Sudden Motion Sensor - Useful or Just Annoying?

[MacBookPro13"]

Tonight I realised that you could actually disable that annoying *clank* sound when you move your MacBook Pro, that is Sudden Motion Sensor.

The noise was very annoying for me if I had to move my MBP from my desk to my lap or something like that.

Is there much of a risk of the hard drive getting damaged now that I have disable this? Would be great if Apple introduced a silent SMS, because to me, that noise is just like nails on a chalkboard.


Is SMS useful or does it annoy you?


(I hope I have helped a few people who didn't know what the noise was, aware of what it actually is, and have allowed you to disable it too).

 

[GGJstudios]

Is there much of a risk of the hard drive getting damaged now that I have disable this?

It's difficult to tell how much risk there is of damage, but there's certainly more risk than there is with SMS enabled.

I wouldn't recommend disabling it, except in rare circumstances. I certainly wouldn't recommend it just because it's "annoying".

 

[Nermal]

Are you sure that your hard drive is OK? I've never heard this "clank" across three different systems.

 

[MacBookPro13"]

Almost every time I pick it up there is that click/clank that I have been told is the SMS.

It's worse than annoying.. seriously

 

[iTouch.lover22]

My 2011 13" does this a lot too, what is actually happening when it makes the sound?

 

[GGJstudios]

Apple Portables: Hard drives and noise
Apple Portables: About the Sudden Motion Sensor

 

[Apple OC]

with it disabled ... you may damage your HD one day with sudden movement

get an SSD and you will not have to worry about the SMS

 

[SidBala]

It is not the SMS that is actually making the noise. The SMS is just a MEMS accelerometer. It is totally silent.

The noise is coming from your hard drive parking it's head to prevent damage to the platters.

You should leave it on.