Are the new Airs 100% silent even when you hold them close to your ear?

My 11" Air (1.6 GHz) is extremely quiet. I run BOINC, so both processors are at 100% for hours on end.
Holding it up to my ear, I can hear a very quiet fan - and I'm generally fussy about noises.
So if people are reporting loud fans, something's wrong!

Ok, what do we have here now... An individual that seems not to bee able to read a thread titles, or their content, or has problems clicking on links - but does state that he doesn't work for Apple, while asking the obvious.

And another one that states that if there is a problem, well there must be a problem, right?

The only thing productive I can take from this thread is, that there are Macbook Airs out there which don't have the problem (yet?), or Macbook owners with far less sensitive hearing. Point taken.

I've only heard my fan once - when I was initially loading up apps on it. Must have stressed it some. System reports it normally running around 2000RPM, and with these posts - had to do the obvious, and hold it up to my ear. Even then, VERY hard to hear. Mostly, what I actually was hearing was a slight rush of wind against my year - THAT was audible. Virtually silent when under normal use.

It's generally not a great idea to run a distributed computing project on a notebook at the default settings of 100% CPU usage. Notebooks are not designed to be used under that great a load for extended periods. Machines like the MacBook Air have very limited room for cooling as well. Granted, the CPU in the Air is relatively low powered, but running it at 100% continuously will cause unnecessary excess heat which is not a friend to your batteries or fan. If you really really want to run BOINC, you might consider going into the options and dropping the max CPU usage down to something like 20 or 30%.

Even on my desktop... with a huge case and tons of cooling... I back my CPU usage off a bit. It'd be nice to have a way to throttle GPU usage a little as well... but they have yet to implement that option.

Mine just started making a 'clicking' noise on the left side. It's been going every 5 seconds for about 5 minutes now. Anyone have any clues what this could be? I've never heard it before. Have not done anything with it (such as dropping/abuse). Simply have used it normally. It's something inside the machine - nothing to do with the volume. I've only had it about 5 days.

xalcyx wrote:
Mine just started making a 'clicking' noise on the left side. It's been going every 5 seconds for about 5 minutes now. Anyone have any clues what this could be? I've never heard it before. Have not done anything with it (such as dropping/abuse). Simply have used it normally. It's something inside the machine - nothing to do with the volume. I've only had it about 5 days.

It sounds like you might have a problem with the fan. I'd install iStat Pro widget and use it to check the fan speed. Even at minimum the fan should show about 2000 rpm. If it's not running then you will need to take it to Apple for repair or exchange.

Hi. I just bought a refurbished Macbook Air 11". There is a constant whirring noise coming from the left side of the keyboard that is quite audible in a quiet room. I can pinpoint the sound to just under the Q and W buttons on the keyboard. In fact, pressing my fingers over the Q and W buttons muffles the sound. I believe the fan is located in the area below these keys.

For those users on this thread that have only heard the fan noise by holding the computer up to your ear, I would appreciate any opinions you have on whether the issues I am having are normal fan noise issues or pehaps a problem that I should have inspected by the Genius Bar.

Thank you.

I have the 2010 13 in. MBA. The only time I've ever heard any noise fan or otherwise was when I used set up assistant to migrate everything from my MB Pro over to the Air when I first got it. Then the fan did kick up with the cpu activity which was quite audible. Now I can't actually say that it's ever dead silent in my house but that's the only time I've ever heard anything. With my MB Pro I could always hear a very low hum from the fans when it was quiet in my house ( no tv or radio or anyone else in the house ). So for me the Air is quieter than the Pro was. Now I don't turn off everything in the house and lock myself in a closet and stick my ear right on the Air. I guess I would hear something then!

If you really have an audible buzz going on I'd have someone at the Apple store take a look. Of course the 11s may be different, with a smaller case sounds could naturally be somewhat more audible.

They are uncanningly silent when sat in front of one when the Fan/Blower is idling away @1999 RPM

In normal use you may occasionally hear a faint hum if the CPU is working hard

I am not sure why anyone would need place their ear on the palm rest or keyboard before complaining that this is not a silent portable. A fan is needed otherwise I am sure Apple would have left it off along with the optical drive etc...

It is not 100% silent before anyone needs to go to such lengths to prove or disprove any claim Apple may or may not have made about how silent the MBA is.

I brought my air to the Genius Bar because there was an audible whirring noise coming from below the W key. It turns out that there is a bearing loose on the fan and they have to replace it. I would suggest anyone who has this problem have it checked out.

This is an Apple Certified Refurb.

The internal fan runs at 2000 RPM and you really can't hear it in normal use. If you run a long streaming video or something that stresses the CPU or internal components, you will "hear" the fan ramp up to cool things down. The MBA is "silent" only when compared to other laptops that aren't so quiet. I use a widget, iStat Pro which will give you an instant view of memory, network, fans, temperatures, hard drive, processes, etc. without the need to run Activity Monitor. You'll see that the internal cooling fan RPM..... and other items to check for correct operation.

Is there a system cooling fan solution that makes absolutely zero noise when idling? Is there a system of these specs and proportions that doesn't require cooling?

I just bought an 11" MBA to stand in for my 17" MBP when traveling and I'm getting a bit nervous about what I'm going to get when I finally have the time to unpack and configure it.

Message was edited by: ~BobS~

JoZoz wrote:
"The internal fan runs at 2000 RPM and you really can't hear it in normal use."

That's true only if you don't work in a completely silent room. In you work in a silent room, you will hear a kind of whirring noise, that is very annoying.

You are correct about a completely silent room. I doubt that many users have that luxury. I'll take the whirring sound that is minuscule vs. a Windoze laptop. I have an i7 17" MBP and the 11.6 is much more "silent". In a normal office or home environment, the ambient noise drowns out both. Most people don't live/work in an anechoic environment. You're a lucky person to work in dead silence.....

if you want complete silence - buy an iPad.

My MBA 13, when it is cool and the fans are running at about 2K rpm, is completely silent...
Sly