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Macbook Pro: Strange Noise

This noise seems unacceptable to me. Yes I haven't heard it. Yes people oftern expect perfection, and these sites encourage us to whine. But at the price of a MBP there should not be a sound coming from the machine! I don't care if they've strapped a quad g5 in the MBP, they should ensure the electrics and mechanics can cope. If that means waiting a bit longer, then make us wait! I think they should stop releasing Apple products that are not living up to the quality Apple users demand!

Look at the reviews for the new 20" iMac http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=377599&tstart=0

... they all love it, and rightly so. These reviews make me wanna buy one, and I just might if I can forego the mobility issues. These iMacs come after numerous issues with the fans on the G5 Rev A.'s, and believe me there was more than a few complaints about those.

Apple needs to be more careful with their quality control, excess noise is a major flaw in the MBP, especially since a great many of its users will be recording audio in some form or another (that's why the 7200 drives and optical in/outs have been included!).

Well I'm glad I got that off my chest ... ahh, breath out, and in.:cool:
 
The only noise that I hear is the fan going at times. Yes the fan does go a lot more than in past versions but it is not that bad. I hardly notice it unless everything is quiet.
 
mstecker said:
I have a 2.16 MBP that's seen neither of those problems after a week of hard use.
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So it doesn't affect the 1.83's or the 2.16's? But only strikes at the 2.0's? Odd... sounds very counter-intuitive.
 
You are definitely right. I heard the sound quite clearly in an Apple Store in Boston and I agree that it sounds kind of like a CRT TV when it is on and muted. It really isn't obnoxiously loud but definitely a bug they should fix.
 
mvelinder said:
So it doesn't affect the 1.83's or the 2.16's? But only strikes at the 2.0's? Odd... sounds very counter-intuitive.
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What makes you think this way? There's one 2.16 user so far who doesn't NOTICE it, which could either mean the user is less sensitive or the 2.16's are not affected. I don't think there's any report from a 1.83 user so far: KD71WP is likely a 2.0 user who still has 1.83 in his signature from before the upgrade (look, he's got 1.0GB of ram and 100 GB harddrive). From all I know the first 1.83's will arrive tomorrow and then the recipients will hopefully inform us quickly.
 
mrfop said:
This noise seems unacceptable to me. Yes I haven't heard it.
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So then you admit you actually don't know what the **** it sounds like, and yet you still think it's unacceptable. Try listening to it at the link given several posts back.

I don't care if they've strapped a quad g5 in the MBP, they should ensure the electrics and mechanics can cope. If that means waiting a bit longer, then make us wait!
Click to expand...
Then you'll end up with something like this
I think they should stop releasing Apple products that are not living up to the quality Apple users demand!
Click to expand...
They'll stop making them when people stop buying them.

As for the sound itself, I listened to the link, and it sounds exactly like the whine my PB (Rev. A Aluminum 15") makes sometimes. It always happens when I'm using VNCViewer, but not when playing most, if not all, of my fullscreen, 3D games (MoH, Halo, others.). Since it's so infrequent on my PB, it's not a bother (especially since I haven't used VNC SW in at least several months), so I can put up with it. Now, if it were constant, it would probably get quite annoying.
 
i dunno wether its relevant but i get the same sort of noise when i have been playing a game for an hour or two. I use an ibook g4
 
mmmcheese said:
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.
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Yep. I've heard this sound on many a PC notebook (Bought Dell Latitudes and Inspirons before seeing the light :D)
 
macbook123 said:
What makes you think this way? There's one 2.16 user so far who doesn't NOTICE it, which could either mean the user is less sensitive or the 2.16's are not affected.
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In general, I'm pretty sensitive to this sort of thing.
 
Counterfit said:
So then you admit you actually don't know what the **** it sounds like, and yet you still think it's unacceptable. Try listening to it at the link given several posts back.
Click to expand...

Right done that, still think it is unacceptable.

Counterfit said:
Then you'll end up with something like this
Click to expand...

Love it, where'd ya get it!!!:cool:

Counterfit said:
They'll stop making them when people stop buying them.
Click to expand...

Well that's just perfect isn't it, ah well, at least we'll still have Dell!!! Mate, I for one believe in giving Apple a sound b*ll*cking for making MBP's that sound like they have electronic mice running about them!!! What's an Intel doing in a mac ... making a ****ing noise by the sound of it.

Seriously though, if the noise only occurs when the things are idle, then I suppose this would not be a problem when running high-end audio software (i.e. Logic Pro). Can anyone verify this?
 
Got the noise here

I just got my MBP in the mail today (my first mac actually) and I hear the noise as well. Its very annoying, but I will deal for now. If it keeps up, I will wait for them to release a rev b and then send it in for service.

Besides that, I don't wanna send my new toy back right away. I mean, this rocks compaired to my Dell.

Ordered Jan 27th

Shipped with:
2.16Ghz
7200rpm drive
2GB RAM
 
mrfop said:
Well that's just perfect isn't it, ah well, at least we'll still have Dell!!! Mate, I for one believe in giving Apple a sound b*ll*cking for making MBP's that sound like they have electronic mice running about them!!!
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*whuff*
That's the sound of a point being missed. I mean that as long as the products they make: 1) meet their standards and 2) make money for them because people are buying them, then they'll keep making them.
What's an Intel doing in a mac ... making a ****ing noise by the sound of it.
Click to expand...
Like I said before, my PB also makes this sound, but only on rare occasions. I doubt that the processor itself is the source, as the new iMacs haven't had this (at least, not on the same scale), and my PB doesn't have an Intel processor.
 
Someone on the Apple forum at

http://discussions.apple.com/thread....10973&#1810973

found that downlading and starting the "mirror" widget helps. The user said that the whining (or however you want to call it) even stays off once you close that widget, and the green camera light goes off. The problem with running photobooth might be that it lowers the battery life. I don't know whether running the mirror widget will lead to the same. If it won't, there's hope that Apple can invent a software update to fix the problem permanently. However, somebody on the above forum (who seems to be quite knowledgeable about computers) wrote that the whining is a consequence of the Intel processors being put into a power saving state, quoting the guy ("MtnViewJohn"):

"The cause is an interaction between the CPU's switching power supply, the OS X task scheduler interrupt, and the CPU low power states. OS X configures the hardware to generate a hardware interrupt at some fixed period that is probably on the order of 1kHz. If the system is idle then this interrupt causes OS X to wake up the CPUs, determine that the system is still idle, and put the CPUs back into a low power state. The net affect of this is that the current flowing from the power supply to the CPU is a square wave at some frequency on the order of 1kHz. Components in the CPU power supply are vibrating at this interrupt rate and producing audible noise."

Hope this helps.
 
yes, I am too hearing this noise. When I started it up I heard it and I was wondering if it was this which I had heard about on the internet. It is distracting and I can hear it. But eh, I still love this thing. Damn thing did burn me though! My hand hurts:eek:.

EDIT: I should add that it makes this noise most of the time, only when it is really workin' does it not make this noise. Guess I better keep it busy!
 
Same problem Here...

SpAtZ said:
My computer is giving off a sound similar to the sound of a TV with snow on it but with a higher pitch (a buzzing sound, whining). The weird part is that if i am dragging a image or scrolling with a side bar in a window the sound diminishes. The sound is coming from the top of the keyboard. What is happening?
Click to expand...

Same problem here. 2.16 MacBook Pro.

The only weird thing is that if I push (or pull) the screen a little bit, the sounds stops for a few seconds. The sound does not stop if I disconect the power or anything else:confused: :confused: .....

UPDATE: If you press F1 until the screen is dark, the SOUND IS GONE !!!!
 
Got my 1.83 yesterday. Sad to say I have the whine as well. My questions is how many have contacted apple and is having their mbp replaced for free because of this problem?
 
wragen22 said:
Got my 1.83 yesterday. Sad to say I have the whine as well. My questions is how many have contacted apple and is having their mbp replaced for free because of this problem?
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Called Apple mine is being "captured" by engineering. New one's coming next week. 2.0 stock.
 
entropy1980 said:
Called Apple mine is being "captured" by engineering. New one's coming next week. 2.0 stock.
Click to expand...

The crucial question is, do they allow you to keep your current one until you receive the new one? I need the computer and would only maybe send it in if I knew for sure that the replacement does not have the whine.
 
macbook123 said:
The crucial question is, do they allow you to keep your current one until you receive the new one? I need the computer and would only maybe send it in if I knew for sure that the replacement does not have the whine.
Click to expand...
Sadly no, but they did say that they had stock held out for these kinds of things. In other words as soon as they recieve mine they would be sending one out.
 
entropy1980 said:
Sadly no, but they did say that they had stock held out for these kinds of things. In other words as soon as they recieve mine they would be sending one out.
Click to expand...

Thanks entropy1980. I will wait until you get your replacement, and if it doesn't have the whine, I can still think about sending mine in. I'm assuming I have 3 months to do this. Can anybody verify this?
 
Wes Jordan said:
Damn thing did burn me though! My hand hurts:eek:.
Click to expand...

I am very shocked at how hot these get. Just general every day work it gets pretty hot. I won't be suprised if you see a law suite from someone burning their lap.

However, after 3 hours of playing WoW last night I did burn my self pretty bad. I am not sure if there is a problem with mine or not, but that was very damn hot.
 
Apple has found the problem. The sound should be directly coming from the speaker on the right side. In the e-mail I recieved they said engineering has found the problem in the inverter.

Edit: Oh and it can be fixed by sending it into apple for a repair.
 
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