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27" Apple LED Cinema Display vs Thunderbolt Display. Cinema wins?

Firmware update does not fix MacBook Fans

Apple released a new updated Firmware for the new Thunderbolt Displays.
One of the listed updates include fixing fans in the Thunderbolt Display.
I have tested my MacBook Air with the new Thunderbolt Firmware update and it does not fix the unnecessarily(?) loud fans that the MacBook is emitting.
Cinema Displays will thus continue to be my monitor of choice with my MacBook Air.
 
has anyone managed to fix the excessive fan noise on the MBA with Thunderbolt display? I have installed latest Thunderbolt Display firmware (1.1), reset SMC on MBA (13" 2011 base model). Fans run at 6.5k rpm with just a low res youtube video running. Only time they slow is if I am not doing ANYTHING. Have tried unplugging devices from display, etc. Nothing works. Very annoying. Fans persist at 6k+ rpm even when cpu/mem/etc NOT hot according to istat pro.

thanks for the help!

the TBD is AMAZING otherwise ;)
 
mtbiac said:
has anyone managed to fix the excessive fan noise on the MBA with Thunderbolt display? I have installed latest Thunderbolt Display firmware (1.1), reset SMC on MBA (13" 2011 base model). Fans run at 6.5k rpm with just a low res youtube video running. Only time they slow is if I am not doing ANYTHING. Have tried unplugging devices from display, etc. Nothing works. Very annoying. Fans persist at 6k+ rpm even when cpu/mem/etc NOT hot according to istat pro.

thanks for the help!

the TBD is AMAZING otherwise ;)
Click to expand...

anyone? this is becoming very annoying :-/
 
mtbiac said:
anyone? this is becoming very annoying :-/
Click to expand...

Since my last post, my Thunderbolt Display has not seen any action.
Today I checked and downloaded all available updates on my MBA and retested it.
After 4 minutes of Youtube on 480 resolution... fans scream and thunderbolt connection is warm to touch.

It's well known that CPU components will degrade quicker with higher temperatures, thus the Thunderbolt Display will hibernate once again.

I can't make myself sell it though, since Thunderbolt is the future.
There's so many Thunderbolt accessories being covered at this week's CES, that I will hold on to this display for the time being (SSD enclosures, external hubs, external PCI/graphics enclosures).
 
mtbiac said:
anyone? this is becoming very annoying :-/
Click to expand...

If I were you, I'd either a) reload the OS from scratch, or b) bring the whole rig to the Apple store to have them look at it. I am on my MBA + TBD all day every day and my fans rarely come on. I usually have many browser sessions open, MS Office 2011, Parallels with Win7, OmniFocus, Mail, DevonThink, and several other apps all going at the same time. If you truly have the fans go to 6K rpm every time you do anything... then something is wrong. The only times I ever here the fan come on is if I'm doing video rendering or sometimes when watching a longer movie, which I rarely do.
 
Fastball32 said:
After 4 minutes of Youtube on 480 resolution... fans scream
Click to expand...
Flash player issue. Switch Youtube to HTML5 instead, that fixes it.

and thunderbolt connection is warm to touch.
Click to expand...
Normal, and completely harmless. Nothing to worry about.

It's well known that CPU components will degrade quicker with higher temperatures
Click to expand...
The CPU is spec'd for far longer operational life than the useful life of the laptop itself (certainly far longer than the battery, if nothing else breaks first); again, don't worry about it. Semiconductors today are extremely reliable as long as they operate within spec, and that's certainly the case in the MBP.

thus the Thunderbolt Display will hibernate once again.
Click to expand...
I'd suggest you use your display, and enjoy it. I use mine all the time. The IPS panel is fabulous, and if it wasn't for the extreme glossyness of the front glass it would be nearly perfect image quality-wise (for my needs anyway.)
 
I am with the OP on this where I think the Apple Cinema display is brighter than the TBD. If you're in an Apple store with the two displays side by side, the Cinema one looks brighter and whiter. I tested this since my TBD that I recently bought seem to have a yellow tint towards the bottom right side. It turns out it did and I swapped it for another TBD, now I have a good TBD.

As for the heat problem, my mid 2011 11" MacAir doesn't have the fan running with the TBD, stays relatively cool with only the Thunderbolt port area warm.
 
GreenRonin said:
I am with the OP on this where I think the Apple Cinema display is brighter than the TBD. If you're in an Apple store with the two displays side by side, the Cinema one looks brighter and whiter. I tested this since my TBD that I recently bought seem to have a yellow tint towards the bottom right side. It turns out it did and I swapped it for another TBD, now I have a good TBD.

As for the heat problem, my mid 2011 11" MacAir doesn't have the fan running with the TBD, stays relatively cool with only the Thunderbolt port area warm.
Click to expand...

Very interesting. Apple is known to source different companies to manufacture their LCD screens - LG, Sharp, Samsung...
iPad 3 rumors are saying that since Sharp can't meet all the manufacturing requirements, that Apple will have to source some from Samsung, etc.
http://www.zdnet.com/blog/computers...-samsung-will-build-its-screen-not-sharp/7377

If different companies make the same part for Apple Screens, I don't understand why other posters are arguing the fact that my screen is actually dimmer and has a yellower tint than my older cinema display.

I wonder why there is such a split concerning the MBA + TBD in regards to fan noise...it seems it would be a software issue primarily related to Flash sites, however most posters seem to not have this problem.
Do you think Apple will allow me to exchange it past the 14 day return policy?
 
GreenRonin said:
As for the heat problem, my mid 2011 11" MacAir doesn't have the fan running with the TBD, stays relatively cool with only the Thunderbolt port area warm.
Click to expand...

My MBA is at high rpm (4000-6500) more often than not. Even with NO flash running. HOWEVER, my cpu temperatures are almost always low (50Cs to 60s) even with the fan on! When using the MBA without TBD, i can have the cpu temp in the 70s without considerable fan noise. This all leads me to believe it is a software error. I have tried resetting SMC, latest firmware and software for both MBA and TBD, all without help. I refuse to reformat the MBA because of this and cannot see how that is the problem as the machine is only a few months old. No other machines to test the display.


ANYONE else with insight into this issue? Very bizarre!!
 
This is NOT a flash issue. I have a 13" MBP (early 2011) and I'm experiencing heat issues when connected to the Thunderbolt display as well.

My idle temperature without the display is about 40°C, with the display connected it raises to about 60°C.

This lowers the threshold for when the fans starts to spin up. A task that would increase the temperature by 20°C would not engage the fans when not connected to the display, but when connected it will go above the threshold.
Even light work in Adobe Lightroom will engage the fans for me.

The decreased lifespan of the circuits doesn't bother me that much, but the noise does. Both because of the fact that I'm very sensitive to noise and that I'm doing a lot of music production, which is pretty much impossible to do with the display connected since it raises the noise floor above acceptable levels.

I regret not returning the display when I first bought it. I was silly enough to think that it would be resolved through software updates.
Obviously, the Cinema display doesn't have these problems, so that would indicate that it's a thunderbolt issue and not a GPU issue.

I really love the display itself, it's wonderful to work with, but the fan noise makes things really frustrating.
I've been able to lower the idle temperature some by using smcFanControl to make the fan spin a bit faster and using a passive laptop cooler, but it's still way too high.

I've tried it with my girlfriends 13" MBP and got the same results, so it's not related to this specific computer.
 
I have a slightly different concern with the Thunderbolt display.

I have just replaced my 27" Cinema Display with the Thunderbolt - albeit we have retained the Cinema display for a different application.

What is noticeable to me - significantly so - is that the Thunderbolt display is not as sharp as the Cinema Display?

Maybe I had a really good Cinema display - and the Thunderbolt is simply average - but there is a clear difference between the two...so much so, that I am contemplating switching them back again!

Don't get me wrong - the Thunderbolt isn't "bad' - its just not great compared to the Cinema display for some reason???
 
dealmaker said:
What is noticeable to me - significantly so - is that the Thunderbolt display is not as sharp as the Cinema Display?
Click to expand...
That should not be the case.

Are you sure you're running the TBD at its native resolution of 2560*1440 pixels? Running non-native resolutions on LCD or other discrete pixel devices (such as plasma or DLP displays and whatnot) often results in an apparant blurring of the image unless the displayed resolution is a power of two fraction of the native resolution (on the TBD, that would be 1280*720, or the rather crazy 640*360.)
 
I am having the same issue. As soon as I plug the Thunderbolt Display into my MBA 11" and use some software that is taking more than 5% CPU, the fan(s?) of the MBA sound like hoover. Extremely loud! I get the feeling my MBA is preparing to lift off...

Very interesting: often the fans don't come down after quitting every app and let the CPU "cool down". Even after 10 minutes after restarting OS X and nothing else the fans are horrible loud. But after a real power shut down and pressing the power button 1 second later the noise doesn't return and stays away (until next >5% CPU app).

So I guess it really is a software problem and it might be the graphic that causes the fan speed, not the CPU power.
 
I have a mbp early 2011, i could not run any sort of video when i had my TB display plugged in. The fans would go crazy.. I even went to the apple genius bar and the basically they said get a better mac.

The fans cannot cool the machine down during video playback because there too small and not having a dedicated gpu does not help.

Intel 3000 + sandy bridge hot processor + Flash + 2560x1440 res + Lack of cooling = 5000+ rpm fan

I found out the mac mini is very quiet even when running flash /sliver light full screen.

when browsing flash sites and I have a video running in the corner the fan gets louder.
 
melino said:
I am having the same issue. As soon as I plug the Thunderbolt Display into my MBA 11" and use some software that is taking more than 5% CPU, the fan(s?) of the MBA sound like hoover. Extremely loud! I get the feeling my MBA is preparing to lift off...

Very interesting: often the fans don't come down after quitting every app and let the CPU "cool down". Even after 10 minutes after restarting OS X and nothing else the fans are horrible loud. But after a real power shut down and pressing the power button 1 second later the noise doesn't return and stays away (until next >5% CPU app).

So I guess it really is a software problem and it might be the graphic that causes the fan speed, not the CPU power.
Click to expand...


Either you are exaggerating, or you have a serious problem if your fans come on max with CPU at 5%. I use my MBA + TBD all day, every day, and have it loaded up, including constantly running Windows 7 on Parallels plus a full stack of applications and rarely ever here the fan come on. The only thing that will cause the fan on the MBA to come on at all is if I'm running flash videos for a long time, processing a lot of photos in Lightroom, or doing video encoding. These things cause the fan to come on whether the TBD is attached or not, so the TBD has zero impact on my fans.
 
No that it REALLY applies. But I have a MBP and TBD and fans hardly ever turn on, and I run some pretty intense applications. I also use a twelvesouth stand for the MBP, so I am sure that helps with cooling.

Do want to mention the "brightness" (which is absolutely the wrong definition, but it is what Apple decided to call it, so bleh, brightness is actually black level, Apple's brightness is backlight).

It does not matter one bit how "bright" a display gets. It is not a measure of performance at all. The analogy of "200mph's" is incorrect, as a car that can do 200 miles an hour is a measure of performance.

When calibrating a computer monitor you generally shoot for 120 cd/m2. Can the TBD hit that? Yes. I will measure again, but the TBD can put out more light luminescence than anyone would ever need to use (off of memory it is something silly like 250 cd/m2).

Next to the iPad 3, the TBD is one of the best out box readings I have ever taken. And once calibrated the TBD is nut (all Delta E's under 1, with most under .5).
 
After some of you with the same setup told me they very rarely hear the fans, I was trying to imagine what you be the difference beside fro the hardware.
I came to the idea that some of us may close the MPA when an external monitor is plugged and some other may leave it opened.
I am (was) one of those you closed it, because I don't need a second display when I already have 27". I never thought that could be a problem, the fans are on the backside anyway.
But today I have worked with opened display and guess what? Fans keep cool! :) Maybe they need the air from the top keyboard spaces and can't get enough if the MPA is closed.

Can you guys with the loud fans please verify this?
 
melino said:
After some of you with the same setup told me they very rarely hear the fans, I was trying to imagine what you be the difference beside fro the hardware.
I came to the idea that some of us may close the MPA when an external monitor is plugged and some other may leave it opened.
I am (was) one of those you closed it, because I don't need a second display when I already have 27". I never thought that could be a problem, the fans are on the backside anyway.
But today I have worked with opened display and guess what? Fans keep cool! :) Maybe they need the air from the top keyboard spaces and can't get enough if the MPA is closed.

Can you guys with the loud fans please verify this?
Click to expand...

I don't ever open my MBA when docked... stays closed. I don't have a fan problem. I do have it sitting on a laptop cooler, but I highly doubt that's the reason why my fans aren't coming on like yours. I have the fan on the cooler all the way down to the lowest setting so I can't hear it.
 
melino said:
After some of you with the same setup told me they very rarely hear the fans, I was trying to imagine what you be the difference beside fro the hardware.
I came to the idea that some of us may close the MPA when an external monitor is plugged and some other may leave it opened.
I am (was) one of those you closed it, because I don't need a second display when I already have 27". I never thought that could be a problem, the fans are on the backside anyway.
But today I have worked with opened display and guess what? Fans keep cool! :) Maybe they need the air from the top keyboard spaces and can't get enough if the MPA is closed.

Can you guys with the loud fans please verify this?
Click to expand...

Interesting thought. I tried your suggestion of running the MBA open, after a minute of an HD video, my fans become just as loud.

Not sure why Convergent keeps on saying that we have a faulty product, when he himself admits that Flash sites make his fans go loud too.
Up to now, I haven't heard my fans on any application, even CPU intensive applications, but if I play a 720p video on YouTube, then the fans get loud.

For those who's MBA fans DO NOT go loud on the Thunderbolt Display, play a 10 minute video on Youtube that is at least 720, and in full screen.

----------

Also my fans do Not get loud when I hook up my 2011 MBA to my 24" or 27" Cinema Display, just the Thunderbolt, so I'm positive it's not my MBA. I don't even think it's the Thunderbolt display problem, since non-flash sites do not make my fans go loud.
 
My 2011 13" AIR is stored vertically with ample air space on both sides when it's docked to the TBD. It stays cool and I never hear fans. And my cats can't sit on it. :)
 
Last edited:
melino said:
Could you please post a picture of that?
Click to expand...

http://www.twelvesouth.com/static/assets/products/product/main_left_image/productImage_bapro.jpg

productImage_bapro.jpg
 
Fastball32 said:
Interesting thought. I tried your suggestion of running the MBA open, after a minute of an HD video, my fans become just as loud.

Not sure why Convergent keeps on saying that we have a faulty product, when he himself admits that Flash sites make his fans go loud too.
Up to now, I haven't heard my fans on any application, even CPU intensive applications, but if I play a 720p video on YouTube, then the fans get loud.

For those who's MBA fans DO NOT go loud on the Thunderbolt Display, play a 10 minute video on Youtube that is at least 720, and in full screen.

----------

Also my fans do Not get loud when I hook up my 2011 MBA to my 24" or 27" Cinema Display, just the Thunderbolt, so I'm positive it's not my MBA. I don't even think it's the Thunderbolt display problem, since non-flash sites do not make my fans go loud.
Click to expand...

well, the fans even on my pro 15 quad get to running and i can hear it. but its not a big deal, at least not for me :D
 
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