How noisy is the Mac Studio M1 Max?

M1 Max. While much quieter than the large windows machine it is replacing I am very disappointed that the fan is always running. When I'm doing low power tasks such as browsing the web shouldn't the system use the low-power cores and be silent? My M1 Air seems fine with that. Hopefully Apple will address this with an update.

Can you please reference that article (or are you referring to the tech specs note?)

I see that the Acoustic Performance data in Apple’s technical specifications note:

Mac Studio (2022) - Technical Specifications was based on the following configuration:

Apple M1 Ultra, 20-core CPU / 48-core GPU, 64GB memory, 1TB storage.

Just got my Studio M1 Max. It is not super noisy (25 dB at the front and 30 dB at the back in 30cm distance when the computer is just in idle) but I hear it ALWAYS and thats super annoying in a otherwise silent environment especially as all the Macs I had so far were completely silent when not under heavy workload - like currently my Mac Mini.

Is Apple reading here ? If so: pls let me know if you are working on a solution e.g. an OS update which will shut off the fans or reduce their speed when the processor has only little workload. If not I will return the computer which I would love to keep but I am not spending that amount of money and then feel constantly annoyed. I am sure this can be solved if Apple wants to. I guess it is more if Apple is listening to its customers - one more time. btw: I wouldn't care about an external power adapter...

My Ultra is very silent in my opinion. I have to have a very quite room to hear it six inches away from my ear. The fans are silent and seem to push a lot of cool air out the back. I am very sensitive and planned to return it if it was noisy. No need for that. I doubt the M1 Max is much louder if any. Its performance is very similar to the 16 in M1Max notebook I have, which is also silent.

Of course if you are editing 8k video the fans will probably make more noise. But so far with Photoshop and Adobe Creative Apps and Final Cut Pro I have not heard any.

My fans are running 1325 RPM. What are the people complaining about noise doing. If they are running some stressful benchmarking program of course the fans will speed up. Yes the heatsink here is copper and will sink heat better but the M1Max runs so cool in my notebook I really doubt it runs very hot in the Studio.

I am researching the complaints now. One person said he could hear it 3 meters away. Others said their base model units are quite. May be a possible quality issue with some units though I really do mot think by design it is noisy.

I have seen the same video and I’m pursuing the same question Regarding the M1 Max Max Studio, Max Tech have a recent review of the Ultra’s benchmarks seeming to confirm that that version idles “quietly” at about 1300 rpm. No one seems to have assessed this, nor noise levels, for the base model. Yet, the question remains as to whether the fan is idling higher E.g. due to the aluminum heatsink, or if there are some other acoustic properties of the Max 1 enclosure (?) that could affect noise distribution.

MacWorld did review the M1 Max: https://www.macworld.com/article/622515/mac-studio-m1-max-review.html

in this configuration: 10-core M1 Max processor with 10-core CPU, 32-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine, 64GB of unified memory, 400GBps memory bandwidth, and a 2TB SSD and concluded regarding noise:

“While Apple acknowledges that the Mac Studio will make fan noise when pushed, the company makes reassurances that it’s still a very quiet computer. That claim held up throughout my testing; most of the time, I didn’t hear a thing, and I had to stop myself and listen when there was fan noise. It was barely noticeable.”

I have the M1 Max version.

Yes, it’s noisy. Not a lot but much than my iMac 27 5k.

I’ve never heard my iMac since 2015 and the Studio is much present.

But it’s only when my office is very quiet. When i’m listening the radio or music, no problem.

It has a very clear sound and I am much satisfied with it. Apart from that, it's upon people who set their sound options setting. If you low the base, increase the volume then it provides you with clear sound.

I returned M1 Max Mac Studio because the fans are always on, and ALWAYS collecting dust that can not be easily cleaned out. It is just going to get louder over time.

I had a 16" MBP M1 Max with the same specs and it was silent. I returned the 16" and bought a 14" M1 Pro MBP because I was getting the Mac Studio. Now I wish I just had the original 16" I bought.

<< I had a 16" MBP M1 Max with the same specs and it was silent. >>

Interesting observation.

The M1 Max studio has a 120/240 Volt power supply in its base that must be cooled as well.

The M1 Max MacBook Pro has its power adapter (and generated heat) external, and does not have the heat of a full Power Supply to dissipate.