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Mac Studio (M1, M2), Noise: Let Us Summarize

B

balnazzar

macrumors member
Original poster
Jul 4, 2023
53
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Hi Folks, I was on the verge of ordering a new M2 mini kinda 'maxed' out (24Gb/1Tb) for 1450 (all prices in euros). Now, some other options have emerged.
A base Studio (M1) for 1800 (very good price for a studio, since in EU we have VAT).
A base Studio (M2) for 2000.

I'm leaning toward the base M1 Studio, since for just 350 bucks more w.r.t. the mini it will give me a more capable processor, 32gb, and many many more ports.

But I'm very sensitive to noise, and the legend has it that the M1 mac studio is quite noisy even at idle.

Here is what I'd like to know from owners of the Studio:
- Has the noise situation improved with OS's updates?
- If not, is there any workaround (like 3rd party apps) to make the computer more silent?
- Is the M2 Studio a real progress, wrt the M1, about noise-related issues?

Thanks!
 
1) The noise hasn't changed with software updates
2) You can use fan control software to reduce the fan on the M1. That won't make any difference if you receive a model that makes the whine that some people are reporting. Note, that no matter what some people insist, the whine isn't consistent across all M1 models. Polls here and elsewhere suggest that the majority don't make that whine. However, some posters in here will accuse anyone who says their Studio doesn't whine of being deaf or telling lies.
3) The jury is out. It's quieter due to having a slower default fan but the same argument is happening about whether it whines or not. Some say it does, some say it doesn't.

My M1 Ultra has a very slightly audible fan rumble, I originally had it on my desk and could just about hear the fan. I now have it mounted under my desk and I can no longer hear it. It's effectively silent. It doesn't have any whine.

Prediction.
This thread will go the same way every other thread about the Mac Studio noise. Some people will accept that some models whine and others don't. Then others will insist that every M1 Mac Studio whines, despite the insistence from those of us with Studios that don't whine.

You're never going to get a definitive answer.
 
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balnazzar said:
- Has the noise situation improved with OS's updates?
- If not, is there any workaround (like 3rd party apps) to make the computer more silent?
- Is the M2 Studio a real progress, wrt the M1, about noise-related issues?
Click to expand...
No.
Kind of, covering about half the holes in the back helps.
It's real progress. My M2 Mini Pro is definitely faster than my old M1 Max Studio. (and I can't hear it)
 
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Feek said:
You're never going to get a definitive answer.
Click to expand...
Great.

Do we know if that whine is electromagnetically induced acoustic noise or something else? That is, is it coil whine, is it due to the fan's motor or blades, or something else altogether (I could think about air going through the vents, etc..)?

The fact is that hearing is very different among people. My brother doesn't hear the squeaking noise the plastics in my car make (driving me mad), and yet he's younger than me.

If all of them Studios have the whine, and some people just don't hear it, you can bet I will.
 
bobcomer said:
Kind of, covering about half the holes in the back helps.
Click to expand...
I was thinking about less drastic solutions.

bobcomer said:
It's real progress. My M2 Mini Pro is definitely faster than my old M1 Max Studio. (and I can't hear it)
Click to expand...
Mh.. You'll find a lot of videos on YTB where people compare the M2 Pro Mini with the Studio (generally M2, not M1), and they say that the Studio is much quieter. That's why I originally selected the standard M2 mini.
I'm sure your M2 Pro is quiet... Still, it's a bit frustrating that you ask 1000 people about quietness of various macs and they tell you 1000 different things.
 
balnazzar said:
Hi Folks, I was on the verge of ordering a new M2 mini kinda 'maxed' out (24Gb/1Tb) for 1450 (all prices in euros). Now, some other options have emerged.
A base Studio (M1) for 1800 (very good price for a studio, since in EU we have VAT).
A base Studio (M2) for 2000.

I'm leaning toward the base M1 Studio, since for just 350 bucks more w.r.t. the mini it will give me a more capable processor, 32gb, and many many more ports.

But I'm very sensitive to noise, and the legend has it that the M1 mac studio is quite noisy even at idle.

Here is what I'd like to know from owners of the Studio:
- Has the noise situation improved with OS's updates?
- If not, is there any workaround (like 3rd party apps) to make the computer more silent?
- Is the M2 Studio a real progress, wrt the M1, about noise-related issues?

Thanks!
Click to expand...
I am also sensitive to noise and my M1 base Studio was a bit too loud for my tastes (aka I could hear it in a near silent room). And it took up too much space on my small desk. So, I got an under-desk mount which freed up desk space. I have it mounted in the right rear of my desk so the cable runs are short and do not have to see any cables. And, as a side benefit this made the Studio nearly silent. The only time I can hear it is when I stick my head under the desk.
 
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balnazzar said:
I was thinking about less drastic solutions.
Click to expand...
That's pretty drastic, covering half the venting. I wouldn't, and didn't do it, even though I had a whiner.

balnazzar said:
Mh.. You'll find a lot of videos on YTB where people compare the M2 Pro Mini with the Studio (generally M2, not M1), and they say that the Studio is much quieter.
Click to expand...
It may be (the M2 Studio), but if you can't hear the mini... I chose to go with the mini rather than getting an M2 Studio. I didn't want to chance the whine again, and the only thing I really miss on the Mini Pro is I can only have 32GB of RAM. I don't really need GPU cores.

I definitely heard both the normal fan noise, and the whine, from my M1 Studio. I know they have the fan curve set different, but it looks like it's still the same hardware.

balnazzar said:
I'm sure your M2 Pro is quiet... Still, it's a bit frustrating that you ask 1000 people about quietness of various macs and they tell you 1000 different things.
Click to expand...
People have very different levels of hearing, so without a spectrum analysis, it's all opinion, even mine. Well, I have 42Hz background noise in my computer room, and I heard the fans on the M1 Studio and the whine. (barely, but it was enough). I don't hear the Mini, but my background noise is high. That makes every difference in the world.

To answer your other question about the whine -- it doesn't sound like coil whine to me, but more of a whistle. As for proof of what it is, I have seen no proof posted by anyone, it's all opinions too. I wash I had had a way to figure it out, but I never had the right equipment to do it, and I wasn't going to void my warantee to do it anyway. I had planned on trading it in about 3 months after I bought it and it took more than a year before Apple took tradeins.

I think most studios don't have the whine, especially the M2's, so it might be worth a chance if you haven't had the whine in your ears for a long time like I have.
 
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My GF has an M1 Max for a year now, i work with my MP 2019, we are in the same room, i have yet to hear her M1 Max Mac Studio fans one single time, my MP sometimes screams like hell.

An nope, no whine in her M1 Max.

Now im on the verge to order my first AS Mac, will probably be the M2 Max MS, but coming from my GF's M1 Max MS which sits right next to me, i will expect dead silent.
 
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Feek said:
The really important part of my post was that most of them don’t have any kind of whine but you glossed straight over it.
Click to expand...
That's because I'm not willing to take the risk.
I'm not much in the mood of embarking myself into the usual sore trip of ordering, waiting, getting it, testing, swearing if it has the whine, returning, waiting for for the refund, reordering, and going through the cycle once more.
 
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balnazzar said:
Still, it's a bit frustrating that you ask 1000 people about quietness of various macs and they tell you 1000 different things.
Click to expand...
Bottom line is each one built seems to be different. So in 1000 units you will find 1000 different sounds. Most, by far, not noticeable on the desk top. Mine, for example, sits right in front of me and is dead silent. The work around that seems to work for just about everyone is to mount it under the desk. You will not be guaranteed that the one you get will be silent. But Apple will exchange or refund for that problem.

The difference in performance depends on use case and work flow. For surfing the web and writing/publishing they are both the same. If you are using TOPAZ or run stabilization effects in FCP, there is a noticeable difference between the mini and studio.
 
I had an M1 Max Studio with the whine, and I just got an M2 Max Studio that fortunately has no whine. I agree with @bobcomer that it's probably better characterized as a whistle.

If we were to collect the consensus info (not everyone, but probably most with experience with it agree) on this issue, I think it's this:

  1. Some (but not all and not most) Mac Studios make a whistle/whine sound that is somewhere around 2.2-2.6 KHz. It doesn't help that this is in a peak human sensitivity range because of speech.
  2. Most (but not all) reports indicate that it started immediately and was always present.
  3. There is no obvious difference between Max and Ultra in terms of the issue manifesting or not.
  4. The way it varies with fan speed, doesn't vary with load, and the success of muting it by covering air holes all suggest that it is airflow related (i.e. not coil whine).
  5. The only obvious change from Apple in the M2 models was to reduce the fan speed to 1000 RPM (previously default ~1330; previously limited to 1100+).
  6. The frequency of reports seems much lower on the M2s. We don't really have enough data to know if that's because fewer people are going to get this to spin the fans faster (i.e. it may be there at the same rate as before, but they are less likely to encounter it), the rate of incidence has gone down from other changes we don't know about (i.e. the numerator is lower), or the number of units sold is smaller (i.e. the denominator is smaller).
(If I missed anything important, let me know.)

If I were you, and it checked the boxes of what I was after, I'd order one and try it. There's a return policy for a reason: return policies increase sales by reducing a buyer's risk of not liking/wanting the product. In 20 years, I have only returned one Mac, which was the M1 Max Mac Studio. After that experience, the only reason I tried again (after reading everything here) was the ability to return it if necessary.

I was excited about the first one, because it seemed like a great fit Mac for all the stuff I do. That hasn't changed, and I'm really happy that this M2 Max Mac Studio was quiet when I pressed the power button.
 
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ColdCase said:
If you are using TOPAZ or run stabilization effects in FCP, there is a noticeable difference between the mini and studio.
Click to expand...
That is? I mean which one will be more silent? I'm asking because as usual I'm a bit confused by the reviews. Some say that the mini will throttle rather than ramping up the fan. Others say that the mini will get loud, while the Studio remains silent (or almost) even under severe load...
 
jtkiley said:
  1. There is no obvious difference between Max and Ultra in terms of the issue manifesting or not.
Click to expand...
Actually, I would suggest that anecdotally, from posts I've read on here since the Studio came out that the M1 Max seems more likely to suffer from the whine than the Ultra does.
 
jtkiley said:
somewhere around 2.2-2.6 KHz. It doesn't help that this is in a peak human sensitivity range because of speech.
Click to expand...
Indeed. Feminine speech, I'd dare to say, with a hysteric slant.

jtkiley said:
Most (but not all) reports indicate that it started immediately and was always present.
Click to expand...
That 'but not all' is worrying, for obvious reasons (return, etc)

jtkiley said:
and the success of muting it by covering air holes all suggest that it is airflow related
Click to expand...
...or resonance related, maybe? (I'm just guessing here)

jtkiley said:
There is no obvious difference between Max and Ultra in terms of the issue manifesting or not.
Click to expand...
although reviewers, at least for the M1 models, said that the Ultra was on the average more silent. Maybe they were making reference to ordinary fan noise under load, not the 'whine'?

jtkiley said:
We don't really have enough data to know if that's because fewer people are going to get this to spin the fans faster
Click to expand...
One could force the M2's fan to idle at 1300 rpm. We would then know if the issue was related to the fan *motor* (supposing taht both the M1 and the M2 adopt the same fan). Now that I think about it, fans are something that can vary even within the same product line. It happens often with windows laptops. It could be conjectured that some Studio do have a certain fan, whose motor doesn't whine or whose blades hit the air in a gentler manner. Others could have a fan from other manufacturers. Different motor, different blade geometry; same rpms, different sound output profile.
 
Feek said:
Actually, I would suggest that anecdotally, from posts I've read on here since the Studio came out that the M1 Max seems more likely to suffer from the whine than the Ultra does.
Click to expand...
See my comment (above) about that.
 
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