Retina Macbook Pro Noise (with Audio and Video) Help pls :(

[maj3stro]

Hello there. I recently purchased the Retina Macbook Pro Base Model.

This is my second replacement-unit after the others had major issues like scratches and dirt under the keyboard.

My Problem is, that in cases when there are a lot of fast read/write-actions from/to the SSD, the Macbook emits an electrical noise. Seems to be coming from the upper right area.

Please be aware, that i know that an SSD shouldn't emit such a Sound, but it actually is directly related to it as you can see in the Video below.

The best way to repdroduce the noise is by downloading or copying large files (depending on the transferspeed) from another partition or (better) by opening a folder containing a large mkv(/mp4)-file. For the former, you need to have perian installed.
I can not recreate the sound by copying files from an external harddrive.

The process directly related to the Sound is QTKITServer....QuickLookSatellite-general

I would be very thankful, if anyone of you can try to reproduce this noise.
I want to know if i should again order a replacement unit or give up, because its a general problem, as all other units i got also had this problem.

Video + Audio: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AP6xu5rnHlU&feature=player_embedded

Only Audio: http://soundcloud.com/petevigas/rmbp-noise

Greetings
maj3stro

Note 1: I can reproduce the Sound by using Blackmagic Disk Speed Test

Note 2: I can also reproduce the sound behaviour on my ssd equipped old Macbook Pro Late 08 with a Corsair p128 SSD. But instead from the upper right corner as on my retina mac, the noise comes from the upper left corner where the dc-in is.

 

[theuserjohnny]

That is an odd sound have you tried recreating it without the software that you have installed? I don't have Perian and I can't recreate the sound via large download or opening up large files.

 

[maj3stro]

Copying Files between two partitions

hello theuserjohnny,

if you have a second partition on your mac, you could do me a big favor by copying a folder with many files to your mac os x drive. Those files don't need to be big.
I can hear this sound quite well by doing this.

When downloading the file size doesn't matter. The download speed matters. I just tried by downloading the the eclipse ide from here: http://www.eclipse.org/downloads/
My download speed is 2mb/s. With slower download-speeds i don't hear a thing.

BTW depending on your age it might be able, that you can actually not hear the sound in person. As a digression: I already had such an experience a few years ago when i heard a high pitched noise from a car and my friends didn't believe me until i actually recorded the noise. Cameras seem to have a broader spectrum of frequencies than people with slighty damaged ears.

p.s: i just edited the information on the second partition to my first post

Greetings
maj3stro

 

[cenixentor]

I have another macbook retina and also feels the same

 

[maj3stro]

@Cenixentor: Just to be sure: With "feels the same" you do mean, that you can hear the noise as well? Did you reproduce it with a mkv-file?

 

[tadziak]

@Cenixentor: Just to be sure: With "feels the same" you do mean, that you can hear the noise as well? Did you reproduce it with a mkv-file?

Same issue here and not only on one Retina - but 3! Did yours get any better?

 

[maj3stro]

Hey tadziak,

no, mine didn't get better. I am currently in need of a PC, so i didn't bring it to a Reseller to check.

I also created a Thread in a german board, where people suggested, that the noise might be caused from a bad circuit layout. I can at least confirm that with my current USB 3.0 enclosure, that contains another SSD. Where i can locate the noise coming from the electrics from the enclosure.

I can also reproduce the sound on my old Macbook, when i build the second disk into that. The noise is less audible though.

Doing more research on the internet i also found out, that there are more people who hear that noise. Those are mostly silent-PC-Customers, who could hear their SSD when they took it out of the HDD-Silencer.


My Post on Macuser.de: http://www.macuser.de/forum/f10/retina-macbook-pro-654023/

Greetings
maj3stro

 

[tadziak]

Hey tadziak,

no, mine didn't get better. I am currently in need of a PC, so i didn't bring it to a Reseller to check.

I also created a Thread in a german board, where people suggested, that the noise might be caused from a bad circuit layout. I can at least confirm that with my current USB 3.0 enclosure, that contains another SSD. Where i can locate the noise coming from the electrics from the enclosure.

I can also reproduce the sound on my old Macbook, when i build the second disk into that. The noise is less audible though.

Doing more research on the internet i also found out, that there are more people who hear that noise. Those are mostly silent-PC-Customers, who could hear their SSD when they took it out of the HDD-Silencer.


My Post on Macuser.de: http://www.macuser.de/forum/f10/retina-macbook-pro-654023/

Greetings
maj3stro

Hi, yes, it seems like a common thing. Tomorrow I will have the chance to play with 4 more Retinas at my friend's company so I can let you know if they all make that kind of sound

 

[tadziak]

Hi, yes, it seems like a common thing. Tomorrow I will have the chance to play with 4 more Retinas at my friend's company so I can let you know if they all make that kind of sound

I tested today 3 more Retinas at my friend's office. It was not really silent there (servers buzzing in the other room), but seemed like those were making that high pitched noise as well - although seemed a bit less annoying than mine

 

[maj3stro]

Thank you very much tadziak.

Thats really bad, they all make that noise.

Another thought i just got is, whether an undervolted Macbook Pro Retina would do the noise as well. I will try that with my old Macbook Pro from late 2008 with an SSD. I will report when i was able to check.

Another interesting thing is, that i can also hear the noise in really quit rooms, when i scroll on the trackpad, but cannot hear it, when i scroll with the mouse. So now i really do believe, that the noise really actually does not have anything to do with the SSD.

 

[tadziak]

Thank you very much tadziak.

Thats really bad, they all make that noise.

Another thought i just got is, whether an undervolted Macbook Pro Retina would do the noise as well. I will try that with my old Macbook Pro from late 2008 with an SSD. I will report when i was able to check.

Another interesting thing is, that i can also hear the noise in really quit rooms, when i scroll on the trackpad, but cannot hear it, when i scroll with the mouse. So now i really do believe, that the noise really actually does not have anything to do with the SSD.

The scrolling with trackpad I haven't noticed so far, but I think i had it in some other computers. It's interesting that for example when downloading at 20 Mbit/s there is also some noise, but it's much less high pitched/intense than during for example "verifying disk permissions' in disk utility. Then it sounds like a dentist drill...