A few users of the new Mac Studio have raised complaints about a computer’s fan creating a loud noise. According to users’ feedback shared on the MacRumors community forum, Mac Studio with the M1 Max chip is experiencing the issue, not the Mac Studio with M1 Ultra chip.
In March this year, Apple launched a new desktop CPU ‘Mac Studio’ which is taller and more powerful than the Mac mini.
The design of the M1 Max Mac Studio might be responsible for producing up to 25dB of noise at idle
Mac Studio’s both M1 Max and M1 Ultra variants have a 7.7-inch enclosure that features an exhaust grill at the bottom for the heat to flow through the device during heavy workloads and stay quiet. However, the M1 Max model has smaller fans than the M1 Ultra model which might be the reason for the loud noise issue reported by M1 Max Mac Studio users.
It’s 25dB at idle, as a bel is 10x a decibel. I didn’t want to add more complexity to the message, but I can see you guys have found the specs.
In reality the sound pressure at operator position is a non-standardised reading from wherever Apple defines the computer would sit – I would take the 15dB reading with a grain of salt and use the sound power level x 10. So 25dB.
I have an iMac Pro and it is significantly quieter than the Mac Pro (2019) I had. Even though in theory the iMac Pro was 13dB (at operator position) vs 11dB Mac Pro. @AdamSeen
Hi, I’ve been following this thread and wanted to share my experience with the Mac Studio. I ordered the M1 Max version with 32 Core GPU and 64 GB Ram. After a week or two I started noticing a high pitched whining sound. The ordinary fan noise was audible but not disturbingly so. The high pitched sound was sth I couldn’t ignore. I have a relatively quite working space and the sound kept being distractive. I decided to take my studio to the apple store after contacting apple support and trying a bunch of software fixes like reinstalling the os.
After a day of inspection the tech guy at the apple store claimed it was just normal fan noise within the expected range of noises and said they couldn’t do anything about it. Disappointed I called apple support again and they agreed to send me a replacement, which I am currently waiting for. @sunsetblvd
