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Very Faint clicking noise coming from late 2013 15" Retina Macbook Pro?

G

gizmo84

macrumors member
Original poster
Mar 2, 2010
47
29
I bought this on 10/24. when I move it while its on it makes this clicking noise. I have a sound clip of it. almost sounds like a clicking hard drive (mechanical) even though this is a rMBP and only has flash. here is the sound clip your volume has to be up to heat it. but its def. there.

https://soundcloud.com/g1zm084/clicking-noise
 
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If it's reproducible at will I'd take it in and let an Apple store have a listen.
Obviously not a hard-drive noise. It could be a fan just catching something when moved. I would suggest it needs checking.
 
If the noise is coming from the speaker area, it is not uncommon. Many 15'' rmbp make a soft "rattling noise" when tilted or shook, around the speaker areas.. No idea what it is though.
 
gizmo84 said:
I bought this on 10/24. when I move it while its on it makes this clicking noise. I have a sound clip of it. almost sounds like a clicking hard drive (mechanical) even though this is a rMBP and only has flash. here is the sound clip your volume has to be up to heat it. but its def. there.

https://soundcloud.com/g1zm084/clicking-noise
Click to expand...

What did you figure out? I have this exact same noise. Reproduced whenever pressing bottom of case between A and G keys (approximately)
 
That is a bottom plate creaking sound. It usually happens when you pick it up or apply pressure around the trackpad area?

If so. Have the bottom plate re-seated or simply return it. I returned several rmbp for the very same reason. Once a genius even stripped the screws and scratched up my system.
 
ducatiti said:
That is a bottom plate creaking sound. It usually happens when you pick it up or apply pressure around the trackpad area?

If so. Have the bottom plate re-seated or simply return it. I returned several rmbp for the very same reason. Once a genius even stripped the screws and scratched up my system.
Click to expand...

The sound on mine comes more from behind the trackpad. The area being lightly pressed corresponds to underneath the keyboard
 
I have the late 2013 rMBP 15 (high end i7 version 16gb RAM 512Gb SSD) and have just noticed a very strange continuous mechanical drive "working" sound. It can easily be reproduced : I was trying out the popular OnyX utility and its complete maintenance / cleanup automation feature.

It indeed seems to be coming from beneath the left part of the keyboard (so yeah, near a speaker, but still...)

VERY STRANGE.
 
phentex said:
I have the late 2013 rMBP 15 (high end i7 version 16gb RAM 512Gb SSD) and have just noticed a very strange continuous mechanical drive "working" sound. It can easily be reproduced : I was trying out the popular OnyX utility and its complete maintenance / cleanup automation feature.

It indeed seems to be coming from beneath the left part of the keyboard (so yeah, near a speaker, but still...)

VERY STRANGE.
Click to expand...

I had this problem too. I asked on this board if anyone else had similar issues, but not many people responded. 2 out of 3 rMBP had this issue so I think this is a widespread problem?
 
I wonder if my rMBP has this issue.

I'm not entirely sure, I'm profoundly deaf and I use hearing aids, I'm starting to hear a bit of clicking, though I only noticed it after reading this thread, maybe it's just my mind playing tricks on me, but it's not significant enough to get me to replace the machine.
 
Last edited:
Sounds like a speaker popping slightly during keystrokes which I have had before or bottom case isn't aligned right. Either way a trip back to the Apple store for all of you!
 
My Late 2013 rMBP has the same issue. I monitor disk activity using iStat Menus and whenever there is a lot of read/write activity I can hear the noise.

Has anyone made a trip to a Apple Retail Store yet?
 
I had the same issue it has something to do with a setting (hard drive sleep I believe) if you uncheck or check the setting the sound goes away
 
Mine has it on the bottom more towards the back where it says macbook pro. There are a couple heat sink strips in the ifixit teardown I think are touching the AL and acting is a ground. They usual have spring in them. I wish those pentalobe screwdrivers could be found locally as i wouldn't mind taking the back off to look. I really don't feel like exchanging it to replace anything. I still have not determined if I am going to keep it or the 13" mid model.

BTW these have SSD drives. They do not make noise.

Try pressing around the macbook pro on the back and see if you hear anything. Screen closed.
 
Mine has it on the bottom more towards the back where it says macbook pro. There are a couple heat sink strips in the ifixit teardown I think are touching the AL and acting is a ground. They usual have spring in them. I wish those pentalobe screwdrivers could be found locally as i wouldn't mind taking the back off to look. I really don't feel like exchanging it to replace anything. I still have not determined if I am going to keep it or the 13" mid model.
 
Any resuslts?

rtr1985 said:
What did you figure out? I have this exact same noise. Reproduced whenever pressing bottom of case between A and G keys (approximately)
Click to expand...

I have just discovered the same sound. When I press on the bottom casing around the 'A' and 'G' keys, it sounds like a creaking sound, but also a hint of metallic pieces moving around. It's terrifying me that my computer is going to die.
Did you figure out what was wrong? What did you do to fix it, if you did fix it? Please email me at brettwbyron@gmail.com with any advice/your way of getting that sound fixed.
 
brettwbyron said:
I have just discovered the same sound. When I press on the bottom casing around the 'A' and 'G' keys, it sounds like a creaking sound, but also a hint of metallic pieces moving around. It's terrifying me that my computer is going to die.
Did you figure out what was wrong? What did you do to fix it, if you did fix it? Please email me at brettwbyron@gmail.com with any advice/your way of getting that sound fixed.
Click to expand...

richard371 said:
There are a couple heat sink strips in the ifixit teardown I think are touching the AL and acting is a ground. They usual have spring in them.
Click to expand...

It is normal but yes a tad irritating. As was noted by richard371 the sound comes from spring loaded grounding pins on the main logic board that contact the bottom panel. Looking at the iFixit teardown of the rMBP you can see the positions of them in red circles in the attached image.
 

Attachments

  • Grounding Pin Locations rMBP Late 2013.jpeg
    Grounding Pin Locations rMBP Late 2013.jpeg
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Not sure if it's a necro thread or not but I have the same problem as everyone else. I spent almost 2 hours at Apple yesterday (never go in earlier than your appointment!) waiting for someone to check it out. The technician said the same thing, it's the grounding spring and that it's within normal manufacturing standards. This is according to their own knowledge base. After tightening the screws down there is much less flex causing these issues so I'm not too concerned at this point, but I've only had this laptop for 1.5 weeks now. That's kind of scary for a less than 2 week old $2600 laptop.
 
I've got the same clicking noise, when i showed the guys they said they will look into and send a video to apple, apple said its an issue with those springs which are on the logic board and cannot replace it unless i have performance issues with the logic board.
 
I also have a clicking noise as you described. I just purchased it yesterday so I'll be returning it to the Apple store since I'm still well within the 14 days. I agree it's unacceptable given the cost of these machines.
 
Mine also had a persistent clicking sound whenever I moved the machine, but I was able to unscrew, remove, and reseat the back cover which seems to have completely solved it. Just needed to get a pentalobe screwdriver.
 
My keyboard is rather noisy, the keys themselves all seem loose and clicky.
My $379 Acer has a much better keyboard than this and my MBA had a much better one as we'll

Anyone feel that the keys are are loose?
 
I have the same problem ! My MBP makes some kind on noise / clicking sound (like something is loose inside) when I move it around.

15" Retina, Late 2013.
 
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