New iMac: Since when can you hear the fan?

[AnTaR3s]

Hey

I just set up my new iMac and the first impression is very very negative because I can constantly hear the fan and some click-sounds!

I checked the stats and the fan is running at 1200rpm. I could never hear the fan in my old iMac (2012 model) when it was not under stress. Also there is a constant clicking sound in the background. I tried recording it with the iPhone, but it's just too quiet. Nonetheless, I can hear the fans and this weird background clicking.

I am thinking about returning this thing if this is not normal. Is the new iMac running completely silent for you?

thanks

EDIT: I have got an audio recording where you can hear it in the background if you listen closely. It definitely comes from the fan:

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/16787607/Temp/imac.m4a

 

[SeanD1]

Hey

I just set up my new iMac and the first impression is very very negative because I can constantly hear the fan and some click-sounds!

I checked the stats and the fan is running at 1200rpm. I could never hear the fan in my old iMac (2012 model) when it was not under stress. Also there is a constant clicking sound in the background. I tried recording it with the iPhone, but it's just too quiet. Nonetheless, I can hear the fans and this weird background clicking.

I am thinking about returning this thing if this is not normal. Is the new iMac running completely silent for you?

thanks

EDIT: I have got an audio recording where you can hear it in the background if you listen closely. It definitely comes from the fan:

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/16787607/Temp/imac.m4a

I have the exact same problem with mine.
It's not loud but annoying in a silent room. Worried the fan might die in a few months.

 

[antipodean]

Hey

I just set up my new iMac and the first impression is very very negative because I can constantly hear the fan and some click-sounds!

I checked the stats and the fan is running at 1200rpm. I could never hear the fan in my old iMac (2012 model) when it was not under stress. Also there is a constant clicking sound in the background. I tried recording it with the iPhone, but it's just too quiet. Nonetheless, I can hear the fans and this weird background clicking.

I am thinking about returning this thing if this is not normal. Is the new iMac running completely silent for you?

thanks

EDIT: I have got an audio recording where you can hear it in the background if you listen closely. It definitely comes from the fan:

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/16787607/Temp/imac.m4a

Have you got a fusion drive, because I think that prevents the HDD from ever spinning down? It's one reason I went with 1TB SSD. Especially the mention of clicking makes me think you're hearing the HDD.

 

[hifimacianer]

It may even be that you hear the HD and not the fan.

 

[SeanD1]

Have you got a fusion drive, because I think that prevents the HDD from ever spinning down? It's one reason I went with 1TB SSD. Especially the mention of clicking makes me think you're hearing the HDD.

Not sure about the op but mine is ssd. Definitely from the fan.

 

[loekf]

I only heard fan noise from my i5/M290X 5K iMac during the summer when the temperature in-house rises to ~25 celsius. Currently, you don't hear any fan noise, even when you e.g. are transcoding movies in e.g. iFFMPEG or Handbrake.

 

[SeanD1]

I only heard fan noise from my i5/M290X 5K iMac during the summer when the temperature in-house rises to ~25 celsius. Currently, you don't hear any fan noise, even when you e.g. are transcoding movies in e.g. iFFMPEG or Handbrake.

I have i7/395x and the fan is always running. Usually at around 1200rpm..

 

[AnTaR3s]

Ok, so I just talked to Apple and they will send me a new one. This will take 2-3 weeks, though, grrr...!

I also have the SSD version, but I can't say for sure that this noise is coming from the fan. Anyway, the clicking sound is reason enough to return it. One answer I would like to have is whether the fan is hearable on the 2015 iMac when it's running at 1200rpm (currently writing from my old one with 1200 rpm without any sound).

 

[SeanD1]

Ok, so I just talked to Apple and they will send me a new one. This will take 2-3 weeks, though, grrr...!

I also have the SSD version, but I can't say for sure that this noise is coming from the fan. Anyway, the clicking sound is reason enough to return it. One answer I would like to have is whether the fan is hearable when it's running at 1200rpm. On my old 2012 iMac I never heard the fan at this speed.

I'll have to contact them as well then.
Never noticed the noise at first though. I think it's developed. At first I could just hear a faint noise of wind.

 

[antipodean]

Agree that if you can hear clicking from an all-flash machine where the single fan is the only moving part, that's probably not a good sign. My 2013 i7/780m 1TB SSD machine is essentially silent. My 2015 i5/395 1TB SSD is due in a week or so and I hope it's equally quiet.

 

[Buerkletucson]

No problem with mine........pretty much silent all the time.
Only time I hear the fan is if I'm running some intensive apps then it will ramp up.
At 1200 RPM I can't hear it at all.

I suspect some of the noise (clicking) is from the Fusion drive.
SSD is nice for this reason also.

 

[AnTaR3s]

No problem with mine........pretty much silent all the time.
Only time I hear the fan is if I'm running some intensive apps then it will ramp up.
At 1200 RPM I can't hear it at all.

I suspect some of the noise (clicking) is from the Fusion drive.
SSD is nice for this reason also.

I know that traditional hard drives make these clicks, but I have the SSD. Good to know that it should be totally silent on 1200rpm though...

 

[HopkinFrog]

I had a faint tapping noise (coming from the fan) when my iMac first arrived.

I cranked up the fan speed with SMC fan controller, and tilted the iMac around - noise went away.

Edit: I had pure SSD in mine.

 

[AnTaR3s]

...and tilted the iMac around...

haha

I also cranked it up to full speed and checked if it got worse. It was hard to say with the fan at maximum, but I imagined that the frequency of the clicks also increased. What I have not mentioned so far was that the iMac box it was delivered in had a ~10cm crack on its side. The iMac looked fine, but I could imagine someone ran into an obstacle while carrying the box and the fan somehow did not like the shock...hmmm. Anyway, it's back in the box and waiting to be picked up. If the second iMac does not live up to my expectations, I'll wait for next year. The 2012 model is a beast anyway!

 

[richwoodrocket]

Ive never heard a fan on any Mac I have used.

 

[AnTaR3s]

Ive never heard a fan on any Mac I have used.

Me too, unless you put the CPU or GPU under heavy load. Macs are silent by design imo.

 

[xgman]

Ever since the 2014 imac, the fans do run more often than the 12-13 imacs. Mostly quiet but do spin up sometimes during TM backups, or heavy cpu stuff. Sometimes in heavy Logic use. Not really that bad though.

 

[cbrand493]

The clicking is definitely a reason to return the iMac and get it replaced as you have done, however hearing the fan at 1200rpm is subjective. If you live in a very quiet neighbourhood and a very quiet house with no background noise at all, then you'll hear a fan at 1200RPM (that's pretty quick). If you live in a bit more noisier area or it's a windy day or anything small like that, it might be enough to drown it out. I wouldn't return your iMac over a fan you can hear at 1200RPM. It's doing no damage to the fan or the system, and it's not worth the hassle and wait (you may think it is then by all means).

 

[HopkinFrog]

haha

I also cranked it up to full speed and checked if it got worse. It was hard to say with the fan at maximum, but I imagined that the frequency of the clicks also increased. What I have not mentioned so far was that the iMac box it was delivered in had a ~10cm crack on its side. The iMac looked fine, but I could imagine someone ran into an obstacle while carrying the box and the fan somehow did not like the shock...hmmm. Anyway, it's back in the box and waiting to be picked up. If the second iMac does not live up to my expectations, I'll wait for next year. The 2012 model is a beast anyway!

It's like a dance. My next step was to turn it upside down and shake it

 

[AnTaR3s]

The clicking is definitely a reason to return the iMac and get it replaced as you have done, however hearing the fan at 1200rpm is subjective. If you live in a very quiet neighbourhood and a very quiet house with no background noise at all, then you'll hear a fan at 1200RPM (that's pretty quick). If you live in a bit more noisier area or it's a windy day or anything small like that, it might be enough to drown it out. I wouldn't return your iMac over a fan you can hear at 1200RPM. It's doing no damage to the fan or the system, and it's not worth the hassle and wait (you may think it is then by all means).

Well, I am aware of the issue with the environment, but I could definitely hear the 2015 iMac where I could not hear the 2012 iMac. I had them running next to each other in the same environment at the same time and the difference was not subtle at all! For me this is reason enough to be upset. If it turns out that the fan is hearable at 1200rpm in my work environment (where the 2012 model is subjectively silent) then it's sort of a downgrade and not worth paying a lot of money...

 

[dud3tt3]

I have the i7/395/512SSD and it's absolutely quiet.

 

[AnTaR3s]

I have the i7/395/512SSD and it's absolutely quiet.

Good to know I really think the fan was not ok in the iMac they sent me. I should have a replacement in about two weeks (the downside of living far from Apple's distribution centers).

 

[cbrand493]

Well, I am aware of the issue with the environment, but I could definitely hear the 2015 iMac where I could not hear the 2012 iMac. I had them running next to each other in the same environment at the same time and the difference was not subtle at all! For me this is reason enough to be upset. If it turns out that the fan is hearable at 1200rpm in my work environment (where the 2012 model is subjectively silent) then it's sort of a downgrade and not worth paying a lot of money...

Yeah if you can hear one and not the other the fan must not be sitting properly or there's an issue with the actual fan.

 

[SeanD1]

I had a faint tapping noise (coming from the fan) when my iMac first arrived.

I cranked up the fan speed with SMC fan controller, and tilted the iMac around - noise went away.

Edit: I had pure SSD in mine.

I tried this and it seemed to work for a little while, but I can hear it again now. Its every so often for me.

My box also had a gash in the side of it from shipping, so maybe it was dropped also.

 

[AnTaR3s]

My box also had a gash in the side of it from shipping, so maybe it was dropped also.

Interesting... maybe they were stressed out and dropped a couple of them I would return it, especially after people here said that it should be dead silent...