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Anyone else's RMBP creaky when typing on your lap or desk?

H

Hopsdaballa04

macrumors regular
Original poster
Feb 4, 2009
203
5
When I use the RMBP on a table or my lap it makes creaking noises. Upon further examination, I noticed that the back cover screws were loose and there was plenty of flex due to this. I went to a local AASP, since it's always a pain to get into the genius bar. He tightened it up and most of the creaking is gone. However, there it still creaks a little bit when I place my hands down on the "palm rest areas."

Has anyone else noticed this problem? If so, is there a lot of flex around the back cover screws?
 
Mine is as tight as a drum with no creaking as I type. There does seem to be a small gap between the bottom cover and the rest of the casing, but the bottom cover doesn't move even when I push it.
 
I really don't think they tightened things correctly. I asked the AASP tech to loosen all the screws and tighten them evenly. However, I think he just tightened the screws that were loose. I have a pentalobe driver on its way from iFixit. Hopefully, if I loosen all the screws and tighten them back it will get rid of the creaking. I guess we will see on monday. If not, I might have to jump back into the apple RMBP queue.
 
Hopsdaballa04 said:
I really don't think they tightened things correctly. I asked the AASP tech to loosen all the screws and tighten them evenly. However, I think he just tightened the screws that were loose. I have a pentalobe driver on its way from iFixit. Hopefully, if I loosen all the screws and tighten them back it will get rid of the creaking. I guess we will see on monday. If not, I might have to jump back into the apple RMBP queue.
Click to expand...

I have occasional creaks and I can tell some of the screws came loose from the factory. iFixit pentalobe driver set should come tomorrow so hopefully that'll rectify the problem.
 
Let me know if that fixes it. I'm really curious to find out. I know the RMBP isn't customer serviceable, but who uses screws that can easily strip. I'm sure this causes the assembly line people issues due to not wanting to strip out those shallow screws. :confused:
 
bioyuki said:
I have occasional creaks and I can tell some of the screws came loose from the factory. iFixit pentalobe driver set should come tomorrow so hopefully that'll rectify the problem.
Click to expand...

Wow thats crazy. I would of just exchanged for a new one plain and simple.
 
TheMacBookPro said:
Some people don't want to have to wait nearly a month for a replacement machine...
Click to expand...

Exactly.. I just don't want to go through the hassle of getting another machine. If I can just tighten the screws evenly and get rid of the creaking. If that doesn't work. I probably will if I can't get the creaking to stop. However, I am going to attempt to get them to let me keep this one while I wait for the other one.
 
What pentalobe screw driver did you guys get, the one made for the iPhone 4?
 
I can produce a sound my pressing the opposite corners firmly while it's on mu lap. I'm not sure if I'd classify it as creaking, more of a click. Is that what you mean?
 
TheMacBookPro said:
Some people don't want to have to wait nearly a month for a replacement machine...
Click to expand...

.

Once more inventory is available I'll take mine in. My display isn't 100% so I'll see if they'll let me swap it out for a new machine.

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mahger said:
What pentalobe screw driver did you guys get, the one made for the iPhone 4?
Click to expand...

I got the iFixit 54 piece set since I need a full set of small tools:

http://www.ifixit.com/Tools/54-Bit-Driver-Kit/IF145-022

It includes the pentalobe drivers for both the iPhone and MBP which are different sizes.

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Hopsdaballa04 said:
Let me know if that fixes it. I'm really curious to find out. I know the RMBP isn't customer serviceable, but who uses screws that can easily strip. I'm sure this causes the assembly line people issues due to not wanting to strip out those shallow screws. :confused:
Click to expand...

I think it'll fix the issues for me. I can push on the bottom plate and see it push up so it's flush like it's supposed to be. I just wish ****ing Apple used normal screws instead of pentalobe so I could have dealt with this on day 1.
 
Hopsdaballa04 said:
When I use the RMBP on a table or my lap it makes creaking noises. Upon further examination, I noticed that the back cover screws were loose and there was plenty of flex due to this. I went to a local AASP, since it's always a pain to get into the genius bar. He tightened it up and most of the creaking is gone. However, there it still creaks a little bit when I place my hands down on the "palm rest areas."

Has anyone else noticed this problem? If so, is there a lot of flex around the back cover screws?
Click to expand...
Sounds like my old 13" MBA all over again. Every 3-4 months tightening the screws because of case flexing.
Another reason I ordered the new Unibody.
 
That much $, and loose screws? Wasn't soldering components together, and eliminating modular assembly supposed to stop issues like this?

I guess that was just to make it thinner, and more expensive?

;)

P.S. dig was at Apple, not you people.

Consider low strength thread locker / Loctite to prevent this from recurring?
 
Bad news for me!! I received my pentalobe driver today. I was happy to get it early. However, once I attempted to loosen the screw that I believe wasn't tighten. (The ideal was to loosen all the screws and then tighten them back.) I found that the screw was just spinning. I then decided to take out all of the screws and then pull the cover off. The cover came off without incident. The screw that wasn't tighten also came off with the cover.

Upon further examination of the screw I could see that the threads looked stripped. This wasn't the issue. The threads on the screw were fine. However, the screw hole threads had completely stripped out. Grhhhhh!!

So I'm not sure if it was the assembly worker or the AASP who stripped the screw hole. I ended up calling apple and after an hour on the phone, and talking with four different people, they will be sending me an expedited RMBP. I'm able to keep this one until the other arrives. They also compensated me for my troubles. I will be receiving a brand new iPod Nano.

As always Apple has the best customer service around! On a side note I did get a bad tech that would not give me the option to exchange the RMBP. I asked to talk to Apple Care Customer Relations, once transferred, I was then given all the options that I had.

The funny part about this all. Since I kept the screw out of the stripped hole. It now doesn't creak. I wonder if I made the right choice with asking for an expedited replacement instead of shipping it in to have the bottom part of the RMBP replace. I say this because everything else on the RMBP is great! I fear that I will receive one with the pressure mark issue on the display or some other type issue.

What do you guys think??
 
I say to wait on further action until after the new unit arrives. No since in worrying about defects until you actually have the replacement in hand.

As for stripped screws, I'd say it's far more likely the service tech stripped the tap / screw. Not saying the production workers are perfect, but who is more likely to over tighten? The production worker whom assembles thousands of units, or the tech whom worked on their first few RMBPs?

If loose screws are an issue, do not over tighten, really do get some low strength thread locker and apply some to the screws and reinstall them with LESS torque, as the wet thread locker acts like a lubricant before it dries.

Somewhat surprised they don't use it already, did you notice any blue / red / green chalk-like stuff on the screw threads?
 
Somewhat surprised they don't use it already said:
I have had it feels every bump on the Unibody Macbook Pro. I do believe in the past editions there was some loctite on the screws. I did see a tiny bit of blue on the bottom of the screws for the RMBP, but not a line of blue that I have seen in the past on the threads of the screws.

I'll take your advice and not worry. I own almost every Apple product, but always seem to have issues. So it always concerns me. Especially on exchanges.

Like I said earlier Apple's customer service is top notch, and I can't praise them enough.
Click to expand...
 
Pentalobe driver came, tightened screws but still have a creaking issue. It's localized to the right side air inlet area, it seems like the tolerances are just off on the back cover...not a huge deal, just have to wait for more stock to come in before I get this swapped out.
 
bioyuki said:
Pentalobe driver came, tightened screws but still have a creaking issue. It's localized to the right side air inlet area, it seems like the tolerances are just off on the back cover...not a huge deal, just have to wait for more stock to come in before I get this swapped out.
Click to expand...

I was hoping that tightening it would fix the issue for you. I ordered through the Apple online store. They suppose to be sending a new one out for me. I'm sure that just puts me back in the queue. Probably at the back of the queue. Luckily, I can keep the current one until I get the new one. Taking the stripped screw out has almost eliminated the creaking.

I have a feeling that my creaking was more of a rattling due to the screw being stripped and loose in the screw hole. Good luck on getting another one.
 
If its any consolation, my car is in pieces from creaking. Granted, it's 10 years old, but still I can't stand that stuff. Pulled all the trim out, cleaned everything of dust, and I'm currently reassembling the panels with minimal expanding foam. Hopefully that will silence some road noise, and the creaks too!

P.S. do not advise this approach on your computers. ;)
 
I think the creaking / cracking is a small possible flaw with the unibody design (or, more accurately, how thin these macs are and inevitable small manufacturing differences and tolerances).

I've had it with a Macbook Air, old Pro and now a new Retina one. The retina occasionally has a crack noise if I grab it on the left side of the base, and ticks if I rest it on the middle of the base. I'm sure the crack is because of a slightly misaligned or loose screw on that side (so I'll give it a day or so and then re-torque it) and the tick in the middle is from the bottom case slightly touching the innards (I remember on my old MBP there were pins on the inside frame which made the base tick if you put the right pressure on parts of the base).

Of course this shouldn't happen, very expensive computer etc...but it does't actually bother me insofar as if it was bad I could get it sorted under warranty and when you think about it it's pretty inevitable given the material used. Aluminium will bend (with not too much pressure) and the base is under a lot of heat stress too and is close to the internals as tolerable.

I'd give it a day or so, let it heat up and cool down a few times then see how it is (that's my plan anyway!).

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P.s. I forgot to say that if anyone wanted to return it for this cosmetic defect they should. It shouldn't really happen. Me? I've realised seeking perfect from a made in China Mac is pretty difficult.
 
jonnyr78 said:
P.s. I forgot to say that if anyone wanted to return it for this cosmetic defect they should. It shouldn't really happen. Me? I've realised seeking perfect from a made in China Mac is pretty difficult.
Click to expand...

I have to agree. I know there isn't a perfect Apple product out there. I would have kept mine if I could have tightened the screw. Not an option for me since it's stripped out. I am extremely sensitive to creaks and pops. I ride a Trek Madone 5.2, and even creaks on that annoy me. That bike is $3,600 and it's still not perfect.

Seems to be an ongoing issue with mass producing products. However, the bike is made in Taiwan.
 
Update: I opened up the back cover and discovered the source of the creak...the right speaker assembly isn't perfectly flush so when the body flexes it causes the loud creak. The speaker is only held down by two screws and they're tight already.

Sigh, Genius Bar appointment made for next Tuesday.
 
jonnyr78 said:
I think the creaking / cracking is a small possible flaw with the unibody design (or, more accurately, how thin these macs are and inevitable small manufacturing differences and tolerances).

I've had it with a Macbook Air, old Pro and now a new Retina one. The retina occasionally has a crack noise if I grab it on the left side of the base, and ticks if I rest it on the middle of the base. I'm sure the crack is because of a slightly misaligned or loose screw on that side (so I'll give it a day or so and then re-torque it) and the tick in the middle is from the bottom case slightly touching the innards (I remember on my old MBP there were pins on the inside frame which made the base tick if you put the right pressure on parts of the base).

Of course this shouldn't happen, very expensive computer etc...but it does't actually bother me insofar as if it was bad I could get it sorted under warranty and when you think about it it's pretty inevitable given the material used. Aluminium will bend (with not too much pressure) and the base is under a lot of heat stress too and is close to the internals as tolerable.

I'd give it a day or so, let it heat up and cool down a few times then see how it is (that's my plan anyway!).

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P.s. I forgot to say that if anyone wanted to return it for this cosmetic defect they should. It shouldn't really happen. Me? I've realised seeking perfect from a made in China Mac is pretty difficult.
Click to expand...

I have this issue too, but get this:

http://tenonedesign.com/blog/fix-your-macbook-pro-like-a-champ/
 
JoshJosh117 said:
I have this issue too, but get this:

http://tenonedesign.com/blog/fix-your-macbook-pro-like-a-champ/
Click to expand...


Good post!

Actually...maybe we should never mention this. If Apple finds people return laptops for it the next one will have a completely sealed, maybe even glued bottom cover! :rolleyes:

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Hopsdaballa04 said:
I have to agree. I know there isn't a perfect Apple product out there. I would have kept mine if I could have tightened the screw. Not an option for me since it's stripped out. I am extremely sensitive to creaks and pops. I ride a Trek Madone 5.2, and even creaks on that annoy me. That bike is $3,600 and it's still not perfect.

Seems to be an ongoing issue with mass producing products. However, the bike is made in Taiwan.
Click to expand...

Yeah, if it annoyed you (as my crack does a bit...as with the post below I think it's the speaker assembly...but it's not done it for most of this evening) it needs to go back.

Interesting you mention the bike. I've had expensive swiss watches (Omega mainly) with clumps of dust on the dial. Things just ain't made like they used to be :(
 
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