2011 13" i7 noisy hard drive

[bpnjon]

I picked up a new 13" i7 2.7 with the 500gb hard drive yesterday, and in common with many other people on this forum, found it considerably noisier at idle than my equivalent 2010 machine.

At first I thought it was the fan, but now I'm pretty sure it's the HDD: when I rest my hand on the bottom right corner of the machine the noise disappears and the machine is at least as quiet as the old one. Has anyone else had this experience?

I'm wondering if it could just be poor mounting of the HDD inside the case, or if the issue would be with the disk itself... Either way I'm thinking I should probably take it back to get looked at. What do you guys think?

Cheers,

Jon

 

[Cèv]

Would be awesome to know this.

I'm still trying to decide whether to get the i5 or i7.
Since I heard the i7 is noticeable louder the i5 is my favourite.
But if it's just the HDD which is louder I would go with the i7...
I'm going to put an Vertex 3 in it anyway.

So, answers please!

 

[Austin13]

Yes

Yeah, I have the same experience. The hdd is about the only thing I hear. And you´re right, by resting the hand on the bottom right corner it nearly disappears or isn´t that loud anymore.

 

[Cèv]

So, during normal work (internet, office, maybe flash video) the only thing you hear is the HDD right?

Would be nice to hear some i5 users if they notice the same with the low-end HDDs since the have the same rpm.

 

[Austin13]

Yep, that´s how it is.

 

[DryEyez]

Hey guys, I have the 2011 i5, and I can assure you there is no noise from the hdd whatsoever. There is the acclaimed noticeable increase in fan speed when something gpu intensive is activated, but as far as hdd, runs smooth as butter with no sound at all. hope that helps.

 

[Cèv]

That's kind of strange, isn't it?

As far as i know the only difference is the storage size.

So actually, they should produce the same amount of noise...

 

[DryEyez]

Yeah, if that's true, then I'm glad I didn't upgrade to 500gb, only reason I didn't was because I was in such a rush, would have only cost me £35 on the day for that.

 

[Grouchy Bob]

Yeah, if that's true, then I'm glad I didn't upgrade to 500gb, only reason I didn't was because I was in such a rush, would have only cost me £35 on the day for that.

Again, it's NOT the storage capacity that's the issue as long as the comparison drives discussed here are spinning at the same speed.

 

[SlickShoes]

When i bought my unibody 2009 macbook, about 3 months of use seen the fan start making loud noise, i couldnt initially tell if it was the fan or the HDD as it was a similar sort of noise as both would make when working hard.

It got worse so i took it to apple and they just sent it away and had the fan replaced. If you have any worries just get down to the apple store and get someone to take a look at it.

 

[bpnjon]

The fact that the noise stops with light pressure on the hard drive area makes me think that it could be something as simple as a loose mounting in there though. I'll take it down to the store when I get a chance but it's a pain to have to waste all that time...

 

[shoegal]

This is exactly what I've been experiencing with my 2011 13" i7! Was on the phone with apple care today, no genius bar or apple store in my country and they were basically useless. Have no idea what it is or why. I'm running a hardware test now to check what's causing this. But yeah, put my hand on the right bottom(next to trackpad) and it's gone! Very frustrating as noicefree machines was what attracted me to apple in. The first place! Let me know what they tell you at the apple store though!

 

[Adidas Addict]

I can hear my HDD too if I am in a silent room (2011 13" i5). Never heard a HDD on any other MBP I have owned. As others noise lessens when pressed on the right of palmrest.

It's not like it's 'loud' but when the rooms silent you can hear it. Not enough to think about returning it IMO, it may quieten with a bit of running in?

 

[shoegal]

I can hear my HDD too if I am in a silent room (2011 13" i5). Never heard a HDD on any other MBP I have owned. As others noise lessens when pressed on the right of palmrest.

It's not like it's 'loud' but when the rooms silent you can hear it. Not enough to think about returning it IMO, it may quieten with a bit of running in?

that's what I'm hoping too. I've had two defective macbook pro's in the last month(this is second replacement) and I'm just very happy everything seems to be working properly. However, I do like my macbook to be silent...

 

[AppleGoat]

I have a 2011 i5 2.3ghz, same problem. I originally thought it was the fan, but iStat shows that is not the case. Noise from that area of the computer is kind of disconcerting. A poster here had replaced his HDD with an SSD and noticed that the sound went away.

 

[superego]

I can hear my HDD too if I am in a silent room (2011 13" i5). Never heard a HDD on any other MBP I have owned. As others noise lessens when pressed on the right of palmrest.

It's not like it's 'loud' but when the rooms silent you can hear it. Not enough to think about returning it IMO, it may quieten with a bit of running in?

It's highly unlikely that the sound will go away by itself. It's the hard drive spinning and probably resonating with the case. It's either poor assembly or poor HDD, or both. If it bothers you, I'd take it back.

 

[Blue Sun]

I picked up a new 13" i7 2.7 with the 500gb hard drive yesterday, and in common with many other people on this forum, found it considerably noisier at idle than my equivalent 2010 machine.

At first I thought it was the fan, but now I'm pretty sure it's the HDD: when I rest my hand on the bottom right corner of the machine the noise disappears and the machine is at least as quiet as the old one. Has anyone else had this experience?

I'm wondering if it could just be poor mounting of the HDD inside the case, or if the issue would be with the disk itself... Either way I'm thinking I should probably take it back to get looked at. What do you guys think?

Cheers,

Jon

My 2010 i5 sounds exactly the same. Its a 320GB Hitachi drive, every 320GB Hitachi that I've heard sounds the same.

And yes, resting my palm on the front right of the machine dissipates the sound.

I'm upgrading it to an SSD later today, I'll post back to let you know it if it "fixes" it.

 

[axu539]

It's highly unlikely that the sound will go away by itself. It's the hard drive spinning and probably resonating with the case. It's either poor assembly or poor HDD, or both. If it bothers you, I'd take it back.

It could even be something more scientific, like the sound generated by the HDD is actually at a frequency that resonates with the aluminum case.

 

[Blue Sun]

Just installed the SSD.

I can confirm that the noise you are all referring to is in fact the HDD.

My machine is completely inaudible now that the HDD has been swapped with the SSD.

 

[bpnjon]

Thanks for that confirmation. So I wonder if it's only the specific HDDs in these machines, or if there's just something about the case design which makes it a little more resonant. Anyone got any experiences with different size HDDs in the latest MBPs?

 

[mac jones]

I have a couple of these new machines. I don't notice any noise. I also, put a WD 7K 750GB Black in one and it's quiet.

These drives are hit and miss as far a noise goes. (within the same model I believe).

It's always been that way.

 

[Cèv]

Just installed the SSD.

I can confirm that the noise you are all referring to is in fact the HDD.

My machine is completely inaudible now that the HDD has been swapped with the SSD.

i7 or i5 13" ?

 

[shoegal]

An Apple technician checked mine today and said it was DOA. They're giving me a new one tomorrow.
Apparently the noise was caused by a faulty, stalling fan and a faulty, noisy HDD.

I hope my new one will be OK...

 

[Pc2mac2011]

hey guys i got a similar problem with my new 13 in i5 mbp! but whats intresting about my case is that the noise coming from the hard drive is always there when booting up win 7 it comes and goes when using os!

i called apple support today and they gave me an appointment tomorrow they said since i only have it for 2 days i can replace it so we ll see!

i really hope this is not the case with all mbp! its a shame cz the machine is perfect extremely fast and doest get hot!

 

[ocgirl]

What kind of noise are you hearing exactly?
Because if I watch a movie, i don't hear it, but if I'm in a room alone I hear like an air like noise coming from bottom right.
Right now I'm 95% idle, and fan is 2002 rpms and I hear that noise (bottom right). Could it be the same problem (ie: shoud I bring it to be checked out?).

Thanks!