27 inch iMac Late 2012 fan concern

[iMcLovin]

https://www.dropbox.com/s/b4crdj4g5j7v6jk/Memo.m4a
somewhat of audio clip i recorded from front of imac on iphone. Obviously i think it picks up more than my ear

That's how mine sounds as well. So a bit relieving. Mine is extremely silent, but I can hear the rotational clicks, or what I should call it. But, it's very silent.
Here's my audio clip, I held my iphone close to the fan hole behind the machine, so it sounds a lot more extreme than what it really is, but it's not a constant smooth air sound, which is what I reacted on.

link:
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/22885829/imacfan.m4a

 

[streetfoldsfive]

also sometimes when i come home for lunch even though my imac was asleep the whole day the fans are on.

 

[edry.hilario]

That's how mine sounds as well. So a bit relieving. Mine is extremely silent, but I can hear the rotational clicks, or what I should call it. But, it's very silent.
Here's my audio clip, I held my iphone close to the fan hole behind the machine, so it sounds a lot more extreme than what it really is, but it's not a constant smooth air sound, which is what I reacted on.

link:
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/22885829/imacfan.m4a

Ha that's how my first iMac sounded. I hate to disappoint you but I don't think that's right my second iMac doesn't sound nearly like that. I wouldn't keep it.

 

[villiard]

haha i'm in the same boat as you streetfolds, paranoid about the slightest bit of sound. on my machine there is definitely air blowing all the time, easily recognizable in a quiet room. but i too am unsure if it's something that i will need to take into the hands of an expert (at an apple store) or just simply become less picky about. i'd say you walk into a apple store and stick your head behind one with similar specs and compare. i've gotta do the same.

does anybody know what the normal fan speeds are for the 21.5-inch model? 'cause mine constantly runs at 1400rpm.

 

[cmitchel]

There is an issue

I just received my second late 2012 i7/1TB Fusion/16GB iMac after returning the first with dead pixels - the returned unit was all but silent - could not hear a thing.

The replacement just received has an annoying background fan noise that is not loud but very audible - and was not present on the first unit I sent back.

I contacted Apple - went through Ctrl-Alt-P-R boot, noise still there. Apple sending replacement.

Third-time-lucky.

 

[iMcLovin]

Ha that's how my first iMac sounded. I hate to disappoint you but I don't think that's right my second iMac doesn't sound nearly like that. I wouldn't keep it.

I can hardly hear my fan anymore, unless I put my ear into the fan grill or if the house is completely silent. I´m quite sure the fan behaves normal, and when I encoded a video file and the fan went up to 2500 it had a even wind blowing. So it would be silly to return this. ANyway, I have apple care, so if it would ever behave strange in the next 3 years, I can just call them then

 

[toschlebelge]

Also clicking sound

Same problem here as poster above.... Fan makes a very slight hissing noise like air blowing, thats ok.
But then there is this clicking sound that comes and goes and changes when I tilt the whole thing (!) 90 degrees.
This is not normal, I will get it replaced but:
Does anybody know how to best get all the nicely installed apps and Parallels VMs to the new machine? Will TimeMachine do it all! Really all?

 

[arthurschiller]

To all these people who consider their iMacs to be silent:
Is it really completely silent like a MacBook Air in IDLE oder is their a bit of a noise that's just nearly not noticeable?
Because I can hear some noise. It's like a consistent airflow and not very loud, but I can definitely hear it.
My room in general is very silent. Not much cars etc... Maybe my ears are just too good, but it makes me wonder that most of you say your machines are completely silent.

27" model, 3.4 i7, 680MX, 1TB Fusion drive. Fan speed about 1190-1205...

 

[southerndoc]

To all these people who consider their iMacs to be silent:
Is it really completely silent like a MacBook Air in IDLE oder is their a bit of a noise that's just nearly not noticeable?
Because I can hear some noise. It's like a consistent airflow and not very loud, but I can definitely hear it.
My room in general is very silent. Not much cars etc... Maybe my ears are just too good, but it makes me wonder that most of you say your machines are completely silent.

27" model, 3.4 i7, 680MX, 1TB Fusion drive. Fan speed about 1190-1205...

Mine has a constant almost silent fan noise that I can only hear in a totally quiet room. If I have my ceiling fan on I can't hear it.

 

[arthurschiller]

Mine has a constant almost silent fan noise that I can only hear in a totally quiet room. If I have my ceiling fan on I can't hear it.

Okay, than that's probably completely normal.
Like I said, my room is almost completely silent most of the times.
When I plug in my external HD it drowns out the iMac's noise.

 

[southerndoc]

Okay, than that's probably completely normal.
Like I said, my room is almost completely silent most of the times.
When I plug in my external HD it drowns out the iMac's noise.

I have a clock from Pottery Barn. The second hand tick is louder than the iMac fan (much, much louder). The sound of my fingers hitting the keyboard as I type this pretty much drowns out the fan noise.

The fan noise is there, and it can be heard by discerning ears in a really quiet room. Definitely not completely silent like my 2012 MBA.

 

[arthurschiller]

I have a clock from Pottery Barn. The second hand tick is louder than the iMac fan (much, much louder). The sound of my fingers hitting the keyboard as I type this pretty much drowns out the fan noise.

The fan noise is there, and it can be heard by discerning ears in a really quiet room. Definitely not completely silent like my 2012 MBA.

Okay, then I guess it should be fine.
It just makes me wonder that many people say that they absolutely can't hear a noise.
Anyway, I will bring my iMac in for screen repair next month - got a little bit of backlight bleeding near the bottom left corner which catches my eyes while watching movies with black bars which really bothers me because everything else on the screen looks great. No pixel issues etc.
And I really don't want to wait another 2-3 weeks for a replacement iMac. Need it for work... :-/
Maybe they will tell me if something is wrong with the noise. But I doubt it. Reading all this makes me kind of paranoid I guess... (;

 

[iMcLovin]

I'm really curious how other people fans sounds...
I mean its impossible to record, if I put py phone up to the grill and record it will sound like a huge factory sound, but from where I'm sitting I have to put my head up close to the bottom of the screen to really hear the fan.
But, the fan does sound a bit propellar like, its not clicking per se, but it's like I can hear the propellars of the fans turning....like klaff-klaff-klaff-klaff
But, I'm guessing it's because the fan moves slow enough for my ears to pick up the rotational intervals. Because once the fans goes up to 2400 rpm it's a completely smooth wind at a louder volume. So, I'm guessing apple has tried to find a middleground for the rpm were its as silent as possible before you hear the rotations too obvious.

Just wondering if everyone else is experiencing the same thing, and for those who don't maybe they actually dont register it the same way ??

Like others say here, once I start typing on the keyboard, do a mouse click or the tv is on or my external HDD, the imac sound is completely impossible to hear.
I don't want to return it for such a trivial thing, the machine in general is perfect. So, I hope this is the natural way it should behave, because returning my current machine to wait for another, risking something actually faulty on a new machine isn't worth the risk. I'm guessing it's just paranoia and me searching so hard for something to be wrong, since I've been waiting for this so long and paid so much for it - I want it to be completely 100% perfect.

 

[streetfoldsfive]

I'm really curious how other people fans sounds...
I mean its impossible to record, if I put py phone up to the grill and record it will sound like a huge factory sound, but from where I'm sitting I have to put my head up close to the bottom of the screen to really hear the fan.
But, the fan does sound a bit propellar like, its not clicking per se, but it's like I can hear the propellars of the fans turning....like klaff-klaff-klaff-klaff
But, I'm guessing it's because the fan moves slow enough for my ears to pick up the rotational intervals. Because once the fans goes up to 2400 rpm it's a completely smooth wind at a louder volume. So, I'm guessing apple has tried to find a middleground for the rpm were its as silent as possible before you hear the rotations too obvious.

Just wondering if everyone else is experiencing the same thing, and for those who don't maybe they actually dont register it the same way ??

Like others say here, once I start typing on the keyboard, do a mouse click or the tv is on or my external HDD, the imac sound is completely impossible to hear.
I don't want to return it for such a trivial thing, the machine in general is perfect. So, I hope this is the natural way it should behave, because returning my current machine to wait for another, risking something actually faulty on a new machine isn't worth the risk. I'm guessing it's just paranoia and me searching so hard for something to be wrong, since I've been waiting for this so long and paid so much for it - I want it to be completely 100% perfect.

I'm in the same boat. I don't really know what to do. apple tells me to bring it in to the store but I do not wanna bring my 2500 dollar imac to the mall when its not 3 weeks old :/ I'm trying to get over it but it takes time :/

 

[jstnlzr]

I dont hear any noise... then again I am half deaf ...moving along.

 

[iMcLovin]

I'm in the same boat. I don't really know what to do. apple tells me to bring it in to the store but I do not wanna bring my 2500 dollar imac to the mall when its not 3 weeks old :/ I'm trying to get over it but it takes time :/

it seems rather common. Well its a very silent fan - my most silent computer other than the macbook air, which dont really have the fan running I think unless I'm doing heavy processor tasks. My 2009 imac had a lot more sound, it was more smooth but it was louder, so probably it kept running at a higher rpm. It seems many have that kind of sound from it, its just an unusual sound but not disturbing. So I guess its normal. I just wanted to know if it was common.

Just to be clear, my fan doesnt sound anything like what you can hear here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=se4YNHz1Hjs
This sounds broken. My fan sounds something similar to what this guy has before the rattling start, like weak rotorblade rotations, more mellow. So I guess its normal.

 

[edry.hilario]

it seems rather common. Well its a very silent fan - my most silent computer other than the macbook air, which dont really have the fan running I think unless I'm doing heavy processor tasks. My 2009 imac had a lot more sound, it was more smooth but it was louder, so probably it kept running at a higher rpm. It seems many have that kind of sound from it, its just an unusual sound but not disturbing. So I guess its normal. I just wanted to know if it was common.

Just to be clear, my fan doesnt sound anything like what you can hear here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=se4YNHz1Hjs
This sounds broken. My fan sounds something similar to what this guy has before the rattling start, like weak rotorblade rotations, more mellow. So I guess its normal.

Just so you know I got my third replacement and it does sound like this. However I'm kinda weird out because my second replacement didn't sound like this but for some reason the fan seemed to be running faster at all times so that could be the reason why I never heard it even if I put my ear up to it. Idk what to do since I've go through 3 replacements already. This sucks

 

[iMcLovin]

Just so you know I got my third replacement and it does sound like this. However I'm kinda weird out because my second replacement didn't sound like this but for some reason the fan seemed to be running faster at all times so that could be the reason why I never heard it even if I put my ear up to it. Idk what to do since I've go through 3 replacements already. This sucks

So you have that rattling sound that starts half into that video?? That certainly isn't right. You've been really unlucky then. Mine is kinda like what you hear in the beginning but very silent of course. I doubt I would get a better result from a replacement.

Weird how the fans on the iMacs aren't as smooth as the retina MacBook pros, which they marketed as some new high tech invention with a frequency you cannot hear.

 

[Tri-stan]

https://www.dropbox.com/s/b4crdj4g5j7v6jk/Memo.m4a
somewhat of audio clip i recorded from front of imac on iphone. Obviously i think it picks up more than my ear

Right anybody talking about putting their head to the computer to hear the fan clicking are just way too obsessed with noise. You are going to hear a lot of other sounds at that range like coil wine, electrical noise etc.

If you can just hear the sound of moving air that is what I would call the perfect sound setup. If there is a audio clicking or PWM motor noise heard at viewing distance from the screen then I would find that annoying in a quiet room.

If your iMac sounds anything like this audio track I would be Very Happy! Check over the screen some more as that is where you will find all of the problems you are looking for

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So you have that rattling sound that starts half into that video?? That certainly isn't right. You've been really unlucky then. Mine is kinda like what you hear in the beginning but very silent of course. I doubt I would get a better result from a replacement.

Weird how the fans on the iMacs aren't as smooth as the retina MacBook pros, which they marketed as some new high tech invention with a frequency you cannot hear.

I would say that you fan is screwed up and it should not be making that sound. If you can hear it clearly at the normal distance from the screen then something is not right here. Sounds a bit like a bad bearing unit to me, just like our 5 year old dell vostro laptop.

 

[edry.hilario]

So you have that rattling sound that starts half into that video?? That certainly isn't right. You've been really unlucky then. Mine is kinda like what you hear in the beginning but very silent of course. I doubt I would get a better result from a replacement.

Weird how the fans on the iMacs aren't as smooth as the retina MacBook pros, which they marketed as some new high tech invention with a frequency you cannot hear.

No it doesn't sound like the video it sounds just like yours, like your drop box file. My first iMac sounded like this the second one didn't and now the third one sounds like. I don't hear just a clean flow of air I hear rattling just like yours, I think it isn't normal for the fact that my second one didn't sound like that

 

[iMcLovin]

No it doesn't sound like the video it sounds just like yours, like your drop box file. My first iMac sounded like this the second one didn't and now the third one sounds like. I don't hear just a clean flow of air I hear rattling just like yours, I think it isn't normal for the fact that my second one didn't sound like that

Yeah ok then you are probably right there's better fans out there. Though it seems like a pretty common problem so I'm guessing getting one than simply sounds like blowing smooth air one is lucky. ... Maybe you were so annoyed by the other problems on your second one that you didn't notice? How loud is your can you hear it when sitting a meter away?

 

[edry.hilario]

Yeah ok then you are probably right there's better fans out there. Though it seems like a pretty common problem so I'm guessing getting one than simply sounds like blowing smooth air one is lucky. ... Maybe you were so annoyed by the other problems on your second one that you didn't notice? How loud is your can you hear it when sitting a meter away?

In a very very quiet room is somewhat noticeable. I feel like you can hear it more since you know it's there you know as far as the second one I'm 100% sure it didn't have that however it did have other issues. What I think I'm going to do is have the fan replace once they actually start doing repairs because right now they aren't doing any repairs if there is something wrong they shipp you a new iMac and what are the chances that the new replacement won't have any other issues it sucks

 

[Nismo73]

What I was wondering is if they put the new fan design like in the rMBP in the new iMac. I was looking at the pics of the iMac teardown, but the fan looked like a regular fan design.

 

[Mac32]

Sounds like an unbalanced fan. Bad build quality in other words...

 

[iMcLovin]

In a very very quiet room is somewhat noticeable. I feel like you can hear it more since you know it's there you know as far as the second one I'm 100% sure it didn't have that however it did have other issues. What I think I'm going to do is have the fan replace once they actually start doing repairs because right now they aren't doing any repairs if there is something wrong they shipp you a new iMac and what are the chances that the new replacement won't have any other issues it sucks

Good idea let me know how that goes.. Maybe ill do the same some day. Sadly I don't live in the us so I have no idea how long repairs take. But I have apple care so they should give good and fast support.

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Sounds like an unbalanced fan. Bad build quality in other words...

Yeah it's rather disappointing that such a high amount of iMacs have an uneven fan sound. Would it really cost apple that much to use the retina mbp fan(?) it would be more suitable in an iMac since that's a desktop and stays inside a quiet environment.