QuietMac.app - Finding the quietest mac

[AdamSeen]

I put together https://quietmac.netlify.app/ as a useful resource for people looking to buy a mac who are concerned about noise. It's a little weekend project that I might have a few more days to spend on it soon. Looking for some feedback from you guys. e.g. Does 27dB mean anything to you? Would noise levels affect your purchase decision? Do you care about the Laptop data?

It all came about because I bought the 2019 Mac Pro, but it was too loud for my quiet office and I had to send it back. Knowing the dB levels helped me chose the right mac for me, which was the iMac Pro in the end.

EDIT: 2021. There's not much value in maintaining this, as the Apple Silicon desktop macs should run much cooler than Intel and therefore be quieter. But I'll leave the site up for legacy reasons.

 

[_Skyfire_]

Nice little resource Hmm I assume the DB levels are accurate, where did you pull all the data?

It's curious how good the 16" MBP looks. I'm still on the fence about buying a used 16", but this certainly added to the plus column. There's been some noise about heat/fan issues, however I assume that's under considerable load.

 

[AdamSeen]

Yes, data is spot on, it’s parsed from the Apple support website.

These are only only showing results at light loads. I’ve added a section to the website that offers some suggestions if quietness is more important to you than performance (turn off turbo boost). As the 16 inch will get loud under load.

 

[ronmichael]

This is a great resource! Thanks, Adam.

Although I still struggle with the numbers that Apple reports vs. what people see in real life. For example: the numbers make it look like the iMac Pro is only slightly quieter than an iMac. Which may be true at idle or for very simple tasks. But from what I've heard from real life users, any half-way serious activity on an iMac will spin the fans and make it pretty loud. While the iMac Pro, with its more advanced cooling system, remains almost as quiet as it was at idle.

It's what I hate about my 16" MacBook pro. Just about anything I do will kick the fan on pretty high - unless I disable turbo boost.

Anyway, I'm really glad you pointed out how loud the Mac Pro is at idle. I was seriously thinking of getting one to replace this noisy 16" MacBook. Now I'm leaning more towards a (refurbished) iMac Pro.