Noisy iMacs Restricted to 17-inchers?


Some early adopters of the iMac G5 are reporting excessive noise from fans, MacFixit reports. Although only a small number of users appear to report the problem, there is some evidence that some 17" units are somewhat loud.

Conversely, it seems few problems have been reported with the 20" models, although Apple's own Discussion Boards contain reports of owners of the 17" iMac returning the unit.

One reader, who mailed MacFixit, returned his troublesome 17" model to his local Apple Retail Store and swapped it (and some cash, presumably) for a 20" iMac.

Also of interest is that Apple is reportedly restricting the Macs the iMac OS X 10.3.5 install discs can be used on. In recent years, it's been possible to install on any supported Mac using virtually any full install CD or DVD. But not anymore, so it seems. The iMac install discs wouldn't work on another Mac.

There was a time, many years ago, that you couldn't use, say, your Performa or Power Mac install discs on a PowerBook, and vice-versa. The restriction appears to be there to stop people getting themselves a free copy of the bundled software, such as iLife.

Analysis: It doesn't appear, at this stage, that the iMac-17's fan noise is a real issue, except among a small number of what must be very early production units. Let us know how you go with yours.