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Magsafe port area makes a weird hiss/static/sizzling noise

J

jjahshik32

macrumors 603
Original poster
Up until tonight I heard some weird static/hiss/weird/sizzling noise coming out of the left speaker but it wasnt the speaker but where the magsafe connects to. When I unplug the magsafe the noise is gone and it was kinda loud enough to hear over the fans.

I shut down the mbp and took the battery out and pressed and held the power for 6 seconds and rebooted the mbp back onto osx and the noise has disappeared but if I put my ear right up next to the left speaker I can still hear a very very quiet version of what I heard earlier. But if I unplug the magsafe then the sound is totally gone even with my ears next to the left speaker.

Is this normal? Or is there a problem with my magsafe.. man I really dont wanna go back to the apple store, I'm tired of this game~!! And I love this mbp its just perfect!
 
Ive had it on every mac ive owned (5x). something thats louder with some, quieter with others.

you could say its "not normal" but its not grounds to replace the machine.

its louder on some machines, my new MBP is pretty quiet.
 
Could it be the plug socket? I have a certain socket where if I use it, I hear a distinct buzzing noise out my speakers whenever the magsafe is plugged in. It doesn't happen with other plug sockets, though. Maybe try plugging it in elsewhere and seeing what happens?
 
I just got my refurbished mbp, I'm hearing this sound when I turn down the brightness of the screen. Probably a high frequency sound that only young people can hear.
 
Its only audible if I put my ear up next to it but other than that I cant hear it. I guess its normal to make somewhat of a noise if you put your next to it.
 
The noise is not heard when I dont put my ear next to it but in a quiet room and strangely when I play a sound file or youtube the hissing will get louder even with the volume on mute but playing a file that has sound will make the hissing noise louder on the left side.

I cant tell if its the magsafe or the speakers.
 
karenflower said:
Could it be the plug socket? I have a certain socket where if I use it, I hear a distinct buzzing noise out my speakers whenever the magsafe is plugged in. It doesn't happen with other plug sockets, though. Maybe try plugging it in elsewhere and seeing what happens?
Click to expand...

Same thing happens to me with certain plug sockets (like my university's).
 
astrosyt said:
its not normal, you have defective mbp. get a replacement
Click to expand...

Dont be so eager to sign off the computer just yet. Highly doubt apple will give you a replacement for a slight buzzing. Most likely they'll take it in for a 2 week diagnostic.

You should get it looked at. The part that might possibly need replacing is the left I/O board.

If you think it could be the speakers, plug in some headphones.
 
Make sure . . .

You want to check that the noise you are hearing is actually coming from the computer and not from the power supply. Every MagSafe power supply I've ever seen makes a clattering sound. I don't know why they can't get it right. The defective ones of course are noisier, but none of them are quiet. So just test with the power supply as far away from the computer as possible. The difference now compared to the earlier Intel Mac laptops is that you don't generally get the same annoying sound from the computer.
 
dblissmn said:
You want to check that the noise you are hearing is actually coming from the computer and not from the power supply. Every MagSafe power supply I've ever seen makes a clattering sound. I don't know why they can't get it right. The defective ones of course are noisier, but none of them are quiet. So just test with the power supply as far away from the computer as possible. The difference now compared to the earlier Intel Mac laptops is that you don't generally get the same annoying sound from the computer.
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Its definitely from the magsafe plug in port not the power brick whih is far away. I put my ear next to the left speaker area and I hear the sizzling noise and when I play a sound then the sizzling noise gets a bit louder for a minute then calms down again.
 
jjahshik32 said:
Its definitely from the magsafe plug in port not the power brick whih is far away. I put my ear next to the left speaker area and I hear the sizzling noise and when I play a sound then the sizzling noise gets a bit louder for a minute then calms down again.
Click to expand...

It sounds like the power supply in the computer is making the noise; it's quite normal; desktop power supplies make the same sound; it's all those capacitors and inductors. Just out of curiously, do you use the 3-prong or the rabbit ears?
 
alphaod said:
It sounds like the power supply in the computer is making the noise; it's quite normal; desktop power supplies make the same sound; it's all those capacitors and inductors. Just out of curiously, do you use the 3-prong or the rabbit ears?
Click to expand...

3 prong, I dont remember hearing this sound from my previous mbp.. unless I've just never noticed I guess. But the sound isnt loud enough for me to be bothered its more of a, "will my magsafe fray or burn and I dont want my house to burn down kind of worry."

On the other hand I do hear this noise on my brother's macbook core duo model but its so hard to hear its so silent compared to mine. I guess if I never found this sound out from my mbp and tried to listen on the macbook I've wouldnt hear anything but on the mbp when a sound is played then the left side with my ear just 2 inches away from it can clearly hear the sizzling/electric noise.

I guess if this is normal I could just ignore this but my 14 days will be up on may 22nd so I'm trying to think if I want to show this to the genius or not. But then again the genius wouldnt know what this sound is anyway and only thing I can think of is that the genius will allow me another exchange because of the noise. And if I were to get another mbp with the same noise then I would have wasted my time + I love this mpb the screen and build quality is one of the best I've ever seen.
 
I hate to "necro" this thread, but I'm experiencing the exact same issue on my MacBook Pro (the model released a week before WWDC in 2007). I was just wondering if the OP or anyone else here ever got anything done about this issue.

I'm thinking about bringing my MacBook Pro to the Apple store and I just want to know what I'm in for. The noise is really annoying and I'm quite sure my machine did not do this before a few months ago.

-Philip
 
jjahshik32 said:
Up until tonight I heard some weird static/hiss/weird/sizzling noise coming out of the left speaker but it wasnt the speaker but where the magsafe connects to. When I unplug the magsafe the noise is gone and it was kinda loud enough to hear over the fans.

I shut down the mbp and took the battery out and pressed and held the power for 6 seconds and rebooted the mbp back onto osx and the noise has disappeared but if I put my ear right up next to the left speaker I can still hear a very very quiet version of what I heard earlier. But if I unplug the magsafe then the sound is totally gone even with my ears next to the left speaker.

Is this normal? Or is there a problem with my magsafe.. man I really dont wanna go back to the apple store, I'm tired of this game~!! And I love this mbp its just perfect!
Click to expand...

That is certainly not normal.

Having said that, to think that Apple—a company that makes iPhone and iPod—would come out with a Macbook Pro, that has a 'hiss' sound on its audio jack output is really shameful. This is a known problem. If they can make an iPhone or iPod without any 'hissing' noise within such a small space, why not on a 15" mbp? Also, the solution of adding an attenuator/resistor/load for external volume control to reduce the 'hissing' noise is not really a proper solution.
 
Are you sure where the sound comes from? I have the same 'electric' sound coming from the screen(?) when i'm scrolling in Safari or Firefox(but not in Acrobat or smth else). It is louder when the power cord is connected.
 
Pivzavod said:
Are you sure where the sound comes from? I have the same 'electric' sound coming from the screen(?) when i'm scrolling in Safari or Firefox(but not in Acrobat or smth else). It is louder when the power cord is connected.
Click to expand...

Absolutely positive it's the MagSafe area. As the OP explained, when the MagSafe is unplugged, the noise goes away, so it seems rather certain that it, or something it's connected to, is the cause.

-Philip

edit: Well, I have a Genius Bar appointment on Wednesday, so for anyone else with this problem, I will definitely be glad to let you guys know how it goes. I'll be really impressed if they do anything at all, but it is worrisome to me so I hope they do. 🙁
 
Update: I brought my MBP in on Wednesday, it came back yesterday after they sent it off. The Genius that helped me clearly marked "recommend replacing I/O board" on the notes, and they replaced the logic board and an audio cable instead, which was clearly not the issue.

My palmrest's paint was experience the pitting issue, however, and they did give me a new top case assembly to solve that problem, so it wasn't all in vain. I guess I need to bring it in again.

-Philip
 
Well, generally, they won't give it back to you if the problem is not fixed - unless they did not state clearly what the problem was.
 
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