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So how silent is the M2 Pro Mac Mini?
- Thread starter Freida
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is there any buzz or whine from the machine like the previous posts have claimed?
A guy I went to college with worked on one of the first Macs (maybe the first one). He was very proud of the work they did to make it need no fan, and showed me how they designed the case so that the warm air flowed up and out. Apple paid attention to that at the beginning. Wish they would care about it more now.
The fan of my Mac mini M2 Pro, which has since been returned to Apple, had an irregular slightly rattling sound when listened closely. This kind of sound is harder to ignore from a longer distance than a constant nice breeze. After reading more comments of other Mac mini M2 Pro owners claiming that their mini is silent, I'm even more convinced that my new mini was just a bad sample.
However, returning expensive equipment is not a big hobby of me. I'll wait some time before ordering another one. I'm even considering to wait for the Mac Studio M2 announcement.
However, returning expensive equipment is not a big hobby of me. I'll wait some time before ordering another one. I'm even considering to wait for the Mac Studio M2 announcement.
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I will add my experience to this thread once mine arrives.
I have a hunch that the Mac Studio may not get the updated M2 chips. I have a feeling that Apple will miss the Mac Studio, and update the iMac and Mac Pro.
I feel like the Studio may skip the M2 chip and just get the M3 once it is released next year.
did yours have any buzz or whine like some posts have described? or did yours only have the fan anomaly? i think buzz or whine might be even more annoying if its the same for every unit.
Maybe apple should’ve made the air vents bigger at the rear to accommodate the increased heat output of the m2 pro , then again that’d hit their margins and Timmy does love those doesn’t he ?
And a bigger fan and heatsink. There is still loads of room in the chassis.
Modern processors kick out an order of magnitude more heat than 1980s microprocessors. More transistors, running at 500 times the clock speed will do that. Cooling has become a much bigger issue.
The Motorola 68000 CPU in the original Mac consumed a steady 1.3 watts. Barely needed a heatsink, let alone active cooling, heat pipes etc. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motorola_68000
The M2 Pro is more like 30W. If Apple didn’t pay attention to thermals, the magic smoke would escape.
There seem to be some rather unrealistic expectations in this thread of a computer sold for general purpose use offering M2 Pro-level performance that is so totally silent you can use it in the same room as high gain, omnidirectional microphones. With a PC you could get a custom fanless system (with a passive heatsink the size of Manhattan) but that‘s not going to be a standard box from HPDelnovo and will probably come with some compromises over CPU and GPU power, as well as a price premium. Or, there are fanless MacBook Airs that don’t have the power of the M2 Pro but (rather amazingly) are capable of audio work.
However, Apple does seem to have a QA problem that lets too many systems with noisy fans or coil whine slip through.
I did expect some fan noise from the M2 pro mini, what I'm not OK with is the coil whine that seems to plague recent Mac designs (and drives me insane).
I have yet to hear the fan in my M1 Max MBP 16-inch, I understand there's lots of empty space in the Mini enclosure given it's all soldered chips now and no moving parts (aside from the heatsink and fan), but notebooks are doing quite well when using powerful chips in tightly constrainted spaces - nothing like Intel models of yore, all my coworkers still using pre-M1 MBPs complain about the leafblower sound of their systems.
I'm not even sure the hefty heatsink design in the Mac Studio is needed for non-Ultra configurations, but that's how they designed it (tho there is that whine issue I have heard about since it's introduction).
I'm not even sure the hefty heatsink design in the Mac Studio is needed for non-Ultra configurations, but that's how they designed it (tho there is that whine issue I have heard about since it's introduction).
I think those who have the M2 Pro (in this thread) also said that the fans run at 1700 rpm at idle, so I believe so. I've not had time to research, but I am wondering if the fan is larger in the M2 Pro - can't really tell from the video stills of each side by side as they look like the same (I have yet to watch reviews). I know the heatsink is larger on the Pro, so maybe that is throwing me off when comparing the two.
Idle. It’s not easy to let the fan of the Mac mini M2 Pro run faster than the minimum 1700 rpm, but in my case that was already too noisy.
Helping a family friend make a youtube video tonight (she wants a video that actually has some views so we are going to try a review of the Mac) . Editing will be done on the machine. Will let you know if fans kick on.
The 3d rendering I’ve done so far was a little over 20 minutes so there has been some stress put on the machine.
There are several videos on YT that shows the internal of the mini M2/M2 Pro. The heat sink AND the fan are a bit bigger on the M2 Pro. The internal design isn't the same for both minis.
I'm wondering one thing on the mini: the holes on the back, is it to let the air ENTER or EXIT the mini? I guess it's to let OUT the hot air from the processor, but then how the cool air enters the mini? There's no holes on the sides or the front or under the mini. So is there a video showing the air motion inside the mini?
Also, I don't like much that these holes are UNDER the cables and ports on the back. It would be better that the hot air flows ABOVE the ports and cable, or would it make any difference?
The air intake is the small gap between the round plastic shield on the bottom and the actual aluminum casing. I think they showed that on the Apple website back when the design was introduced with the 2010 model.
I have Mac Mini’s going back over a decade and they suck air in subtly underneath. The square shape sits on a rubber circle below. A small gap of air around it where it meets the metal. Haven’t checked my M2 Pro mini specifically but I’d be surprised if it’s any different to my 2011 Mac Mini server. It’s the same case.
Interesting.
According to this, silent.
sixcolors.com
According to this, silent.
M2 Mac mini Review: Whatever you want it to be – Six Colors
Six Colors by Jason Snell, Dan Moren and friends
sixcolors.com
...always wondered what genius thought that was a good idea to change from the pulsing LED.
Costco appears selling M2 Pro. You'll have 90 days to test it out. 😄
www.costco.com
Mac mini desktop computer - Apple M2 Pro chip, 10-core CPU, 16-core GPU, 16GB memory, 512GB SSD storage
Mac mini desktop computer - Apple M2 Pro chip, 10-core CPU, 16-core GPU, 16GB memory, 512GB SSD storage
My new M2 Pro is dead silent in idle and regular use.
Sleep mode: I cannot hear but can feel the not sleeping - moving fan cool breeze at the back side of the mini with my wet finger.
You can see the M2 Pro and the M1 mini fans here:
https://www.macstadium.com/blog/first-look-mac-mini-with-m2-pro
Sleep mode: I cannot hear but can feel the not sleeping - moving fan cool breeze at the back side of the mini with my wet finger.
You can see the M2 Pro and the M1 mini fans here:
https://www.macstadium.com/blog/first-look-mac-mini-with-m2-pro
How is it possible that the fan continues to spin even when the Mac sleeps?