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

Occasional 'bleep' noises

D

daanodinot

macrumors 6502
Original poster
I experience occasional bleep-like noises with my iMac. I have a 2015 4K iMac with 2TB Fusion Drive, so I was thinking that it might be the HDD. What do you think?

Here's a recording. (It's greatly amplified, so ignore the loud background noise.)
 
Last edited:
It shows passed for both SSD and HDD, so yay! It's hard to describe (and record with an iPhone), but it definitely feels like a higher-pitched noise, and different from the constant HDD whirring.
 
Actually, I could hear the bleep -- sounded like a scratchy metallic sound that started at the highest peak about midway through the Soundcloud recording. No idea what might cause that.
 
I've updated the recording, and it's much clearer now. (Recorded with the iMac itself, instead of my iPhone. Duh!)

I hope you can figure out what it is.
 
It happens quite irregularly; on average every few minutes or so. The noises don't seem to relate to what I'm doing, although I hardly do anything intensive.
 
Last edited:
Sounds like a cricket in there. Not a familiar computer sound for me, either.

Even though you passed the SMART test it could still be the HD.

Another possibility is a fan bearing. I wonder if a fan-monitoring or controlling utility could help diagnose. You could set the fan speed to a lower setting (temporarily...just for testing) to see if the noise happens.
 
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