2018 Mac Mini coil whine

[brentsg]

Just wanted to mention that I can hear a good bit of coil whine from my new Mini when it'd doing heavy disk access. Kinda bummed, but in the end it probably won't be 2 feet from my ears when it's all setup.

Thought I'd mention b/c some people might be hearing this for the first time. It sounds like electrical noises when doing intensive transfer.

 

[rtsai92]

Just wanted to mention that I can hear a good bit of coil whine from my new Mini when it'd doing heavy disk access. Kinda bummed, but in the end it probably won't be 2 feet from my ears when it's all setup.

Thought I'd mention b/c some people might be hearing this for the first time. It sounds like electrical noises when doing intensive transfer.

Is it like this one: https://streamable.com/iwfo2
I've been searching the entire day what this noise is on my new mini.
Thanks!

 

[brentsg]

I can't get my speakers / ambient noise right to hear from the recording. Will try tomorrow.. but I bet it is.

 

[rtsai92]

I can't get my speakers / ambient noise right to hear from the recording. Will try tomorrow.. but I bet it is.

Thanks a lot for the help. Do you think a replacement is needed for this issue or it doesn’t really matter. I have a 2017 Mbp and iMac, none of those makes this weird noise.

 

[smithrh]

The video in question sounds suspiciously like spinning hard disk accesses....

 

[rtsai92]

The video in question sounds suspiciously like spinning hard disk accesses....

Yeah, but it’s all flash drive machine

 

[brentsg]

Yeah that's just coil whine.

 

[michael.richard1982]

Which model are you hearing this on?
[doublepost=1541647501][/doublepost]

Is it like this one

That's much more similar to typical HDD noises. Is that even from a 2018 mini? I can't tell for sure from the lighting.

 

[rtsai92]

Which model are you hearing this on?
[doublepost=1541647501][/doublepost]

That's much more similar to typical HDD noises. Is that even from a 2018 mini? I can't tell for sure from the lighting.

yes, a new 2018 Mac mini which arrived this morning, and it sound exactly like old hdd in an old computer.

 

[SpacemanSpiffed]

Any chance it is from the new, beefier cooling fan?

 

[rtsai92]

Any chance it is from the new, beefier cooling fan?

no, I have it opened to take a closer listen, and it's definitely coil whine. I suppose it's the same ssd coil whine issue mbp users have been talking about.

 

[michael.richard1982]

definitely coil whine.

I would take to the Apple store and complain

If they can't do anything about it try getting a new one since Apple has a nqa refund policy. It may be an isolated case.

 

[rtsai92]

I would take to the Apple store and complain

If they can't do anything about it try getting a new one since Apple has a nqa refund policy. It may be an isolated case.

will definitely consider return it and get a new one, hopefully could solve this ssd noise problem. but doesn't seems very optimistic according to mbp users with ssd coil whine issue

 

[brentsg]

It’s not a huge issue, but I’m considering returning mine for multiple reasons. This is just one more.

 

[michael.richard1982]

for multiple reasons

can you elaborate on the reasons?

 

[Royksöpp]

can you elaborate on the reasons?

I seriously hope it's not the Ram. It's piece of cake to replace!

 

[munna78]

Mine does the same thing - if there is no detrimental issue, i think i will just leave it as is

 

[brentsg]

can you elaborate on the reasons?

I have largely moved my workflow to PC, but I have a few apps that I still rely on. Lately I’ve been using Remote Desktop to hop in and do those things, but I want to be rid of the MP because I’ve suffered a back issue and can no longer move it when needed. In fact I aggravated it today being stupid when moving it to pull a drive.

Long story short, I’m going to wind up with a $2000 Mini with coil whine by the time it’s over. I think I just need to pull the bandaid off and get away from OSX. The Mini makes a ton of sense, just not at the price level I need. For that price I can have a killer Threadripper setup.

 

[michael.richard1982]

I have largely moved my workflow to PC

I did this myself about a year ago when it was clear Apple was no longer interested in selling desktop computers.

I don't mind the costs, but I expect a flawless product in return. I expect all the little things to be taken care of properly. Something like obvious coil whine slipping past their QA is a disappointment.

This really a last chance for Apple. I'm giving them another shot because I love OSX so much. But I can live with Windows.

If this mini doesn't delight me it's going back very quickly.

 

[Scarpad]

I have to say I think your right I was thinking of replacing my iMac , but for the money they are asking I might look for something in a windows 10 machine it’s a shame but I do think iOS is where it’s at for Apple right now

 

[SoCalReviews]

Just wanted to mention that I can hear a good bit of coil whine from my new Mini when it'd doing heavy disk access...

It's probably specifically coming from the internal power supply. Capacitors can also sing and whine when they charge and discharge during usage.

 

[brentsg]

It's probably specifically coming from the internal power supply. Capacitors can also sing and whine when they charge and discharge during usage.

It’s very possible, but it always seems to happen with disk access, which is strange. Either way, it’s too small to localize.

 

[Neodym]

It’s very possible, but it always seems to happen with disk access, which is strange.

As the "disk" is a very performant SSD here, there could be significant current streams involved during disk access, so it might well be the capacitors which have to work hard to stabilize power during intense, SSD-induced load.

 

[Spectrum]

It is really odd that it sounds like HDD access. Does this suggest that the HDD access sound we are used to is not actually caused by the spinning disk itself but by something else?

 

[StellarVixen]

They said that they are using 100 percent recycled aluminum, so there is a ghost of late HDD that is still lurking inside that case.