Is 6th Gen Airport Extreme As Noisy Or Hot Running as Previous Models?

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Level 2

418 points

Is 6th Gen Airport Extreme As Noisy Or Hot Running as Previous Models?

I'm thinking about getting the newer 6th Gen Airport Extreme (ME918 LL/A Model1521), and would like to know … from those that own one now …. is the newer model 1521 as noisy and hot running as the previous 5th Gen Airport Extreme (!1408) was well-known to be?

I know the 6th Gen model Extreme now comes with an internal fan ….. but would still be interested to know if there are still any signs of excessive heating issues, or a "buzzing" sound from using the new Airport Extreme (Model 1521)?

Airport Extreme ME918 LL/A (Model 1521)

iMac (21.5-inch, Late 2012), OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.5), Apple TV, iPhone 4S

Posted on Apr 18, 2015 1:15 AM

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Answer 1

Apr 18, 2015 8:08 AM in response to DavidMac

The two 6th Gen AirPort Extremes that have been running here for about 18 months are dead quiet and not even barely warm to the touch.

The only way that I know that they are on is to look at the power indicator light.

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Answer 2

Tesserax

Level 10

148,441 points

Apr 18, 2015 3:58 PM in response to DavidMac

To add to Bob's comments, yes it does have an internal fan but I have found mine to be whisper quiet as well. Also it puts out very little heat.

The following iFixit article shows a complete teardown of the base station in case you're interested.

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Answer 3

Apr 18, 2015 4:08 PM in response to DavidMac

Since you already have comments about the new one.. let me add concerning the Gen5 AE .. it has no fan.. and it makes no noise.. it was never a difficult unit as you seem to think it was. Heat was never an issue either. They draw the same as most routers of the same specs.

The previous model Time Capsule does have a fan and does have a hard disk and can run fairly hot.. although mostly the bugs of the early Gen1 and 2 were fixed by Gen4.. (A1409) so as you would expect with a device that has a hard disk the disk makes some noise.. but it is no different to the latest ones.. I can hear both of them spin their disks up.. I cannot hear the fan in either of them unless for the Gen4 TC it is in the middle of a big backup and is generating more than normal heat load.. but the fan is temp controlled and will spin down and stop once it cools off.. same as Mac runs now.

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Answer 4

DavidMac Author

Level 2

418 points

Apr 19, 2015 1:04 AM in response to LaPastenague

LaPastenague …. Your personal experience with the 5th Gen Apple Extreme might be different. But as found on many on-line discussions / reviews, many 5th Gen Apple Extreme owners have a different story (youtube, apple forums, Amazon, etc.). Many describe similar issues with both a "buzzing" noise on large data transfers (quite possibly due to poor quality DC converter used), and serious hot running issues (due to poor heat sink placement and design).

I've heard Apple has totally re-designed the newer Airport Extreme 6th Gen to eliminate both the main issues many were having with the previous 5th Gen model. Bob Timmon's comments, and many on-line "reviews" seem to bare this out.

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