How noisy/quiet are the new Macbooks?
February 19, 2010 1:49 AM Subscribe
How noisy are the new Macbooks (2.26GHz basic model)? Do they whistle or whine? Any other annoying things that might drive me mad?
I'm very sensitive to whistles and whines from a computer while I'm working and want things to be as quiet as is feasible. I bought one of the first-gen Macbooks a few years ago and the CPU would whistle annoyingly. Not loud, but enough for me to hear it. I don't want that again.
I'm very sensitive to whistles and whines from a computer while I'm working and want things to be as quiet as is feasible. I bought one of the first-gen Macbooks a few years ago and the CPU would whistle annoyingly. Not loud, but enough for me to hear it. I don't want that again.
Given your sensitivity, you're better off going to the Apple Store and messing around with one rather than taking others' word for it.
posted by proj at 3:58 AM on February 19, 2010 [3 favorites]
posted by proj at 3:58 AM on February 19, 2010 [3 favorites]
Macs are extremely quiet, actually to the point of running hotter than they probably should; Apple is so focused on keeping the machine quiet, and improving battery life, that they don't turn up the fans until it's getting really, really hot.
On my Macbook Pro, I actually run a utility to turn the fans up sooner than Apple does. At full-bore, it can be fairly loud, but half or 3/4 speed is still almost silent, and obviously cools better. I have it start ramping up much sooner, but leave the maximum fan speed in about the same spot, IIRC. (I'm not on the machine right now to check.)
About the only time you'd ever hit max fans would be running a demanding game, and it's never bothered me much. I'm busy playing, and the game sounds are much louder than the fans are.
posted by Malor at 4:03 AM on February 19, 2010
On my Macbook Pro, I actually run a utility to turn the fans up sooner than Apple does. At full-bore, it can be fairly loud, but half or 3/4 speed is still almost silent, and obviously cools better. I have it start ramping up much sooner, but leave the maximum fan speed in about the same spot, IIRC. (I'm not on the machine right now to check.)
About the only time you'd ever hit max fans would be running a demanding game, and it's never bothered me much. I'm busy playing, and the game sounds are much louder than the fans are.
posted by Malor at 4:03 AM on February 19, 2010
i would wait if you can . They should be updated soon.
posted by majortom1981 at 4:04 AM on February 19, 2010
posted by majortom1981 at 4:04 AM on February 19, 2010
Oh, and as far as other annoying things go: the only thing that really bugs me is the lack of an auto power adapter. Apple doesn't make them.
posted by Malor at 4:04 AM on February 19, 2010
posted by Malor at 4:04 AM on February 19, 2010
All the Macs I've used can get loud when the fans kick in. PROTIP: Don't use Adobe Flash.
posted by wongcorgi at 4:59 AM on February 19, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by wongcorgi at 4:59 AM on February 19, 2010 [1 favorite]
Oh wow, I think I know exactly what you're talking about. I had this 2.0GHz MacBook, and it had a terrible high-pitched CPU whine. Drove me batty. I had to run a program called QuietMBP almost all the the time, which ran the fans and killed battery life.
I now have a 13" 2.53GHz MacBook Pro, and it's totally quiet. So nice. I can't speak to the white MacBooks, but it seems like Apple fixed the issue.
posted by Sfving at 5:08 AM on February 19, 2010
I now have a 13" 2.53GHz MacBook Pro, and it's totally quiet. So nice. I can't speak to the white MacBooks, but it seems like Apple fixed the issue.
posted by Sfving at 5:08 AM on February 19, 2010
You can order MacBook Pro's from Apple with a solid state drive (SSD) instead of the standard hard drive - - that's bound to cut down on some of the whine, but unfortunately it's rather expensive and not available on the base MacBook (though you could buy one and install it yourself).
posted by fairmettle at 5:12 AM on February 19, 2010
posted by fairmettle at 5:12 AM on February 19, 2010
On my MacBook Pro, I can't hear the hard drive spinning at all. All I can hear is the occasional seek noise, and it's just barely audible.
The Pros, at least, are extremely quiet computers unless they're really being driven hard, and even then they're not terribly objectionable. I'm kind of anal about computer noise, and these things are very good.
posted by Malor at 5:19 AM on February 19, 2010
The Pros, at least, are extremely quiet computers unless they're really being driven hard, and even then they're not terribly objectionable. I'm kind of anal about computer noise, and these things are very good.
posted by Malor at 5:19 AM on February 19, 2010
Given your sensitivity, you're better off going to the Apple Store and messing around with one rather than taking others' word for it.
Stores aren't the quietest places in the world, and I don't think Apple stores are any different.
It seems everybody here on MeFi has a Macbook Pro.
posted by humblepigeon at 9:34 AM on February 19, 2010
Stores aren't the quietest places in the world, and I don't think Apple stores are any different.
It seems everybody here on MeFi has a Macbook Pro.
posted by humblepigeon at 9:34 AM on February 19, 2010
I have the new 2.26GHz MacBook and it is _extremely_ quiet, the quietest computer I've ever owned. I'm writing this now on it, in a completely silent house and I cannot hear it. I don't think you will have any problems.
posted by keijo at 12:30 PM on February 19, 2010
posted by keijo at 12:30 PM on February 19, 2010
My (late 2008 unibody) MacBook's hard drive makes a very faint intermittent clicking noise when idle. You can't notice it unless it's really quiet. Anyway, I just ordered a new drive (the one in the machine is a 5400 rpm, I got a 7200 rpm with double the size).
Aside from that, only fan noise when the machine is loaded (yeah, Flash).
One good thing about the MacBook is that the air in/outlet is on the well between the screen and the body when the machine is opened. This means it doesn't blow hot air in your legs, and you can use it in your bed. My previous HP would overheat, spin like crazy and eventually poop out because the bed's soft surface would block the bottom vent.
posted by qvantamon at 2:53 PM on February 19, 2010
Aside from that, only fan noise when the machine is loaded (yeah, Flash).
One good thing about the MacBook is that the air in/outlet is on the well between the screen and the body when the machine is opened. This means it doesn't blow hot air in your legs, and you can use it in your bed. My previous HP would overheat, spin like crazy and eventually poop out because the bed's soft surface would block the bottom vent.
posted by qvantamon at 2:53 PM on February 19, 2010
The current MacBook Pros are very silent, but make sure to get the SSD as the hard drives are the most noisiest (and slowest) part. The previous generation (which allowed for removal of the battery) made more noise.
Install ClickToFlash to get rid of the Flash animations that make the computer fans spin up, and GlimmerBlocker to get rid of other junk slowing Safari down.
If you go for a MacBook Pro (and not MacBook) please wait 1-2 weeks, as Apple will release new models Real Soon Now.
posted by flif at 3:03 PM on February 19, 2010
Install ClickToFlash to get rid of the Flash animations that make the computer fans spin up, and GlimmerBlocker to get rid of other junk slowing Safari down.
If you go for a MacBook Pro (and not MacBook) please wait 1-2 weeks, as Apple will release new models Real Soon Now.
posted by flif at 3:03 PM on February 19, 2010
If the new white MacBooks are built the same as the new unibody MacBook Pros (which they appear to be), then they will be very quiet. My old black MacBook would whine like crazy, but I can't really recall a time this new unibody has gotten loud unless I was burning a disc or encoding video. And even then it's pretty quiet, and not a high-pitched whining.
posted by joshrholloway at 10:07 PM on February 19, 2010
posted by joshrholloway at 10:07 PM on February 19, 2010
Response by poster: In the end I bought one of the 2.53GHz 13in Macbook Pros (despite the fact they haven't been updated -- I did this on purpose, figuring new tech such as the Intel i series of chips would take a little time to settle down).
As others have pointed out, the Macbook Pro is about as quiet as notebook computers come. In a *very* quiet room I can hear it a little, but it's not an annoying noise. The CD/DVD player buzzes like crazy when a disc is inserted, but even when the fan comes on (note: when playing YouTube movies, it doesn't), it's a quiet calm sound rather than annoying.
posted by deeper red at 9:23 AM on March 6, 2010
As others have pointed out, the Macbook Pro is about as quiet as notebook computers come. In a *very* quiet room I can hear it a little, but it's not an annoying noise. The CD/DVD player buzzes like crazy when a disc is inserted, but even when the fan comes on (note: when playing YouTube movies, it doesn't), it's a quiet calm sound rather than annoying.
posted by deeper red at 9:23 AM on March 6, 2010
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by him at 2:50 AM on February 19, 2010