Early 2011 MBP - annoying spinning/rattling sound

[NeonChill]

I believe I have seen previous threads on here for similar issues to mine, but I wanted to create a separate thread in case there was a unique issue with my model.

I bought my Early 2011 MBP new, so I've had it a while and I understand that it's probably time I did a bit of upgrade work or bought a new system altogether. But recently, I've been getting an unusual sound that can be described as a constant, spinning rattle. The sound changes when I lift the MBP up and the sound can be manipulated by pushing on the bottom case.

Is this hard drive? Does it need replacing? I'm fairly tech savvy but not enough to start opening the thing up and start playing around with it. Any ideas welcome.

 

[heisenberg123]

I upgraded the hard drive in my early 2011 to a SSD and upgraded the RAM to 16GB, when it was starting to feel slow, it was like a new mac again, unfortunately mine recently died so I upgraded to a Early 2015 rMBP 13"

 

[NeonChill]

I upgraded the hard drive in my early 2011 to a SSD and upgraded the RAM to 16GB, when it was starting to feel slow, it was like a new mac again, unfortunately mine recently died so I upgraded to a Early 2015 rMBP 13"

Did you ever experience a rattling sound from the HD or the fans prior to upgrading to an SSD?

 

[heisenberg123]

Not really rattling just slow and a lot of beach balls, you could take the bottom cover off see if the hd looks loose or see if the fans look covered in dust

 

[austinpike]

I'm fairly tech savvy but not enough to start opening the thing up and start playing around with it.

For a "rattle" I would be more inclined to look at the fans first, but it could be either.

If you are fairly tech savvy, removing the bottom case is really not a big deal at all. Take a look, blow out the fans; if you are careful and can power it up with the case off you should be able to tell pretty easily. If the hard drive is making those noises it definitely needs replacement, which is pretty simple too.

If you really don't want to open it up, maybe you could find a fan utility of some sort and force the fans to spin down, and/or try to get the hard drive to spin down with Energy Saver. Really much easier to open it up and look though.