7 ms·

The MacBook is (at least in theory) noiseless as well. It has an SSD and no fans.

sokoloff 8y ago
MacBook Air and Pro both have fans. I don’t know the entire Apple line of all time by heart, so there might have been another MacBook that had no fans.
- wilsonnb 8y ago
  Its the super thin 12 inch MacBook they currently sell, which is just called "MacBook".
  - sokoloff 8y ago
    My bad. Thanks for the info!
- ahtu123 8y ago
  The Pro better not go fanless! Oh my CPU melted while compiling and running a few VMs.
wilsonnb 8y ago
A few Chromebooks fit this description as well, at least they used to. My Samsung Chromebook from 2012 has an ARM processor, solid state storage, and no fans. It is pretty slow by today's standards though. I think several companies make cases for the Intel NUC boards that radiate the heat away and have no fans, too.
- sehugg 8y ago
  Many of them are still fanless: https://chromebookdb.com/search.php?fanless https://chromebookdb.com/search.php?fanless My Samsung Chromebook 3 gets a touch warm but never uncomfortably so like my 2012 Retina MacBook, which lets you really feel it when your code is inefficient. (Granted, the Chromebook is a lot less powerful)
_sdegutis 8y ago
When I go to editfight.com on my rMBP the fans go crazy and it gets super hot. When I visit it on my iPhone it stays the same temperature and is silent. Kind of an extreme example but the principle is the same. Phones are better for sites like this.
- kccqzy 8y ago
  The rMBP is very different from the MacBook.
  - _sdegutis 8y ago
    Oh I didn't know that. I thought Apple recently shifted the MacBook so that it was more "pro" and the MacBook Pro so that it was less "pro", making them a lot closer to each other, almost identical. I thought I remembered a lot of criticism over that move too, here on HN.
    - deleted 8y ago
      [deleted]
ckastner 8y ago
Funnily enough, my MacBook Air 2013 produces a buzzing sound on SSD access. It's barely audible, but it's there.
- 1ris 8y ago
  So does my Kingston SSD. And the switching of my switching power supply sometimes (rarely) is the loudest thing in my desktop pc.
- hobofan 8y ago
  My MacBook Air 2013 is routinely the loudest machine in the room when it's compiling or similar.
  - deleted 8y ago
    [deleted]
  - makapuf 8y ago
    Does it have fans? If not, what kind of noise is this ?
    - kkylin 8y ago
      MBAs have fans, the 12" MacBook doesn't.
    - analog31 8y ago
      Possibly inductors vibrating.
    - SmellyGeekBoy 8y ago
      "Coil whine".
      - hobofan 8y ago
        No, the sound comes mostly from the fans, which when at their maximum start to get loud.
mcv 8y ago
The Macbook? My Macbook's fans are incredibly noisy. I've already replaced them once, hoping that would fix the issue, but it didn't. Macbook fans are just noisy. At least the 2011 unibody ones.
- heartbreak 8y ago
  The Macbook didn't exist in 2011. You're thinking of the Macbook Air or Macbook Pro. The Macbook with no fans was released in mid-2015.
  - FabHK 8y ago
    First line of the pertinent Wikipedia article: "The MacBook is a brand of notebook computers manufactured by Apple Inc. from May 2006 to February 2012, and relaunched in 2015." In Jobs' 2x2 matrix, the portable half was initially populated by iBook and PowerBook, later by MacBook and MacBook Pro.
    - heartbreak 8y ago
      And yet, in a post referencing a fan-less "Macbook" it's almost certain that the "Macbook" in question is the only fan-less laptop Apple produces, which is coincidentally called simply "Macbook." It's unfortunate that Apple has confusing brand names, but the fact remains that the Macbook indeed has no fans so the original comment who hears fan noise is obviously using a different model of laptop.
      - mcv 8y ago
        Of course there are Macbooks without fans, but the claim that "the macbook has no fans" is a bit too broad and generic to be true. Macbook Pros are also called Macbooks. Older Macbooks are still Macbooks (they seem to be pretty durable). So if you say that recent Macbooks have no fans, that may well be true. But it's not true for all Macbooks.
        heartbreak 8y ago
RachelF 8y ago
The Dell XPS 13 should also be noiseless when the fan is not on, but many models also suffer from coil whine. I find coil whine a worse background sound than the lower frequency fan hum.
fredsted 8y ago
Can confirm the 12" MacBook is totally noiseless. It's a neat little thing.
ficklepickle 8y ago
I bought an Asus "zenbook" ux305 for this reason. It uses an Intel core M processor, which idle around 800mHz but turbo boost to around 2gHz, which I believe have been discontinued. I was worried about performance, but it has been very acceptable. It depends what you need it for, but I can run 2 monitors, a Linux VM and atom all while streaming HD video. Or I can do light web browsing for 10 hours on battery[1]. I love it. On the rare occasions I need more power, I spin up a spot instance. [1] If you use Linux on a laptop, install "tlp". It optimizes battery life without a noticeable reduction of performance.

MacBook Air and Pro both have fans. I don’t know the entire Apple line of all time by heart, so there might have been another MacBook that had no fans.

wilsonnb 8y ago
Its the super thin 12 inch MacBook they currently sell, which is just called "MacBook".
- sokoloff 8y ago
  My bad. Thanks for the info!
ahtu123 8y ago
The Pro better not go fanless! Oh my CPU melted while compiling and running a few VMs.

wilsonnb 8y ago

A few Chromebooks fit this description as well, at least they used to. My Samsung Chromebook from 2012 has an ARM processor, solid state storage, and no fans. It is pretty slow by today's standards though. I think several companies make cases for the Intel NUC boards that radiate the heat away and have no fans, too.

sehugg 8y ago
Many of them are still fanless: https://chromebookdb.com/search.php?fanless https://chromebookdb.com/search.php?fanless My Samsung Chromebook 3 gets a touch warm but never uncomfortably so like my 2012 Retina MacBook, which lets you really feel it when your code is inefficient. (Granted, the Chromebook is a lot less powerful)

_sdegutis 8y ago

When I go to editfight.com on my rMBP the fans go crazy and it gets super hot. When I visit it on my iPhone it stays the same temperature and is silent. Kind of an extreme example but the principle is the same. Phones are better for sites like this.

kccqzy 8y ago
The rMBP is very different from the MacBook.
- _sdegutis 8y ago
  Oh I didn't know that. I thought Apple recently shifted the MacBook so that it was more "pro" and the MacBook Pro so that it was less "pro", making them a lot closer to each other, almost identical. I thought I remembered a lot of criticism over that move too, here on HN.
  - deleted 8y ago
    [deleted]

ckastner 8y ago

Funnily enough, my MacBook Air 2013 produces a buzzing sound on SSD access. It's barely audible, but it's there.

1ris 8y ago
So does my Kingston SSD. And the switching of my switching power supply sometimes (rarely) is the loudest thing in my desktop pc.
hobofan 8y ago
My MacBook Air 2013 is routinely the loudest machine in the room when it's compiling or similar.
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
- makapuf 8y ago
  Does it have fans? If not, what kind of noise is this ?
  - kkylin 8y ago
    MBAs have fans, the 12" MacBook doesn't.
  - analog31 8y ago
    Possibly inductors vibrating.
  - SmellyGeekBoy 8y ago
    "Coil whine".
    - hobofan 8y ago
      No, the sound comes mostly from the fans, which when at their maximum start to get loud.

mcv 8y ago

The Macbook? My Macbook's fans are incredibly noisy. I've already replaced them once, hoping that would fix the issue, but it didn't. Macbook fans are just noisy. At least the 2011 unibody ones.

heartbreak 8y ago
The Macbook didn't exist in 2011. You're thinking of the Macbook Air or Macbook Pro. The Macbook with no fans was released in mid-2015.
- FabHK 8y ago
  First line of the pertinent Wikipedia article: "The MacBook is a brand of notebook computers manufactured by Apple Inc. from May 2006 to February 2012, and relaunched in 2015." In Jobs' 2x2 matrix, the portable half was initially populated by iBook and PowerBook, later by MacBook and MacBook Pro.
  - heartbreak 8y ago
    And yet, in a post referencing a fan-less "Macbook" it's almost certain that the "Macbook" in question is the only fan-less laptop Apple produces, which is coincidentally called simply "Macbook." It's unfortunate that Apple has confusing brand names, but the fact remains that the Macbook indeed has no fans so the original comment who hears fan noise is obviously using a different model of laptop.
    - mcv 8y ago
      Of course there are Macbooks without fans, but the claim that "the macbook has no fans" is a bit too broad and generic to be true. Macbook Pros are also called Macbooks. Older Macbooks are still Macbooks (they seem to be pretty durable). So if you say that recent Macbooks have no fans, that may well be true. But it's not true for all Macbooks.
      - heartbreak 8y ago

RachelF 8y ago

The Dell XPS 13 should also be noiseless when the fan is not on, but many models also suffer from coil whine. I find coil whine a worse background sound than the lower frequency fan hum.

fredsted 8y ago

Can confirm the 12" MacBook is totally noiseless. It's a neat little thing.

ficklepickle 8y ago

I bought an Asus "zenbook" ux305 for this reason. It uses an Intel core M processor, which idle around 800mHz but turbo boost to around 2gHz, which I believe have been discontinued. I was worried about performance, but it has been very acceptable. It depends what you need it for, but I can run 2 monitors, a Linux VM and atom all while streaming HD video. Or I can do light web browsing for 10 hours on battery[1]. I love it. On the rare occasions I need more power, I spin up a spot instance. [1] If you use Linux on a laptop, install "tlp". It optimizes battery life without a noticeable reduction of performance.