My sales contract when I bought my truck last year was a triplicate document fed through a dot matrix printer. They’re still around!Or the clicity clack of good 'ol impact printers...if they still exist.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
First review about sound... fan noise
- Thread starter Cape Dave
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Dot matrix printers are still around specifically for this purpose. However, they should move on instead of requiring triplicate forms signed once. Even banks now just print multiple copies on a laser printer, and have you sign them all, cuz well... it's way cheaper.
Like in the past, the M4 Max chip in MBPs and in Studios will be far more powerful, including available 2X RAM, 2X memory bandwidth, more cores, etc. Just look at how much larger the M4 Max is physically, and look at performance testing. I agree that the M4 Pro is going to satisfy a lot of needs, but when/if M4 Studio is released my guess is that most users that could save a few bucks with high-spec Mac mini Pros will decide that the extra breathing space of Studios' much more competent Max chip is preferable.
Just got the Mac mini M4 Pro base model. Do not worry about fan noise re music production. You literally have to put your ear to it which you can just about hear. Installed Pro Tools and Cubase. Pro Tools my main DAW. This thing is silent. Loaded up a couple demo sessions, scary biscuits. Didn't blink when looking at the System Usage in Tools. Installed a few apps. Will try a lot of VSTs and plugins later. Some of them can be demanding but it will be fine. I've had an M1 Ultra last year, and I twas clearly audible with a coil whine. This is a different beast. I also had a Mac Mini M2 Pro last month which I would still have only for the fact the wifi constantly dropped so got a refund with Apple. I was very happy with the M2 Pro tbh, beast of a machine which would have lasted me years. I pretty stunned at this thing when I compare it to my older Mac Pro size, power etc. The button on the base is a bit special but wouldn't loose sleep. My advice is buy it if you need it. I thinks they are taking the michael with 256 tbh, M4 with a minimum of 512. These are gonna sell like hotcakes. How long will it last, now that is the question. I will take AppleCare in the next couple of weeks regardless. Overall they have cracked it. Heat was my main concern and being slightly elevated also helps that air flow.
Good to hear, I’m planning on getting the 512/16 M4 for use with Ableton and Logic. They run ok on my current M1 Mini (also 512/16), but chug a bit with a couple of particular vst’s.
That’s good to know.
Thanks for documenting it.
I’m really on the fence to go all in on a M4 Max or M4 Pro MBP after all.
Thanks for your input!
Not sure if it’s because I had already seen this post, but I can detect the fan noise from the new mini. I am not going to do much video/audio/photo editing so I’m not concerned but it is definitely louder than the mac mini m1 it replaced.
Do you mean it's louder at idle or when it spins up? I run my M1 mini at over 50% CPU/GPU load and I've maybe heard it once or twice in 3 years of ownership.
So...there's variation. It may be due to Pro vs base, or just the usual other things that can effect this.
At least one person is happy
At least one person is happy
I only set it up about two hours ago. It will be busy syncing with iCloud/onedrive etc but Im not working it hard yet. It is warm to the touch and I can just detect the fan noise. Its not loud.
Sure, but i figured if you were looking to work with music production in terms of mixing, etc. you'd be using headphones to isolate yourself and properly get the panning/etc. sorted.
They need to make it Camouflage so the sound will disappear.
get rid of the grey/silver color. Dbrand for that I guess.
get rid of the grey/silver color. Dbrand for that I guess.
Most engineers I know don’t mix or master with headphones
Maybe to check certain things but it’s usually done with monitors
I’m not an engineer myself but when i do my own mixing i personally find headphones super fatiguing
Headphones induce fatigue, stress on your neck and don’t really translate well your audio.
It’s handy when pinpointing frequencies, repairing audio or just recording into a mic.
But mixing and mastering shouldn’t be done on headphones only. Maybe to check things at some point. But it’s a big no-no.
And it appears that the new mini ain’t gonna cut it for me.
Still gonna wait to hear it. But dammit, Apple.
We needed quiet, not tinier!
Yeah that. The old HD25 head crushers are particularly nasty. Had a pair of them on my head for way too much of my life.
If it is warm and there is audible fan noise from syncing up with your cloud accounts, I'm getting a little concerned.
A bit off topic, but I wanted to ask. Will the M4 Pro base model have enough memory to work with Pro Tools and Cubase? I want to buy one to work with Logic Pro X and I doubt if 24 GB will be enough?
A tangent but your comment triggered something I've been wanting to ask and had resisted the temptation till you brough up color/patterning. There are 'skins' (I guess you could call them) for MacBooks bringing beautiful colors, patterns and photos to Apple notebooks (I'd got sort of a blue marble scheme one on my old 2017 12" MacBook; pretty snazzy). Do they make such a thing for Mac Minis?
I know Mac Minis aren't hauled around in public view as much, but would be neat to see.
Teardown — I believe of the m4:
Anybody find an m4pro tear down? Able to confirm if the fan module is the same? (That might resolve some Qs around distinctions between the two and potential noise)
Anybody find an m4pro tear down? Able to confirm if the fan module is the same? (That might resolve some Qs around distinctions between the two and potential noise)
The only difference is the heatsink; copper on the pro, aluminium on the base M4.
Interestingly, it appear that the fan is larger than that of the old Mac mini design.
The heat pipe on the Pro is made of copper vs aluminum on the non-Pro. The shape is identical though. The heatsink on the Pro is larger to accommodate the larger SoC package.
I think then there can’t be a scenario where the pro would have a quieter floor than the regular m4. The power draw range would be more on the pro. You can make the argument that it can process a task faster and so it would sit idle in that delta longer, but a complicated task being processed should draw more heat. I don’t see how the fan could be quieter on the pro in such cases. Still awaiting side-by-side
Heat dissipation from Copper is almost 2x of aluminium so actually I think it is possible.
Good point re: copper. I think the Q is at what range when the cpu reaches what threshold the fan kicks on. The difference in aluminum vs copper may result in times to turning on with regular or intermittent use being similar. I think under continued stress the pro would still reach a higher max temp with heat poured into copper at a greater rate before the fan ramps up — unless ambient cooling is fantastic with the heat spreader’s fins/grills. Maybe we just need to resolve the issue of the m4pro being able to disable the high performance mode which others seem to be the loudest fan noise major reviewers are likely taking issue with.