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Strange iMac 27'' Noise

VeeGee90

VeeGee90

macrumors member
Original poster
Jul 17, 2010
32
0
Groningen, Netherlands
Hi all,

About a week ago i purchased an iMac 27' top model. Now recently I'm hearing a strange noise coming from inside of the iMac. It sounds a bit like a ratteling hard drive, like it's contant busy, but I know it's not the HDD, because that noise is a bit darker than the sound I'm hearing. I hear it constantly, and I'm sure it's not an external drive or one of the fans. Using SMDfancontrol I set every fan to max, 1 fan at a time and the noise didn't became any louder.

Can anyone explain to me what this noise may be? I prefer not sending it back to Apple because the screen is just perfect.

EDIT: I just turned my mac into sleep, and then the noise slowly dissapears. It sounds like something is turning off, and spinning down (much like a fan).
 
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_0_1 like Mac OS X; nl-nl) AppleWebKit/532.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0.5 Mobile/8A306 Safari/6531.22.7)

In fact it is very hard to record. I havent heard of the psu issue, do you have any information regarding that problem?
If I take it in for service I Will be without iMac for about two weeks, and I cant
 
As ridiculous as this sounds make sure your kettle lead is plugged in properly that can cause a buzzing sound if it isn't.
 
I had a tiny piece of debris stuck in the fan once that made very disturbing sound, unfortunately probably the only way to find out whats wrong is to open it up. Time to schedule an appointment at the Apple Store if live near one.
 
Spyriadon said:
As ridiculous as this sounds make sure your kettle lead is plugged in properly that can cause a buzzing sound if it isn't.
Click to expand...

Sorry I do not know what a kettle lead is? Is it the power cord? I think it's more of a ratteling sound more than a buzzing sound. Actually it's only noticeable when in a quiet room, sitting in front of the iMac. Are iMacs supposed to be completely silent (except for the HDD ofcourse)?
 
Most likely it is your hard drive, Is it making noise like stomach growling or like popcorns in microwave (but less intense). I can't believe Apple is sending defective products to its customers......I just returned mine to Apple...but what a hassel...I am without computer now for couple of week atleast :mad:

My advise is simply return it......since you have paid a big amount for you iMac....you have every right to get a perfect machine.....not a faulty machine.....Shame on Apple for producing these defective machines and sending these to customers to live with these.
 
penduboy said:
Most likely it is your hard drive, Is it making noise like stomach growling or like popcorns in microwave (but less intense). I can't believe Apple is sending defective products to its customers......I just returned mine to Apple...but what a hassel...I am without computer now for couple of week atleast :mad:

My advise is simply return it......since you have paid a big amount for you iMac....you have every right to get a perfect machine.....not a faulty machine.....Shame on Apple for producing these defective machines and sending these to customers to live with these.
Click to expand...

Yeah, God forbid given the millions of computers that Apple sell, they should send out a bad one. Not every component in every computer from Apple, or any other company for that matter, is going to be perfect.

Fortunately, Apple's customer service is great - take/send it back - they'll more than likely replace it.
 
It is not only and OP....there are tons of people on this forum who have issues with their brand new product from apple. This forum, apple support forum and other forums on internet are full of comments about yellow screen, hard drive issues etc etc.....which is kind a surprise me to expect these problems from a company like Apple.
 
penduboy said:
It is not only and OP....there are tons of people on this forum who have issues with their brand new product from apple. This forum, apple support forum and other forums on internet are full of comments about yellow screen, hard drive issues etc etc.....which is kind a surprise me to expect these problems from a company like Apple.
Click to expand...

why is that surprising :confused:
ever since apple moved production to china it got worse
quality control seems to be non existant , there had been no effords to solve the yellow tint problem since 2009 , but it keeps the price low .
Still there are computer manufacturers out there with a worse record in terms of quality and user satisfaction , most ignore now their yellow tint and other issues as its such a gorgeous computer
and apple takes happily your iMac back and sends you a new one if you cant live with a little problem
 
dwarnecke11 said:
Is this what you hear?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jXyH1XGFFck

I have the same issue when my iMac is warm and at low brightness. Unfortunately, its seemingly rather common and can be found in varying severity. My case is minor so I'm not bothering having it looked at.
Click to expand...

It is actually more similar to this sound: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=heODaDzleJ0&feature=related.

I do belive mine is less loud, but then ofcourse in the video they have a large mic in front of it. It is only hearable when sitting right in front of the iMac and I belive it comes from the bottom left corner.

I don't know of it can do any harm, but I prefer not to repair/send it back.
 
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