Macbook Air noise

[usmaak]

Hi,

Is there anything else in a macbook air besides the fan that can make noise? I noticed a faint buzzing noise coming from the area of the fan. So I brought it to the Apple store, and they changed the fan. The noise isn't any different. When I listen to my wife's MBA, it is virtually silent. It actually is pretty much silent. But what are the chances that I would get two buzzy fans?

Thanks

 

[CoMoMacUser]

Does the MBA have two fans? If so, maybe they replaced the wrong fan.

 

[usmaak]

Does the MBA have two fans? If so, maybe they replaced the wrong fan.

The MBA only has the one fan. If you're looking at the screen, it is on the lefthand side, toward the back. That's where the buzzing comes from, too.

 

[filmbuff]

How loud is this buzz? Is it electronic sounding, like the power supply?

 

[usmaak]

How loud is this buzz? Is it electronic sounding, like the power supply?

TBH, I'm not sure. It is definitely where the fan is located. If i put my ear to the keyboard, I can hear it exactly where the fan is. Not that it is necessary for me to put my ear to the keyboard to hear it. In a quiet room, it is audible from a normal sitting position. If I listen to the keyboard and put the computer to sleep, it stops right when the fan stops. When I take it out of sleep, it starts up right when the fan does.

 

[usmaak]

Wait. Does the MBA even have an internal power supply? I thought that's what the power brick was for.

I still haven't decided what to do yet. I have until Monday to return it. I made one more genius bar appointment, to see if they can discover another cause for the sound problem. I wonder if they even replaced the fan, or maybe they just said that they did. I don't have any actual proof either way.

Maybe I'll bring one of our other MBAs with me, to show the difference.

One other question. Our other MBAs are i5, and this is an i7. Could that explain the difference?

 

[dyn]

The powerbrick is for charging the Air. When not using the powerbrick it runs from the battery which is inside the Air. So yeah, the Air does have a power supply inside, it's just not like the one in a Mac Pro for example.

Have you checked in Activity Monitor if there is something that is using a lot of cpu power? When something uses a lot of the cpu or the gpu (in the Air this is now part of the cpu) this causes the cpu to run hotter which in turn is causing the fan to run on a higher speed which makes it more audible.

 

[Acorn]

I havent heard the fan in my air since the day i got it. maybe my hearing isnt that sensitive. I tried putting my ear up to the vent and i think i can hear air moving but not really a fan sound. Granted I dont do much that would stress the processor. Just mail, surf, and music.

 

[twintin]

usmaak,

are you sure the buzzing does not come from the speakers (I'm not sure where they are located) ?