Is the Mac mini M4 silent?

[The Paul meister]

Hi all,

Simple question - is the Mac mini M4 silent like the iMac M4? I saw on the Apple website there's some sort of fan on the Mac mini.

Cheers, Paul

[Sam Spoons]

I'm pretty sure all Macs have fans, my M1 MBP does as do my Mrs S' M1 Mini and her Macbook Air and my intel Mini. The question I would ask is how much stress does it take to fire the fans up to an audible level? In the case of my MBP and my new 2019 intel Mac Pro I don't recall ever hearing the fans. Similarly, in the case of the Mac Pro, the (pretty quiet) fan in my X32 has suddenly become noticeable and I have finally snipped the power wire to the noisy fan in my Ampeg bass combo* as it was suddenly unbearably loud

* I intend to fit a switch at some point, the amp only gets low level usage in the studio so unless I'm gigging it or rehearsing with a loud drummer I don't expect it to break a sweat but when 'Chris-the-drummer' is 'in-da-house' I expect some forced cooling will be necessary.

[The Paul meister]

Thanks for your reply,

There are no fans on the iMac M4, hence it's silent.

[Wonks]

The M4 iMac Mini certainly has a fan in the base. Just watched a teardown video.

[Wonks]

Thanks for your reply,

There are no fans on the iMac M4, hence it's silent.

8-core has one fan, 10-core has two fans.

[Sam Spoons]

Not doubting you but where have you found this info, I've googled and can't find anything that says that iMac M4s are fanless?

[The Paul meister]

Thanks Wonks,

Can anyone comment on whether these fans make a significant amount of noise?

[The Paul meister]

Hi Sam,

I own an iMac M4. I asked on this forum before I bought it and someone said it was silent like my previous iMac i5. If you find an image, eg on the Apple website, you will see there are no fans on the back of it.

I'm asking about the Mac mini as I'm thinking of getting another Mac for my lounge, and was just wondering about the noise levels.

[The Paul meister]

Just saw this under 'Tech Specs' on the Apple website for the Mac mini:

'Typical acoustical perform­ance: sound pressure level (operator position): 5 dBA at idle 5'

The 5 refers to the footnote. There's no mention of any 'acoustical performance' on the iMac M4 specs.

[tacitus]

I’ve had an iMac M3 for a year now and never heard a peep. Nor from its predecessor 27” Intel iMac I used for nearly 7 years. Whether that’s lighter use, my hearing, silent fans or no fans I have no idea at all.

[Sam Spoons]

Hi Sam,

I own an iMac M4. I asked on this forum before I bought it and someone said it was silent like my previous iMac i5. If you find an image, eg on the Apple website, you will see there are no fans on the back of it.

I'm asking about the Mac mini as I'm thinking of getting another Mac for my lounge, and was just wondering about the noise levels.

The fans in iMacs, Macbooks and Mac Minis are not visible from the outside of the case, the air intake and exhaust is through a narrow slot, at the bottom of the case of an iMac and Mini and on the back edge of my MBP. In practice, as I said above, I haven't heard the fans fire up on my MBP or Mac Pro, or Mrs S' M1 Mini. I guess they do run but not fast enough to be audible over normal background noise. So how much stress are you going to be putting the lounge Mini under? I'd be surprised if streaming music or video or web browsing is going to get the fans running fast enough to be audible and even an M1 would be more than fast enough for that kind of stuff.

[The Paul meister]

Ok Sam,

Thanks for your reply. Yes I would probably be only using the lounge mini for internet and streaming like you said.

[Sam Spoons]

Pretty much what I use my M1 MBP for. I've been watching YT videos and reading forum posts for the last hour or so and I've just stuck my ear to the vents, it is completely silent.

[The Paul meister]

Ok, thanks

[Wonks]

I've just stuck my ear to the vents

Superglue? Kids having fun, eh!

[Sam Spoons]

[The Paul meister]

Just googled this:

https://www.google.com/search?q=is+the+ ... nt=gws-wiz

I don't know why I didn't think of that sooner

[Sam Spoons]

Good find, and it confirms my experience that most Macs' fans are very quiet and inaudible on normal use.

[The Paul meister]

Comparing the google for Mac mini and iMac, it says the Mac mini is 'usually quiet' whereas the iMac is 'very quiet'. Otherwise sounds the same - some fan noise under heavy loads.

[Sam Spoons]

Yes, that makes sense, there is more room in the iMac for cooling, having dismantled my intel Mac Mini to swap the SSD it is pretty crowded in there. But, so it is in my MBP and the fans in that are silent/inaudible in normal use.

If it's a streaming/browsing device you want you can buy a refurbished M1 Mini for £325... https://www.hoxtonmacs.co.uk/collection ... lability=1

[The Paul meister]

Hi Sam,

Thanks for all your replies. Getting a Mac mini with a nice big screen is a bit of a luxury for me at the moment. I've got a Dell PC laptop which is fine for now, and is silent most of the time. I will bear in mind your info on the different Macs you mentioned - a Macbook Pro for example - which is good to know if I ever get one of those.

Cheers, Paul

[Sam Spoons]

I assumed you were planning what I did with my used intel Mac Mini and plug it into the TV which was a cheap way to get a streamer in the living room. If you need a good monitor as well it ain't so cheap as you say...

[The Paul meister]

No I wasn't planning on plugging anything into a TV, but that's not a bad idea

[BWC]

Personally, I won't go near anything from Apple, but I have an ASUS Chromebox mounted to the back of my TV (also driving two other displays). It's great, and I only hear its fan running if I go behind the TV and put an ear within a few inches of it.

[Deft]

I’ve not put my Mac Mini M4 under any real processor stress, but under no load I would say it is silent.