Betamagic
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Does your mini make a constant noise or does the fan seem to rattle a bit?
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So how silent is the M2 Pro Mac Mini?
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magphotos
macrumors member
Hey everyone, I got my base spec M2 Pro Mac mini yesterday, at local Apple Store, happy to share my considerations:
I have been testing it a lot under various heavy loads regarding my usual workflow (I am a professional photographer and videographer). I am happy to write that it is VERY silent and I couldn't hear the fans at all, even under heavy workloads. Even during initial setup, Time Machine restore from another Mac, updates, various app install, I never ever heard the fan. I can say that, at least my unit, matches the M1 Mac mini in terms of silence. Maybe, the M2 Pro feels a bit warmer to the touch compared to the M1, but no so sure about this.
I have Macs Fan Control installed and the fans are always stable around 1699 - 1705 rpm most of time, with SSD temperature sensor showing stable 26-27° Celsius. With the same app I forced the fan to run at higher speed and I can begin hearing their noise at around 2200-2300 rpm. No high pitch sounds of any kind.
FYI: this summer I used a base Mac Studio for almost a week and yeah, I could hear the fans mostly always. Luckily that unit was not having any whistle problem, but I could clearly hear the fan spinning even during very modest use. I have sensitive hears and that was driving me a bit crazy. Of course, absolutely nothing compared to Intel based Macs, THOSE are loud fans 😵
I would suggest anyone of you not to cancel your orders. Give it a try and listen with your hears, then decide.
I have been testing it a lot under various heavy loads regarding my usual workflow (I am a professional photographer and videographer). I am happy to write that it is VERY silent and I couldn't hear the fans at all, even under heavy workloads. Even during initial setup, Time Machine restore from another Mac, updates, various app install, I never ever heard the fan. I can say that, at least my unit, matches the M1 Mac mini in terms of silence. Maybe, the M2 Pro feels a bit warmer to the touch compared to the M1, but no so sure about this.
I have Macs Fan Control installed and the fans are always stable around 1699 - 1705 rpm most of time, with SSD temperature sensor showing stable 26-27° Celsius. With the same app I forced the fan to run at higher speed and I can begin hearing their noise at around 2200-2300 rpm. No high pitch sounds of any kind.
FYI: this summer I used a base Mac Studio for almost a week and yeah, I could hear the fans mostly always. Luckily that unit was not having any whistle problem, but I could clearly hear the fan spinning even during very modest use. I have sensitive hears and that was driving me a bit crazy. Of course, absolutely nothing compared to Intel based Macs, THOSE are loud fans 😵
I would suggest anyone of you not to cancel your orders. Give it a try and listen with your hears, then decide.
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gusping
macrumors 68020
Thank you very much for sharing your early thoughts! Glad to see it is serving you well. Can't wait to try mine on Monday.
magphotos
macrumors member
The very basic M2 Pro, the only one you can find in stock in Apple Stores.
- CPU 10 core / GPU 16 core
- 16gb ram
- 512gb SSD
- Gigabit Ethernet
Yeah, you actually write that in your post - sorry 😊 But very nice and reassuring to hear! And by “very silent” you mean close to inaudible?
This post said the same regarding base m2 pro. The 1tb drive wouldn’t make a difference would it as that’s the only change I was considering. Getting Mac Studio vibes though where some people just notice it more than others though
magphotos
macrumors member
Definitely inaudible. But I believe it really depends and the software you are using... maybe more demanding tasks will make the fans go louder. For me it has not happened, al least not for my heavy use.
Yes, that's also me in that post 😆. I believe 1tb will not make any difference at all.
I'm going to return mine as well. Coming from a silent M1 it's too annoying for me. It's not loud per se, just not silent at the same fan speed.
Does the normal M2 have the same fan design as the M1?
What Mac with a fan doesn't become audible when under heavy CPU load? My 14" M1 MacBook Pro is silent almost all the time but if I put the CPU under heavy load, the fan will go at full blast and clearly be audible.I also found an article from a spanish reviewer and one from the german magazine DER SPIEGEL, both mentioning noise being clearly perceptable from the Mac mini M2 Pro's fan when under heavy CPU Load.
I canceled my order of an M2 Pro mini.
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This is exactly the issue. While some fans might be noisier than others, the biggest issue is how sensitive people are to certain frequencies of sound. There is considerable variability within and between people. It's not a problem with the intensity of noise, it's a frequency and resonance issue. For some people it's a distractibility issue (think ADHD but people can be affected without having ADHD). It's highly unlikely that people complaining about the noise have "faulty" computers or fans (although they exist). This doesn't mean the people are "faulty" either, it just means their brains are particularly sensitive to a certain range of auditory frequencies or certain sounds (see, for example misophonia). Add to this other factors (hearing ability, background noise, mood, etc.) and some people will end up with a negative response to the sound. An overwhelming majority of people (no, I don't have data to back that statement up but I am an expert in brains and behavior) will have no problems with the sound and many won't even be able to hear it (estimates put about 20% of people with some level of hearing loss). It might even help some people (e.g., those who have tinnitus) because fan noise can act as white/black/gray noise.
I'm sure that by no objective measure is an M2 Pro Mini "noisy". There are, however, people who will find it annoying. This is a real issue and is unfortunate. It is, however, abnormal (and if you're affected by it, that's okay -- you're just at one point on the range of human behaviors). Now, this doesn't mean Apple can or should do nothing. It's possible to modify the fans or fan curves. It's possible to make the fan easily replaceable (it is, relatively speaking: https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Mac+mini+Late+2020+Fan+Replacement/156489) with OEM or 3rd party alternatives (they exist for older Mac minis) available so people can swap one out with a different one.
Apple does a lot of cost-benefit analyses. If Mac Mini fan noise is an issue that will affect maybe 5% of people, do you "fix" the issue or just do what works for most people? That's a rhetorical question but one that is asked at some point in the design process. It's like the issue with premium headphones and speakers. X sound quality is good enough for most people. The audio quality improvements between $400 headphones and $2000 headphones is likely subtle at most because of diminishing returns. That's a decision people at Apple make -- where is the line of diminishing returns? Where and when do you stop engineering because the improvements won't benefit enough people? Maybe engineers would keep doing it forever but that's also not a way to run a successful and large business. At some point engineers have to stop and products have to get released and sold for "reasonable" prices.
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Kiro
macrumors regular
Its the "light use" that is the catch - my 2017 i7 iMac was dead silent under light use but got relatively noisy and distracting under any sort of load (which would sometimes happen when using Logic). I get the impression that the fans don't even start to turn until things warm up. My M1 Max studio., on the other hand is just about audible in a quiet room - you don't notice until it stops and never gets any louder. YMMV but, personally, I think that's the better trade off. If I wanted to use sensitive mics that needed a subterranean noise floor, I'd expect to need soundproofing kit for a host of other reasons
Just speculating, but even with fans, those Intel chips used to run fairly toasty. I think with the Studio, Apple may have decided to 'spend' some of Apple Silicon's power consumption advantage by doubling down on operating temperatures and keep the fans running to stop the chip getting hot in the first place - rather than ramping up the fans after the temperature started to rise. Lots of rapid heating/cooling cycles (and the resulting expansion/contraction) isn't good for electronics (I think that was behind the 2011 MacBook GPU fault - and was maybe one factor with the butterfly keyboard) and Apple Silicon is using quite complicated packages with fairly large dies, fancy interconnects and RAM surface-mounted on the package.
NB: not giving Apple a free pass for any 'whine' problems which clearly affect some Studios and maybe some new Minis - but that seems like a QA problem rather than a fundamental issue. Grit teeth, keep sending those whiney Macs back for replacement and maybe they'll get the message.
gusping
macrumors 68020
I am a fairly light user, so the i7 was silent for me 99.9% of the time. I agree to a certain extent, however the fan in the M2 Pro almost certainly doesn't need to run at 1700rpm when idle or under very light use, given how efficient AS is (same in the Mac Studio) I'd like to see it ramp down further. But in general I agree, as long as there is no coil whine/whistling etc. The Mac Studio was a joke of a product in terms on noise/thermals from the many Studios I used. All had issues.
Kiro
macrumors regular
Video is ready, but youtube is still processing the video (so for better quality (2160p60 HDR) you should wait a bit more).
I tested noise and temperature (FLIR cam) with cinebench on my Mac mini M2 Pro in the standard config without upgrades.
As you can see, the fan ranges from 1700rpm to 1900rpm. Noise levels stays more or less the same: non-audible.
Even with higher temps due to the multicore test.
In the end of the video, I have activated the fan with 5000rpm - very very audible (but sounds worse in the video). So far, my mac never went up to that rpm level itself. Only manually by me. Very satisfied with the results so far.
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Thx!
Here is the link:
I tested noise and temperature (FLIR cam) with cinebench on my Mac mini M2 Pro in the standard config without upgrades.
As you can see, the fan ranges from 1700rpm to 1900rpm. Noise levels stays more or less the same: non-audible.
Even with higher temps due to the multicore test.
In the end of the video, I have activated the fan with 5000rpm - very very audible (but sounds worse in the video). So far, my mac never went up to that rpm level itself. Only manually by me. Very satisfied with the results so far.
Also, please subscribe and help me grow 🙂
Thx!
Here is the link:
Thanks for the video. Is the tablet you are measuring sound an ipad? Which program did you use? If we look at it with the same program, we can get references more easily. If you shoot another video, can you keep your tape recorder close at 1700 rpm? Thus, we fully understand the sound situation at idle. If you can turn off the mac while continuing to shoot the video, we will see the db and sound change.
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Kiro
macrumors regular
Ipad Pro 12,9“ m1 2021 version.
The app is called: https://apps.apple.com/de/app/db-meter-geräuschmessung/id1136677469
There is also a lite version (I think I got it for free long time ago).
The mac is at idle in the beginning and later I started cinebench. Mostly, only the temps increase and later the fans go to 1900rpm. DB-wise, still around 21/22db.
Also, forgot to make a video about shutting down. DB was still 21db room sound.
Also, the iPhone (recorded it with it) seems to make noise itself when the sound it totally quiet (if you listen carefully, with headset) you can hear my kids playing outside 😅). Therefore, I touched the mac to have a reference noise level to show how quiet the mac really is. The noise you hear throughout the video is from the mic itself, not the mac (- hard to explain).
G
He mentions it above and in the video - base model 10 core, 16GB 512 SSD
Kiro
macrumors regular
Androzani
macrumors newbie
I also bought the standard M2 Pro (10 core 16GB 512GB), and in the 24 hours I’ve had it I can’t say I’ve noticed any sound at all. I was a bit worried after seeing this thread, especially coming from a (totally silent) MacBook Air, but the fan is not a problem at all for me. I’ve tried throwing some complex After Effects renders at it (which is mostly what I’ll be using it for) and it hasn’t broken a sweat so far. I can just about hear a hum if I stick my ear right next to the rear vent, but that’s about it. I’m not sure if it’s just different sensitivities or faulty models, but the fan is a non-issue for me, so for anyone worried about this, I’d say just go for the M2 Pro – it’s a great machine. You can always return if needs be.
If anyone has any particular benchmarks or example tasks that would really tax the machine I could give them a go if you want? I have an Apple Watch so could measure the noise levels on that. But like I say, it’s been dead quiet so far.
If anyone has any particular benchmarks or example tasks that would really tax the machine I could give them a go if you want? I have an Apple Watch so could measure the noise levels on that. But like I say, it’s been dead quiet so far.
pappl
macrumors regular
Video shows very high PSU temps at over 85C. Might be the reason why fans are always enabled, even when idle.
Same with Mac Studio.
Same with Mac Studio.
I noticed it too and perhaps Apple would have done well to do as with the iMac M1, put the external power supply. It would not have been a drama given the small space of the Mac mini, much less than an iMac. This would certainly have ensured lower temperatures, however.
Kiro
macrumors regular
Yeah, I‘m kind of confused about the temperature readings of the fan control app. The FLIR cam shows the heat spots in the middle of the case - where the cpu sits. The psu is at the side of the case. Will investigate further and make a nearer FLIR view from above.
It there a more demanding benchmark than cinebench?