Yup, as i thought. This basically what you hear when you put your ear next to it and mute all audioI turned on my PS5 after the update and launched Ghost of Tsushima with the Miles Morales disc in the drive, I heard it spin only during the initial startup of the console, and then nothing for over an hour. I was working so I could've missed it if it was indeed quiet, but if it was as loud as it was before the patch then I would have definitely heard it. 100% an improvement. Probably won't hear it during gameplay unless it happens during a very quiet moment.
This was recorded with my phone 10cm in front of the disk drive