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Ok to place the Mac Studio on its side permanently?

From a heat exchange point of view, (when the unit is placed bottom down as usual) cool air is pulled in through the bottom by the blower fans at the top then exhausted out the top back. This is ideal.

Heat naturally rises, so having the fans sucking air at the top of the case is the best design from an airflow perspective.

If the airflow is fast enough, it won’t matter what orientation the computer is in, but if natural convection (rising heat) was part of the cooling design, then running the computer while on its side would be less than ideal.

Mac Minis are crammed into server racks on their side with no issues, so I’d be surprised if the same couldn’t be done with the Mac Studio

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I'd try it both ways, and run a "workload test". Note the fan speed in both orientations, and if you have an IR thermometer, maybe check the case in a few spots.
If it ran at all warmer on its side, I'd abandon that, but that's me.
 
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BotchQue said:
I'd try it both ways, and run a "workload test". Note the fan speed in both orientations, and if you have an IR thermometer, maybe check the case in a few spots.
If it ran at all warmer on its side, I'd abandon that, but that's me.
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Tried this, and no difference. Thanks everyone for your feedback!
 
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illitrate23 said:
The footprint is almost half on it's side than it is on the base.
9.5 cm (H) × 19.7 cm (W) × 19.7 cm (D)
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Exactly for this reason. I have a tight spot where the studio fits in perfectly, sideways. Unfortunately, due to the noise the Studio makes I have returned it and bought a mini.
 
macca24 said:
The footprint is not that much different on its side.
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Ah, but have you ever noticed, even an 8-foot extension cord ends up being 4" too short? 😀
I'm going to name this phenomenon "Botch's Law" (and as a former part-time musician, I have 4+ decades of hard proof).
 
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