Annoying 24" iMac Humming!

2

Comments

  • Reply 21 of 50
    I am also experiencing the humming noise, but it was caused by an external hard drive. When i turn off of the hard drive, it goes away. Perhaps some of your setup is similar to mine.
  • Reply 22 of 50
    imacfanimacfan Posts: 444member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by kmhtkmhtkmht


    Have you attained perfection (silence) in the third one you typed your post with?



    No, typing on my home built PC at the moment - twice as loud and half as annoying. Though I have ordered a Mac Pro - hopefully that will be better. Like I said, it's not really the volume but the quality and the location of the sound.



    Anyone want to buy a kidney... (Have I used that gag too many times yet?)



    David
  • Reply 23 of 50
    Welp count me in as another 24" iMac owner whose computer makes noise that varies with brightness. I can ONLY hear it when nothing else is on in the house tho - or at least thats when I notice it. Yea my PC is twice as loud and half as annoying as iMacFan said. I will be calling Apple on Monday as well - I just got everything working how I wanted it to! I dont want to have to replace it
  • Reply 24 of 50
    jeffdmjeffdm Posts: 12,951member
    It does sound like a bad power inverter or backlight ballast, particularly when the sound changes when you change the display brightness. Changing the brightness changes the demands on both of those.
  • Reply 25 of 50
    I just called Apple Care and they took my information to send to the engineers - I say everyone with this problem give apple care a call!
  • Reply 26 of 50
    skatmanskatman Posts: 609member
    The humming problem is a pretty typical one - cheap power supply.
  • Reply 27 of 50
    aflaaakaflaaak Posts: 210member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by skatman


    The humming problem is a pretty typical one - cheap power supply.



    Typical?! I keep hearing Apple folks talking about one of the reasons Macs are more expensive than PCs is they have higher quality hardware and have fewer problems.
  • Reply 28 of 50
    aflaaakaflaaak Posts: 210member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by skatman


    The humming problem is a pretty typical one - cheap power supply.



    I keep hearing Apple folks talking about one of the reasons Macs are more expensive than PCs is they have higher quality hardware and have fewer problems.
  • Reply 29 of 50
    jeffdmjeffdm Posts: 12,951member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Aflaaak


    I keep hearing Apple folks talking about one of the reasons Macs are more expensive than PCs is they have higher quality hardware and have fewer problems.



    Apple products do get higher marks for reliability and service in PC Magazine, Consumer Reports and other types of statistical surveys. What you see here is the "Internet Bullhorn Effect" where you hear more of the problems.
  • Reply 30 of 50
    aflaaakaflaaak Posts: 210member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by JeffDM


    Apple products do get higher marks for reliability and service in PC Magazine, Consumer Reports and other types of statistical surveys. What you see here is the "Internet Bullhorn Effect" where you hear more of the problems.



    I argree in most cases. The minority complain about the few problems, the majority don't talk up the ones that just work, not interesting. The fact that the humming may be from the design of the powersupply makes me think that most 24" iMacs may have a similar issue since they essentially use the same cheap part. I wonder if in order to rush out quantities of the new 24" and keep the price "reasonable" QC wasn't as stringent as it should have been.
  • Reply 31 of 50
    Anyone else's seem to be getting worse?
  • Reply 32 of 50
    jsonjson Posts: 54member
    Well, it's not getting better.... that's for sure. It used to be a bit different from time to time (worse at times, better at times) but now it seems to be more and more on the worse.... so....



    I thought I'd wait until the store get their 24" and check that one out. I don't want to send mine for repair until I (more or less know) it is even possible to get it fixed.
  • Reply 33 of 50
    Well it will be hard to tell if ones at the store have the problem because theres so many noises threre. I can literally only hear mine in a nearly silent room...
  • Reply 34 of 50
    jsonjson Posts: 54member
    Well, that won't be a problem at "my" store. At least not based on previous "sound checks" I have done there. Since I know where to listen (where on the machine, that is) I am quite confident I will find the noise if it is there.....
  • Reply 35 of 50
    jeffdmjeffdm Posts: 12,951member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by json


    Well, that won't be a problem at "my" store. At least not based on previous "sound checks" I have done there. Since I know where to listen (where on the machine, that is) I am quite confident I will find the noise if it is there.....





    I hope so. My local Apple Store has hard floors, hard walls and only a vaguely acoustically absorbent ceiling. The sound environment is not pleasant, in my opinion, and certainly not quiet.
  • Reply 36 of 50
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by JeffDM


    I hope so. My local Apple Store has hard floors, hard walls and only a vaguely acoustically absorbent ceiling. The sound environment is not pleasant, in my opinion, and certainly not quiet.



    Not to add fuel to the fire of the 24" iMac woes, but a friend of mine is considering purchasing one but has been told that there is a hiccup when running Aperture, her main app of choice for buying the machine in the first place. I went to my local Apple store and played around with the 24" (which is BEAUTIFUL, incidentally) and sure enough, Aperture wouldn't even open on that particular model. This may be an isolated case, but I would urge purchasers interested in running Aperture to check other online message boards and Apple's own support page to see if this really is an issue of concern. If it's not a widespread problem — and if any sound problems it may have are dealt with — then the 24" is a gorgeous piece of work.
  • Reply 37 of 50
    aflaaakaflaaak Posts: 210member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Sybaritic


    Not to add fuel to the fire of the 24" iMac woes, but a friend of mine is considering purchasing one but has been told that there is a hiccup when running Aperture, her main app of choice for buying the machine in the first place. I went to my local Apple store and played around with the 24" (which is BEAUTIFUL, incidentally) and sure enough, Aperture wouldn't even open on that particular model. This may be an isolated case, but I would urge purchasers interested in running Aperture to check other online message boards and Apple's own support page to see if this really is an issue of concern. If it's not a widespread problem ? and if any sound problems it may have are dealt with ? then the 24" is a gorgeous piece of work.



    I started out think of waiting to buy my first Mac until either MWSF or Leopard is released (wish they were the same date), but now I'm thinking it might give Apple enough time to work the bugs out of the iMacs as well. Sometimes waiting is a good thing!
  • Reply 38 of 50
    jsonjson Posts: 54member
    The local dealer got their 24" today and I went there to get a quick listen.



    It has the crackling sound that can be heard even when the machine is off, but the guy said that was normal (he was almost certain his iMac G5 had it as well, but he was going to double check it).



    It did not have the humming sound that changes with the display brightness. So maybe it is my 24" that has a fault instead of it being a batch or design fault.



    I will probably get back there to listen some more and then decide. I will most likely send it in for repair, but just today my MacBook gave up completely (probably a faulty hard drive... among other things...) so before I get that one back (or hopefully a replacement) I will not part with my 24.... hopefully it will not give up..... \
  • Reply 39 of 50
    so im wondering if theres been any more movement on this issue?



    i was sitting patently for the 20" and then Apple (the swines) add in this 24"iMac, which i really want, but not if theres noise issues... i really need it to be silent.



    updates would be cool guys n gals
  • Reply 40 of 50
    steve666steve666 Posts: 2,600member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Aflaaak


    I keep hearing Apple folks talking about one of the reasons Macs are more expensive than PCs is they have higher quality hardware and have fewer problems.



    That was before they started building them in China. Same reason Dell went down the tubes.
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