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New Macbook Air Creaking!!!

My 13" MBA which i love and have made my primary machine has started creaking. It's very annoying because there is no flex in the machine and i can't seem to reproduce it consistently but it's there. I am annoyed because i love this unit and don't want to go through the whole process of backing up transfer etc. and take my luck with another unit. I am p/o'ed! 😡
 
I can make mine creak when pressing about 2in inside of the middle screw along the left border... Creak creak... did not even notice it before this... hmmm... who cares - just use and abuse it - that's what I do...
 
Can you describe the sound a little more? My air makes some ... shifting ... sounds when I pick it up with one hand, or if I'm typing on my lap, but I wouldn't exactly call it a creak. More like a couple cracks and then it settles in.
 
I have a 13" MBA and it creaks - but I mean what do you expect?

The aluminium housing doesn't sit flush with all the components inside so there is for it to move if you put pressure on it, only natural really.

Doesn't bother me in the slightest so long as it works, which it does amazing well and of course looks peerrrteee 🙂
 
Romulus said:
I can make mine creak when pressing about 2in inside of the middle screw along the left border... Creak creak... did not even notice it before this... hmmm... who cares - just use and abuse it - that's what I do...
Click to expand...

🙂 Mine has a few random creaks but it's very slight on the left side and is only when I have the Air in my lap or on my bed. When on a hard surface, I cannot make it creak. I've contemplated swapping it out, but Lord only knows what else you'll get. I may drop by a Genius Bar to have them give a crank on the screws to see if that helps.
 
When I picked up an 11" at Best Buy this evening by the left hand palm rest I felt creaking big time. And it happened again and again after I repeated it. Kind of disconcerting!
 
My brand new Macbook Pro (not MBA) also creaks when you lay your hands on the hand-rest area. As soon as I'm done with the important project I'm working on, I'm definitely going to *at least* call apple support and make an official complaint so that I can get a support ticket in while I'm still under warrantee in case this creak develops into a more significant problem down the road.
 
My left palm rest also creaked on my first MBA. It got worse as the days gone by. I got it replaced and the new one is great! No creaks as of yet...I'm going be on the lookout in the next few days. Interesting also that this screen is also much better even though it's the same model (9CF0)...The first one was really washed out compared to this one. And the new one isn't as cool in terms of color (I'm using the same color profile as my first).

I have a theory as to why it creaks. I was packing up the original MBA for return, as I was putting the computer back into the box...I noticed that the left side of the laptop was nudged up against the 3 prong power adapter cord. It didn't sit in there comfortably (I didn't take out the power adapter on the replacement, just placed it in the original box in the wrappers). No matter how hard I tried to maneuver the power adapter, either part of the 3 prong cord always raised the left side up of the laptop a bit. And when I place the top of the box onto the bottom, it forced the laptop down onto the cord. I'm thinking that as the box is moving around during the shipping process, it might have loosened the bottom a bit due to the force. If you notice, most of the complaints come from the left side of the palm rest...That's how the MBA is placed in the box when it's shipped given the pre-formed internal tray. And if the bottoms aren't seated correctly from the factory, it'll just make it worse as it get's moved around during the shipping process...Anyway, just my theory.
 
I cannot make my 11" creak at all, and have tried all the maneuvers described in the thread. It feels, and sounds, totally solid.
 
Yep! Creaking...creaking...creaking

OK, add me to the list of 'creakers' (creakees?). When you pick the 13" MBA up by any one of the corners, sure enough, it creaks disconcertingly. So, if this were a $499 Acer I wouldn't complain, but this is a $1,800 4GB/256GB Apple, so I am complaining! I took it into the Apple Store on 14th Street in New York and they looked at me like I was some sort of alien when I asked them to take it in the back and crank down the screws to make the creaking go away...then they brought it back and said the screws were as tight as they were supposed to be and they wouldn't tighten it any more...creak, creak, creak...

This is a real issue, not someone's imagination. Apple, when will you fix this (please!)?

See thread below...

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=12631504
 
Yeah, and what's even more interesting, that a $400 Acer or similar won't creak! I have had the same issue, and I started to ignore it, but still every little creak made me anxious and disappointed. I took it to a Apple Service Center and they took the bottom plate and re-seated it. Also, the guy said that the battery on mine was slightly misplaced and when they opened it - they put in it's right position. Seems that was the cause of the creaking. I advice you to visit another Apple Store and ask for re-seating it (not just tighening the screws, but take the plate off, and put it back, and screw it), or call Apple Support.
 
bornagainmac2 said:
OK, add me to the list of 'creakers' (creakees?). When you pick the 13" MBA up by any one of the corners, sure enough, it creaks disconcertingly. So, if this were a $499 Acer I wouldn't complain, but this is a $1,800 4GB/256GB Apple, so I am complaining! I took it into the Apple Store on 14th Street in New York and they looked at me like I was some sort of alien when I asked them to take it in the back and crank down the screws to make the creaking go away...then they brought it back and said the screws were as tight as they were supposed to be and they wouldn't tighten it any more...creak, creak, creak...

This is a real issue, not someone's imagination. Apple, when will you fix this (please!)?

See thread below...

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=12631504
Click to expand...

In order to get my exchanged, I called applecare and told them that my Wifi keeps dropping while doing a ping -t to my gateway. I said that I had issues transferring big files across my wifi...I didn't even bother to tell them that my real issue is with the creaking on the bottom. I knew they would send me to the apple store and then the store would tell me that all of them do this...Which I know is not true because my wife's MBA 13 does not creak at all. I agree, I paid premium for the quality and I expect a near flawless build.
 
Creaking, yes.

Yes I experienced creaking when I first got my Macbook Air a week after the announcement. More specifically, when I picked it up from the right side with the lid open. It drove me nuts initially but I really needed it for work so I toughed it out. Thankfully, overtime it has gone away but does occasionally happen here and there.

Maybe the metal has to settle over use? I don't know.
 
My MBA creaked from the time I opened the box. However I purchased the Torx screwdriver for the MBA from ifixit and removed the screws, reseated the bottom plate and now no creaking. If yours creak, I would recommend going to a nearby Apple store if one is available and have them reseat the bottom plate.
 
My MacBook Pro has creaked since I bought it in March 2010. I'm not sure what the model is, but it has a 15" screen and an Intel Core i7 processor.

I haven't looked into getting it fixed.
 
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atsiang said:
My MBA creaked from the time I opened the box. However I purchased the Torx screwdriver for the MBA from ifixit and removed the screws, reseated the bottom plate and now no creaking. If yours creak, I would recommend going to a nearby Apple store if one is available and have them reseat the bottom plate.
Click to expand...

^^^^^^^^^This is the solution^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

It's a monocoque design that derives it rigidity by the tight fit of the base plate.
It the base isn't fitted properly it will flex and when it flexes it creaks. I refitted my base plate and it no longer flexes or creaks. 🙂
 
spencertherover said:
^^^^^^^^^This is the solution^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

It's a monocoque design that derives it rigidity by the tight fit of the base plate.
It the base isn't fitted properly it will flex and when it flexes it creaks. I refitted my base plate and it no longer flexes or creaks. 🙂
Click to expand...

Hey, do you recommend a newbie trying to do this by them self? I don't feel like asking an overworked apple employee during the holidays to try this. I don't really have experience opening these kind of products, but I dont feel that daunted by the process and if there isnt that much room for failure I wouldnt mind giving it a shot myself.
 
eserrur said:
Hey, do you recommend a newbie trying to do this by them self? I don't feel like asking an overworked apple employee during the holidays to try this. I don't really have experience opening these kind of products, but I dont feel that daunted by the process and if there isnt that much room for failure I wouldnt mind giving it a shot myself.
Click to expand...

Actually the process is quite easy and not daunting at all. I feel that anyone can do this and takes just a few minutes. You don't even need to lift up the bottom plate completely. Just remove the screws, lift up the bottom plate slightly and then replace the screws and screw them symmetrically back with even pressure across all the screws opposite of one another.
 
atsiang said:
Actually the process is quite easy and not daunting at all. I feel that anyone can do this and takes just a few minutes. You don't even need to lift up the bottom plate completely. Just remove the screws, lift up the bottom plate slightly and then replace the screws and screw them symmetrically back with even pressure across all the screws opposite of one another.
Click to expand...

Have you actually done this? If you have then you know the process isn't as easy as you made it sound. Sure, removing screws is nearly painless, it's finding the driver to remove the screws. The MBA uses security screws that require a special security torx driver which is very hard to find.
 
HLdan said:
Have you actually done this? If you have then you know the process isn't as easy as you made it sound. Sure, removing screws is nearly painless, it's finding the driver to remove the screws. The MBA uses security screws that require a special security torx driver which is very hard to find.
Click to expand...

Yes I did this two days ago. It is that easy. As I stated in my earlier post, I purchased the Torx screwdriver from ifixit. They have one for sale especially for the MBA.

http://www.ifixit.com/Tools/MacBook-Air-5-Point-Screwdriver/IF145-090
 
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I have a 13" Ultimate and thought I had no creaking issues when I first read the threads on creaking.

Now after having thoroughly checked by picking up my air on all four corners, I, too, have noticed that I have the creaking problem.

It only creaks when I lift it by the top right hand corner. It's even worse when you push the top right foot.

I'm not really all that concerned. Going to take it to an apple store and ask them to re-screw them or something.

Edit: Just ran a quick hardware test and got the same error as the two users on page 2

4SNS/1/40000001: ID0R-0.040

This sucks.. my computer is running fine and I really don't want to have to get it replaced. I have all my files on here, I've installed my bodyguardz film (was a b!tch to install), and I also have a sticker decal.. UGH.
 
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Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_2_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8C148 Safari/6533.18.5)

Does anyone know what this particular error is? Has anyone called apple to verify what it is?

How does one do the boot test.
 
People, people..does the MBA creak/make irritating noises when resting on a flat surface and you're typing away? If not, what's the problem? Of course you might hear some slight creaks now and then if you're lifting up the MBA with one hand or whatever.. Let's not get carried away here. If it makes a lot of noises when you rest your hands on it while typing, then you have a point. In that case, get the bottom plate reseated. If you switch your MBA because of (IMO) a non-issue like slight creaking when lifting up an MBA, you might get a new unit with more uneven screen backlight, get a wobbling unit etc..etc..
Let's keep it real..
(Not saying that someone here doesn't have a legitimate issue, but if you start searching for slight imperfections on a consumer product like this - you will probably eventually find one. Apple or Acer or whatever...)
 
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atsiang said:
Yes I did this two days ago. It is that easy. As I stated in my earlier post, I purchased the Torx screwdriver from ifixit. They have one for sale especially for the MBA.

http://www.ifixit.com/Tools/MacBook-Air-5-Point-Screwdriver/IF145-090
Click to expand...

Ah, sorry I missed that in your previous post. Interesting that iFixit sells the driver, when they did their first opening up of the new Air they had to shave down their standard flat head to fit the Air's security screws. Well that's good that the driver is for sale, sadly it's currently out of stock, but still that's good that it's available. 🙂
 
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