Vague humming sound from 24" iMac. Brightness related..

[Thrash911]

Hellow..

Just got my new 24" iMac a few days ago. It's big (no, really??), and I'm really loving working with it. So far, I'm not missing Windows.

A tiny issue here.. The machine emits this humming sound (yes, humming is the best description), which can be heard clearly if you are allergic to noise (and if the room is completely quiet). Though it is NOT loud. I preferred to have the brightness of the screen down to about 25%. If I set the brightness to the highest position, the humming sound is ALMOST gone. Set the brightness to the lowest, the sound is very clear. At about 25% where I prefer it, the sound is also clear.

I already guessed that it's a "normal" sound from the machine, since it's very vague, but.. Anyone recognize this "issue"..?

 

[sweet160]

i read about it on apples discussion board about this also, you might wanne have a look there

 

[page3]

Got my 24" iMac yesterday. It too buzzes when not set to full brightness - a real shame as its so bright I think I'm getting a face tan.

However, compared to my PowerMac G4 wind turbine which it is replacing, I'm hardly going to complain.

 

[Allotriophagy]

I get it too, but keep the brightness up anyway.

If it turns out to be an actual problematic issue, I will deal with it through Applecare. For now, I am not in the mood for stomping down to the Applestore and joining the huge queues of people screaming about how their MacBook was scratched or they can hear the sea in their iPod.

 

[Alex Duggan]

Get that too on my 24" iMac - to be honest I only notice it when I'm actually listening out for it! Is still heaps quieter than my Rev A iMac G5! Doesn't bother me at all!

 

[Gaijin de Moscu]

There we go. Now I hear it, too.

 

[Aldyn]

i've heard different strange noises.

when i turn the brightness down, it hums a little. and when the display turns off for powersaving, i heard a little clingy click noise every couple seconds.

does anyone know anything about the latter of the two issues?

 

[pjarvi]

It's not just a problem with iMacs, but LCD monitors as well. It happens on my Gateway FPD2185W if the brightness is turned down below 84 (or so). Not sure about that clicking noise, though.

 

[Thrash911]

Well, regarding the humming sound.. I've decided to just let it hum. I'm already starting to get used to it. I see no reason to actively "listen" for the humming, so it can irritate.. It's just a part of the iMac. WITH the humming sound, it actually just about equals a VERY QUIET pc.. Hell, my Acer laptop pc makes more noise!!

I think it's partly about expectations. Especially for us first-time mac owners. When expected TOTAL SILENCE, then this vague humming sound is irritating. Just expect a little "noise", and most people should be good..

 

[orangezorki]

Does anyone not have any buzzing? My old Samsung TFT doesn't do it, so I don't see why a new iMac should. The one I sent back did buzz, but I'm kind of hoping that that was because it had been dropped during shipping, because there was some wierd fan noise and the PSU (at least it was in the region of that black box you see in disassembly pics) 'gurgled' when plugged in but not booted.

David

 

[wongi]

Humming noise from 24" iMac

I am new to Apple world and received my 24" iMac on Friday. It is a 2.33 GHz with 2 GB RAM with NVIDIA GeForce 7600 GT. After the initial set up and subsequent software update - to OSX 10.4.8, there is definitely a humming noise emitted from the top left of the screen. It seems this is from the CPU fan and I am surprising that the fan runs continuosly.

I checked few Mac website and some of which suggested this is to do with the brightness but there is no difference when I turned it up or down on the brightness scale.

I called AppleCare on Saturday and the chap advised me that it is hardware fault and should be taken back to Apple.

As I bought my iMac from a reseller, I was advised to send it back to the reseller.

 

[orangezorki]

It's either a fan or the PSU resonating with the backlight, or both. My second one did pretty much the same thing, and managed to have a stuck bright pixel bang in the centre of the screen as well - I'll be getting a Mac Pro instead.

Even if the noise isn't that loud, the fact that it is coming from the exact same direction as you are looking makes any sound far more intrusive.

David

 

[Rychiar]

im on my second one and its humming is even worse, this is maddening. At this point i'd rather get a mac pro but i dont think returning it for cash is even possible since my first order was with amazon and the second one came from apple. Even at full brightness i cant make the humming go away on this one and theres also a low level crunchy noise too, grrrr

 

[RobTuck]

im on my second one and its humming is even worse, this is maddening. At this point i'd rather get a mac pro but i dont think returning it for cash is even possible since my first order was with amazon and the second one came from apple. Even at full brightness i cant make the humming go away on this one and theres also a low level crunchy noise too, grrrr

Im in the same boat. My first 24" was perfect, with the exception of a broken Airport card. Applecare offered to repair it, but I refused to have a less-than-week-old computer repaired. Especially after seeing the horror of how these things need to be dismantled. I DOA'd mine, and the replacement is even worse. Screen hums, hard disk is noisy, airport is also broken, and it has a dead pixel in the middle of the screen. Needless to say, this one is DOA'd too.
Ive been considering returning it for a Mac Pro, but I'd need to fork out the best part of an extra £1000 to get something comparable to the 24" iMac.

 

[wongi]

Humming sound from 24" iMac

I am returning my 24" iMac tomorrow for a refund and will wait until this problem is resolved by Apple.
Sorry I love eveything about the iMac but not the humming noise as it drives me mad since I mostly use it during the evening. I will revert to my Toshiba laptop for the time being.
Good luck to you all.

 

[Curren~Sea]

Mine hums too. I don't like it. I'm not sure how distracting it will be, but the tone and pitch is of the annoying variety - worse than a fan. It sounds more electrical, like a bad flourescent light.

The iMac 24 just arrived a few hours ago so I'll give it a chance to "burn in" and hope it goes away or hope that it won't bother me.

 

[skunk]

Does anyone not have any buzzing? My old Samsung TFT doesn't do it, so I don't see why a new iMac should. The one I sent back did buzz, but I'm kind of hoping that that was because it had been dropped during shipping, because there was some wierd fan noise and the PSU (at least it was in the region of that black box you see in disassembly pics) 'gurgled' when plugged in but not booted.

David

Mine is as quiet as a dead mouse.

 

[Flyinace2000]

Both of my 24" hummed. The first i DOA due to 6 stuck pixels, bad ram, and the hum. The replacement had a perfect LCD, good ram, but it still hummmmmmmmmmed

 

[kellan]

I received my 24" iMac, 2 Gig, 250 GB HD, 7600GT last Friday (my last Mac was a performa...eons ago)...my primary concern was whether or not I would have any dead pixels - and to my delight, not a single one.

But by Sunday the first inkling of trouble had begun...a sight buzzing noise at the lower left hand side of the chin...it was/is tolerable.

On Monday morning (having shut down the iMac the night before), I decided to look at the vent along the back of the iMac, and to my surprise I could hear a new sound...sizzling or hissing around the area where 'iMac' is emblazoned on the casing...so again I said to myself...this isn't really affecting me in any way, so I did a search and found this http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=60199 …which sort of put my mind at rest…but for me, the noise does not go away.

As you can imagine, these issues have been bugging the hell out of me…so today I found this link http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=86523 and while I know its in relation to a Power Mac G5, but could some one please tell me if they have a 24" iMac, does it sound like those audio files?

And secondly...does anyone have any idea what exact component is inside the lower left hand corner of the chin (looking at it from the front), and what’s behind the 'iMac' symbol on the back.

I would really appreciate your help!

 

[Rychiar]

im goin for round 3, hopefully the new one gets here quick and is fine

 

[RobTuck]

I received my 24" iMac, 2 Gig, 250 GB HD, 7600GT last Friday (my last Mac was a performa...eons ago)...my primary concern was whether or not I would have any dead pixels - and to my delight, not a single one.

But by Sunday the first inkling of trouble had begun...a sight buzzing noise at the lower left hand side of the chin...it was/is tolerable.

On Monday morning (having shut down the iMac the night before), I decided to look at the vent along the back of the iMac, and to my surprise I could hear a new sound...sizzling or hissing around the area where 'iMac' is emblazoned on the casing...so again I said to myself...this isn't really affecting me in any way, so I did a search and found this http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=60199 …which sort of put my mind at rest…but for me, the noise does not go away.

As you can imagine, these issues have been bugging the hell out of me…so today I found this link http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=86523 and while I know its in relation to a Power Mac G5, but could some one please tell me if they have a 24" iMac, does it sound like those audio files?

And secondly...does anyone have any idea what exact component is inside the lower left hand corner of the chin (looking at it from the front), and what’s behind the 'iMac' symbol on the back.

I would really appreciate your help!

I have the same spec 24" iMac as you. Actually, its my third as ive had it replaced twice.

I do not experience anything like the sound files in the link you posted, however, I have noticed the sizzling sound in all 3. I dont think this is the same issue as the G5 noises.

To clarify, if the Mac is off, but plugged into live mains power, there is a fizzing/sizzling sound coming from inside the machine. It not a loud noise, but is clearly audible when listening from the top left.

 

[levitynyc]

I have the same spec 24" iMac as you. Actually, its my third as ive had it replaced twice.

I do not experience anything like the sound files in the link you posted, however, I have noticed the sizzling sound in all 3. I dont think this is the same issue as the G5 noises.

To clarify, if the Mac is off, but plugged into live mains power, there is a fizzing/sizzling sound coming from inside the machine. It not a loud noise, but is clearly audible when listening from the top left.

I get the same sound...I just let it go. If I have music or a TV on, I can't hear it at all.

 

[Nym]

Is the humming sound all that audible?
Yesterday when I got home after reading this thread I went to see if my iMac made any kind of sound that resembled what you are hearing in yours and (with everything turned off in my room) I couldn't hear anything, even when lowering the brightness all the way up and down, I must say my iMac is absolutely quiet, not even when I go to bed I can listen to any kind of sound
I don't get it, because from what I'm seeing here most people are listening this humming sound and gladly, I can't hear anything, maybe I'm "humming-deaf"

 

[bmcgrath]

Is it not just the hard drive?

 

[RobTuck]

Is it not just the hard drive?

Its definitely not. The humming goes away completely when the display (but not disk) sleeps. This is also when you notice just how loud the humming really is.

Its definitely not a mechanical noise, its an electrical hum. Like when you dim the lights in a room. The dimmer unit hums louder the lower the light level goes. Its exactly the same noise.