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Haswell MBP Retina 15" - SSD noise??

J

JPizzzle

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Oct 30, 2008
325
53
Hi Folks,

So after playing the screen exchange game, I finally got a a macbook pro with no yellowing issues. However, I did notice something particularly odd. When using it in a quite room, I can hear the ssd being accessed. It sounds like an electronic hiss.

Now at first, I thought what most people reading this are probably thinking-ssd's don't have any moving parts to make noise. So, I thought it may be a fan issue, and took it to the apple store. The genius at the store confirmed that the noise is present, limited to the top right side of the case, but it may be the fans. So after some experimenting, I come to the conclusion that it is not the fans. I used smcfan app to control the fans, and couldn't reproduce the noise. However, when using black magic disk speed test app, I can hear it when it reads, but not when it writes. In a louder environment, you have to put your ear closer to the keyboard, but the sound is there and can be heard from typing distance in a quiet room. I did some research and found a mix of things, but people have experienced this issue in the past.

Before, I end up exchanging this, I want to see if anyone else experiences this sound. If people can test it out with the black magic app, I would really appreciate it. For the record, I have the 1tb ssd option.

Thanks,

JP
 
It's some faulty inductor at the motherboard's cirquitry buzzing under load. I'd replace that rMBP (even if I were you and had to do it several times already).
P.S. SSD can't produce any noise since it has zero parts that can do it.
 
I have the same problem: Perfect screen, perfect machine...but this strange and annoying sound when writing to the SSD. It is reprodcable: Just export Photos from Lightroom or iPhoto and you can hear a "zirp"-Sound very clearly (in a quiet environment).
 
Nik said:
I have the same problem: Perfect screen, perfect machine...but this strange and annoying sound when writing to the SSD. It is reprodcable: Just export Photos from Lightroom or iPhoto and you can hear a "zirp"-Sound very clearly (in a quiet environment).
Click to expand...

Yeahh, please ask the genius ...
I think it's a factory fault.
 
I got this issue too. Great white screen, but the SSD is "buzzing" under heavy writing. This is not normal I guess?
 
UBS28 said:
I got this issue too. Great white screen, but the SSD is "buzzing" under heavy writing. This is not normal I guess?
Click to expand...

My Late 2013 rMBP SSD is completely silent always and I'm super sensitive to these things.
 
My Haswell mbp is silent but my AEBS has been hissing for about 3 years.
 
I exchanged 4 times my Late 2013 15" 1Tb MBP because of exactly this same problem. and guess what? ALL of them had the same noise you just described.

I ended up keeping my fourth MBP, perfect screen, LG btw, no yellowish, no bonding, etc.

It is VERY easy to reproduce this sound all of you talking about. Just Download Black Magic Dsk Speed Test and perform a 5GB speed test, and you´ll hear the sound when READING not when writing from the right side of the keyboard.

So basically, imho, all rMBP has this..."problem"?? but i guess is just what it is, not a defective or faulty machine. Its like when you start your car every time you want to drive somewhere, you´ll definetly hear the "rumble" from the engine right? the same from rMBP, when you read data at this INSANE speed from your pcie-ssd, you´ll have to hear some noise. But it is only audible to those people who has a very, and i mean a VERY good ear... more like a ultrasonic sound, a very high frequency sound in MHz speaking language.

My advice? Do no exchange your machine because of this problem, trust me, your next machine will have it too.

just my .2 c :rolleyes:
 
I have the same "issue" with my MacBook Pro. I think it caused by a "crosstalk" due to poor shielding between SSD circuit and audio circuit.
 
JorgeLomeli said:
I exchanged 4 times my Late 2013 15" 1Tb MBP because of exactly this same problem. and guess what? ALL of them had the same noise you just described.

I ended up keeping my fourth MBP, perfect screen, LG btw, no yellowish, no bonding, etc.

It is VERY easy to reproduce this sound all of you talking about. Just Download Black Magic Dsk Speed Test and perform a 5GB speed test, and you´ll hear the sound when READING not when writing from the right side of the keyboard.
Click to expand...

OK. I did this test, and can hear a noise when the software is reading. But only if my ear is 10cm or closer to the right side of the keyboard. At a normal distance when using the laptop my ears do not make out the noise.
 
I did the test and it's just about audible if I put my ear almost on the keyboard. It's very, very faint on mine. If there's any background noise (we have a pretty noisy fridge, here) then I can't hear it at all.

I have a couple of chargers on my desk which make more noise; if I hadn't have read the thread, I don't think I'd have noticed it (and I have pretty sharp hearing.)
 
Same with me. It is so faint that only if it is so silent that you can clearly without effort hear the fans, will you here this whizzing ssd read.
Odd that it is only when reading though.
The fans at 2000rpm are easier to make out on mine. The whizzing is just annoyingly high pitched.
The power adapter of my external screen is the most noisiest thing on my desk and it is not a very loud one just not dead silent.
 
SSD noise

Hey,
my late 2013 256GB 15'' rMBP produces the same noise when running Black Magic Speed Test. I can only hear it when it reads.
It's a Samsung SSD btw...
:eek:
 
asdfgbg said:
Hey,
my late 2013 256GB 15'' rMBP produces the same noise when running Black Magic Speed Test. I can only hear it when it reads.
It's a Samsung SSD btw...
:eek:
Click to expand...

Get it replaced. I also had a rMBP with this issue. My new machine is completely silent.
 
UBS28 said:
Get it replaced. I also had a rMBP with this issue. My new machine is completely silent.
Click to expand...

This happens only to the late 2013 models with PCIe SSD's right ? Because my old early 2013 rMBP didn't have this noise...
 
TechiEmmanuel said:
Add me to the list. I have a base 15" and it makes the squeal only when reading. I can hear it while listening to music.
Click to expand...

If you can hear it on a new MBP when listening to music, then I'd ask apple to fix or replace it. But if you have to almost press your ear to the case in a quiet room, as some have mentioned, I wouldn't worry about it.

Most likely some power supply component that vibrates a little (perhaps an inductor as mentioned earlier). Even though a modern switched mode power supply will use a switching frequency way above the range of human hearing, there can be some audible sound from time. For example if the duty cycle is changing at a lower rate than the switching frequency.
 
I had a Lenovo Thinkpad with an SSD that did this too.

Never had the sound in my Macbook pro with Intel X25M G2.

Dunno if it was SSD, but it was definitely when the computer was doing something (not while idle).
 
alex0002 said:
If you can hear it on a new MBP when listening to music, then I'd ask apple to fix or replace it. But if you have to almost press your ear to the case in a quiet room, as some have mentioned, I wouldn't worry about it.

Most likely some power supply component that vibrates a little (perhaps an inductor as mentioned earlier). Even though a modern switched mode power supply will use a switching frequency way above the range of human hearing, there can be some audible sound from time. For example if the duty cycle is changing at a lower rate than the switching frequency.
Click to expand...


Hm, that's interesting.

I'll take it in soon, but I wouldn't expect any luck. I was turned down for an image retention and light bleeding problem on my 13" before I exchanged it for the 15". I had to make a fuss when my iPhone battery expired a day out of warranty. But it's my dad's $2k, and for that money the computer should be perfect.

Thanks!
 
Just exchanged my 2.3 ghz MBP 15 with the 750m for the new 2.5 ghz one and I was able to reproduce the hissing noise when using blackmagic, however I don't remember it being present on my first MBP. Can anyone else confirm that this is intentional and not faulty?
 
AbootCanada said:
Just exchanged my 2.3 ghz MBP 15 with the 750m for the new 2.5 ghz one and I was able to reproduce the hissing noise when using blackmagic, however I don't remember it being present on my first MBP. Can anyone else confirm that this is intentional and not faulty?
Click to expand...

It is faulty. I ran into this issue too. I got it exchanged and my current machine is 100% silent.
 
Hey guys. I'm in almost the exact same position. Played the screen exchange game; finally got a perfect one and then I've got this annoying hard drive noise anytime there is read access. It's extremely annoying especially when writing in quiet rooms/libraries. I hate this damn computer haha.

Is this a widespread issue on the new models; or are there perfect machines. My 2012 machine is literally silent (like every other SSD computer I've ever owned). This one is noisey as, definitely coming from the SSD.
 
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