are annoyed by it.
So the question is first what is the cause of it and second how and when will Apple solve it.
If your machine is quiet, then it is OK for you.
That does not solve the issue for those concerned.
 

saschke

macrumors 6502
Feb 2, 2008
406
39
San Francisco, CA
Riwam, just for your info. Coil whine is a phenomenon that appeared regularly throughout computer history. I'm glad Apple tries their best and they send out new machines to affected users. But please don't make more out of it than there is.
 

wildmac

macrumors 65816
Jun 13, 2003
1,167
1
I haven't heard it yet, but I have an oMP in my office still running, 2 LCD monitors that probably make some electronic noise.. an occasional meowing cat.. my wife, and her videos in the other room... a printer in the room in sleep mode, and the stream outside the window of our condo.. add in some hearing loss and recent tinitus..

but yeah, I better return it just to be safe.. :eek:
 

blackhawk10

macrumors member
Feb 28, 2014
57
52
[QUOTE=There is a post in this forum of many people complaining about an annoying high pitch, low volume noise.

Perhaps for those who have ultra sensitive hearing (dog's range), but my nMacPro is silent...however my ears many not be what they used to be after 2 million miles of flying.
 
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