Apple’s Mac Studio has proven popular among professionals thanks to its fast array of M1 Pro and M1 Max ports. But some people are dealing with an annoying problem – their Mac Studio whistles. And you won’t believe what it might do.
Since Mac Studio debuted about six months ago, people have reported strange moaning noises coming from it during use. Doesn’t seem to be this noise truly It is affected by whether or not your Mac is under load, nor by how warm it is. But he was there, and he was driving people crazy.
Some of these people believe that this is due to faulty fans, while others have said that it could be something called coil whine – a noise that the power supply makes while it does its job. But everyone was wrong. Turns out, their Mac Studio was playing a tune the whole time.
You hum it, I’ll play it
The fix may have been found by BasicAppleGuy on Twitter, with a lengthy blog post explaining what’s going on. The short version? “Precisely shaped holes” in Mac Studio around the back. The machine’s air vents were to blame, with Mac Studio fans pushing the right amount of air through them to make a whistle.
yes. truly.
“The idea of whistling makes sense. Try it yourself: start whistling and then vary the amount of air you push out, and note that the whistling peaks at one point and stops completely at others,” the blog post says. This is true. But how do you fix it?
You put electrical tape on it.
Rich Studio Status has something to grumble about in regards to Mac Studio. https://t.co/qx3kmEhRGH pic.twitter.com/MNBbI8eOViAugust 16, 2022
“Then I did something that required the mandatory ‘don’t try this at home’ command: I started gluing small sealed clips to the back of the studio. I first tried by blocking parts of the airflow with a small piece of cardboard to see if I turned off the whistle and put in small amounts of electrical tape through places that seemed most problematic.”, the post continues. Over the next few weeks they monitored the situation and found suitable holes to plug in to calm the wheezing. “Covering the first dozen columns on the far left of Mac Studio seems to reliably solve the problem”. Eureka!
Mac Studio may be the best Mac for a lot of professionals, but that’s weird. As the post points out, don’t try this at home. These holes exist for a reason, after all. But with Mac Studio generally accepted to be great at keeping its cool anyway, BasicAppleGuy is happy. At least for now. Perhaps they will take the device to an Apple Store one day and hope the noise can be replicated to the point of getting a proper repair.
Be sure to check out the full blog post for all the details — and some audio recordings of beeps in action.