Electrical type vibration when using MBP 16" barefoot.

[Steve686]

As the title states...


I was just using my 16inch MBP while barefoot on a tile floor and plugged into an outlet.

When I slide my fingers along the chassis of the computer, I don't get a shock, but I can definitely feel that I am getting a vibration that I would describe as electrical.

As soon as I put flip flops on and slide my fingers along the chassis, the sensation is gone.

Just curious if anyone else has experienced this?

I'm not really nervous about getting a big jolt, but am a little nervous about the effects on the electronics if there isn't a good ground internally or with my charger.

Gonna give Apple a call tomorrow and see what they say.

Edit: Forgot to add that the electrical sensation doesn't exist when the computer is running on battery power.

 

[Stephen.R]

Your charger is probably unearthed (i.e. using 2 pins). An earthed connection (i.e. with 3 pins) should ground it, and the 'tingling' feeling you get from touching it should cease.

 

[tCC_]

Same "problem" here with all my MacBooks, but don't care

 

[jerryk]

Your home or office where you feel this sensation probably has some minor issue with power and grounding or you are using an extension cord with only 2 prongs. If you plug in the charger to the wall with a grounded cable it will go away. Older MacBooks came with the cable, so you may already have one. If not, they have not changed in over a decade so perhaps a friend has one. Worse case you can buy one from Apple.

Power Adapter Extension Cable - Apple

Apple Store Search Results

www.apple.com

 

[BigMcGuire]

All my Macs have done this. My MBA did this, my MBP does this. Like the other posters here said - has to do with grounding.

I noticed when I moved to a newer place that I didn't have this problem with my MBP like I did with my old rental. My work still makes the body of the MBP "vibrate" or buzz when moving your fingers along it.

I now use the three prong extension for my MBP charger when I can - I almost never feel this anymore.

 

[Steve686]

Gotcha.
I just had never experienced it with my 2008 or 2015 MBP. I don’t think I ever really used them barefoot in the kitchen before.

And yes, I do have an extension cable for the charger from Apple I got with an older iPad Pro, I believe. Haven’t tested that in the kitchen yet.

My condo was built in the 70’s, and it definitely has some older infrastructure.

 

[vraev]

I have always felt it on all my macbooks incl my previous 2015 MBP 13".

 

[ctjack]

Currently on my mbp 13 late 2012 retina no vibration. And it never were there. So in my opinion it is not a good thing to have. Also my friend doesn't have it on mbp 13 2015.
But I was having the same issue with my previous Dell xps 15z 2011. First i thought about my power outlets being unearthed in the house, but every other laptop performed well. And Dell wasn't vibrating always, only sometimes. So when it did like this, i went through 2 hard drives in a row, until i purchased 3rd one and dell relaxed and stopped eating my hard drives. Because of electric shocks, it was damaging HDDs - there were a lot of remapped sectors and stats of it were dying.
Something is wrong with it, and it might be a problem or not. It all depends on a fortune.

 

[cdcastillo]

Another one that has this on it's 2015 MBP 13". It has always been there, it is related to unoptimal grounding. It's not a big deal.