How loud is your Apple Studio Display?

[Silly John Fatty]

Before I bought the new Mac mini I have now, I remember I went to that thread discussing the noise levels of the Mac mini.

Well, I've had this Mini for a month now I believe, and guess what, the Studio Display I'm using is louder than the Mac mini 🙃

I think it's fans that I hear all the time. And sometimes I can feel cold air coming out at the bottom and the top of the display (very lightly).

I am absolutely not doing anything video intensive at all. I'm not doing any video stuff at all in fact. Not even watching Youtube or streaming anything, I'm just doing desktop work lol.

Does anyone else have that too?

 

[vc1212]

I am using a 2018 Mac Mini and Studio Display. The Display's fans will occasionally turn on, but I can't hear a thing. If you are hearing fans from the Mini or the Display, then I think your ears are very sensitive to sound or that you are doing some heavy work.

 

[Silly John Fatty]

I am using a 2018 Mac Mini and Studio Display. The Display's fans will occasionally turn on, but I can't hear a thing. If you are hearing fans from the Mini or the Display, then I think your ears are very sensitive to sound or that you are doing some heavy work.

I'm not doing any heave work but I would say that my ears are sensitive. Or maybe my Studio Display is abnormally loud. What's interesting is that I also hear the displays fans (or perhaps it's the processor?) when it is entirely black, when it's "turned off" and not used by the Mac.

I know Macs do things sometimes while they sleep, like cleaning themselves and repairing stuff, but I do wonder why the display is involved in this as well.

 

[JoeG4]

It sounds like your monitor is not working correctly. Unless it's incredibly hot where you live.

Gaming shouldn't change anything. What would is screen brightness, perhaps? Not owning a studio display myself, I do believe something is 100% wrong if the display's fans are making noise when the screen itself is off.

 

[Silly John Fatty]

It's 11°C right now (52°F), even though it's August (at 6 AM).

I too thought something is wrong if the fans work while the display is at sleep, but the Studio Display now has a processor (I think the one from the iPad or the iPhone) and it may be doing work in the background, just like Macs do work in the background as well.

Or, said differently, the Mac may be doing work in the background and it may additionally be using the displays processor for that. The thing could on the other hand also just be spying on me, lol.

But that's just speculation. In reality, I don't know.

Perhaps someone can observe if they are noticing this as well, then we can find out if it's a normal thing or not.

 

[vc1212]

Unfortunately the Studio Display doesn't have an "off" switch, so it is never turned off. Even when the Mac is off, the Display will still be on standby.

As far as I know, my unit's fan doesn't make any sound even when spinning, but whether it still occasionally spin when the Mac is off, I am not sure as I didn't observe.

 

[Dave 123]

It's 11°C right now (52°F), even though it's August (at 6 AM).

I too thought something is wrong if the fans work while the display is at sleep, but the Studio Display now has a processor (I think the one from the iPad or the iPhone) and it may be doing work in the background, just like Macs do work in the background as well.

Or, said differently, the Mac may be doing work in the background and it may additionally be using the displays processor for that. The thing could on the other hand also just be spying on me, lol.

But that's just speculation. In reality, I don't know.

Perhaps someone can observe if they are noticing this as well, then we can find out if it's a normal thing or not.

This is a me too post. I've a Mac Mini and a Studio Display and my symptoms are like yours. I just rebooted the display and it was quiet for a little while and then went back to being a constant quiet sound. I'm finding it increasingly annoying.

Did you find a solution?

EDIT: I just went through Apple Support and they said to lug it to an Apple Store for a tech to check it. Not sure I can be arsed, as they will likely say no fault found; suck it up, play music etc... (My opinion, not what the support lady said).

She did say: "If your device's processor is working on intensive tasks—such as compressing HD video, playing a graphics-heavy game, or indexing the hard drive with Spotlight after you migrate data—the fans run faster to provide additional airflow."
When I called ********, it's a display, she said: "There are no set or outlined set of actions that determine when the fan will spin fast or be loud".
Another interesting snippet was "That is great. With those new Macs and studio display, restarting automatically resets the SMC and the NVRAM"

I suspect it's that Apple have not had enough people complain to be bothered to adjust the algorithm to run the fans more slowly in cool conditions. My ambient is 19.4°C currently and the breeze out of the top is completely cool, not warm at all.

 

[tstafford]

This is a me too post. I've a Mac Mini and a Studio Display and my symptoms are like yours. I just rebooted the display and it was quiet for a little while and then went back to being a constant quiet sound. I'm finding it increasingly annoying.

Did you find a solution?

EDIT: I just went through Apple Support and they said to lug it to an Apple Store for a tech to check it. Not sure I can be arsed, as they will likely say no fault found; suck it up, play music etc... (My opinion, not what the support lady said).

She did say: "If your device's processor is working on intensive tasks—such as compressing HD video, playing a graphics-heavy game, or indexing the hard drive with Spotlight after you migrate data—the fans run faster to provide additional airflow."
When I called ********, it's a display, she said: "There are no set or outlined set of actions that determine when the fan will spin fast or be loud".
Another interesting snippet was "That is great. With those new Macs and studio display, restarting automatically resets the SMC and the NVRAM"

I suspect it's that Apple have not had enough people complain to be bothered to adjust the algorithm to run the fans more slowly in cool conditions. My ambient is 19.4°C currently and the breeze out of the top is completely cool, not warm at all.

I've been running two (sometimes three) ASDs for over a year in a room that is higher temp than yours and I've never once heard the fans.

I get your point about feeling like a trip to the Apple Store is a waste of time, but I think I'd try it. They will have other ASDs there and they won't be making any noise. Will be hard for them to explain why your is.

 

[jabbr]

in a quiet room I can hear constant low whirling of the fans, even a few feet away. I'm fairly sensitive to sound and I doubt most people would even pick up on this noise.

the first ASD I had developed hilariously loud coil whine buzzing... knock on wood for the 2nd go around.

 

[Dave 123]

I appreciate your replies!
I've booked my appointment to lug the monster to the Apple Store next week. I predict they will say "No fault found", or your listening to it wrong 🤣 (iPhone 4 Antennagate joke)

EDIT: I measured the case temperature — 24°C on the top aluminium, 22°C at the bottom, base of the stand 22°C.
So a little warmth there, but no need for such a fast fan surely?

 

[jabbr]

whoa, how loud are we talking here? Using a decibel meter app on my phone, my reading in a quiet room hovers around 33dB regardless of the display being powered or not. The fans seem to run at a constant RPM

 

[Dave 123]

whoa, how loud are we talking here? Using a decibel meter app on my phone, my reading in a quiet room hovers around 33dB regardless of the display being powered or not. The fans seem to run at a constant RPM

Yes, 33dB seems about the base on my AppleWatch too. It can't detect the difference between when the ASD fan is on, or off!

Yet the fan is not loud; it's just there audible and annoying. It's not a coil whine like you experienced; it's a low hum of a fan. You have to unplug the Thunderbolt cable (or power cable) to shut it up. Try that and see if you hear it stop?

 

[jabbr]

mine shuts up during sleep (most times lol) and definitely when I unplug the TB. I agree, that low hum is annoying, fortunately I tend to tune it out when I'm really focused and/or it's masked when the mini split kicks on.

in the ifixit teardown they speculate that the fans only exist to cool the crazy internal split layer PSU they designed. If they had been able to produce an external brick like they did for the 24" iMac then this thing would have been silent and much thinner.

I've found that certain software (like betterMouse) will cause the fans not to shut off during sleep. Bizarre.

 

[Dave 123]

So, stuff on the Mac (Mini) can influence the ASD fans! Hmmm... 🤔 Possibilities!

I'm thinking my trip to the Apple Store is looking more pointless as you have one with the same fan noise — it's a feature, not a bug.

 

[benwiggy]

I also have the M2 (Pro) Mini and Studio Display, and I've never heard either of them make a noise, even when running the CPUs pretty hard.

 

[xraydoc]

Loud? I have three on the same desk and they are completely silent at all times.

 

[jabbr]

The sound talked about here is a really quiet whooshing of the fans. I would imagine all ASDs make this sound.

If you hover your ear over the top-left or top-right of the housing with the display on, then you will hear this same sound (just louder than at working distance)

 

[benwiggy]

The sound talked about here is a really quiet whooshing of the fans. I would imagine all ASDs make this sound.

If you hover your ear over the top-left or top-right of the housing with the display on, then you will hear this same sound (just louder than at working distance)

I've got a decibel metre app on my iPhone, and if I put the phone right above the display, the reading is identical to 4 metres away, or even in another room with no Macs. I'm currently getting 29 dB.

I don't think you should assume that all ASDs make this sound.

 

[jabbr]

I've got a decibel metre app on my iPhone,

if you float the phone microphone (likely near the phone charging port) right over the left or right air outtake and you get NO change in reading then that means your fans are not running. You should be able to feel a light flow of air as well.

 

[benwiggy]

then that means your fans are not running. You should be able to feel a light flow of air as well.

Yes, no fans running; no light flow of air.

 

[romanof]

I can barely feel the air coming out of the left/right top and with an ear pressed to the vent I can imagine I hear air being moved, but it may just be that - imagination. That being said, my desktop rig is in a very cool basement room so my setup is not necessarily summer-typical.

Also, in fact, I didn't even realize the Studio had fans until this blog.

 

[benwiggy]

I wonder -- have the displays reporting noise been updated to the latest firmware/OS version, or not?

 

[MasterHowl]

I can feel a slight (and I mean slight) breeze coming from the top of my Studio Display, but I haven’t heard it once (not even slightly) in the 12 months I’ve had it.

 

[Royksöpp]

I'm going on almost 2 years with mine and I've never heard the fans, buzzing, or coil wine.

 

[Royksöpp]

I can barely feel the air coming out of the left/right top and with an ear pressed to the vent I can imagine I hear air being moved, but it may just be that - imagination. That being said, my desktop rig is in a very cool basement room so my setup is not necessarily summer-typical.

Also, in fact, I didn't even realize the Studio had fans until this blog.

How could you miss these big boys? Surely you must have seen a teardown somewhere.