issues with MBA 2011

-bought laptop in january
-can hear faint (but noticable) "high-frequency" pitches, or noises (i think its either the SSD or the ram/processor, since it only seems to happen when the computer is under a load (opening 10 tabs in firefox, etc).

-i wiped my HD clean, and re-installed lion, and sound still exists

- i have also noticed that the high pitch noise is amplified (about 5-10 times louder, while the power cable is plugged in and the computer is in use..)


I obviously plan to take it in to the apple store to get it checked out, but I have a question for you guys..

if they do replace it, will I get an equivalent new MBA, or will they give me a refurb? if indeed they will offer me a refurb, would i be better off waiting until the MBA refresh happens, and then hope that they replace my 2011 MBA with a new 2012 one? what are the odds of that happening?

Thanks

Stetrain said:

Sounds to me like it's the cooling fan, since it happens when the computer is under load and while it's charging. Charging the battery generates heat, which would kick the cooling fan up to higher RPMs.

Since the fan is basically the only moving part in the Air I think that's your culprit.

If you take it in for repair they may very well be able to just replace the fan or the logic board, rather than replacing the whole computer. In the event that they decide to replace the whole computer, I think getting a 2012 model is very unlikely since they'll probably still have plenty of 2011 replacement units for a while.

Click to expand...

thank you for the quick response.

Having worked with desktop hardware for over 10 years, I'm fairly certain that the noise isn't the fan, since I can distinguish between both of them when I am, for instance, playing a youtube video on mute, which causes the fan to kick in. The noise I am referring to is a mix of a static noise, and a high frequency pitch.

I recall the same noise happening with my desktop back in 2007, and after testing out each component piece-by-piece, it turned out to be the motherboard (one of the capacitors was responsible for the annoying noise), when initially i had suspected the processor or ram to be the culprit.

----------

TheRealDamager said:

Even if you got a refurb replacement - it would be newer than what you have now.

Click to expand...

I have no problem getting a refurb, but wouldn't it lower its resale value, down the road? I plan on selling the macbook and upgrading once the refresh happens anyway, but I think that selling it as a 'refurb' would net me a lower sale price, no?