Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

How bad is the fan noise?

K

Killbom

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Feb 28, 2011
14
0
Hi!

I'm thinking about buying my first Mac, and i'm looking at the high-end 15". It seems to have the performance I demand (especially the GPU, for HoN, and Diablo 3 when released)

But I'm worried about the fan noise people are talking about here!
I want the computer to be very silent while doing daily tasks like having some terminals up, playing music, using Skype, Adium and having 10 tabs open in the browser.

If i play a game I know the fans will spin up, but to which amount? Will it be like a loud desktop computer or more of just a whine?

Thanks!
 
Someone in the forum must own a 15"!

There are many threads regarding this topic but for the 13" :(
 
I don't have the née quad core model, but my 15" 2.93 core 2 is pretty loud when playing wow. It's annoying, especially if you talk on vent while gaming.
 
For my new 13" to the guy who was wondering, it doesn't get loud at all doing basic things like having 2-4 programs open working in each.
 
Blaine said:
I don't have the née quad core model, but my 15" 2.93 core 2 is pretty loud when playing wow. It's annoying, especially if you talk on vent while gaming.
Click to expand...

okay? so it's the older one? How is it during normal use?
 
I had the 15 i5 base from 2010 for a couple of days last week and ran 3 adobe product with multiple (read ALOT) of tabs open in spaces.
I turned up the fans all the way with smcfancontrol and honestly the fans "loudest" was not that bad and easy to tune out.
I have definitely heard ALOT worse from other laptops.

If you dint want a hot machine, but don't want loud fans. Get one of those lap fans. that plug in via USB.
My friend has one and it keeps her Mbp about 10 degrees cooler at all times..they aren't loud and good for laying in bed watching movies :)
 
ok well I had a 2010 15inch i7 and it was dead silent .. could never hear any fan noise.

now I have a 2011 15in 2.3i7 and it seems to idle around 30-36C but I constantly hear the fan even when I am not doing anything and it is really really getting on my nerves. It reminds of my PC days when I was overclocking and all I heard was fan noise. I am thinking of bringing it back and getting a different one. My fans are at 2000rpm but I can definitely hear it. I miss my 2010
 
oh damn, that sucks. I want to have it on my desk, totally silent so I can browse and do stuff in peace.

Maybe I can listen to it at a macstore...

Currently have a (very) modded desktop but u cant get it totally silent with powerful components.

Really interested in getting such a powerful laptop tough...
 
well i am on the phone with apple currently about this issue .. just did the pram and smc reset .. still have the fan noise. I am guessing its normal .. i mean its not loud .. but you can definitely hear the fan which is annoying but its not loud .. its just a constant wooshing sound

edit

well the apple person said this are definitely louder than the previous ones but she told me to take it to the genius bar .. because other issues I have noticed is very slow wifi, the trackpad not recognizing when i click on something and also when i type..nothing shows up and then all of a sudden it does. So she said since I am still in my 14 days they can just swap it out.
 
Last edited:
I bought the 13" so i cant tell you what the 15" is like. But it is really quiet most of the time. I ran starcraft2 this morning and the fan really kicked in. Its a bit louder than i hoped but i can deal with it.

Hope it's a bit helpful
 
Someone on a german forum purchased a new 15" Macbook Pro and wrote
that it sounds like a "jet engine" during heavier tasks.
Now that got me a little worried.
 
I have the new 13" and I play WoW in a 25 man raid setting (lots of graphics). It is impossible to play. Running through the city on medium graphics by yourself gave me subpar FPS and the fans kicked all the way on. But once I got into graphics intensive combat (raiding) the latency makes it unplayable.

I'm considering either getting the 15" or dropping WoW entirely. Neither sounds ideal to me.
 
The 13" with Intel's HD3000 isnt meant for games like WoW, you'd be better off getting the 15" with a dedicated GPU or last year's Pro which has an Nvidia 320m (I think)

My Mac Mini can do WoW @ medium detail level for what it's worth.
 
I own the i7 13"MB Pro, and so far I'm really satisfied with the fan noise.
The fans are only kicking when I play recent games.

But I never hear them in "normal" circumstances.
 
-Ken- said:
Exact same computer as yours, I barely hear them.
Click to expand...

Can u play a game and report? Test HoN for example, thats what im going to play! or something similar, guess warcraft 3 cuts it!

Maybe its just a small percentage of faulty ones who make noise, and their users scream the most :p
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back