iMac 27-inch Late 2012 fan speed?

How loud is that noise actually, or more specifically, what kind of noise is it? I know everyone hears it differently but maybe it can be compared to a hard drive sound? Is it just as load as you know the iMac "is on" or is it really annoying so that you couldn't turn on the iMac if someone were sleeping in the same room? As far as I know the retina macbook pro has got fans with wings in different lengths so that the fan noise isn't that annoying.

I've ordered a 27 inch to replace my old late 2007 macbook pro (silver keyboard), which sounds like a airplane. A friend of mine has got the 2011 iMac which we can't hear at all so I was hoping that the 2012 model would be silent too...

The sound is not bad at all. In fact, it's much more quiet than my 2009 Mac mini. I think there is an expectation that the iMac should be completely silent with no fan running when it's not doing anything... not sure if that is reasonable or not. My 2012 iMac sits right beside my bed and sometimes runs through the night and I don't even notice it.

Ok thank you, that sounds just fine.

I have a top of line iMac and I used migration assistant. My fan was loud. I tried the SMC and PRAM resets. The fan was still loud even though it appeared to be running at 1200rpm. I wanted to see if the fan was loud when close to nothing was running so I booted into single user mode (Command-S at boot). No loud fan! And then on reboot/shutdown/etc. still no loud fan. So, maybe this is the solution or some combo of the resets with this single user boot.

I can still hear the fan so I think it is louder than previous models. I think it has to do with the 3TB drive. But it is much quieter than before.

Hope this helps as it saved me reinstalling fresh or bringing the unit into Apple.

Thank you for the info, interesting that the single user account makes a difference. I think I've read this before, so maybe thats the trick until it's fixed by apple. Obviously it's a software issue so it can be fixed which is awesome because this means it's not the fan being normally this loud.

I have been through the whole discussion here and wanted to know if on top of high fan sounds anyone of you also experienced very slow iMac (mouse arrow lagging while moving on the screen, long time waiting before applications open, very very long time for installing apps/softwares...

Would anyone know or could confirm that if there is a temperature sensor failure leading to fans running at max speed, the computer could limit the processor speed in order to prevent overheat ?

Thanks !

So here comes an update, my 27 inch iMac arrived today. I can hear the noise, too... The fan is now running at 1200 rpm constantly.

I'm not sure if its the fan or the hdd, it sounds a little "deeper" than my macbook pro's fan (2006 model). The room I'm sitting in is quiet, nethertheless I can hear cars from the outside, so it's not like I'm sitting in a vacuum.

I know the 2011 iMac, which seems completely silent to me, so it's a huge difference to the new version :-(

Ya know,

Everyone in this thread is complaining about the fan noise.

Everyone should be grateful the fans are running at a higher RPM, now,

Your iMacs are running cooler because of it. If you can run a software fan control in these new iMacs, I'd ramp the fan/s speed up to1300-1400 RPMs.

Apple was so concerned with silent operation in the iMac that many iMacs, I am definitely convinced, had plenty of premature major component failures due to excessive internal temperatures.

Heat is the enemy of small electronic components. An excess of heat is a detriment.

Especially in the 2009-mid 2012 models. Basically, the higher internal temps were slow roasting components over a period less than five years.

I've manually set the fans in my 2009, 27 inch screen iMac to between 1400-1600 RPMs to keep it cool.

Esspecialy for the CPU, GPU diode hard drive and PSU!

A Cooler running iMac is a happier iMac!

😉

Maybe this message will be helpful to others:
I recently bought an Apple Imac 21,5 inch, I got it last Friday. It has a fusion drive in it.
The fans and hard drive are noisy and I am really disappointed because of this.

The Apple Store says it has nothing to do with the fusion drive.

My friend has a 2009 model and I don't hear a thing when working on it.

I have read several posts on forums about this topic, and my conclusion is that the newer flatter models definitely are noisier.

Too bad. I paid such an amount of money for this. I am going to call the Apple Store today to ask them if they can take it back.

I just bought a 27.5 inch iMac 2012 and have the same problem! It only started after I used Migration Assistant to transfer everything over. It was fine before this. So frustrating!!

I've read this thread and can add my two cents worth.

I used to have a late 2009 imac 27, where the fan was almost silent. The HDD made crunching noises but I never noticed the fan.

I've recently sold that imac and got the new thinner imac (late 2012) with an SSD and no HDD.

I did a migration of apps and that unfortunately brought over a fan control app in system preferences that caused my fan to spin at 2500. I eventually realised it was incompatible, deleted it and since then the fan has run at the default 1200 rpm. I've also done the system resets described in this thread and done a fresh install from scratch, replacing the migration.

I have no temperature issues, even when stressing the imac with a plethora of apps.

However, I can hear the fan. It is not totally silent or nearly silent like the 2009 imac. Maybe it's the audible frequency it operates at that causes it to be heard. If I go behind the imac and listen at the vent, it is quite audible. I wouldn't describe it as loud. It's probably around 20dBA when sitting in front of the imac and it's a little like a whirring pitch to it. If there is any other noise around I don't notice it. It only bugs me when I'm sitting in front of it for a stretch of time concentrating on some work.

I would conclude from this and other threads it's pretty typical of this fan model used in the new imac.

Since mine was a BTO that I waited four weeks for, I will live with it as that is the only downside of this configuration.

I have to say that I used Migration Assistant on my 27 inch late 2012 (it arrived on 27th Dec 2012) iMac, which has 32GB memory and a 3TB fusion drive.

My iMac is silent, can't hear the HDD or the fan at all.

That may be due to the HDD spinning down as the iMac may only be using the SSD at times.

Fan speed is reported at 1200rpm when the machine is idle, but I really have never heard the fan at all.

My room is very quiet, so I would expect to hear something if it wa there. it is also much quieter than my old iMac.

Download link http://exirion.net/ssdfanctrl/

or google SSD Fan Speed - set to Manaul mode

Its free and works great