Filed under: Hardware, Macbook Pro
High pitched squeal defect on some MacBook Pros
While I certainly can't vouch for this problem myself as I don't own a MacBook Pro, there seem to be quite a few owners of the new laptop with complaints over a high pitched noise emanating from their machines. Our own Dan Pourhadi had a whine on his new MacBook Pro, even though it may not be the whine being heavily discussed on Digg today. Dan seems to have solved his whine by disabling the second core of his processor (described in Update 3 on his post).
I no longer see this thread Digg links to on the Apple Forums, however I did find another active thread about the high pitched squeal/noise/whining. Some Apple users on the Digg thread and the Apple Discussions thread seem to think this may be repairable in firmware by Apple at a later date.
I am by no means dissing Apple (or the Digg crowd) with this post, but simply would like to remind everyone about early adopter syndrome. The first revision of a new hardware platform or change in manufacturing is bound to engender certain flaws or bugs. Please, let us reflect for a moment on the Mirrored Door G4 and the PowerBook 667MHz (aka The "666") computer lines.
This current flare in comments on Digg and the Apple Forums doesn't mean that all MacBook Pros will be affected by this noise, and certainly does not mean that people shouldn't be entitled to a worry-free machine when purchasing a Mac. I hope this all gets cleared up quickly and with some sort of patch or replacement from Apple. We at TUAW are bound to keep you posted.
Update: Please see Dan Pourhadi's new follow-up post about his MacBook Pro woes.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
David Chartier said 3:44PM on 3-13-2006
This happens with a lot of products and most manufacturers. It isn't anything new, it's just a hazard of mass production, market quirks and (what I would bet is) pressure from investors.
Since we're citing examples though, how about the 15" AL PowerBook issues like the display panel white spots in RevA? I got bit by that one - twice.
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Mark said 3:50PM on 3-13-2006
Finally, you guys are covering this.
My MacBook pro shipped with this issue, it seems there are two seperate noise issues with the laptops.
1. Related to the backlight. There is a low frequency hum when the brightness is at any position beside full brightness or completely off. Most people only notice this sound when running off battery power.
2. Screeching noise that seems to be unrelated to the backlight noise. The screetching noise has been observed in many other apple laptops. I've owned four and heard it from two of them. It's much less annoying than the backlight noise.
Other MacBook problems:
1. Many MacBook pros shipped with faulty speakers. It should be easy to notice this problem.
2. Backlight is brighter at the very bottom of the screen, there is a noticeable bar of light about 5mm high which spans almost the entire bottom of the screen.
Apple is replacing my laptop with a new one as soon as the local store has stock. I have all of these problems.
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Michael Sykes said 3:57PM on 3-13-2006
I sent my MacBook Pro in for repair, with the screen brightness related whine. They said it would be much faster to get it repaired than replaced.... but 10 days later the MacBook is still on hold, waiting for a part on order.
Of the people I let listen to the MacBook, about half were unable to hear any sound - most of them also admitted a general loss of high-range hearing, so it won't bother everyone.
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Kyle said 4:01PM on 3-13-2006
Haven't had any squealing or squeaking or what not with my Macbook. As you said, early adopters shouldn't be surprised if their machine has quirks, but it should also be noted that those individuals with problems tend to be more vocal than those without problems. So sometimes issues can have the appearance that they are more widespread than they actually are.
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Fabienne Serriere said 4:04PM on 3-13-2006
David: Yes I linked to the white spot issue above in "engender certain flaws or bugs". The white spots in displays were quite annoying. I personally had large vertical one color pixel lines in my PowerBook 500MHz TiBook back in the day, but Apple Care replaced the screen, the top plate, the CD-Rom drive (twice) and even the battery (twice), with no questions asked. I always buy extra warranties for laptops because I tend to pound them into the ground.
Mark: Dan Pourhadi has been covering some of the MacBook Pro flaws (including the screen brightness stripe and the whining noise issues) but I felt it was time for a bit of an update.
Kyle: Yes it is true that people who have flawed machines tend to be vocal about it. I believe it is also a product of the blogosphere that hardware manufacturers have more pressure to replace faulty tech more quickly.
Cheers,
Fabienne
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david ciccone said 4:19PM on 3-13-2006
Well mine is not coming from the screen. I spoke with Apple and she asked me to dim the screen and see if it went away and it didnt. I did notice if i dont move the mouse for 30 seconds the sound goes away and once i move it comes back. Also if you launch PhotoBooth and or IChat with Video it goes away and when you quit it comes back. Apple is going to repair mine hopefully!!! APPLE WAKE UP AND DONT PLAY STUPID!!! YOU KNOW THE PROBLEM ADDRESS IS PUBLICLY!!
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Lucian said 4:40PM on 3-13-2006
Can we possibly be kept up to date on this issue? I've read my blogs/forums on this subject and there seems to be alot of people with this issue, me being one of them. And since this is my first Mac to own I would like to resolve this.
I am by no means upset with my purchase, it has been exactly the machine I need, but if this noise is something other than hardware performance there could be a problem.
Also my MBP is extremely hot towards the back. and along the metal bar just above the keyboard. I ordered the 2.0 Ghz with 2 GB of ram, but I still dont think this system should be so hot. Ive seen others of a lower end nature just as hot. Could this problem be related with the noise?
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heat said 4:42PM on 3-13-2006
david, ive had the same problem. it stops when the cpu is active, or isight is enabled... another "fix" thats been discovered: if you download/enable the "mirror widget" the sound will stop even after its been disabled (up until the next reboot)... which makes me feel like its a software glitch.
the sound is kind of irritating. if apple repairs/replaces your macbook, please comment here (or email dab5ph@gmail.com) - id appreciate it. good luck.
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Patrick McCarron said 4:44PM on 3-13-2006
My MacBook Pro exhibits the screen brightness whine and low CPU whine. I get rid of the low CPU usage one easily by running the Mirror Widget, but the screenbrightness one is the annoying one I want fixed. Even on wall power the screen will dim itself after a while when using FrontRow, and then the whining starts again.
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John said 4:52PM on 3-13-2006
This is an old problem that's slowly snowballing into an epidemic. I sent this link last week, but maybe you guys have a policy of not linking to other blogs?
http://arstechnica.com/staff/fatbits.ars/2006/3/4/3059
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Brent said 4:57PM on 3-13-2006
Dimming the screen? Using headphones instead of speakers? Disabling one of the cores? These aren't things one should have to do in order to "fix" hardware issues.
That "early adopter sydrome" stuff is baloney. Apple is a veteran company, not a South Korean start-up. I'm paying a premium for these machines and this sort of thing happens all too often. Faulty displays, cracked screens, scratches, batteries exploding, unexplained noises - it's damn near comical, if it wasn't costing people so much money, including Apple.
The excuses some make on behalf of this company are astounding.
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Pete said 5:09PM on 3-13-2006
Looks like the Apple Discussion boards are feeling the Digg effect
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James Snook said 5:14PM on 3-13-2006
My Powerbook G4 1.25 has been doing this for over a year, some (idiots) would insist to me it was a fan, it was and is not.
What I narrowed it down to was some part of the logic board (capacitor?) that would emit a quiet, high pitch screeching noise when the CPU was running in high performance mode - not in full use just in high performance mode - whereas reduced performance mode would not do this. The odd upside to it is when set to automatic I can tell whether it is in high or reduced simply by the sound or lack of. No damage has been apparent in the months this has been going on.
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Melvin said 5:33PM on 3-13-2006
Ditto James, I have a PowerBook G4 1.5 and has been doing the same thing since I recieved it. It seems that having the PB on a slight incline causes the screech to subside. It is pretty annoying at times, wish there was some sort of fix.
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Joshua Ochs said 5:34PM on 3-13-2006
One of the major problems is there are at least three separate noises, and calling them all "the whine" just makes it harder to track down.
1) Low modulating hum from the upper left - probably a fan, but I'm not sure as it's *always* there.
2) Brittle high-pitched whine when running on battery power.
3) High-pitched buzzing when the backlight is anything but full brightness.
For me, noise 2 goes away when using the iSight, or disabling a processor core. Noise 1 never changes, and noise 3 fortunately doesn't bother me, as I always run at full brightness.
People who say they can fix "the whine" by various things are usually referring to noise 2. I've yet to see a fix for noise 3. Whatever the case, I'm waiting a few months for Apple to get their heads around the problem or change suppliers/run through thr bad batch, and then I'll think about replacement. Right now it just means being without my MacBook for a long time without any guarantee the new one will fix it.
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Paul Cutting said 6:26PM on 3-13-2006
I bought a MacBook Pro last Wednesday and immediately noticed two defects. The high pitched noise is really annoying! So annoying I have to keep PhotoBooth minimized in the dock (b/c no sound with isight on). Secondly, the lid is warped- the left side is 3mm higher than the right when I close it, causing the display to torque severely. Apple said they would gladly replace it, and am waiting for a new, hold my breath...working machine.
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Astav Sacheti said 7:13PM on 3-13-2006
This is definately very weird...
I have the whine problem...but unlike the others who posted here...It occurs only when my display is brighter than about 5 bars out of the 16...
haven't found a fix yet...
i took it to an apple store in my area and they said it was nothing...
it bothers me since i have to use my laptop on only 5 brightness...
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Oliver said 7:21PM on 3-13-2006
I picked up a 2.0GHz MacBook Pro last Tuesday night and it suffers from the hiss that is "fixed" by running the iSight. Don't get my wrong, I am extremely happy with the computer, but for $2500 I shouldn't have a single problem out of the box. This occuring on a few machines here and there is acceptable because it is bound to happen, but a widespread problem like this is not something I would expect from Apple.
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williaty said 8:03PM on 3-13-2006
My new MacBook Pro has both of the current popular problems. It has a high, scratchy, brittle whine. This sound is only heard during CPU idle times. Give it any CPU load and it shuts right up.
My MacBook Pro also has the "flickering screen" syndrome. When the backlight is set to a very low setting, the brighter parts of the screen flicker visibly at about 3-5Hz.
I'd heard about these problems before I bought the laptop, but a dead PBG4 15" DVI forced me to make the switch before I wanted to.
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Sam said 8:26PM on 3-13-2006
You don't have to go all the way back to the mirrored G4 for examples of this. The first-generation PowerMac G5's also had a rather audible high pitched noise. For those machines, it was a problem with the power supply that could make noise itself and push quite a lot of feedback out all the ports, including the speaker jack. The solution for those machines was either replace the power supply, or adjust the Energy Saver settings ("Automatic" and turn off "Nap" mode).
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