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How noisy is your Mac Studio?

  • Silent

    Votes: 100 37.0%
  • Noise is audible but acceptable

    Votes: 32 11.9%
  • The fans are rather loud but I can live with it

    Votes: 5 1.9%
  • I am returning the Mac Studio because it's too noisy

    Votes: 18 6.7%
  • Silent (Max)

    Votes: 57 21.1%
  • Noise is audible but acceptable (Max)

    Votes: 25 9.3%
  • The fans are rather loud but I can live with it (Max)

    Votes: 11 4.1%
  • I am returning the Mac Studio because it's too noisy (Max)

    Votes: 22 8.1%

  • Total voters
    270
If we take the 36 voters in this thread who returned their studio for being too noisy (presumably the whine) as a reliable figure, and the 607 orders from the mac-studio-pre-orders-orders-and-delivery-status-thread-all-countries-2022 as reliable, the problem is with just under 6% of machines.

Which means anyone who orders has a better than 94% chance of not hearing the problem.

However, I doubt the reliability of either figure, eg a few in this thread reported the whine in their replacement but could only vote once. OTOH not everyone who has ordered a studio necessarily saw the orders thread, or voted even if they did (from time to time someone pops up with ‘forgot to say that I ordered on…’); or they voted here but not there and so on.

That is, 607 may be an under-report compared to the 36 - one is more motivated to say one has a problem (because one has a problem) than to say one made an order - which if true makes the 6% an over-estimate.

More importantly, 6% would be a good estimate of the upper limit of the problem, but leaves us with no idea of the lower limit (except we know from this thread it’s more than zero)…

As well, the rate may not be a constant. Apple may have tried fixes that made it better/worse at different times.

Finally, one member reported the problem with their original and three replacements. If 6% is reliable, this would imply some 80,000 studios (or more) were shipped around the globe to date; double if the true rate is 3% and so on.

There are several problems I haven’t mentioned with this analysis from scant information, but I guess the ‘take home’ is that most of us won’t experience the whining issue - see paragraph 2.
The one person I know who bought the MacStudio says he can hear it all the time, but he is living with it
 
Just curious after eleven months, is your Mac Studio still silent?
Yes. Bought it (Ultra) on the day it was released. It's about as silent as can be. Have to put my ear a couple inches from the back air outlet to hear anything from the fans. No ~2.2 kHz whine. Checked with spectrum analysis and calibrated usb mic. Posted results in the past.
 
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I returned my first Mac Studio (Max) and kept the second one, which was better. It is still to loud for me, but I usually switch off the fans.
 
I've owned the Mac Studio M1 Max since August 2022. In my setup, I hear the fan noise and the whine. The situation has not deteriorated, but also not improved (not that I expected it to). It is possible to stop the whine, when you cover the left side of the back of the Mac. However, I've never made any use of this, in order to not cause any thermal issues.

As of now, I am simply living with the situation, but I am seriously considering switching to another machine as soon as the Mac Studio becomes eligible for trade-in.

For the most part, I can ignore it, but it is slowly getting on my nerves.
 
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Have yet to hear any noise from my new base model M1 Max Studio. Very pleased as someone who wouldn't mind a bit of noise. (used to roaring fans from my desktop PC/hackintosh)
 
Mine makes a little noise. If I get my ear close (< 4 inches), I can hear it. But since it is mounted under my desk, I never hear it when I am working.
 
Silent. Mac Studio Max - I have never heard the fans and the chassis is always cool to the touch. Ambient temps are around 68 degrees F
 
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I've had my Mac Studio Max since December and it makes a high pitched whistle. Partially covering some of the small hole vents on the back seems to stop it and I'd read that the sound might be due to the air passing through the holes, rather than the physical fan itself.

It seems to have become more noticeable over the last month... to the point that I've been Googling about it and keep putting my hand behind to test the amount of holes need to be covered to stop it, etc.

My Mac Studio is on my desk, sat just under and to the side of my monitor but I've heard the high pitched whistle from across the room if I don't have the TV on.

I take it there isn't a solution and there probably won't be one?
 
I've had a quick play about with Mac Fan Control and the high pitch whistle seems to start at about 1165 RPM. Below that and I can't hear it. But my fan seems to stay at about 1320 RPM when set to auto.
 
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