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So how silent is the M2 Pro Mac Mini?

 1 year ago
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So how silent is the M2 Pro Mac Mini?

Freida

macrumors 68040

Original poster

Oct 22, 2010 3,862 5,546
Those who got the m2 pro version, what is your feedback on noise, please? Can you share with us?

tevion5

macrumors 68000
Jul 12, 2011 1,943 1,547 Ireland
Mine arrives next week, hoping it's quiet. Had to return 3 Mac Studios over fan whine before giving up. Used an M1 Mac Mini in the interim which has been a surprisingly capable performer and wonderfully quiet.

pransu

macrumors newbie
Jan 25, 2023
This guy gave his 24 hours review on M2 Pro. If you go to 8:26 mark, he mentioned while testing Premier Pro test, he could hear the humming across the room, and the case was pretty warm.

eelpout

macrumors 6502
Oct 30, 2007 Silicon Valley
This guy gave his 24 hours review on M2 Pro. If you go to 8:26 mark, he mentioned while testing Premier Pro test, he could hear the humming across the room, and the case was pretty warm.
wow, the fan sounds a lot like the Intel i7 version there. the question is if it will do this under Lightroom like my 2018 does now, I would hope not.
Reactions: Jumpthesnark
I pretty much expect fan noise under load. My main interest would be in noise levels when at idle (when it should be dead silent, IMHO). Also interested in non-fan noises, whines and suchlike.
Reactions: eelpout

eelpout

macrumors 6502
Oct 30, 2007 Silicon Valley
I pretty much expect fan noise under load. My main interest would be in noise levels when at idle (when it should be dead silent, IMHO). Also interested in non-fan noises, whines and suchlike.
this is the first YT video I've seen where they've recorded a noise.

I think many expected the M2 Pro Mini to be silent like the M1. I just didn't think that would be possible considering how much heat the M2 Pro was likely to put out. This might explain why they didn't slap an M1 Pro in there earlier, they've been trying to figure out how to keep it cool as much possible without changing the external chassis.

Betamagic

macrumors member
Apr 25, 2017 Netherlands
I have already returned my Mac mini M2 Pro because of the fan noise. Compared to my MacBook Pro 16" M1 Pro, which is completely dead silent, the fan of the mini I received was clearly audible when idle. Perhaps it was a Monday morning sample.

10x

macrumors newbie
Jan 24, 2023
I have already returned my Mac mini M2 Pro because of the fan noise. Compared to my MacBook Pro 16" M1 Pro, which is completely dead silent, the fan of the mini I received was clearly audible when idle. Perhaps it was a Monday morning sample.
this might change my plan to get the mac mini m2 pro. what stress test were you doing when the fan kicks in? premiere, finalcut, or logic?

Betamagic

macrumors member
Apr 25, 2017 Netherlands
this might change my plan to get the mac mini m2 pro. what stress test were you doing when the fan kicks in? premiere, finalcut, or logic?
The fan runs with a minimum speed of 1690 rpm, and with that speed the fan was already audible. I must admit that I have perhaps sensitive ears, but not being dead silent like my MacBook Pro 16" when idle (or in whatever situation) is a deal breaker for me.
Reactions: uller6

jmpage2

macrumors 68040
Sep 14, 2007 3,160
This guy gave his 24 hours review on M2 Pro. If you go to 8:26 mark, he mentioned while testing Premier Pro test, he could hear the humming across the room, and the case was pretty warm.
Interesting, in Six Colors review Moren insists that the M2 was for all intents and purposes completely silent even when he had the cores completely loaded for a period of time:
Oh, and since I know fan noise is of particular concern to segments of the market that might be interested in the M2 Pro mini, I’ll say this: I could not hear the machine’s fan. Ever. I fired up all the cores and left them going for a while, and still nothing. I held my Apple Watch’s decibel reader near the back of the mini, and I noticed no appreciable change. I even installed Fanny, an app that reports fan data, to make sure there was indeed a fan inside. (There is, but apparently it is very quiet.) Apple’s not blowing smoke when it says low power consumption is a cornerstone of how it develops its chips.

Betamagic

macrumors member
Apr 25, 2017 Netherlands
Interesting, in Six Colors review Moren insists that the M2 was for all intents and purposes completely silent even when he had the cores completely loaded for a period of time:
Either my Mac mini M2 Pro was a bad copy, or Moren is a bit deaf. I was very happy when I read the review of Moren, and extremely disappointed when I received and started my new mini the next morning.
Last edited: Yesterday at 2:02 PM

10x

macrumors newbie
Jan 24, 2023
Interesting, in Six Colors review Moren insists that the M2 was for all intents and purposes completely silent even when he had the cores completely loaded for a period of time:
Either my Mac mini M2 Pro was a bad copy, or Moren is a bit deaf. I was very happy when I read the review of Moren, and extremely disappointed when I received and started my new mini the next morning.
Im not sure what I should make of this

eelpout

macrumors 6502
Oct 30, 2007 Silicon Valley
Either my Mac mini M2 Pro was a bad copy, or Moren is a bit deaf. I was very happy when I read the review of Moren, and extremely disappointed when I received and started my new mini the next morning.
Could be unfortunate random sampling, like some Studios having the 2kHz whine more than others. Guess I'll find out when mine arrives in a couple weeks. If it's on the whole quieter than my existing i7 version (which BTW idles at the same 1700 RPM and at roughly 48 dB) I'll probably just keep it.
Reactions: Betamagic

mikeboss

macrumors 68000
Aug 13, 2009 1,507 switzerland
I also found an article from a spanish reviewer and one from the german magazine DER SPIEGEL, both mentioning noise being clearly perceptable from the Mac mini M2 Pro's fan when under heavy CPU Load.

I canceled my order of an M2 Pro mini.
www.applesfera.com

Mac mini M2 Pro (2023), análisis: potencia maximizada

La llegada del Mac mini supuso para Apple una ofensiva total al mercado de PCs, buscando a los indecisos que aún no se atrevían a probar las bondades de los...

www.applesfera.com

www.applesfera.com

www.spiegel.de

(S+) Apple Mac mini M2 Pro im Test: Billiger ist besser

Das gibt es nicht oft: Der neue Mac mini ist günstiger als sein Vorgänger, soll aber trotzdem mehr Leistung bringen. Wir haben ihn auf den Prüfstand gestellt und Apple mit unseren Erfahrungen konfrontiert.

www.spiegel.de

www.spiegel.de

Last edited: Yesterday at 2:51 PM

10x

macrumors newbie
Jan 24, 2023
This guy gave his 24 hours review on M2 Pro. If you go to 8:26 mark, he mentioned while testing Premier Pro test, he could hear the humming across the room, and the case was pretty warm.
this reviewer has connected 3 monitors to the mac mini pro, could this be the contributing factor of louder fan noise?
Reactions: Jumpthesnark

jmpage2

macrumors 68040
Sep 14, 2007 3,160
I have an i7 2017 iMac that sounds like a jet engine when the CPU is under load so it will be interesting to see how the M2 Pro Mini compares. If it's noisy enough to be annoying then I will be returning it.

I ordered with 10Gb ethernet so I won't have the machine for a few more weeks.

Freida

macrumors 68040

Original poster

Oct 22, 2010 3,862 5,546

mikeboss

macrumors 68000
Aug 13, 2009 1,507 switzerland
This is not good 😌
understatement of the week, to say the least. I'm disappointed. had to return the Mac Studio because of the noise it makes. was very much looking forward to the new mini... will keep the M1 mini (which stays dead silent under all circumstances).
Reactions: MBAir2010

pransu

macrumors newbie
Jan 25, 2023
I won't make any drastic judgement just yet. Those who'll be receiving the unit, can you provide feedback as well? If it does make a fan noise, just curious if putting it in vertical position makes any difference.

James_C

macrumors 68030
Sep 13, 2002 2,753 1,632 Bristol, UK
Will be disappointing if the Mini Pro’s fans are annoying under load. I skipped the studio for this reason. I am still hoping it’s not a systematic issue as we are getting mixed reviews at the moment.

Jumpthesnark

macrumors 6502a
Apr 24, 2022 3,256 California
Mine arrives next week, hoping it's quiet. Had to return 3 Mac Studios over fan whine before giving up. Used an M1 Mac Mini in the interim which has been a surprisingly capable performer and wonderfully quiet.
I still remember the Studio launch video, when one of the Apple product managers comes out to talk about how powerful it is, and they say, in passing, "the sound is so minimal for most workloads, you'll barely even hear it."

Which was a big red flag for me. I thought "this is the launch video, and you're already warning me about the sound?"

That said, I hope your M2 Mini is quiet! At least they didn't warn us ahead of time about noise, so that's a good sign!

hoodlum90

macrumors member
Apr 30, 2020
I was hoping this would be a quieter solution vs the Studio. Why is Apple able to keep the Macbook Pro quieter than the larger desktop solutions? It almost seems like noise is an afterthought for these desktop models, even with the additional space for cooloing.

sam_dean

macrumors 6502
Sep 9, 2022
This might explain why they didn't slap an M1 Pro in there earlier, they've been trying to figure out how to keep it cool as much possible without changing the external chassis.
M1 series chips used less power than M2 series chips so odds are M1 Pro generated less waste heat.

Odds are the M1 Pro never appeared due to demand of MBP M1 Pro did not allow enough supply to trickle into Mac mini or even the iMac 24"

With the M2 Pro it appears they were more prepared with demand for both the MBP & Mac mini.

sam_dean

macrumors 6502
Sep 9, 2022
You may want to consider that so long as the fan noise is lower than any 2014-2020 Intel Mac then it's a buy even if you hear it a itsy bitsy bit.

NeonNights

macrumors regular
Jul 22, 2022
I won't make any drastic judgement just yet. Those who'll be receiving the unit, can you provide feedback as well? If it does make a fan noise, just curious if putting it in vertical position makes any difference.
Ditto. Gonna keep my M2 Pro order and see for myself. I plan to orient it vertically and already have a stand in position.

The M1 Mini in the exact same location on my desk, vertically, was dead silent under heavy load. Let's see how the 10-core M2 Pro fares in the same spot a few weeks from now.
Reactions: pransu

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