So i been following this thread for months. finally bit the bullet and got the Base model M1 Max studio this week. have been using it for two days. The whistle is there just like all these videos. But i only can hear it at like 1 AM in my apartment with no noise from neighbors, no noise on street, and all LED lights in my room (that have slight coil whine). im talking like 15-20db ambient room noise which is really quiet and a very NICHE situation since at that time of the night i am wearing headphones anyway and cant hear the whistle. Like it would only bother me if i held my breath, didnt move, NO NOISE outside which is rare, and i just sat and listened to it. otherwise it disappears among other things. I am a professional audio engineer and have super sensitive hearing and i definitely hear it. but again its only in the most quiet setting in my room which is almost never the case. in normal use i dont hear anything because my ambient sound level in my room is usually 30-50db and im not sitting just listening to the whistle. and thats with not playing any music from speakers during work. so during actual work i dont hear anything. im really glad its not louder than it is.
on a side note i experimented with MacsFanControl app and choosing different fan speeds. i went down to the minimum 1100 RPM which lowered the tonal whistle but still left a super high frequency ringing (again, all of this is really low comparatively to ambient levels).
but then i typed in a random number, 1121 rpm. And the whistle was completely gone even after a restart and going back to 1121. even putting my ear next to the vents.I dont know if i got lucky or its just my machine but 1121 removed all whistling for me. ill try again tonight when its quiet again.
so far im happy that in normal use it's not loud enough to bother me.
for reference my head is like 1 meter from the middle of the mac studio