imac 27 inch loud HD?

Considering that their using only 7200 RPM drives in the iMacs (hoping that they move to 7200 across the line) it should be fairly quiet...I would've thought you'd notice the fans way more than the hard drive. It's not beyond the realm of possibility you got a faulty hard drive.

Can you try recording it using the built-in microphone? It's hard to know if it's problematic if we can't hear what's going on. It would a huge pain to have to take it in to an Apple Store and have them assess it. It could also be completely normal.

I've signed up to these forums especially to answer your question. I too have the i7 with exactly the same model of hard drive. I can hear the drive, and it can be noisy, but generally, this iMac is no louder than my old white one. The drive makes a gentle whirr all the time, and clicks when it's seeking, but the clicks are relatively infrequent when just typing and are quite muffled. My desk is like an amplifier for vibrations and I can safely say this iMac vibrates less than my old plastic one. Apart from a really tiny spec of dust under the glass, it's pristine!!

I have the same Seagate drive as you in my new 27 inch i7 and it also constantly clicks away when I am not really doing anything. I can hear it over the noise of my typing this message right now.

I just got my Quad Core i5 iMac in a couple days ago from ClubMac and haven't noticed any hard drive noise like you described at all.

Do you hear anything at all? For instance when I'm looking at iPhoto I can hear the HD grumble (similar to stomach grumbling) - also get the same intermittent grumble when browsing the internet.

I get the exact same problem on my Imac 27inch, its brand new also i got it Saturday, It sounds exactly like a stomach rumbling, I only notice this while browsing on the internet, is there a solution? I dont fancy sending my Imac back, im considering this aint a big problem compared to some people receiving lemons and faulty screens.

I am convinced that this is just disk activity noise that is characteristic of the Seagate internal drive. I've had 4 iMac quads (both i5 and i7) and the noise exists on all four. At any rate, it is unobtrusive, appears to be benign, and I simply don't worry about it.

There are many 27" iMac for which the HD noise is not acceptable nor normal, Apple is taking care of them under warranty. This is one of the many problems that are sadly common in this last series of iMacs (screen flickering, yellow non-uniform cast on the screen, many iSight dead pixels).

Have the causes been isolated and identified on these unacceptable and abnormal noises?

I only know that Apple is offering to replace the HD or the whole iMac to people with this noise problem.

Here are some reports about the problems: http://www.listenupsteve.com/fixtheimac/?page=6

As regards my new 27" iMac, I got 1 dead pixel (but I find this acceptable), 12 iSight dead pixels, a yellow cast on the bottom right of the screen (very noticeable on a white background, but luckily I'm not a graphic pro) and the screen is noisy (a high pitch sound coming from the lcd panel, but it is presumably from the internal power adapter) when dimmed or when put to a stop (the screen is noisy for me only when the gpu temp is > 50°C, ie the majority of the time). I won't return it for now (unless it starts to flicker) because I heard that the chances that the replacement has the same or worse problems is not that low, so I'll wait as soon as all the problems are apparently fixed before sending mine for a repair. I'm reading that Apple is taking care of all the problems, even sending refunds to people who ask them, so kudos to them for that.

Other than that (which may be unacceptable for many), this is the best Mac I have ever owned. It has the speed I've always dreamed of when using OSX, and it looks simply stunning.

Thanks . . . very useful information.

Same happened to me. new iMac 27.... expensive... excited and all of a sudden this noise coming from the inside. I called them within the first 14 days and they said it is only the fan. I called again and they say press ctrl+cmnd+p+r. Three times they asked me to do the same.

For weeks they said it is only the fan. I insisted. Eventually they said I need to get it back to the store (taxi £20) I said enough! so they sent someone to take it from my place (couldn't you say this from the beginning, it is a 27 mac after all).

A whole week passed by, I called and they said it was repaired, they just want to keep it in there for few more days to check it is all right. A LIE!!!
I called after 2 days and someone else said the new part just arrived.

They should have replaced the computer, I paid almost £2000 and need to go through weeks of frustration and misery, missing the deadline for my degree show project.

I didn't expect this from Apple!

::: NO COMPENSATION WAS OFFERED :::

Same happened to me. new iMac 27.... expensive... excited and all of a sudden this noise coming from the inside. I called them within the first 14 days and they said it is only the fan. I called again and they say press ctrl+cmnd+p+r. Three times they asked me to do the same.

For weeks they said it is only the fan. I insisted. Eventually they said I need to get it back to the store (taxi £20) I said enough! so they sent someone to take it from my place (couldn't you say this from the beginning, it is a 27 mac after all).

A whole week passed by, I called and they said it was repaired, they just want to keep it in there for few more days to check it is all right. A LIE!!!
I called after 2 days and someone else said the new part just arrived.

They should have replaced the computer, I paid almost £2000 and need to go through weeks of frustration and misery, missing the deadline for my degree show project.

I didn't expect this from Apple!

::: NO COMPENSATION WAS OFFERED :::

Compensation? Are you bloody serious?

Welcome to life, it does not come with a guarantee of compensation for every little irritant!

Just to understand: you had a deadline to meet and you sent in for repair your, otherwise, perfectly functioning computer because of a hard drive noise. The repairs take time (you are not the only one who need them) and as a result you missed the deadline. How is that Apple's own fault as long as you could keep the computer and send it after the deadline?

He made a bad decision, but it doesn't look like he wants to admit it, as he's blaming Apple for his own poor choice. I'm guessing that he has a history of blaming others instead of taking responsibility for his own actions.

I have been having exactly the same problems!

I bought the imac 27" 2 days ago after all the rave reviews that I have been reading. After starting up the really heavy machine for the first time I noticed that I have a couple of dead pixels, so I called up the store and they said that because it had just been purchased I could take it back in and grab a new one. Great, I thought! They were very apologetic and gave me a new machine straight away without an appointment.

After getting this machine home and starting it up I loaded all my information onto it and noticed a low pitch humming that was present during the time the computer was turned on. After fiddling around a bit i realised that it was the vibrations of the fan through my wood desk and a thick cloth placed under the stand fixed this straight away. Further still, there was a buzzing noise that became more and more prevalent as my display brightness was lowered and really loud when it was off (the monitor, not the computer itself).

I also noticed a really bothersome grumbling coming from the hard drive and, coming from macbooks and macbook pros, this really struck me as un-apple as I didn't think that you were suppose to hear anything. I called up applecare the next day and told them my issues. The brightness noise disappeared overnight (conveniently) but I was still able to clearly hear the sound of the hard drive. He asked for my serial number (ST31000528AS) and he promptly said that I could take it back to the apple store and get it swapped out again because it was a known issue (though being a known issue you would think that they would use different Hard Drives in manufacturing). I took it in the next day and showed them my case number - they swapped out the machine again with no issues.

Now I am at home.... with my third new imac, and I still hear a grumbling (it's the same model hard drive - fail) .... T_T I will call applecare and see what else I can do. I really can't handle the noise. Other pcs that are desktops don't have this problem and I am annoyed that so many imacs seem to be affected. Really annoyed. I can say that I have never had an issue with a mac product before, though I may end up going back to a macbook... seriously it's bothering me that much. And it shouldn't be there at all. Maybe just a refund is in order.

We'll see what happens.

I have two 27's. First and second gen models. I notice the hdd sound on my new one more but it is present on both. Never gave it a second thought really.

Newest 27" iMac Spec's: 2.93 GHz QC i7 with a Western Digital WDC WD1001FALS-40Y6A0 1 TB drive.

I just got my i7 2.93 in the mail yesterday, im not sure what brand the hard drive is, im guessing WD since thats what aplnub said but I havnt noticed any loud noises. I think when it first started it clicked a bit but nothing abnormal.

It kind of seems from the other posts that either the issue is defective hardware, when its abnormally loud, or the room you are in is making it loud. I always have some sort of background noise on in my apartment, whether thats the heat/ac/tv/air purifier, so maybe i just dont notice it.

I think apple has finally fixed most/all of the iMac issues they have been having. I think mine is perfect (besides one dead pixel) but hey i can deal with one dead pixel. So either i lucked out or they finally got their act together.

My older iMac i7 Quad Core 2.8 GHz has a hard drive - ModeltST31000528ASQ

It is no louder than my WD.

Hmm I can't really understand why I can hear it all the time. I left my 27 inch imac with the apple store over night and they called me saying that they have tested everything and can't hear a thing. Now I have lifted the machine off of the ikea desk in my room and this makes no difference to the sound of the hard drive grumbling, but it seems that the sound must have something to do in some respect to the environment that I have it in.

I have decided to just make piece with it. Probably due to the fact that I have gone from macbooks and laptops to this machine the standard for noise that I had created may have been a little unrealistic. ...