MacBook Air Random Click noise/ sound

Does your MBA have a hard drive or an SSD? Some hard drives, particularly the PATA drives using in iPods and the new HD MBA, make clicking noises from time to time.

squaremon said:

I got my MBA for 2 days now. Everything works fine except I heard these randomly Click noise coming out from under the power button place every once a while . It only does it once everytime when it happens and the click sound goes less than a second. Is this suppose to be normal?
Thanks

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I am having the same thing happen with my 1.6/80m very wierd have no idea what it is.

It's the hard drive - had a similar click on previous iPods that I've previously owned. I suspect its something like the lever lifting off and on the platter of the hard drive - nothing to worry about.

normal....

Cybergypsy said:

normal....

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agreed. This is common on 1.8" drives designed for portable use.
The sound you are hearing is the head "parking itself" during inactivity. Motion of the head coming to rest is rather abrupt and caused by magnetic force.

another selling point for the SSD i guess...

If it's 'normal' then I have an abnormal MBA as I have no clicking on the HDD

The machine remains deadly quiet at all times

Even when I was doing a complete OS re-install when I first got it, I never once heard any clicking coming from the HDD.




We do all have the same revision of HDD don't we ?

SAMSUNG HS082HB:

Capacity: 74.53 GB
Model: SAMSUNG HS082HB
Revision: NL101-06
Serial Number: S1BPJ16Q118177

squaremon said:

.... I called up apple tel service and they said they never heard any issues like that before and ask me to take it to apple retail store and check.

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haha.. they ever heard any issues like that before? IT JUST CAME OUT!

There's a software floating around the internet that doesn't let the HDD park itself. It of course makes it more vulnerable to data loss and doesn't let the HDD spin down which eats battery.

I just don't remember what it was called. I used it with an older PB because the clicking was driving me crazy.

Mine does it maybe once a hout if that....does not bother me a bit...

Mine did it one time when my MBA was overheating yesterday.

I'm hearing a series/burst of (louder than normal) clicks every now and then when my MacBook Air (1.6 GHz, HDD) is doing extensive file I/O...

It doesn't sound right! If it does it more often I'll have it looked at...

Isn't the hard drive on the other side? (that is to say on the other side from the power button)

netdog said:

Isn't the hard drive on the other side? (that is to say on the other side from the power button)

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No, it is under the power switch, if you look at the teardown photos you can see that.

Has anyone heard a high-pitched squeak with this? I've heard the clicking, and I know thats normal, but mine has started squeaking now too. Is that normal as well?

abiyng87 said:

No, it is under the power switch, if you look at the teardown photos you can see that.

Has anyone heard a high-pitched squeak with this? I've heard the clicking, and I know thats normal, but mine has started squeaking now too. Is that normal as well?

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I thought that's the sound for an invalid operation, like typing at a place where you're not allowed to type. It sounds like a frog in pain. Doesn't it?

saisrujan said:

I thought that's the sound for an invalid operation, like typing at a place where you're not allowed to type. It sounds like a frog in pain. Doesn't it?

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That's exactly the sound!!! LOL, great way to describe it. I guess that could be it, but I thought that sound came form the OS?? I'm pretty sure my speakers were muted... I could be wrong though. I'll just have to keep an eye on it.

Comes with the territory. Same deal with iPods. Getting an iPhone brought me great joy--no more clicking, ever! Same deal with the MBA: getting the SSD will eliminate clicking. What price quiet!

I too hear the clicking from the right side of the computer/keyboard area. Not bothersome, but I was not used to hearing this for awhile. Most modern 2.5 inch laptop hardrives have eliminated such clicking sound. I guess 1.8 inch is another story. I have an older 30gb video ipod and I've never heard the clicking sound before.

click click.........click click........click click.........

clicking is driving me CRAZY, i have 1.8 65gb SSD. it is non-stop clicking and i am going to go CRAZY if it doesn't stop. i haven't really installed a ton of stuff but the issue with Parallels and Windows XP kept me from working all day!! i had to pull my windnose machine out to finish some stuff.

PLEASE someone help with these 2 issues or i will be forced to take this SWEET machine back.

p.s. i love it as far as sleekness, speed seems to be good, parallels WHEN it is running seems very fast, but the Black Message of DEATH is a little scary every 10 minuets though!!!

typester said:

clicking is driving me CRAZY, i have 1.8 65gb SSD. it is non-stop clicking and i am going to go CRAZY if it doesn't stop. i haven't really installed a ton of stuff but the issue with Parallels and Windows XP kept me from working all day!! i had to pull my windnose machine out to finish some stuff.

PLEASE someone help with these 2 issues or i will be forced to take this SWEET machine back.

p.s. i love it as far as sleekness, speed seems to be good, parallels WHEN it is running seems very fast, but the Black Message of DEATH is a little scary every 10 minuets though!!!

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If you really have an SSD, and not a hard drive, in your MBA and it is clicking, call the Apple Store and arrange an exchange. The only moving part in an SSD-equipped MBA is the fan, and that should not be making any noise other than normal fan noises.

If you have a hard drive, then the clicking is normal. You can try to do an exchange, but those PATA HDs are famous for clicking when the heads park.

I'm really dumb (SSD). That one time clicking (May have been more of a pop) thing I think was just something inside the MBA. I heard the noise only one time so far, so I guess it isn't anything bad. It was during HighDef playback so might just have been something to do with heat. What does a hard drive click sound like anyways?

I really hate situations like this, because clearly a lot of people are hearing a weird noise, but there never seems to be any consensus on whether its "normal" or not. My new air (the $1799 one) emits a clicking sound from the area of my right hand rest very regularly. I would say every 10 seconds. I took it to the apple store today and although they were very nice, they said they didn't hear anything. Which is annoying because whether the noise is normal or not, its definitely *there*. Anyhow I don't know anything about hard drives, is the type of drive in my air more likely to make a clicking sound than the drive in my old macbook pro. because it never made a peep.