Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Macbook Pro: Strange Noise

I have the same issue. Turning off 1 processor core seems to make it go away. Turning on Photobooth makes it less noticeable. Definitely a problem. I just called Apple they want me to run a hardware test than call back and report if any errors show. I have a bad feeling I will be returning it and waiting for Rev. B. Very sad.
 
How loud is this hissing?

My RevE powerbook definitely makes some quiet purring type noises at times - like when I scroll through webpages. My feeling is that it is related to the graphics processor...

I can only hear the purring in a very quiet room (when you can also hear the HD spinning, too).
 
Spectrum said:
How loud is this hissing?

My RevE powerbook definitely makes some quiet purring type noises at times - like when I scroll through webpages. My feeling is that it is related to the graphics processor...

I can only hear the purring in a very quiet room (when you can also hear the HD spinning, too).
Click to expand...
Actually it sounds like a gnat buzzing in my ear.
 
About 4 years ago, I had a Toshiba notebook that had a heatsink that wasn't designed properly, so it was always throttling back the CPU speed to deal with the high temperatures. Anytime the CPU throttled, it would make a sound just like what people are describing.

It almost seems like the sound is made when the CPU is being throttled in this case as well because people are saying it goes away under high CPU usage, or when the second CPU is turned off. If you're just doing web surfing or whatever, the second CPU is likely sitting idle and throttles itself back to conserve energy.

Of course this is just speculation since I don't have a MBP in front of me.
 
I find that I can hear a very, very faint hum if I put my ear literally in contact with the keyboard, but that is it. From more than a couple of inches away, the noise is completely inaudible on mine.

I'm thrilled with my MBP.
 
Ok called Apple.... they had me remove battery, unplug it, then hold down power button for 15 seconds. No more whine. And it seems to be running cooler and for the first time I think I can hear a fan kick on opposed to the high pitched whine. YMMV....

UPDATE
Scratch that it's back. Blech. So far disabling 1 core or turning on Photobooth are the only fixes that are working for me. :(
 
Kingsly said:
http://web.mac.com/alexmarkov/iWeb/Blog/Podcast/25CE557A-75EA-4888-B3F8-443D3F8F0E60.html
Here is a recording someone made of it. It would annoy the heck out of me!
*prays 1.83 MBP is void of issue*

entropy1980, you say its running cooler now, too? Awesome. Looks like Apple finally solved the issue. I wonder, did they explain what you were doing? Resetting PMU?
Click to expand...

I believe it's the new equivilant of resetting PMU....it still seems cooler but sound is there still.... bummer..... amy be returning it if I don't see a software type fix from Apple or acknowledgement soon. :(
 
It actually doesnt sound all that bad, maybe its worse if youre right in front of the thing, dunno. Hope it gets fixed.
 
Got my 2.0 today. I can hear the sound people are describing, and it does go away when running photo booth. Am not sure yet I personally find it disturbing enough to complain. What hasn't become entirely clear to me from this forum is whether Powerbooks have the same sound. The guy at the Apple store was quite curious about it and when we checked he heard it on the display models. He said it's not much different from his Powerbook. If this is true Apple might have not found the problem big enough to fix it in the past.

One thing I'm very curious about is whether the 1.83's that should be delivered next week will have the same sound. They might have been tested for longer as this was the original processor to be put in the laptop. Hopefully 1.83 people will use this site to post their experiences.
 
That sound isn't all that unusual...it happens on a lot of machines. I haven't heard it on my iBook, but I've heard it on many other machines.
 
re-stocking fee

I notice the whine but so far can live with it. For those who can't, would you be able to return your Macbook for good without having to pay the standard Apple re-stocking fee?
 
When I invest in my MacBook Pro (as soon as possible) I am going to get the AppleCare with it, any problems like this should be covered under AppleCare.

So yeah, if anyone is having problems, send it back to Apple. It shouldn't be doing these things.

....I agree with another poster. Apple need to focus more on quality control. Of course all companies should, but really we all must hope that Apple will.
 
maestro55 said:
When I invest in my MacBook Pro (as soon as possible) I am going to get the AppleCare with it, any problems like this should be covered under AppleCare.
Click to expand...

Even if you don't get Apple care, you should still be able to return it within the first three months.
 
Real Reason For Hissing

Hey... I'm new to Mac Rumors and this is my first post. The real reason why the hissing noise is there is the second core. If the sound is really bothering you, install Apple's CHUD tools (located on the included OS X disk with the Xcode installer). After installing, look on the processor preference pane (in system preferences) and you can turn off your second core of the processor. The sound will go away.


I ordered a MacBook Pro on February 15 and it isn't being put in the mail for 19 days:( . The next 3 weeks will seem like 3 years...
 
macbook123 said:
Even if you don't get Apple care, you should still be able to return it within the first three months.
Click to expand...

I think you meant 12 months. My point of view is that I'll wait for the first year, and then I'll get Apple Care, like that you can see if it's really worth about 400€ (France)
 
Photobooth stops the sound because the screen drawing is changing. For me, it doesn't matter what the screen brightness or volume adjustment is, I get the awful sound. However, whenever the screen is drawing somethihg, it goes away. So, scroll up and down constantly, and it is silent. When photobooth is open it is constantly redrawing on screen, so it is silent. Look at my sig to see what computer I have. I think I'll go to Apple tomorrow.
 
KD7IWP said:
Photobooth stops the sound because the screen drawing is changing. For me, it doesn't matter what the screen brightness or volume adjustment is, I get the awful sound. However, whenever the screen is drawing somethihg, it goes away. So, scroll up and down constantly, and it is silent. When photobooth is open it is constantly redrawing on screen, so it is silent. Look at my sig to see what computer I have. I think I'll go to Apple tomorrow.
Click to expand...

People have reported that the noise goes away when Photobooth is minimized, so screen refresh doesn't appear to have anything to do with it. I can't hear the sound with my MBP unless my ear is in contact with the keyboard, so I don't care enough to make it go away. :)
 
NeuronBasher said:
People have reported that the noise goes away when Photobooth is minimized, so screen refresh doesn't appear to have anything to do with it. I can't hear the sound with my MBP unless my ear is in contact with the keyboard, so I don't care enough to make it go away. :)
Click to expand...

That's why I'm not worried about mine... electronics buzz, big deal. From what I'm gathering it won't even be noticable with normal ambient noise from the house, dorm, etc.

As for the sound clip of the "whining" it seems to be about 1/10th of the sound from bumping your mic into the keyboard. Again, not a big deal.
 
same problem 2.0 7200 Macbook Squeal/Whine/Buzz

but it goes away when i enable bluetooth and connect bt keyboard.

awaiting official word from apple, this sound is impossible to overlook
but
i am an artist i dont want this freq in my brain. Te sound is not very loud but it is canceling all over other sounds. even when im listening to my stereo, i can hear the squeal. everyone into sound that i know ive demonstrated it to, they can hear this thing.

so i cannot move away from the bt keyboard or i have to disable cpu core 2. this is NOT ELEGANT
it is a big deal. APPLE isnt telling us anything i reported this on thurs last week and no one knows if it needs repair or software fix still
 
hi there, i'm new. apple bringing more and more new users to macrumors.com :) and i'm one of them.

actually I had same noise on my Asus PC, with single core Pentium M processor. but I could easily change my power settings from "high performance" to anything else. And this sound goes off. So, maybe it's not the processor problem on macbook... something with software though...
 
majorp said:
You have a 1.83 with the whining noise????:eek:
Click to expand...

Probably (s)he just has an old signature. (S)he has 1GB RAM and a 100 GB harddrive. So probably 2GHz CPU. The first 1.83's should arrive tomorrow.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back