Q: 4k iMac makes very quiet beeps
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Jan 31, 2016 1:07 PMby K Shaffer,If you bought it from an official Apple retail Store, you could contact them about returning it
for another; if you bought from an authorized Apple Reseller, they have their own policies.
The online official Apple Store also gives you a fair time limit to consider a return, up to
14-days from the date of purchase.
The unit is not supposed to beep softly. And a new computer may be best replaced; or taken
to an authorized Apple service for diagnostic testing and if needs be, repaired under warranty.
Did you use this to diagnose?
Using Apple Diagnostics - Apple Support
The course of action depends on where it was bought and your location.
Good luck in this matter!
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Jan 31, 2016 1:19 PMby K Shaffer,You could try and see if a reset of the System Management Controller may help resolve this:
• Resetting the System Management Controller (SMC) on your Mac - Apple Support
A second reset that may affect other items not necessarily covered in the above, may also help:
• How to Reset NVRAM on your Mac - Apple Support
There are other things you could try; given a new computer has AppleCare and you have Phone
support for a limited duration you may try calling them; or go through the hoops of using Apple
Support online to arrange them to contact you through their site: https://getsupport.apple.com/
Main Support portal: http://www.apple.com/support/contact/
U.S. iPod, Mac and iPad technical support:
(800) APL–CARE (800–275–2273)
- Make an appointment at an Apple Retail Store Genius Bar
- Find an Apple Authorized Service Provider
- See all worldwide support telephone numbers
The site addresses may vary depending on country and location, additional linked pages may
direct most correctly to the main support site from the support articles if the country is selected.
Good luck!
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Jan 31, 2016 1:22 PMby Peter Temp,Would it work on a new mac? I though it was normally gathered info that clogs them?
Atm i'm also testing by turning off my second monitor and external HDD as it could be either of them making the beep since this mac is so much quieter than the old on I may not have noticed.
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Jan 31, 2016 1:44 PMby K Shaffer,Part of the SMC reset suggests you remove peripherals connected, so they are not
part of the process; and also basic troubleshooting of the computer suggests this.
In the case of USB and other cabled items, unmount and unplug them, etc.
The two resets do not 'congregate information' but reset specific items within the Mac.
These are not necessarily used to create any reports; but can help resolve issues directly.
If you contact support and have already tried each of these at least twice, without first
finding they appeared to help (then you'd not need to contact support) do them first.
Good luck!
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Jan 31, 2016 1:58 PMby K Shaffer,Well some models of hard disk drive or the combination HDD and SSD that comprise
the "Fusion" drive in certain models could make such a sound, while not emitting the
mechanical racket 'styli + platter noise' associated with failure.
Did you perform the SMC reset? And/or the NVRAM reset?
Beeps don't mean healthy....
Except unless they're from an old car, happily chugging down the road.
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Feb 1, 2016 2:45 PMby Peter Temp,Well phoned apples support and followed their guide which was to test in safe mode and no change. I've concluded its likely the HDD making the beep as it acts up when its being used more. I'm cannot be certain if its an error or just the normal sounds it makes. Still its a very odd beep and not so much a use one. I think ill get a refund on it and order a new one shortly.
What I' scared about now is the quality of the Mac I will get. This one is defective, certainly seems like it has a bad HDD. What if the new on is the same or has a bad screen? Ive had too many macs with annoying issues. For the money is a shame to get faulty goods...
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Feb 2, 2016 4:32 AMby K Shaffer,Depending on where the product was bought, you have different return
options (and time limits if bought through Apple Inc direct online or from
the company's official Apple Store) and if you are still able, conditionally,
to return the computer and get another from Apple (if bought there) a
new and different model would likely be fine.
Or try for one with totally solid-state type of drive and no moving parts.
This kind of upgrade in features would likely cost more money, though.
Not sure who suggested a Safe mode restart should make the sound
you heard change any; the moving parts will still make noise if they
are caused by a rotational component of the hard drive; since their
Fusion device has part rotational platter drive and part SSD or flash.
An SMC and/or NVRAM reset challenge the circuitry; the hardware.
And at a firmware level the power management or other reset may act
on the hardware in such a way as to remove an electromagnetic cause
of the noise you heard. In any event, the reset, done two or three times
should not make the situation worse.
Be sure to get the AppleCare extended plan on the new replacement Mac.
And if you bought AppleCare on the returned Mac, be sure to ask Apple
about refund of that, when you return the computer. You may want to backup
your account information to an external drive for use with Time Machine
or migration assistant, if you get a similar model Mac with same apps.
Good luck & happy computing!
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Feb 4, 2016 4:23 AMby Peter Temp,Hey just to update. I called apple and they weren't sure what the issue was but have replaced it with a like for like. So just posted the old beeping one back and will get a new one built and sent asap. Great support I'm just weary or quality now since this new mac seemed to be faulty. Whats not to say the next one won't have other issues... Oh I dont want to be doing the returning game for the months to come haha.
As an update in the process I was deleting the beeping macs HDD to erase my data before sending it off, so booted into recovery mode and went to disk manager. The moment I clicked erase on the partition of the Fusion drive it came up with an error which quickly vanished (I had no time to see what it said) and the drive corrupted. Disk manager was then unable to do anything with it, couldn't partition or repair the drive. took me hours to work out that I should boot into web recovery to get the drive to repair and remount. Either way all the data had vanished from the drive. Despite it saying SMART was good I believe the drive was faulty. Could explain what the beeping was. I never had a drive just vanish and corrupt like that after an error in disk manager and Ive zeroed a few Mac OS drives.
In Terms of the sound it was certainly electronic in nature but not from the internal speakers. Listening to the back on the mac near the fan exhaust made the sound more clear. I couldn't be sure if it was caused by moving parts or as a chip chirp. Apparently the PSU can make bad sounds like that when its faulty. But giving the strange issues above when I formatted the drive I'm thinking otherwise.
Either way the Mac is now out of my hands. Lets hope the new one is pain free and better quality.
Cheers
