27" iMac hard drive noise

We have leased through Apple/Quickrent two top of the line iMac i7's and have already returned one of these machines and received a replacement - the new iMac has the same problem.

Research tells me that this is a well known problem since 2009 and there has been no fix for it so far. I can only imagine that it is a fault with the HDDs themselves or e way they interface with the iMac.

Like I said, we have had three brand new machines delivered now and two of them are noisy - not good enough Apple!

I will be calling again tomorrow to organize another replacement or a HDD upgrade when possible.

We have now had two of the three 2 TB Hitachi drives (inside iMacs) come up with this noise issue. Most disturbing. Now in the process of having them replaced.

Taffy2112 wrote:
We have leased through Apple/Quickrent two top of the line iMac i7's and have already returned one of these machines and received a replacement - the new iMac has the same problem.

Research tells me that this is a well known problem since 2009 and there has been no fix for it so far. I can only imagine that it is a fault with the HDDs themselves or e way they interface with the iMac.

Like I said, we have had three brand new machines delivered now and two of them are noisy - not good enough Apple!

I will be calling again tomorrow to organize another replacement or a HDD upgrade when possible.

can you confirm the 2 noisy ones are Seagate drives?
like i said in my previous post, it's the technology. i think we're noticing it more because the iMac is otherwise so quiet. if you had a standard desktop with PSU and case fans spinning you wouldn't notice the HD noise as much. my first one with the WD was fairly silent but i know Seagate drives do tend to be noisier

I have a 20" 2.0GHz 250G HD which I recently upgraded to a 1.5T Seagate ST31500341AS hard drive on my own. I then started noticing a very low "grinding" noise - similar to the one you hear with disk access but not quite as loud. I am not positive if this noise was present with the old HD which was also a Seagate (I may have just started listening closer for any problems there may be). I've also monitored the temperature and it usually runs at 49C using SeaTools - I'm curious what temp some of the others with this problem are running at and if this may be related to the noise.

Is the sound like a ticking? My iMac 27" i5 makes a sound like a HD write about every second. Like a clock. I also have nothing running. I also noticed if I put the iMac to sleep within a few minutes it pulls itself out of sleep.
I have filed a help request with Apple Support.

Is this ticking write noise what others are hearing?
I have a 1TB Drive. Model: ST31000528ASQ

Mine is not a ticking noise - upon further investigation I think it may be a slight vibrating noise from the case. If I place my hand on the back or bottom of the computer right below the usb ports, the noise immediately stops. It sounds pretty much identical to a grinding hard drive though. Still a bit worried about the hd temp though, it has gone as high as 52C recently.

No they are both Hitachi HDS722020ALA330.

Add me to the list. I turned this on and said to myself "Wow what a display!" 2 minutes later I asked my mum to listen to the noise the hard drive was making. 1 minute after that I was online. First webpage I opened -on my brand new 2.93ghz i7 27inch with 1tb Seagate- was a google search for other people with the same problem. My happy day becomes a sad day. All other macs I've had were nice and quiet. In my experience this was one of the things that set macs apart from windows machines. It's uncomfortably loud and the same grumbling/percolating noise that has been described here.

Same here - love the new iMac - hate the Seagate drive noise. Can't beleive Apple still use the same drive as last years model knowing how many people returned them because of the noise. It is really annoying despite knowing the hard drive itself is fine.

I believe the hard drive itself is not at fault. At first, my Seagate was silent. The noise appeared after a few days. Then I replaced the Seagate with a Velociraptor. At first, the Velociraptor was silent too. Then after a few days, the same "grumbling" sound appeared. It doesn't seem to really impact anything, but it is driving me nuts because every time someone visits my house they are asking why the iMac is making this "coffee making" sound. Maybe this is an issue with the I/O controller? Mine is an Intel ICH8-M AHCI.

I have a brand new 27'' with the ST31000528AS from Seagate.
After some research I found that there are other firmwares for it on the market with might offer AAM (to adjust the acoustic management) or improved Firmwares in general (Korean and Russian users reported that). Sadly, according to Seagate support, those are not for us. We can't apply them because Apple as an OEM partner has its custom firmware on it.
Maybe we should aks Apple to release an Update for the Firmware so we have control over the noise and can live better with this otherwise fast Harddrive.

I too have just discovered this problem. I have used my iMac three times, each time it's been flawless, but i turned it on tonight and

Sorry about the above i pressed return by mistake. I turned it on this evening and it just clicked and started making that annoying noise every one has been describing. It is really annoying and when I shut it down it makes a loud clicking noise, it doesn't sound safe, like it's going to blow up or something.

If I bought this at Dick Smith (retail store here in Australia) do i have to take it back to them or can i take it to an Apple retail store?

It is such a new machine; sorry about the HDD noise, must be very upsetting 😟

Not sure about Australia as I am here in the UK. But over here, we can definitely take it back to the retailers in the first 12 months; I have never had a problem doing this.

I presume that Dick Smith must be a large chain, so they should replace it as it is so new. Just give them a call to be safe 😉

Or if you want to take it back to Apple, give them a call as well. I'm not sure if they would exchange it. Does anyone else know?

It's very annoying and frustrating, I've been waiting for the iMac for ages now I've got to take it back ahhhhhhh!!!.