27" iMac hard drive noise

I to had this problem with my new 27" iMac that I purchased here in the U.K about two weeks ago, I kept getting this very low deep rumble of my 1TB Seagate hard drive which at the beginning was fine but after I started doing work on the computer it drove me mad.

Anyway I took it back to Apple today to complain and I exchanged the iMac for a brand new model. I now have the Western Digital version of the Hard drive (WDC WD1001FALS-40Y6A0) which although still makes some typical hard drive noises is more than acceptable than the previous seagate version.

I had amazing customer service and they even offered me a few options to resolve the issue with any of them failing a full refund.

Pretty happy now 🙂

Use disc utility, that will tell you, my 21.5" i5 makes the same noise, its just a louder version of seek and write compared with the WD drive, It does not bother me, I have a good screen, no whistle noise, so I'm not worried about it, I have apple care and by changing it for something that it does anyway I could risk more issues. Just enjoy your mac, you will tune out from the noise in a few days anyway. Its not a drive fault, its the sound they make.

Goto your Apple icon on the top Left of your screen, click about this mac and then more info, then scroll down to Serial-ATA and copy paste the Model number into google, Anything starting with a WDC is a Western Digital and Seagates begin with a ST.

Seriously you shouldn't worry about the noise it makes, its just Seagates don't have Acoustic Management in them and are naturally noisy these days. But if you cant live with the sound take it back like I did and hope you get a wester digital. It really is the best thing I did as my mac now has a pleasant minimal Hard Dive sound.

If you want to eradicate all sound from your IMac then I suggest taking it back getting your money back and ordering the one with the SSD (Solid state drive) you'll get less storage space but it'll be 100% silent.

Message was edited by: Chris Riddell

Thanks for your suggestions.

The drive is actually an Hitachi HDS722020ALA330 (2TB)

The noise goes away when the screen is tilted 10 degrees (and then you just hear the murmur of a normal HD). When it is vertical it is a loud ticking noise.

On balance I am going to stick with what I have and tilt the screen.

However, for the avoidance of doubt, when vertical the ticking is REALLY load.

Yes it is a shame isn't it.

I have always trusted Apple as a manufacturer but as of late things do seem to be getting a little cheaper (iphone, new wireless keyboard etc)

I was just happy at the Apple store they felt the same and were helpful.

What would be wonderful is to be able to let consumers have easy access to the HDD especially as Apple feel it fine for users to replace the memory themselves (Consumer replaceable part) yet not allow access to the HDD considering a HDD is the most common replaced thing of a PC.

Guessing electronic manufacturers dont want people doing this through fear of blowing themselves or the machine up, bring back the old days when we all knew how to build a computer thats what I say.

Anyway good luck with your iMacs people, they really are a wonderful bit of equipment

My last post was deleted two times, so I won't refer to it again. Apparently more than a bot is looking at these forums and I hope some tech guy will also look into this issue.
It appears that the Seagate rumble problem is fixable via a Firmware Upgrade (as mentioned in this threat). I will write Apple and ask them to address it, people suffering the same problem should to the same.

referring to the Hitachi noise of the user above, this sounds more serious and you should have a technician look at it.

Bought my first iMac, and was very disappointed because of all the noise from the Seagate HD. Had a very silent PC before, and one of the reasons I bought the Mac was because i had heard it was going to be silent. If it is fixable by firmware, but Apple ignores this, then this will probably be my first and last Apple product.

I spoke with SG tec support and he (or she..) say that they have firmware update to solve this problem but Apple use its own firmware on the hard drives.

a lot of iMac users suffer from this "pak pak" noise and I'm very disappointed that Apple not making something with that..

I hope that Apple will make an update to solve this problem soon!.

I'm on my 3rd iMac. The 1st and 2nd were taken back to the store for the display dim buzz that has been well documented around these parts. The new machine seems to have the opposite issue that the first two did (in addition to some others). When the display is dimmed, I do not hear an electrical noise. However, if I increase the brightness, I hear a high pitched whistle...the whistle is not sustained, or perhaps it is and I have difficulty hearing it over the relatively loud hum (and distinct whirring) of the fan(s). To me, this is also a problem, as I could not hear any fan noise with the first two machines at all. All of the machines had some normal sounding HD clicks, only the one I currently possess will grumble for sustained periods. All of these sounds combined are really starting to drive me crazy, and I'd really just like to have one of the machines I had exchanged back. I don't think I should have to feel that way.

In Apple's defense, the customer service at the retail store was excellent and the geniuses were very helpful. They made the exchanges as painless as possible. Also, none of the 3 27" iMacs I came home with had any dead pixels, gray bar, or yellow tinge issues (that I noticed).

I'm living with mine on my new 21.5 i5, the WD drives generally seem quieter which is on my wifes C2D late 2009 model, but you could end up with other issues instead, I think with Seagate drives its a known issue, I would contact Apple and go from there, my iMac has no whine a good screen just a percolator for a hard drive, but it works well, has Applecare so for now I'm happy, I could have fluff behind the screen pixels dead or a whine that makes your headache, take your pick. Normally the Hitachi are meant to be quieter I thought, Google your drive and see what's said about it but if you are not happy see what Apple will do to help..

Same problem as most people here
got my shiny new 27" imac i5 quad core
after migration find the clicking noise really weird - (it seemed louder at night with no ambient noise)
Phone apple - get replacement
- replacement arrives - same problem, slightly less loud, but now i have an annoying vibrating hum (maybe thats why the clicking is a bit quieter...)
- call apple - they agree its not worth sending me a third one as it will have same issue - they claim its unknown issue - but were quicker to decide the thrid one would be same - both drives were 1tb seagate ones.
Very frustrated now i dont have a new imac! I need more screen space and processing power - where do i go now? If i buy from a store or reseller, will I get to see it working before i leave? I have to travel 200 miles to get to a store so dont want to have to go back!

The noise is par for the course, some people can't hear it, but it depends on Ambient noise levels, for instance its less noisy in the day than at night because night is quiter where I live, and I mean dead silent, if you look most 1Tb mechanical twin platter drives make noise, and since the iMac is right in front of your face you will hear it, changing and changing the things may just get you more problems.

People I think expect to much from Apple, I had a £3000 Alienware (hated it sent it back) and I could hear the four Seagate drives in that mixed in the the incredible fan noise. If you have a good screen no whine or its acceptable and your hard drive is making seeking sounds that's your lot, I would rather have that sound than the noise from the fans from the Sony J and L series AIO machines. Just enjoy your Mac.

Have solved the problem with all iMac 27" HDD rumble / clicking!!!!!

By default ... the AAM is disabled on ALL HDD's (Seagate and WD) except one specific model.

Its an easy process for all Intel based machines (iMac's).

Simply make a BartPE BOOT CD. Here is the link: http://www.nu2.nu/pebuilder/

You need to use an XP machine or VMware to make the boot CD using files from a XP OS CD OR from the XP machine you are making the CD with using the BartPE builder.

Thats the hard part 🙂

OK now get a USB stick and put the following file winaam.exe onto it (make sure you use a FAT32 or NTFS format on the stick) you get it from http://www.withopf.com/tools/aam/

OK now your ready to kill the noise forever!

UNPLUG all USB devices except your USB stick.

RESTART your iMac and keep your finger on the OPTION (ALT) key during the bootup. This will give you a choice to boot from your HDD or CD. Choose the CD.

BOOT off the BartPE boot CD you made ... use a USB mouse because your bluetooth one is not supported in XP! You wont need a keyboard.

Now wait! Get a coffee! Booting from CD takes a while!

Finally you will have a windows XP type of desktop. Click on the START button and find the file manager. Open your USB stick and double click on the winaam.exe file.

Now follow the instructions ... just click on CONTINUE and choose whatever option LOUD or SOFT you want and activate. Don't worry if the app returns an error saying not set. Just click ok and start the app again. You will see the change now the second time. To test you can click on the test button to hear the difference. Keep going back and forth you'll get the idea!

When your done and the last setting was the drive on quiet. Click on START and then RESTART. Unplug your USB mouse if you like and the iMac will restart with almost ZERO noise from the HDD.

It scared the willy out of me somewhat the first boot because I was so used to hearing the drive click up etc ... now silence!!! Peace and fan noise 🙂

Good luck.

Seriously, this works!!!!!!!!!

All the best!

Message was edited by: BOFHMAN

If it would be that easy, people would have done it long time ago. Your tip works for WD and Hitachi drives, but the problem for Seagate is that AAM or APM is not only deactivated, it is taken from the Firmware and you can not enable it. Earlier posts in this thread showed that Seagate is aware of the lack of AAM and decided (apparently) to release an Update to fix the noise. Some Seagate Harddrives which are OEM do have AAM, but Apple decided to use its own Firmware where it disabled AAM.
So, in short Winaam or any other AAM tool does not help with modern Seagate drives.

Oh I am so unhappy. I have the 2.15 1TB - had it just 3 weeks. It has taken me all that time to transfer from Windows and get it up and running just how I want it. I have now moved it to it's permanent position and removed the old XP. Since then I have heard these grumbling tummy noises.(I think before I moved it the noises weren't so audible as the desktop was pointing out into the room; whereas now it has a wall behind it) I have already posted a query on this site to which I got a reply of - 'it's not much different inside a Mac than that of a PC tower'. Uuummm - wasn't so sure - so when I found this thread I checked my HD - which is falling in the same categories as those mentioned with problems (late 2009) - I am therefore going to take my iMac back and see what can be done - but feel sickened by the amount of work I have already done.... will I be able to start from my External Hard Disc TimeMachine backups? Don't think I can cope with from scratch again. :((