From what I’ve read, and what others have suggested on this thread, whether coil whine is present or not seems to be mostly down to the design of the chip and the power delivery system, and is not so much dependent on individual variation due to manufacturing. And from what I understand, this is unlike something like display or keyboard issues, where there’s greater variance device-to-device due to manufacturing. I think if you get a replacement, it’s possible you may get one that is quieter, but it’s probably not super likely. Is yours a custom config or one of the preset models? If it’s not custom it’ll be easier to exchange it in an Apple Store.
Another possibility is that this batch of machines is louder and that this is something they will straighten out later in the manufacturing process, in a few months. But as there are reports of this from the M3 generations, and even M2 and some of the chips in the M1 generations, personally I don’t think that’s likely.
Also, I’m beginning to suspect that the sounds are all pretty similar, but what each individual picks up on depends on their personal hearing sensitivity.
Not to give you more stuff to worry about but if you open the Photos app and scroll up and down through your library, can you hear a very faint buzzing coming from the center of the keyboard? You may have to put your ear pretty close to it in a quiet room. What I’ve found is all the sounds that I’m hearing, from the hissing to the chattering to the whining, all come from that spot. So I’m starting to think this is normal as even my M4 iPad makes these sounds if I listen close enough.
By the way, the loudest sound mine makes is quieter than gently placing a finger on a key or rubbing my fingers together. These are all very quiet sounds relatively speaking.
Hey thanks for the reply, it makes me worry less. As a matter of fact I do not think this matter. I just tried what you suggested, while scrolling in the photos app I do hear a very (and I do mean very very) quiet electrical sound. I think you are right and that it is not anything to worry about.
One thing that aligns with the proposition that this is based on the power draw is what I just discovered.
When running LLMs or doing anything very GPU intensive I can hear this sound only in High Power Mode (as well as automatic mode, due to the fact that automatic switches to High Power).
When I switch to Low Power Mode the sound is completely gone.
If the sound get worse or unnatural I will visit the Apple store and replace it. If that does not happen I agree with you and I think some people either do not hear it or do not push their GPU to that extent. Like I said, I can only hear it while running LLMs locally.
Oh and about the issue being there since M1 chips, I found an article from 2006 that described this happening with Macbooks. I think this is not a fault but expected behavior, at least if you ask Apple. If they wanted to, or were able to resolve this I believe they would have. Obviously not enough people are complaining about.
I really have to listen for this and lean into the laptop to hear it. After all we do get the insane power inside of a portable device, something I could have never imagined 5 years ago. Perhaps this is one of the small downsides. I cannot say it bothers me enough, it is just that the device is new so I am on alert during my 30 days return period.
So it is safe to assume you kept your Macbook and did not go through any replacements in order to address this?
Do you mind reporting if switching the power mode affects the whine on your device?
Again, thanks for your lengthy reply.
