MacRumors

MacRumors is pleased to announce our Thirteenth Annual MacRumors Blood Drive, throughout the month of May 2022. With your help we can save lives by increasing the number of donations of blood, platelets, and plasma. While most blood drives are specific to a geographic location, our blood drive is online and worldwide.

Over the past 12 years, MacRumors Blood Drives have recorded donations of 1056 units units of blood, platelets, and plasma, and celebrated new signups for the organ donor and bone marrow registries. We've heard from first-time donors, from users who donate regularly, and from users whose lives were saved by the blood donations of strangers.

This year's featured blood donor is user chengengaun, who lives in Singapore. chengengaun has participated in the MacRumors Blood Drive and has also registered for the bone marrow registry.

How to participate in the MacRumors Blood Drive - during May 2022

1. If you are an eligible donor, schedule a blood, platelet, or plasma donation (see FAQ), at any donation center near you. Post in the MacRumors 2022 Blood Drive! thread to tell us about it. Also post if you register as an organ donor or register for the bone marrow registry (see FAQ). We'll add all donors and registrants to our Honor Roll.
2. If you aren't eligible to donate, please encourage someone else to make a donation, and let us know. If they donate, you'll both be added to our Honor Roll.
3. Share our message with friends, relatives, and followers. Thank the people who post in the MacRumors 2022 Blood Drive! thread.

How to participate in the MacRumors Blood Drive - from June 2022 to April 2023

In between the MacRumors Blood Drives each May, record your donations on our Team MacRumors page. We'll tally your donations and count them for the MacRumors Blood Drive next May.

1. Go to the Team MacRumors page and click PLEDGE TO GIVE BLOOD. (Bookmark the page for the future.)
2. Fill in your MacRumors username as your first name and @ macrumors as your last name.
3. In the comments field, tell us what type of donation and how many units, e.g., 1 unit of whole blood, 2 units of platelets, etc.
4. The email address and zip code fields don't matter. MacRumors won't use that information.

We look forward to another successful MacRumors Blood Drive!

Apple canceled plans to add a body temperature sensor to the Apple Watch Series 7, but the feature could come to the Apple Watch Series 8 instead, according to reputable analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.

In a thread of tweets, Kuo explained that Apple originally intended to offer a body temperature measurement feature with the Apple Watch Series 7 models, but the company shelved the plans when the body temperature algorithm it had developed failed to meet requirements before the device entered the engineering validation testing (EVT) phase last year.

Kuo believes that the upcoming Apple Watch Series 8 could feature body temperature monitoring, providing "the algorithm can meet Apple's high requirements before mass production."

The problems Apple has experienced relating to body temperature measurement purportedly relate to the fact that skin temperature quickly varies based on the environment, and since a smartwatch cannot monitor core body temperature using hardware, the feature is heavily dependent on an algorithm that produces accurate results.

Kuo added that Samsung is experiencing similar challenges with body temperature measurement, noting that the Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 may not come with a body temperature monitoring feature due to algorithmic limitations.

Both Kuo and Bloomberg's Mark Gurman have previously discussed how the 2022's Apple Watches were likely to offer body temperature monitoring capabilities, but rumors related to the feature have quietened in recent times. Kuo's comments today appear to raise further doubts around whether the feature will actually debut with the Apple Watch Series 8 later this year.

For everything we know so far about the Apple Watch Series 8, check out our dedicated guide.

Apple this week finally launched its Self Service Repair program for recent iPhone models in the United States, while the company also made progress toward rolling out improvements to the much-maligned Studio Display webcam and announced strong quarterly earnings while warning of continued supply chain challenges.

On the rumor front, we saw several iPhone 14 leaks including the front glass for all four models, so read on for all the details on these stories and more!

Apple Launches Self Service Repair Program for iPhone

Apple this week announced the launch of its Self Service Repair program in the United States, starting with iPhone 12 models, iPhone 13 models, and the third-generation iPhone SE. The program will be expanded to Apple silicon Macs and to additional countries later this year.

As part of the program, Apple has made common iPhone parts available to purchase online, such as displays, batteries, and cameras, as well as a series of tools for completing the repairs. Apple has also made free step-by-step iPhone repair manuals available on its website.

iPhone 14 Pro Display Panels Reveal New Pill-and-Hole Design Replacing Notch

Apple's upcoming iPhone 14 Pro models are widely rumored to feature new displays with a pill-shaped cutout and a hole for the Face ID sensors and front camera, respectively, and this week we received our first real-world look at this design.

A leaked image of front glass panels for all four iPhone 14 models revealed not only the rumored pill-and-hole design for iPhone 14 Pro models, but also slightly thinner bezels around the display and a slightly taller aspect ratio. The standard iPhone 14 models are expected to retain the same notch as iPhone 13 models.

Apple Releases Studio Display Firmware 15.5 Beta With Webcam Improvements

Apple this week released Studio Display firmware version 15.5 with webcam improvements, but it is only available to users running the macOS Monterey 12.4 beta for now. There is no timeframe for a public release.

Apple confirmed that the new firmware improves the Studio Display's camera tuning, noise reduction, contrast, and framing, after early reviews of the Studio Display criticized the webcam's image quality.

Apple Reports 2Q 2022 Results: $25.0B Profit on $97.3B Revenue, Best March Quarter Ever

Apple this week announced financial results for its second fiscal quarter of 2022, which corresponds to the first calendar quarter of the year.

For the quarter, Apple posted revenue of $97.3 billion and net quarterly profit of $25.0 billion, or $1.52 per diluted share, compared to revenue of $89.6 billion and net quarterly profit of $23.6 billion, or $1.40 per diluted share, in the year-ago quarter.

Despite record-setting performance across nearly every product category, Apple says that supply chain challenges will continue to impact its business in the current quarter, resulting in a $4 billion to $8 billion hit to its anticipated revenue.

Apple Seeds Third Betas of iOS 15.5 and iPadOS 15.5

iOS 15.5 and iPadOS 15.5 continue to progress towards release, with the third betas of each update now available to developers and public beta testers.

Both updates are minor and contain only a few changes, such as references to Apple's upcoming classical music app and tweaks to Apple Pay Cash. Apple also seeded the third betas of macOS Monterey 12.4, watchOS 8.6, and tvOS 15.5.

Apple's Studio Display vs. Dell's Latest 27-Inch UltraSharp Monitor

On our YouTube channel this week, we shared a video comparing Apple's Studio Display to Dell's latest 27-inch UltraSharp Monitor.

Priced at $655 on sale, the Dell display is the same size as the Studio Display, but it has 4K resolution rather than 5K and it maxes out at 400 nits brightness rather than 600. Watch our video for a complete comparison of the displays and subscribe to MacRumors for more videos.

MacRumors Newsletter

Each week, we publish an email newsletter like this highlighting the top Apple stories, making it a great way to get a bite-sized recap of the week hitting all of the major topics we've covered and tying together related stories for a big-picture view.

So if you want to have top stories like the above recap delivered to your email inbox each week, subscribe to our newsletter!

Apple today released a brief teaser trailer for an upcoming "Behind the Mac" film featuring Skywalker Sound, the sound effects division of Lucasfilm known for the Star Wars franchise and many other high-profile movies.

The full film will be released on Apple's YouTube channel on May 4, Star Wars Day, and will examine how artists at Skywalker Sound use Macs and other tools to generate the sounds featured in the iconic films.

Late last week, controversy erupted after Apple began notifying some developers that their apps that had not been updated in some time would be removed from the App Store as part of an "‌App Store‌ Improvements" project to clean up "outdated" apps.

Many of the affected developers objected to Apple's policy, noting that their apps continued to function just fine despite a lack of updates, highlighting the amount of work that might be needed to submit even a minor update, and pointing out that many apps can exist as finished works without a need for continual updates.

Apple has now shared a new developer update clarifying its ‌App Store‌ Improvements policies and extending the amount of time it is giving developers to update their affected apps from 30 days to 90 days.

Apple says that apps that have not been updated within the past three years and which do not meet a minimum threshold for downloads ("not been downloaded at all or extremely few times during a rolling 12 month period") are subject to the policy, with developers receiving notices via email.

As part of the App Store Improvements process, developers of apps that have not been updated within the last three years and fail to meet a minimal download threshold — meaning the app has not been downloaded at all or extremely few times during a rolling 12 month period — receive an email notifying them that their app has been identified for possible removal from the App Store.

Developers can either appeal the pending removal or submit an update within 90 days in order to keep their apps live on the ‌App Store‌. Apps that are removed will continue to function normally for users who previously downloaded them.

Mac apps often don't receive as much attention as apps designed for iPhones and iPads, so we have a regular video series that is designed to highlight some of the useful Mac apps that we've come across over the past few months. Our April picks feature apps for quickly accessing websites, adjusting external display settings from the menu bar, using a Windows-like "alt-tab" tool, and more.

• WebCatalog (Free) - WebCatalog is a handy app that's designed to turn websites into desktop apps so you can access all of your favorite website content in one handy place. It offers up self-contained, distraction-free windows and is an alternative to using browser tabs. WebCatalog is free to use, but it offers a limited number of apps. To unlock unlimited apps, you need to pay $40.
• AltTab (Free) - AltTab is a simple app that is based on the Windows "alt-tab" windows switcher. With the tool, you can customize your controls to mimic how alt tab works on Windows, quickly swapping between your open app windows and manipulating them with simple keyboard commands.
• MonitorControl (Free) - As the name suggests, MonitorControl is a straightforward menu bar app that lets you adjust the parameters of an external display. You can tweak brightness, contrast, volume, and more.
• Raycast (Free) - Raycast is kind of an all-in-one extendable launcher or Spotlight replacement app that offers a bunch of features for writing scripts, activating shortcuts, searching for files, controlling your system, writing quick notes, opening links, launching apps, tracking clipboard history, and much more.
• CleanShot X ($29) - CleanShot X is a screen capture tool that's ideal for taking screenshots and videos. It's simple to capture whatever you want on your screen, annotate it, and send it off, plus there's a cloud component that saves everything in one spot. It can do screen recordings and capture screenshots even if the content doesn't fit all on one screen. There's a $29 one-time payment option that unlocks a year of updates, or users can pay $8 per month for continual updates.

Know of a great Mac app that we haven't highlighted yet? Let us know in the comments below and we might feature it in a future video. For more of our Mac app picks, check out our Mac apps archive.

Qualcomm's answer to Apple silicon will be available in devices by late 2023, the company's CEO said earlier this week (via Tom's Hardware).

In November last year, Qualcomm announced plans to build next-generation Arm-based System on Chips (SoCs), designed to rival Apple's M-series chips, for the PC market. The chips are "designed to set the performance benchmark for Windows PCs" and are being developed by the Nuvia team. Qualcomm said that it will directly compete with Apple's M-series chips, including the M1, M1 Pro, and M1 Max, and hopes to lead the industry for "sustained performance and battery life."

During the company's latest earnings call earlier this week, Qualcomm President and CEO Christian Amon said that the Nuvia team was progressing toward its goal of developing a significant leap forward for Arm processors. Amon added that the first Nuvia-designed processor will be "going after the performance tier" and that Nuvia-powered Windows laptops are on track to be available to customers by late 2023.

The timing seems to indicate a slight delay compared to the original 2023 timeframe set out by Qualcomm last year. The company previously said that sample Nuvia chips would be available to device manufacturers by August 2022, but now that expectation has been broadened to the second half of 2022, with particular emphasis on the debut of the first consumer Nuvia devices in "late" 2023.

Qualcomm acquired Nuvia, a chip startup company founded by ex-Apple chip designers, for $1.4 billion in January 2021. The former Apple engineers wanted to create Arm-based SoCs specifically for servers and target the always-connected PC (ACPC) market with a chip that could compete with the ‌M1‌, but now the team's aims seem to have been significantly broadened.

By late 2023, Apple is expected to be well into its M2 series of chips. The company may have even introduced the first M3 chips by the time the first Nuvia chips come to market.

Today marks the 20th anniversary of Apple introducing the eMac, designed specifically for educational use in classrooms and computer labs.

Priced at $999 in the United States, the original eMac featured a white enclosure with a 17-inch flat-faced CRT display, a 700 MHz PowerPC G4 processor, 128 MB of RAM, a 40 GB hard drive, five USB ports, two FireWire ports, two speakers, and a built-in CD-ROM drive. An upgraded model with a faster 56K internet modem was available for $1,199.

"Our education customers asked us to design a desktop computer specifically for them," said Steve Jobs, in April 2002. "The new eMac features a 17-inch flat CRT and a powerful G4 processor, while preserving the all-in-one compact enclosure that educators love."

Relay FM co-founder Stephen Hackett today shared a great video about the eMac's history:

The original eMac shipped with Mac OS X version 10.1.4, known as "Puma," and it came preinstalled with Microsoft's Internet Explorer. Apple's own web browser Safari was announced in early 2003, months after the eMac launched.

Citing strong consumer demand, Apple made the eMac available to all customers in June 2002.

"Consumers have pounded on the table demanding to buy the eMac, and we agree," said Jobs. "The eMac's production ramp is ahead of schedule, so we'll have enough eMacs this quarter to satisfy both our education and non-education customers."

Apple went on to release additional eMac configurations with upgraded specs and a SuperDrive. In October 2005, the eMac became limited to educational institutions only again, and the eMac was replaced by a low-end 17-inch iMac in July 2006.

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) has launched an investigation into competition in mobile app ecosystems.

On behalf of the United States Department of Commerce, the NTIA is now requesting comments about competition in mobile app ecosystems. The investigation was triggered by an executive order on Promoting Competition in the American Economy from July last year, with the aim of making recommendations for improving competition, reducing barriers to entry, and maximizing user benefit. President Biden's executive order explained:

The American information technology sector has long been an engine of innovation and growth, but today a small number of dominant Internet platforms use their power to exclude market entrants, to extract monopoly profits, and to gather intimate personal information that they can exploit for their own advantage. Too many small businesses across the economy depend on those platforms and a few online marketplaces for their survival...

The formal request for comment lists in detail how iOS is likely to come under scrutiny as part of the investigation, with questions related to benefits of developing a standalone app for a platform compared to cross-platform web apps, how web apps should operate on mobile platforms, the availability of other methods of app distribution, and app sideloading. Particular attention is given to iOS's "unique barriers" that prevent users and developers from taking advantage of web apps, apps from alternative app stores, or sideloaded apps.

"The app economy is becoming a fundamental way that Americans interact with their environment," the request for comment explains, "Thus, it is critical that this market be robust, open, innovative, and secure—and without barriers to entry and growth."

The Federal Register is now open to comments from the public about competition in mobile app ecosystems. The information gathered as part of the investigation will be used to inform President Biden's competition agenda later this year.

Apple's ecosystem is increasingly coming under intense scrutiny by governments around the world, including in the United Kingdom, Japan, South Korea, the European Union, and more, with a clear appetite from global regulators to explore requirements around app sideloading and interoperability.

Note: Due to the political or social nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Political News forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

Apple was the only top smartphone maker that saw a year-over-year increase in shipments in the last quarter, while Samsung, Oppo, Xiaomi, and others saw steep declines in their respective mobile smartphones.

Apple yesterday announced record earnings for the March quarter, with more than $97 billion in revenue, beating expectations. Following the results, Strategy Analytics, Canalys, and IDC have shared their reports of smartphone shipments for the last quarter. They all differ in exact numbers and estimates, but across all three reports, Apple was the only maker to have experienced growth in the last quarter.

Per information by Canalys, Apple saw growth of 8% compared to the same quarter last year, now taking up 18% of the total market share. Apple still lags behind Samsung in its overall market share, but Samsung saw a decline of 4% in the last quarter. Strategy Analytics reports that other Android smartphone makers, such as Oppo and Vivo, saw 29% and 30% drops in their market share.

Apple in the last quarter said the iPhone grew over 5% year-over-year, accounting for $50.6 billion despite ongoing supply constraints. Apple CEO Tim Cook says that demand for the iPhone 13 lineup remains strong and expects demand to continue. Apple has been dealing with ongoing supply chain issues, caused by new COVID-19 restrictions and lockdowns in mainland China. Apple is expecting the supply chain issues to continue into the next quarter.

Earlier this week, Apple began rolling out a firmware update for AirTags, and while it wasn't clear at the time what changes were included in the update, Apple has now revealed in a new support document that it tweaks the sound made by unknown AirTags found to be traveling with you.

AirTag Firmware Update 1.0.301

Tuning the unwanted tracking sound to more easily locate an unknown AirTag.

Apple has made several changes to the way AirTags function since their release in order to address concerns about the trackers being used for stalking purposes. Apple in February announced a suite of changes it would be making with regard to stalking concerns, with some of the changes rolling out in March with iOS 15.4 and others coming later.

One of those changes coming later involved using more of the loudest tones in the tone sequence played by an unknown AirTag to help locate it more easily, and that appears to be what this week's firmware update includes.

Tuning AirTag’s sound: Currently, iOS users receiving an unwanted tracking alert can play a sound to help them find the unknown AirTag. We will be adjusting the tone sequence to use more of the loudest tones to make an unknown AirTag more easily findable.

While not mentioned in the release notes, Apple is rolling this firmware out on a staggered basis, and there is no way to force your AirTags to update. The update was capped at being delivered to 1% of ‌AirTag‌ users as of Tuesday when it started rolling out, which will rise to 10% on May 3 and 25% on May 9, and it will go fully live to everyone on May 13.

Apple is expecting ongoing supply issues to continue to impact product sales in the third quarter of 2022. In the second quarter, Apple had some difficulty meeting demand for the iPhone, iPad, and Mac due to supply constraints, and that is going to get worse in Q3 2022.

Apple CFO Luca Maestri said that Covid disruptions in China and silicon shortages are making it difficult to make enough product to satisfy customer demand.

The supply constraints will cost Apple $4 to $8 billion depending on how long it takes suppliers in China to get back up and running. According to Apple CEO Tim Cook, the supply issues are all centered on the Shanghai corridor, and while almost all factories are now reopened, it will take some time for them to ramp back up to standard output levels.

As of now, the supply issues have primarily affected iPads and the higher-end MacBook Pro models. Cook says that going forward, most product categories will be impacted, and this will ultimately affect Apple's June quarter revenue.

Since the launch of the first Apple silicon Macs in November 2020, Apple has continued to see strong growth in Mac sales. Apple's Mac revenue hit $10.4 billion in Q2 2022, up from $9.1 billion in the year-ago quarter.

During today's earnings call covering the second fiscal quarter of 2022, Apple CFO Luca Maestri said that the company has been growing its install base. There was a March quarter record for upgraders, and half of all Mac buyers during the quarter were new to the product.

Apple saw strong Mac growth despite supply chain constraints. Apple has had trouble delivering some of its high-end MacBook Pro models in a timely manner, and some users have seen significant delays in shipping estimates.

Most recently, Apple introduced the Mac Studio with M1 Max and M1 Ultra chips. The ‌M1 Ultra‌ is Apple's most powerful Apple silicon chip to date, and it is twice as powerful as the ‌M1 Max‌.

Apple today announced its earnings results for the second quarter of its 2022 fiscal year, including revenue of $97.3 billion, a new March quarter record. Apple saw growth across its iPhone, Mac, Wearables, and Services product categories, but iPad revenue experienced around a 2% decline compared to the year-ago quarter.

"We are very pleased with our record business results for the March quarter, as we set an all-time revenue record for Services and March quarter revenue records for iPhone, Mac, and Wearables, Home and Accessories," said Apple's CFO Luca Maestri.

Apple's CEO Tim Cook told CNBC that its iPad line continued to face "very significant supply constraints" during the March quarter.

The breakdown of Apple's earnings results for the March quarter:

• iPhone: $50.5 billion, up from $47.9 billion in the year-ago quarter
• iPad: $7.6 billion, down from $7.8 billion in the year-ago quarter
• Mac: $10.4 billion, up from $9.1 billion in the year-ago quarter
• Wearables, Home, and Accessories: $8.8 billion, up from $7.8 billion in the year-ago quarter
• Services: $19.8 billion, up from $16.9 billion in the year-ago quarter

Wearables, Home, and Accessories includes the Apple Watch, Apple TV, HomePod mini, iPod touch, AirPods, Beats headphones, accessories like iPhone cases and Apple Watch bands, and more. Services includes the App Store, Apple Music, Apple Arcade, Apple TV+, Apple Fitness+, iCloud, Apple Pay, AppleCare plans, and more.

Apple today announced financial results for its second fiscal quarter of 2022, which corresponds to the first calendar quarter of the year.

For the quarter, Apple posted revenue of $97.3 billion and net quarterly profit of $25.0 billion, or $1.52 per diluted share, compared to revenue of $89.6 billion and net quarterly profit of $23.6 billion, or $1.40 per diluted share, in the year-ago quarter.

As expected, Apple's revenue and earnings set all-time records for the March quarter.

Gross margin for the quarter was 43.7 percent, compared to 42.5 percent in the year-ago quarter. Apple also declared an increased dividend payment of $0.23 per share, up from $0.22 per share. The dividend is payable May 12 to shareholders of record as of May 9.

Apple has also authorized an increase of $90 billion for its stock buyback program.

“This quarter’s record results are a testament to Apple’s relentless focus on innovation and our ability to create the best products and services in the world,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “We are delighted to see the strong customer response to our new products, as well as the progress we’re making to become carbon neutral across our supply chain and our products by 2030. We are committed, as ever, to being a force for good in the world — both in what we create and what we leave behind.”

As has been the case for two years now, Apple is once again not issuing guidance for the current quarter ending in June.

Apple will provide live streaming of its fiscal Q2 2022 financial results conference call at 2:00 p.m. Pacific, and MacRumors will update this story with coverage of the conference call highlights.

Conference call recap ahead...

➜ Click here to read rest of article...

Snap today announced the launch of its latest hardware product, the Pixy drone that is designed to be used with the Snapchat social network. Pixy joins the Snap Spectacles, Snap's other hardware device.

Priced at $230, Snap's Pixy drone is essentially a pocket-sized flying camera. It has a top button that can activate one of four preset flight paths, and it can float, orbit, and follow the user without a controller.

There are two cameras on the Pixy drone, one that's used for navigation and landing (it's able to land on your hand at the end of a flight), and a second that's for recording 2.7K video. Videos captured by Pixy are transferred and saved to Snapchat Memories, and can be used with Snapchat's editing tools, Lenses, and Sounds before the content is shared on the social network.

Snap's information on the Pixy is a bit limited, but reviews have suggested that the battery lasts for about four flights before needing to be recharged. Snap is selling extra batteries for the device.

Snap has been working on this drone for some time now, and there were first rumors about a drone product back in 2017.

Snap's Pixy is available starting today in the United States and France and can be ordered from the Pixy website.

The camera-equipped Wristcam accessory for the Apple Watch is being updated with FaceTime-like video calling, the company announced today.

For those unfamiliar with Wristcam, it is an Apple Watch band that adds an 8-megapixel camera and a two-megapixel selfie camera to your wrist, with the camera able to hold up to 2000 photos or an hour of video. The device connects to the Apple Watch over WiFi or Bluetooth, and it enables hands-free recording.

With the new video calling feature, Wristcam owners will be able to make calls to friends and family right from their wrists. On its own, the Apple Watch supports voice calls and audio FaceTime calls, but as it has no built-in camera, there is no native video calling functionality.

Using the Wristcam app, Wristcam offers watch-to-watch calling with other Wristcam users, or Watch-to-iPhone calling. Note that this is not ‌FaceTime‌ or another native video calling feature -- both parties must have the Wristcam app.

Video calling is available as of today, but Wristcam's website says that users must request "early access" to use the feature. Wristcam is also gaining a new WristcamOS SDK, which will open up the device's camera capabilities to App Store developers.

We went hands-on with Wristcam last year, and found that it's quite bulky for an Apple Watch band, but it can come in handy if you need a hands-free camera option. Wristcam can be purchased from the Wristcam website for $299.

Some Mac Studio owners have noticed that their machines are making a high-pitched "whining" sound that appears to be coming from the fan. There are pages of complaints on the MacRumors forums about the issue, and it seems to be affecting a number of users.

Most of the complaints are coming from ‌Mac Studio‌ owners who opted for the M1 Max ‌Mac Studio‌ rather than the Ultra version, which is not a surprise as the two machines have different thermal setups.

Users who are experiencing issues have described the noise as a high-frequency sound that is difficult to ignore, and it is in addition to the standard fan noise. From MacRumors reader sunsetblvd:

Hi, I've been following this thread and wanted to share my experience with the Mac Studio. I ordered the M1 Max version with 32 Core GPU and 64 GB Ram. After a week or two I started noticing a high pitched whining sound. The ordinary fan noise was audible but not disturbingly so. The high pitched sound was sth I couldn't ignore. I have a relatively quite working space and the sound kept being distractive. I decided to take my studio to the apple store after contacting apple support and trying a bunch of software fixes like reinstalling the os. After a day of inspection the tech guy at the apple store claimed it was just normal fan noise within the expected range of noises and said they couldn't do anything about it. Disappointed I called apple support again and they agreed to send me a replacement, which I am currently waiting for.

There are a wide range of complaints, but all of them seem to describe the same general noise. From MacRumors reader h43m:

Just unboxed my Mac Studio with M1max (64GB RAM, 32 Cores GPU, 1TB SSD). There is definitely an annoying noise at exactly 2120hz (I compared it using a sinus wave generator). I am pretty sure this comes from the fan and is not a coil whine, since the frequency changes when the fan speed changes. Definitely not acceptable for a product with this price tag...

The ‌M1 Max‌ and M1 Ultra have different heatsinks, which explains why one machine is experiencing issues while the other is not. The ‌M1 Ultra‌ is equipped with a much larger copper heatsink, that likely prevents the fan from kicking on as often, and there also appears to be a problem with the ‌M1 Max‌ setup that causes the whine.

It is worth noting that not all ‌M1 Max‌ ‌Mac Studio‌ models appear to be experiencing this problem, as some people have said that they do not hear an unusual sound beyond the standard quiet fan noise. There are also some complaints just about the level of the fan noise alone without the whine, but many of the people who are unhappy with their machines seem to be experiencing the high-pitched sound rather than the typical fan noise.

‌Mac Studio‌ buyers who are within their two week return period can get a replacement from Apple, but there are reports that replacement machines have seen the same issue. It is not clear if this is something that can be addressed in a software update or if it's a hardware issue that Apple is dealing with.

Have you noticed a high-pitched whine from your ‌Mac Studio‌? Let us know in the comments.