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iMac 27" Late 2015: airflow noise

I

iBatmac

macrumors member
Original poster
Some people are talking about a noise from airstream caused by the fan. Can you hear it? Is that really an issue?
 
A car makes noise when running, a faucet when running, a bag of chips when eating, a ,multi-million NASA rocket, an airplane, etc... all make noise. It's a part of the system, unless you live in an acoustic chamber, its absolutely normal.

I have a Late 2015 iMac, it purrs softly. Initially it had some ticking sounds, not now. The fans run normal, even with heavy tasks. I've only heard them get "louder" when doing intensive tasks like gaming or processing in photoshop etc... like any normal machine. I'm running an SSD with a core i7.

Its not an issue at all. I have an old 09" Laptop that's louder, a core i3 PC desktop thats louder, a core i5 Dell at work that gets louder. It's an indication that its working, had there been no noise at all, people would complain wondering why nothing is working 🙄
 
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I just hear a quiet hum when the fan speeds up. You don't notice it at all if it's making sound, like in a game
 
My iMac's fan is always running. And the airflow is always audible even at minimum speed (1200 rpm).
 
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iBatmac said:
Sorry, but if it's not defective, why change the fan?? The question is to confirm if it is common to hear the airflow at 1200 rpm in a quiet place.
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that is what is directing airflow, and if thats the noise you hear, you can always try any another fan, no need to replace the entire unit.
 
AppleNewton said:
that is what is directing airflow, and if thats the noise you hear, you can always try any another fan, no need to replace the entire unit.
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How can I try another fan?? I just bought my computer. 🙁 I only want to confirm if it is common to hear the airflow at 1200 rpm in a quiet place.
 
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it is common depending on the environment, can't say for certain. but if its not overheating or having any other issues i think its perfectly fine, imo.
 
AppleNewton said:
it is common depending on the environment, can't say for certain. but if its not overheating or having any other issues i think its perfectly fine, imo.
Click to expand...

Thanks for your help. You're very kind. I guess it must be normal. But I'm worried and I find it difficult to check. The alternative is to order a replacement ...
 
Not a problem. I've deployed a lot of Macs and most are generally the same, some are a little different off the assembly. but for the most part even with slightly more noise it could have been the hard drive, power supply, display, fan, etc.

if everything else is fine, you can always get the fan replaced versus having other issues pop up. but if you're definitely concerned it never hurts to ask apple and give it a new one a try.
 
I recently purchased a late 2015 iMac with the 1TB Fusion Drive and I also can hear the fan at 1200 though not real loud. I believe this is normal as I used to have a PC that was loader but on the floor so the fan was not as close to me.
 
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iBatmac said:
How can I try another fan?? I just bought my computer. 🙁 I only want to confirm if it is common to hear the airflow at 1200 rpm in a quiet place.
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Totally normal. We've been discussing this since the late '12 iMac came out since it's still the same design internally with the fan and shape of the iMac. In a totally quiet room, you can hear some of the fan noise, as in the the air movement being produced by a fan pushing air out the computer vent in the back. A little background noise is enough to overtake the sound you hear from the iMac. Any ticking, bad whiring sound is not normal though.
We all wondered at the time why the iMac didn't get the same MacBook Pro fan design at the time, since in the MacBook they touted about the shape of the fan and how quiet it was when they showed the 15" at wwdc in 2012. The iMac just has a regular computer fan you would use if you were putting together a pc together. So maybe in the next iMac design, they will try improve of the idle db noise you hear, or may not hear because I bet they could start to have the idle speed down to 1000rpm with the new processors which might make it inaudible even in a totally quiet room.
 
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