Macs without fans

pippin · March 22, 2006 4:22PM

Does anyone think that Apple's transition to Intels low voltage processors will aid in the return of some fanless Mac designs? I know Steve Jobs hates fan noise, a fact that was emphasized significantly in the past, only to be pulled back when there was no way to make Macs faster/thinner without the addition of fans. I have never owned a Mac quieter than my 500MHz G3 iMac (my Mac Plus comes close). I felt that the noise reduction was a huge step forward, but these days a 500MHz G3 is just too slow to use. I'd love a replacement that isn't a step back from this.

[pipe dream]In fact, I'd like to take a step forward by eliminating hard drive noise[/pipe dream]

(p.s. - is this post incoherent?)

antartican · March 22, 2006 4:27PM

Earplugs work very well.

Come on little fan noise is not that bad.

I'd rather have them use that money for a faster processor.

sandau · March 22, 2006 4:40PM

My iMac is dead quiet. I've yet to hear the fans. Same with the Mini I used to have, very quiet indeed.

bancho · March 22, 2006 4:58PM

I agree about the current iMac. Mine's dead quiet.

As for getting earplugs, no way, I'd take the quiet computer over the slightly faster one any day.

bulky cranium · March 22, 2006 8:42PM

Hi Pippin,

Try a powerbook. My fan rarely comes on in my 17" PB 1.5 gig. It's not to subtle when it does kick in, but I've heard worse.

I'm wondering about the new ones.

My Old Tower (a 1.25 gig silver door model) sounds like a Bloody Hair Dryer.

I love the quietness.

aplnub · March 22, 2006 9:28PM

Quote:

Originally posted by sandau

My iMac is dead quiet. I've yet to hear the fans. Same with the Mini I used to have, very quiet indeed.

Are you gaming it up?

When Final Cut Studio and games hit the market for the Intel iMacs, I would like to hear your experiences. I don't hear any fans on my 1st Gen. G5 20" 1.8 GHz doesn't make a noise until I fire up FCS or Halo.

gene clean · March 22, 2006 9:59PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Bulky Cranium

sounds like a Bloody Hair Dryer.

Do Bloody Hair Dryers sound worse than Bloodless Hair Dryers?

icibaqu · March 23, 2006 7:12AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Gene Clean

Do Bloody Hair Dryers sound worse than Bloodless Hair Dryers?

uh, yeah dude. where you been?

hammerintoapple · March 23, 2006 8:38AM

Sitting with my PC on and my girlfriend tinkering with her iBook (neither of them under load) we had to strain to hear any kind of noise from the iBook.

I've found that the eMac I use at work is pretty quiet as well, however that might just be because it's got a G5 sitting next to it which makes a hell of a din at times.

bancho · March 23, 2006 12:42PM

Quote:

Originally posted by aplnub

Are you gaming it up?

When Final Cut Studio and games hit the market for the Intel iMacs, I would like to hear your experiences. I don't hear any fans on my 1st Gen. G5 20" 1.8 GHz doesn't make a noise until I fire up FCS or Halo.

I'm playing WoW (universal binary) with settings set fairly high (not sure what I've got them at exactly) and the thing is dead quiet. I can put my hand near the vent in back and the air is warm but only barely. Additionally, I get 0 lag or stutters no matter what situation I've been in with it.

Did I mention it's silent?

flounder · March 23, 2006 1:33PM

Using handbrake so both processors are going full tilt, I still can't here the fan on my iMac (20" intel) above the ambient background noise. If I really concentrate I can, but not otherwise.

jimzip · March 23, 2006 3:49PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Flounder

Using handbrake so both processors are going full tilt, I still can't here the fan on my iMac (20" intel) above the ambient background noise. If I really concentrate I can, but not otherwise.

Ah handbrake.. Now there's a good app..

I just moved overseas and I didn't want to take all my DVD's with me, so I just bought an external HD and backed up everything in my DVD cupboard. (There's a lot in there!)

Uh.. As for macs without fans.

Indeed!

Jimzip

kolchak · March 23, 2006 4:26PM

Macs will always have fans. They can take my Macs when they pry them from my cold, dead fingers...

Oops. Wrong kind of fan.

The fans in my Dual G5 are nearly silent. The 7200rpm SATA drives contribute far more noise. They need to silence those, too.

jimzip · March 23, 2006 4:54PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Kolchak

Macs will always have fans. They can take my Macs when they pry them from my cold, dead fingers...

Oops. Wrong kind of fan.

The fans in my Dual G5 are nearly silent. The 7200rpm SATA drives contribute far more noise. They need to silence those, too.

Yeah they did a really good job with the G5's fan setup. There was a big deal they made about it too, and with good reason, if you ever heard the G4 towers.. (MAN! Talk about sitting next to a jumbo-turbine..)

The old Powerbooks were quiet too.. In fact, I can't recall any mac being annoyingly loud cause of the fans other than the G4..

Jimzip

edit: Oh and

thinkdifferent · March 25, 2006 9:12AM

Quote:

Originally posted by aplnub

Are you gaming it up?

When Final Cut Studio and games hit the market for the Intel iMacs, I would like to hear your experiences. I don't hear any fans on my 1st Gen. G5 20" 1.8 GHz doesn't make a noise until I fire up FCS or Halo.

Yup, gaming definately makes those fan run at a constant HIGH, which does get pretty annoying, but for web surfing and word processing, my 1st Gen G5 iMac is wonderful...

You guys ever have you iMac freeze and hear that blasting rocket ship noises those fans can make? That can get pretty freeky...

aplnub · March 25, 2006 9:22AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Kolchak

The fans in my Dual G5 are nearly silent. The 7200rpm SATA drives contribute far more noise. They need to silence those, too.

Get a SeaGate Barracuda. I have a 300 GB SATA in my 1st Gen 20" G5 iMac and I never hear it run. I wish the 500 GB + drives would hit shelves at CompUSA so I can get my gruby hands on one to swap in my iMac. It has been too long since I got a bigger HD for no good reason.

slughead · March 25, 2006 2:36PM

Quote:

Originally posted by aplnub

Get a SeaGate Barracuda. I have a 300 GB SATA in my 1st Gen 20" G5 iMac and I never hear it run. I wish the 500 GB + drives would hit shelves at CompUSA so I can get my gruby hands on one to swap in my iMac. It has been too long since I got a bigger HD for no good reason.

Try buying from http://newegg.com

On hard drives in particular, Seagates are usually half the price as compUSA's maxtors

jimzip · March 25, 2006 2:38PM

Quote:

Originally posted by ThinkDifferent

Yup, gaming definately makes those fan run at a constant HIGH, which does get pretty annoying, but for web surfing and word processing, my 1st Gen G5 iMac is wonderful...

You guys ever have you iMac freeze and hear that blasting rocket ship noises those fans can make? That can get pretty freeky...

I remember when my G4 was having problems, it used to lock up and then the fans would go into hyperdrive. Like, seriously it was like listening to a 4WD going up a hill..

Scared the crap out of me too..

Jimzip

dansgil · March 25, 2006 3:20PM

I wish I had a silent Mac. My eMac sounds like a jet taking off!

ireland · March 25, 2006 6:27PM

Quote:

Originally posted by dansgil

I wish I had a silent Mac. My eMac sounds like a jet taking off!

I am typing this on my intel 1.83 Duo iMac right now!

I would describe it as quiet!

dansgil · March 26, 2006 2:04AM

I said eMac, not iMac.

Quote:

Originally posted by Ireland

I am typing this on my intel 1.83 Duo iMac right now!

I would describe it as quiet!

Macs without fans

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