On March 30 I ordered a Mac Studio with Apple M1 Max with 10-core CPU, 32-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine, 64GB unified memory, 4TB SSD storage. Expected delivery is around the end of June. The Mac Studio will be replacing a Mac Pro 2013 “trash can” that I have had since early 2014.
Recently I have seen reports on MacRumors and elsewhere of some Mac Studios exhibiting loud fan noise. I am concerned about the viability of my upcoming purchase of the Mac Studio given the possibility that I could receive a noisy Mac. I understand that there is a 14 day return policy but I really don’t want to go through the hassle of returning a defective unit.
Currently, I am waiting to see if there is any new information about the fan noise. When I visited an Apple Store in San Luis Obispo before my purchase in March and listened to the Mac Studio there, I couldn’t hear much, if any, fan noise.
Ambient noise in the Apple Store was pretty high so I can’t be sure about the Apple Store being a good place to check on fan noise for a new Mac.
I was wondering if anyone had any advice about how I should proceed? Thanks for the help!
You don’t really have an alternative. Try out your new Mac first in your actual environment. If there is indeed noise and it indeed bothers you enough, you’ll want it replaced or a return & refund. No amount of reading online bickering or testing on others’ Macs will tell you if your Mac will be acceptable in terms of noise in your environment. And just FYI, Apple’s returns IME have been excellent.
I don’t think checking in-store could tell you anything unless it roared like a jet engine. If there is any noise, it will still be a pretty quiet hum that would be covered by any music, conversation, etc.
It may be an issue on some units, but none of the initial reviewers mentioned it. I’ve been using one for 3 weeks and haven’t noticed any fan noise. On Sunday, to do some unrelated tasks, I needed to shut the MacStudio down. It was a cool day, so I had the windows closed and no other fans running. There was no other source of sound penetrating the office, so it was as quiet as it was ever going to be. When I restarted the MacStudio, I couldn’t hear any noise added to the background. I could feel a very gentle stream of air out the back, but that was it–no noise or whoosh associated with it. I’ve run a few processes that push all 10 processors with no fan noise that is noticeable in the office.
I suspect this is a unit-to-unit issue. Apple’s return policy is great. The unboxing is superb in that both the Apple box and packing box are not destroyed when you unpack it (just look for the pull tabs); so reboxing would go easy. If you find yours has unacceptable noise, return it.
I replaced my Darth Vader Signature Edition Mac Pro with a Mac Studio Ultra just a couple of weeks ago (and yes, for me it was hard). However, if anything the Studio is quieter than the Mac Pro ( which with all cores spiked was still the quietest computer I’ve ever owned - and yes, I still miss it. It was my all time favorite Mac.).
Hello Will, Alan, and Simon:
Thank you very much for your advice. I’ll just chill for now, fan or no fan problem, and see how the new Mac Studio plays out when I get it around the end of June. Thanks again for the advice.
Best,
Richard
