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High-pitched buzzing sound/noise with Apple Studio Display

I'm experiencing a very annoying high-pitched buzzing sound with my Studio Display, I've spoken to others on Twitter who also have the problem and I've had Apple support on the case but nothing was resolved.


Here's what I know:


  • It's not the fans, it's a distinct (and very annoying) sound that emanates from the rear area of the display, roughly where the power supply is positioned.
  • It only happens when my MBP (M1) or iPad Pro are plugged in to the display.
  • Plugins the MBP into a charger and the display doesn't help.
  • It's not the power extension, I've tried a power line conditioner and every power socket in the house (regarding power, I'm in the UK) without success.
  • I've tried unplugging everything else in the house to rule out line interference.
  • This is my second display, Apple support actually advised not returning this one because it's unlikely I've had two faulty units.
  • Here's the weird one… the noise more often than not stops in the evening, roughly around about 7pm. No annoying noise after that 🤔
  • I have an electric car with a charger built into the house power supply, when the car is plugged in and charging the Studio Display's noise becomes excruciatingly high pitched and loud. Due to this I charge the car over night these days.


Here's a video of the sound, it's hard to pick up so you may need headphones. Ignore the background noise, the high pitched tone should be audible. In real life it's much more obvious and very annoying.


The only thing I've not managed to try is using it at another property.


I'm 90% certain the display is picking up interference from somewhere and amplifying it, maybe through the house power circuit but I can't be sure. Someone I spoke to believes the PSU is poorly shielded but I have no idea if that's true either.


I've been trying to pin down the cause of the possible interference but so far no luck. I have a feeling it may be coming from a neighbour or somewhere outside of my property due to the fact the noise stops in the evening, maybe a neighbour is switching off whatever is causing the issue?


I'm posting this here in case anyone else is experiencing the same issue because it's incredibly frustrating.

Studio Display

Posted on Jun 9, 2022 1:39 PM

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Posted on Aug 12, 2022 3:27 AM

Same issue here, 1 week old Mac Studio Display and the issue presented on the second day of using it. The electrical buzzing is so irritating, it gives me headaches after one hour of constant high pitch buzzing. Utterly disappointed in such an expensive display, why haven't Apple recalled these units?


Spoke to a member of customer services, they seemed unfamiliar with the issue, and said I should return it to store...have they seen the size of the box?

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Aug 12, 2022 3:27 AM in response to Ryan Roberts

Same issue here, 1 week old Mac Studio Display and the issue presented on the second day of using it. The electrical buzzing is so irritating, it gives me headaches after one hour of constant high pitch buzzing. Utterly disappointed in such an expensive display, why haven't Apple recalled these units?


Spoke to a member of customer services, they seemed unfamiliar with the issue, and said I should return it to store...have they seen the size of the box?

Aug 13, 2022 1:14 AM in response to evgeny24

Yeah I found that as well, making the brightness 100% would fix the problem. Its so sad that apple hasn't fixed this issue yet. It's been a known issue for months now. I'll bet Apple will just sweep this under the rug, They will just release a new version with new internals only quietly. They've done this before.



Link to my issue:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZ0WMgZgnyI

Sep 26, 2022 4:56 PM in response to Ryan Roberts

I have the exact same issue as well, with some additional findings to report. Like others have mentioned, the noise goes away completely when I set brightness to 100% on the display. I have had two units in my studio, both with the same problem (one from Best Buy in the US and one from the Apple Store online). Now, here's the interesting thing that I haven't seen others mention or notice. I'm using mine in a music studio environment, and I'm getting a hum through my speakers (not the Studio Display speakers, but separate dedicated studio speakers) that only occurs while the Studio Display itself is buzzing. If I set the brightness to 100%, the buzzing on the ASD goes away, and the hum in my speakers goes away as well. Speakers are connected to a Furman PL-8C power conditioner, and the ASD and Mac Studio are connected to a Cyberpower CP1500PFDLCD on separate outlets. It sounds to me like a ground loop type of hum that's coming through my speakers. I tried purchasing a Morley Ground Loop eliminator from Sweetwater in the hopes that it might break up some kind of ground loop caused by the Studio Display, but sadly this did not resolve the issue. I think there's definitely something going on with the power supply in the Apple Studio Display; probably related to poorly shielding or something.

Jun 15, 2022 4:50 AM in response to Ryan Roberts

There is a major fault with the power supply. I’ve been through 3 of them all with the same issues. Loud buzzing sound coming from the top of the monitor when the brightness is below 2/3rds full. Video link supplied: https://youtu.be/zZ0WMgZgnyI


I tried going through apple support and ended up talking to someone in the USA. All Apple wanted to do was take the monitor off me and send it to be pulled apart and investigated. They couldn't guaranty me when I would be able to get another replacement.

Aug 14, 2022 12:23 AM in response to liamfromnsw

Noticed a few odds.

  1. 100% brightness is affecting the issue, but doesn't alwasys removes the noise. In some cases 100% may have the noise and 90% may not. Low brightness always has noise.
  2. Noise depends on workload of my macbook air. I started/stopped CPU-intense bench and see that CPU load can do noise, or at least can affect something (screen is not changing at that time). May be there's some radio pickup coming from macbook to display through TB cable. idk

Oct 29, 2022 4:30 AM in response to Ryan Roberts

  • My Apple Studio Display has low buzzing sound when connected with my M1 MBP
  • The sound is very low but becomes more audible, when the CPU is under load.
  • The buzzing can be compared to the sound that a hard disk makes when you read/write. It sounds and behaves exactly like a hard disk when you access or load something.
  • This sound only occurs when my M1 Macbook Pro is connected to the display via one singular thunderbolt cable.
  • As soon as i plug in the macbooks own power supply, the sound vanishes.

High-pitched buzzing sound/noise with Apple Studio Display

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