Imac 17" hum

Hi,
I had been away from my computer for about a week with it being switched off.
When I came back from my business trip, I noticed my imac 17" had developed a low hum. I am sure it is not the fan and I have read up on it here on the discussion groups.
Is this something to be concerned about or is it just a "design imperfection"?
Thanks.

"Has there been anyone whose humm had developed into a bigger problem aside from being an annoyance?"
I don't recall reading so, but that doesn't mean much. Many posters don't return here with their eventual results. Some never know, after leaving it at the shop for a week or two, if it's still as loud or quieter. If the technician tells them "it should be quieter now," that suggestion may be all it takes to convince them.
If the issue does tend to develop into a logic board replacement, I'd think that now, more than a year after the introduction of the Intel-based iMacs, it would have become clear from these boards that something like that was going on.
It's difficult for a user to explain how much more annoying it's become, so I'm not sure it's fair to you if any of us here dissuade you from your own interpretation. If it is truly annoying to you, I would hope you'd at least contact Apple and get it on the record with them that you find it so.
Getting Apple to open a repair case file on it [one with a number that you'll be able to later refer back to them] so that you can take it to an AASP (Apple authorized service provider) might be the least you should do to protect your own financial interest (under your warranty). That way, if it happens to develop into a new logic board, your visit for help will be on the record, even if at that time a technician says nothing is wrong. Best of luck:)
Message was edited by: myhighway

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Replacement 20" iMac Constantly Humming

Hello
I have just received my replacement 20" aluminium iMac. I have had it replaced as the screen had the known gradient problem where its brighter at the bottom and darker at the top.
Well first of all, the gradient problem is still there in this one, I knew this would happen as everyone else with the issue reported it range-wide, despite Apple recommending a replacement.
But what's worse, this replacement model is producing a significantly loud humming noise coming from inside the machine which sort of 'throbs' or 'pulsates'. I am so unhappy at the moment! I am already unsure what to do with the gradient issues, and now this!
I understand many have reported the 24" iMac producing humming noises, but I am yet to see anyone with a 20" iMac report this, as well as the fact that the humming is fading in and out.
If anyone else is having this same problem with the 20" iMac, please do tell! And is there a way of fixing the issue? Or does it look like this one has to go back as well? If it does, then I will be asking for a refund as this is just totally unacceptable quality for Apple.

I would install iStat Pro and look at your fan speeds. The normal speeds are around:
CPU Fan 1200 RPM
Hard Drive 1200 RPM
Optical Drive 999RPM
If they are way different than these, then look into SMC Fan control to see if lowering your fan speed helps. BUT watch your temperatures using iPro. I thought my iMac was humming but it turns out that everything was within specs and that my den is very silent so any noise seemed out of place. Good Luck
Message was edited by: musashi88

IMac 24" humming

My 24" make the humming sound from the monitor. When i lower the brightness the sound become louder but even at 100% of brightness this hum is still noticeable (easy way to test is wait for the standby of the screen, in this way you realize that the humming is about 75% of the noise produced by this iMac).
I've heard of one person that after 3 exchange has received one iMac without the hum (but with one death pixel).
I wonder if this humming is:
1) normal for this model (there are many many 24 with the hum)
2) if it is possible that this hum from the inverter may be a symptom of a worse problem (incoming death of the inverter?)
In this iMac the "disable the half-dim before standby" option is also NOT working (is unchecked in system preferences but the screen continues to lower the brightness after some time).

I bought a 20" intel imac back in Feb, totally quiet. Recently upgraded to the new 24 incher - noticed the screen hum noise almost immediately. Annoying, especially after having a totally silent iMac.
From checking around the web and here it seems that this is only (or most commonly) found on the 24 inchers, not the 20 or 17. Then you've got to factor in the # of people who just have it but probably just don't notice it. I would return it but again from what I've read, it seems people have gotten replacements with the same hum more often than not. So my questions would be:
1. Does apple know about this issue? Sounds like every story about calling support results in the tech saying he/she has never heard of this and issuing a replacement. I don't doubt that I would get the same response if I called - I'd like to hear that Apple has been hearing more and more about this problem and are working on a fix. I'll probably call just to log the issue one more time in their database.
2. Is it hardware or software? Software I can live with, provided Apple acknowledges it and has a firmware fix in the works. To test whether it was something in the OS I loaded boot camp and messed around with the brightness in Windows, same hum - doesn't look good (or sound good that is).

IMac i7 humming

Hi. Whenever I turn my iMac on, a second after the screen has come on something starts to spin up until it reaches it's maximum (like a fan on full whack). When on full whack it makes a humming noise almost like a vibration. If I lift the computer off the desk it is hardly audible. This issue I don't think was present on my first iMac which had a half dark screen but it was present on my 2nd iMac which had a perfect screen. Now my 3rd iMac has arrived today with the same humming issue and I think the screen is slightly yellow all over.
I am fairly sure I am going to get a replacement but I was just wondering if anyone else has experienced this problem.

DrRGrant:
If you have no other problems, i.e., startup, freezes and restart, or shutdown, and the computer is functioning normally, then my first guess would be a fan but I don't know why, something could be mechanically wrong with it. But if it's racing at or near maximum then there is something more complicated then a malfunctioning fan. If not the fan, then it would be the HD. In either case, back up your material before returning it to Apple.

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I have just come from the new Apple store in Hornsby, having returned the second iMac 27 inch computer with a hum/buzz/vibration noise complaint.
APPLE THIS IS NOT A MYTH AND NOT ACCEPTABLE!
The story goes like this...
I bought a 3.4 Ghz, quad core 27 inch iMac with a 1TB Seagate HDD and 8GB of RAM, and the 1GB video card a few months ago from the Apple store in Castle Hill, Sydney NSW. Took the machine home, set it up, and was extremely happy with it. Upgraded to Lion, had no issues with performance or ambient noise etc... it was whisper quiet. I would leave the machine running all the time, letting it simply sleep when inactive, and it never made a sound other than the optical drive or maybe occasionally the drive heads when reading or writing data. It was dead silent!
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At this point I must note that the staff (Manager Kate and Technician or 'Genius' James) have been outstanding in terms of customer support. I cannot fault the staff at this point, just the product.
Tuesday morning the folks at the Apple store advise that they can either try to repair my now noisy iMac, or replace it. I figure, well I'll replace it then. So James sets about that day transferring all my data again, moving my 8GB of Ram from the machine with serial number C02FG03YDMW8 to a new machine, with serial number C02FP02MDMW8. The new machine has in it of course, a Western Digital drive (not that I am attributing the hum/buzz/vibration to the WD drive, but it is an odd coincidence don't you think?). I pick that machine up Tuesday afternoon, thanking everyone for all their wonderful help, and knocking on wood that this new machine is as faultless as my first one was prior to the drive replacement. Guess what!? It wasn't!!!
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Anyone wish to comment? Apple maybe!? The iMac is in the shop for further diagnostics.

I also have 2 Tb Hitachi iMac 2011 with SSD. The source of constant noise is Hitachi drive. When iMac runs just on SSD it's dead silent. Disappointed with this issue for so expensive model. Changing the tabble or using rubber pad like some people advice don't help at all. I saw some iMacs which are almost dead silent, so it's weird Apple sells so different models, especially when you pay much more to get that 2 Tb drive. I am already out of my 2 weeks return/exchange period, and actually I had a very little hope on the shop - they surely will tell it's normal since the drive is OK. I called Apple authorized service and they tell iMacs can be as loud as 30 Db. But it's weird, I saw a bottom line 512 Gb model in the shop and couldn't hear any buzz even with my ear touching the screen. Surely the constant HDD buzz just attracts the attention and makes overall impression from using iMac not that positive. I saw older iMacs, even plastic ones, they are all dead silent. So what can we do in this situation? Surely Apple won't serve it as a warranty issue. Also customers are very limited in choosing replacement hard drives as Apple now uses proprietary models, and many of them tend to be noisy....
Actually when you have an SSD drive you can unmount your second hard drive and it becomes silent. You can even specify the drives to go to sleep after 1 minute of inactivity with pmset Terminal command. But it will start to spin again again after going from sleep. Also if you have some third-party tools like Parallels installed, the second drive will not sleep at all cause Parallels causes some conflict.
Overall this computer is dead silent when the secondary HDD is not spinning, even in games.
I really don't know what to do

Hard Drive Hum on brand new IMac i5

All,
Just settling in with my new IMac, and a very noticeable, persistent hum comes from the machine. It is not read/write noises, but very clearly it is the 2tb Hitachi Drive (Hitachi HDS722020ALA330) making the majority of the noise (I can hear the fans, but those are acceptable). The noise is a steady, persistent hum. I can hear read/write noises when accessing files, but these are very quiet.
The reason I know its the hard drive, is that during shutdown, while the screen is still lit, the noise will die and then a second later the machine goes off.
The noise itself kind of sounds like a transformer hum, and is noticeable even when playing music on the machine (at a fairly low level). In a silent room, this noise is noticeable from across the room. The noise does not fluctuate with changes in screen brightness, or even putting the screen to sleep.
Anyhow, I am considering calling AppleCare, but wanted to see if there is a way to quiet this drive down. Some IStat info:
HD: 55°
CPU 50°
GPU Diode 64°
GPU Heat sink 60°
Mem Controller 56°
Optical Drive 48°
Power Supply 2 61°
Ambient is 27°
the fan speeds are:
Optical Drive 999 rpm
Hard Drive: 1099 rpm
CPU Fan: 1199 rpm
There are a ton of threads around humming, clicking, fan noises...etc... after reading them (some anyhow), I think I have accurately noted the sound I am hearing. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks,
Greg

I confirm that my iMac 21.5'' Core i5 2011 has a constant HDD humming as well. It's not too loud, but very recognizable in a silent room even from some meters away. the HDD access noise does not bother me as it's quiet enough. Actually all Apple coomputers I have had a crappy loud hard drives, which is weird for the computers of such price. While the silent drives do exist on the market, Apple prefers to install a cheap hard drives to save some bucks. I am really disappointed that 2011 models have a proprietary hard drives, which limit the upgrade. I tried to listen to this Mac at the shop where I purchased it and heard nothing, but the room was not perfectly silent. When I ran it at home I've got the noise immediately. I have Hitachi 2 Tb drive (it's pretty old model to install in 2011 computers, what a shame Apple). While the drive speed is good, the humming just kills the entire iMac idea , because you have it right at your face. I don't wish to go back to the shop cause it's actually in another country and it will be not easy to move it back and forth.. And I doubt they will be able to help me.
I am just curious is this humming in every iMacs with 2 Tb Hitachi, or mine is not OK?
BTW there are LOTS of complaints on noisy iMAc HDDs for years, and it's weird Apple does nothing to fix it.
I would probably prefer to have a 1 Tb HDD without a humming, than pay so much extra for BTO iMac just to get this problem. I think I will try to replace my HDD at some moment, but with 2011 iMac limitations that could be some problem if you are not in the USA.

Imac hard drive making low humming type of noise?

I have an imac that is about a year old. I don't run a lot of stuff at one time usually. Internet, email. I do movie editing at times but not when this problem appears.
My wife tells me I have sensitive ears so maybe I'm blowing this out of proportion. But I've noticed for the past 3 to 4 weeks that, randomly, the imac will make a low humming noise. The noise isn't constant (i.e. one noise that keeps going). It's more of an up and down sort of noise (whir-silence-whir-silence-whir, etc.). I notice the heck out of it to the point that it's giving me a headache. Wife said she doesn't really notice it.
It hasn't done this all the time or I would have noticed it. And it doesn't do it all the time but I can't point to anything I'm doing differently to cause it.
Is this a sign that the hard drive may be going bad? I've been computing for about 20 years and I've never had a hard drive fail. Not sure what signs/sounds to look for. Imac seems to be working flawlessly otherwise.
Thanks much.

Thanks to you both for the responses.
I installed techtool, and then downloaded the current version, ran everything but surface scan (default setting is not to do this) and everything passed. I will probably do the surface scan overnight as I'm assuming that takes time. But, I guess it's a good sign that everything passed, though it leaves me wondering what all the humming is.
Incidentally, it's NOT doing it right now, so it does turn off/on.
Again, thanks.

24" iMac Hum is Gone

I woke up today and my brightness was all the way up...i use my iMac with the brightness at its max setting all the time, but right after i wake up it's too bright.
My room is very quiet in the morning, and i noticed right away that there was no hum when i turned the brightness all the way down. The computer was on all night, just the display was sleeping, and my CPU is about 98-100 degrees F.
I wonder if it depends at all on the temperature? I am sure the hum will return, but for the last 10 minutes on the lowest brightness setting possible it's definitely not humming.

I woke up today and my brightness was all the way
up...i use my iMac with the brightness at its max
setting all the time, but right after i wake up it's
too bright.
My room is very quiet in the morning, and i noticed
right away that there was no hum when i turned the
brightness all the way down. The computer was on all
night, just the display was sleeping, and my CPU is
about 98-100 degrees F.
I wonder if it depends at all on the temperature? I
am sure the hum will return, but for the last 10
minutes on the lowest brightness setting possible
it's definitely not humming.
I have a similar machine and had this same problem. The hum was corrected by contacting Apple and then leaving the machine with the local service shop for about 10 days. The solution was drastic for a machine less than 3 weeks old - replacement of the display panel along with associated inverter. Strongly recommended that you contact Apple as if the hum points to an inverter problem at some point it is likely to cause other issues and then ...
This appears to be a problem that will not just go away and the before/after noise levels associated with display brightness changes are significant. My concern was what if there was a problem, caused by the inverter, outside of warranty then what would be the repair cost?
Intel iMac 2.33 GHz Mac OS X (10.4.8)

24" iMac Screen Dim Humming

I have recently noticed that when my iMac's screen auto dims, a faint humming noise comes from within the iMac. Is this normal?

I have heard of this happening but I do not know how normal it actually it because mine does not do it. I would do a little forum searching because I know the topic has been discussed here before.
George

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Got a new 27 incher on tuesday after fedex lost the first one That's a different story.
The problems
1. The huge iMac moves a tad bit too freely on its base and when i try to tilt it to an angle, it doesn't stay at that angle it trys to go tilt back down ... maybe its gravity.. i don't know...
2. Very very low frequency humming noise from the iMac top left corner... its out when it goes to sleep. not the normal HDD/fan noise. I have a fan app, its not the fan... but its really annoying when working on it ...
i've seen a couple of posts about this. i'm taking this 27 incher to the store tomorrow... lets see how the geniuses deal with it. i hope they acknowledge this problem. does anyone else with the 27" have this problem?

Took it to the apple store, some genuises looked at it, confirmed it and sent me another one

Do the new Aluminium 24" iMacs have the inverter hum problem ?

I'm looking to get myself the new Aluminium iMac 24" however my experience with the 2007 White iMac 24" was a loud hum from the inverter that drove me nuts !
Does anyone know if the 2009 model makes a loud hum when the screen brightness it turned down ?
I can't see anything recent posts, so hoping the problem is fixed in the new design ...

I have the new 2009 24 in imac and I have not heard in any noise it is quiet. Hope that helps at all.

24" iMac 3,o6 has a low frequency undulating hum/drone

I can only rid myself of this very annoying drone or hum if I place the imac in sleep mode or shut down. It is not a fan noise and ofter reading the forums I turned off the build in mike all to no avail. Any suggestions would be appreciated
iKarl

Hi iKarl
Welcome to Apple Discussions
Run the display brightness up and down, if the humming stops at the maximum setting then we have nailed it down to the display inverter (dimmer rheostat) control. If in indeed the inverter is the culprit then you'll really need and should take your iMac in for service.
As a work around set the iMac's brightness to max. and use the third party utility Shades for dimming the display!
http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/31515
Dennis

IMac 27 buzz/hum getting worse

I bought an iMac about a year ago it is the 27 inch i3 3.2ghz one with no upgrades and i have never opened it. When i got it it had a slight hum when i dimmed the brightness down but i always had the brightness high about 80% and decided to live with the buzz. But now the buzzing has got even worse and is coming from the top left hand corner of the screen. It seems like it is the led board or the psu as when i put the display to sleep it completely goes away and the fans are really quite. The probelm is that my imac is out of warranty now by a few months and i didn't extend my applecare as i thought i would never need it. I know there have been other posts about this but they all just gave it to apple or put a mat underneath, which i have tried, but i want to know if i could repair it myself as my warranty has finished and where i could get the parts from in the UK. And if i do need to go to apple, how much would it cost. Also i do experience grumbling noises from my hard drive occassionally, which i know is normal but that seems to be gettting worse as well, louder and more frequent.
Thanks, help would be appreciated

The buzz/hum is comming from the display inverter or dimmer and there is not much that you can do except take it in for service like rkaufmann87 say's.
However, there are a couple of work-a-rounds that might help you if it is quiet when set to the maximium brightness.
1. Set the brightness to max and go to: Apple / System Preferences / Display / Color and select or create a darker display profile.
2. Set the brightness to max and use a third party brightness utility like Shades. > Shades | Software | Charcoal Design
All Hard Drives make some noise, some make more that others and so while a replacement should make less, there is no guaranty that it will last any longer or be any quieter.
For peace of mind you best bet is to:
1. Have a good backup plan > The no-worry backup plan | Macworld
2. Turn up iTunes

Imac 17" hum

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