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MBA 2020: Speaker rattle on certain (higher) audio frequencies

I

irrwisch1

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jun 4, 2020
5
5
Hi there,

I noticed that there is a rattle coming from the right speaker on my fairly new MBA 2020 when playing back certain (higher) audio frequencies. I'm not completely sure but it could also be the case that's vibrating and not the speaker itself that's faulty.

I already had the MBA in for repair at Apple, they replaced the speakers but the problem is still there. Does anyone else notice this on the new MBA 2020? Maybe that's even "normal behaviour". I find it quite annoying though because once you noticed that rattle, you'll notice it every time it occurs.
I have an appointment at an Apple store at Saturday but I doubt that it will be fixed properly when I return the MBA a second time.

Thinking about opening the back cover to see if that reduces the rattle, but I'm note sure if that will void my warranty.
 
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Opening your back cover should not void your warranty, but if you are still covered by the warranty and is not a tech-savvy person, you might want to avoid that. They will screw you out of warranty for any reason they can. Even if it is not really a valid reason.

Once they replaced the component and the rattle is still there, they either replaced it with a faulty one/didn't install it properly (which is more common than it should), or the problem is not in the speakers. If it is not in the speakers, it is the motherboard (likely corrosion on the connectors). Their policy will not allow a technician to just clean the connectors, they will have to replace the whole motherboard (logicboard is what they will likely call it).

I am quite confident in my repair skills, but even I would prefer to not deal with this expensive machine without a safety net. If they brake it more, they have to give you another. If you break it, you are out of luck.

Do you have an audio file of the rattle sound? It could be the case, but my recommendation is that you leave them to deal with it, if the laptop is not something you are in dire need of right now.

Don't be afraid to be assertive and don't let them smooth talk their way into not doing anything. If it is not properly fixed the second time, go back to the store and complain that they had two chances to fix it and they did not do it. You paid for the coverage service, you deserve more than a faulty computer.
 
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I was playing around a bit more and generated some sine waves using this website:
www.audiocheck.net

Custom Sine Tones | Audio Test File Generator

Our waveform generators deliver accurately calibrated sound files, with adjustable frequency and amplitude.
www.audiocheck.net www.audiocheck.net
And found out that it's especially bad with a 600Hz sine wave.
Maybe someone else also want's to try out a 500, 600 and 700Hz sine using that website.

Here's how my MBA sounds (recorded with an iPhone 11):

MBA2020 Audiotest - Google Drive

drive.google.com drive.google.com

500Hz und 700Hz sounds mostly clean, while on the 600Hz there's that hissing/rattling noise very noticeable.
Turning down the volume of the MBA doesn't seem to make a big difference. Also happens when the volume is only at half.
 
This does not sound like a motherboard issue. This really sounds like a resonance issue. I am taking you recorded this with your phone on your hand, so it is not exactly the same distance of the speakers during the whole recording, so the intensity of the sound (volume) varies. The problem is worse at the beginnings and then appears to smooth out. Does it sound the same for you? So I would say it is likely a speaker problem or it's a design flaw with the computer itself.

But it matters not. They should get it fixed for you or replace the faulty computer if they can't fix it. Once you found out the range the issue, you might want to take these audios to the appeal store with you to show them the issue. They often fix things and send them back to the customer without testing. You have an easy and fast way to test it, so you can test it upon receiving the machine back and can literally show that the issue was not fixed before leaving the store.
 
I'm just back from the Apple store. I demonstrated the problem to them, they acknowledged it and said it's a known problem that they cannot fix.
It's the keycaps that are vibrating. If you place your hand on the keyboard, the rattling sound almost disappears.

I think that's quite poor from Apple, especially for a company that's stating how high quality and "premium" their products are.

Interestingly there's not much to find about this issue on the internet, so maybe I'm also a bit too picky and probably lots of people won't even recognize the issue.

Still pretty disappointing for me.
 
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It is very disappointing indeed. I hope they at least really fixed it dor you now. Hopefully this is just a problem with the holding mechanism? But I digress. Happy to see your computer is back tk being whay was promissed, OP
 
Unfortunately they didn’t fix anything. They said it’s a known problem and they cannot fix it.
 
I read it wrong. They said "Yeah. It is an issue. But also a feature with this model. So learn how to hold your cellphone right!"

That is horrible company policy. But jokes apart, if its a known issue theres little they can do other than redesign the keyboard and recall all units. It is more profitable to just replace/accept returns from those who complain.
 
irrwisch1 said:
I'm just back from the Apple store. I demonstrated the problem to them, they acknowledged it and said it's a known problem that they cannot fix.
It's the keycaps that are vibrating. If you place your hand on the keyboard, the rattling sound almost disappears.

I think that's quite poor from Apple, especially for a company that's stating how high quality and "premium" their products are.

Interestingly there's not much to find about this issue on the internet, so maybe I'm also a bit too picky and probably lots of people won't even recognize the issue.

Still pretty disappointing for me.
Click to expand...
I’ll do let you know if I found a solution for the problem
 
There's your solution, then.
So, it's the keyboard, resonating on certain frequencies.
Give Apple the chance to work with that.
Ask them to replace the keyboard as a test on your MBPro.
 
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DeltaMac said:
There's your solution, then.
So, it's the keyboard, resonating on certain frequencies.
Give Apple the chance to work with that.
Ask them to replace the keyboard as a test on your MBPro.
Click to expand...
Initially they denied the problem and later they accepted that there is a problem,The reply from them was that “ new macbook speaker are very loud so keys vibrate and we cannot solve the issue “ Next time when I visit I’ll force them to replace keyboard and see what happens.
 
If you replace the keyboard, it will likely not fix the issue. If it does, great. Bur it might not do that. If it doesn't, you might manage to get a refund so you can buy a laptop that doesnt vibrate when you are playing music. With a full price refund you could buy pretry much anything with the same specs.

Problem is: i rarely see them givind a refund. I've seen they giving you an upgrade to a newer model (especially when your keyboard breaks and gets replaces 3 times in one single month and you are just done with it). But there... isnt a newer version. Next thing is a base MBP, 13", but it cost almost 50% more.
 
aangvento said:
If you replace the keyboard, it will likely not fix the issue. If it does, great. Bur it might not do that. If it doesn't, you might manage to get a refund so you can buy a laptop that doesnt vibrate when you are playing music. With a full price refund you could buy pretry much anything with the same specs.

Problem is: i rarely see them givind a refund. I've seen they giving you an upgrade to a newer model (especially when your keyboard breaks and gets replaces 3 times in one single month and you are just done with it). But there... isnt a newer version. Next thing is a base MBP, 13", but it cost almost 50% more.
Click to expand...
I am ok with upgrading to macbook pro do they take this ?
 
I mean. I've seen they upgrading 2019 models to 2020. Because they used to cost the same when new. But you would be getting an upgrade that is 50% more expensive than what you bought. I don't think it is likely. But it is worth a try. Ask if they can exchange your computer for another model or something.
 
irrwisch1 said:
Hi there,

I noticed that there is a rattle coming from the right speaker on my fairly new MBA 2020 when playing back certain (higher) audio frequencies. I'm not completely sure but it could also be the case that's vibrating and not the speaker itself that's faulty.

I already had the MBA in for repair at Apple, they replaced the speakers but the problem is still there. Does anyone else notice this on the new MBA 2020? Maybe that's even "normal behaviour". I find it quite annoying though because once you noticed that rattle, you'll notice it every time it occurs.
I have an appointment at an Apple store at Saturday but I doubt that it will be fixed properly when I return the MBA a second time.

Thinking about opening the back cover to see if that reduces the rattle, but I'm note sure if that will void my warranty.
Click to expand...
My problem solved after 3 months
 
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DeltaMac said:
hmm... It's only been one week? What was your solution? That might help someone else.
Click to expand...
The device is three months old now, the noise which I demonstrated before used be very high but now after some key presses or something noise decreased a bit not that high as before.
 
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DeltaMac said:
Ah, OK, so ... you turned the volume down, which would normally cause other speaker-related noise to be less noticeable.
Click to expand...
I have talked with a guy in my town with macbook air 2020 he had same issue but he never really recognised it I played some frequency test on his device it causes same distortion, I think it is design flaw or i’m bit picky with speakey quality in a laptop
 
Kaushik Reddy said:
I have talked with a guy in my town with macbook air 2020 he had same issue but he never really recognised it I played some frequency test on his device it causes same distortion, I think it is design flaw or i’m bit picky with speakey quality in a laptop
Click to expand...
DeltaMac said:
Ah, OK, so ... you turned the volume down, which would normally cause other speaker-related noise to be less noticeable.
Click to expand...
I have reached macstore they told me that speaker replacement will solve the issue I should see whether problem gets solved or not
 
Kaushik Reddy said:
I have reached macstore they told me that speaker replacement will solve the issue I should see whether problem gets solved or not
Click to expand...
How did it go? I have the same problem and they replaced my speaker but the buzzing noise is still there. Did key presses really solve the problem overtime?
 
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