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Creaking noises on rMBP?

M

maplingstorie

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jan 25, 2009
399
115
Malaysia
I've this macbook for 4 days now. I'm starting to love everything about it even though it has the LG display (which i'm over it). Now the problem is whenever I move my macbook or sometimes rest my right hand on the right side of the macbook, it produces this "krrk" sound. I think I found the source, it comes from the bottom right side however it doesn't produce the creaking noise all the time but it's starting to bug me. I've already talked to the apple sales and they granted me a replacement unit. Has anyone else experienced this? Is this a problem fixable myself or.. it's a manufacturing problem? thanks. :apple:
 
Mines had this exact same thing from day one.


The creaking seems to emanate from the right side fan housing where it meets the rest of the case.


It doesn't bother me too much as mines on a solid wood surface the majority of the time.

Definitely get in contact with Apple though and see what they say.
 
Don't unscrew it and screw it back up yourself. The cracking noise comes as a result of one or two screws being at a different tension. The screws must all be tightened to an exact torque setting.

The only place this can be done is at the Genius Bar. They have the right tools or the job and know what tension to set it at. It's literally a 2 minute job for them.

Make an appointment and state that you want the pentalobes on the bottom cover re-torqued. They will understand and know what to do.

I had this issue as well and since taking it to the Genius Bar, I haven't heard a single click from it.
 
jamets515 said:
Don't unscrew it and screw it back up yourself. The cracking noise comes as a result of one or two screws being at a different tension. The screws must all be tightened to an exact torque setting.

The only place this can be done is at the Genius Bar. They have the right tools or the job and know what tension to set it at. It's literally a 2 minute job for them.

Make an appointment and state that you want the pentalobes on the bottom cover re-torqued. They will understand and know what to do.

I had this issue as well and since taking it to the Genius Bar, I haven't heard a single click from it.
Click to expand...

lol... that cracked me up.

Right... make an appointment at a Genius Bar so that they can use the "right tools" ( pentalobe screwdrivers - WOW ) to turn the screws a few times until the noise stops when putting pressure on the notebook.

I suggest you also give at least 50$ to the guy doing the fix since he was kind enough to use his tools and knowledge to help you with your problem. :cool:
 
Barna Biro said:
lol... that cracked me up.

Right... make an appointment at a Genius Bar so that they can use the "right tools" ( pentalobe screwdrivers - WOW ) to turn the screws a few times until the noise stops when putting pressure on the notebook.

I suggest you also give at least 50$ to the guy doing the fix since he was kind enough to use his tools and knowledge to help you with your problem. :cool:
Click to expand...
No kidding - cracked me up too. I took my rMBP to my apple store to have this done, and they mauled all the screw heads and stripped out the threads in the upper housing for one of the screws. They didn't tell me about it, and I didn't find out until later when the screw fell out with a bunch of aluminum attached to it. Called AppleCare - they were hesitant, but finally did replace the computer.

Moral of the story is - take your rMBP to the Genius Bar to fix creaking at your own peril. My new one also occasionally creaks, but I will NOT be attempting to have it fixed.
 
jamets515 said:
They don't use a standard pentalobe driver...
Click to expand...

Bottom plate screws are the same as on other Macs.
... stop making stuff up, you clearly don't know what you're talking about.

The Retina Macbook Pro can be disassembled with the same tools as previous Macs. The only reason why it's harder to take apart is because the internal layout has gotten more complex and beginners attempting a disassembling will most likely damage some parts severely.

I didn't suggest that he should start taking the entire thing apart, but getting the crappy bottom plate off, re-screwing a few screws and checking out if that helped doesn't require a degree in Quantum Physics.
 
Last edited:
Had the same issue I just had it unscrewed and reseated the backplate and re-screwed it. I've yet to have the issue since.
 
Wingzero said:
Bottom screws on my 2011 15" MBP were standard phillips head.

Where as my Retina MBP are pentalobe.
Click to expand...

The MBA has pentalobe screws. My point was: rMBP didn't introduce anything ground braking in regards to the screws used to keep the bottom plate in place ... jamets515 stated that the rMBP uses "non-standard pentalobe screws", which is FALSE. Most toolsets come with a few pentalobe screwdrivers, and if one of those is of the right size, it can be used without the slightest problem to unscrew and screw back the bottom plate of the rMBP.
 
Barna Biro said:
The MBA has pentalobe screws. My point was: rMBP didn't introduce anything ground braking in regards to the screws used to keep the bottom plate in place ... jamets515 stated that the rMBP uses "non-standard pentalobe screws", which is FALSE. Most toolsets come with a few pentalobe screwdrivers, and if one of those is of the right size, it can be used without the slightest problem to unscrew and screw back the bottom plate of the rMBP.
Click to expand...

Stop quoting me out of context.

If you actually READ my post and took the time to COMPREHEND it, that's not what I said.

They use standard pentalobes. The same as on the MBA. The creaking problem is caused when screws on the bottom cover are at different tensions, causing the cover to slip at some of the screw holes while staying perfectly in place on others.

It's true, you can tighten the screws up yourself but you can't put all the screws to the same tension (torque) without a screwdriver that enables you to set the desired tension.

If the screws are all at different tensions, the creaking noise is very apparent.

Nobody sells a pentalobe torque driver.

Apple stores are equipped with pentalobe drivers with adjustable torque settings. They can tighten all the screws to the same tension and stop the creaking noise.
 
I had creaking after my first week. i took the laptop back to Apple and requested a replacement. They did.
 
@jamets515: No one ( except for you and your imaginary friends ) was talking here about adjustable torque drivers. Also, what you have stated is a complete bull... But well, it's the OPs problem to decide what to do.
 
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