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Apple Faces Up to the MacBook Whining
Whiney Mac Fanboy writes "The Register is reporting that Apple has finally admitted to the 'high pitched whining' problems with it's MacBook line — but only to tell customers to contact AppleCare. From the article: 'MacBook Pro users have complained about numerous noises emanating from their machines since the Intel-based notebooks began shipping in February this year. Audible irritations reported by machine owners include whining sounds coming from the screen, from the body of the notebook, and from the area below the screen hinge when the laptop's running on batteries and both cores of the Core Duo CPU are enabled.'"
May the screaming is the Mac being in pain from having to run Windows. (I'm a dyed in the wool Windows user, but I had to.)
Information wants a fueled airplane waiting at the hangar and no one gets hurt.
I have owned a Macbook Pro since March and while I did have the weird battery swelling problem thanks to a parts manufacturer screwing up the battery casing, I never once had the whine, nor did anyone I know or any Pro's I saw at Apple Stores in the area.
From reading around it also seemed like the same handful of people where making the most noise. While Im glad Apple is now fixing it, I cant help but think its not as widespread a problem as its being made out to be on the internet.
"Slashdot, where telling the truth is overrated but lying is insightful."
...finally admit to the incessant whining noises caused by its software?
I called Apple, they did a few hocus-pocus troubleshooting moves (like unplugging the power cord, taking the battery out then pressing the power button) on the phone, forwarded me to a senior technical specialist who said it's a candidate, and then sent me a box to ship it back today. They claim I'll have it back early next week with a new mobo in it. Easy peasy.
Incidentally, the specialist said that the new mobo is going to be not completely quiet, but a lot better.
Now, I'm wondering if they'll put a 1.83 GHz chip in it like I had before or whether they start at 2.0 GHz like the new models do... here's hoping.
All manufacturers have problems with laptops. Diff is: If Apple has swelling batteries, the whole internet screams in agony. If Dell's laptops explode, it's just business as usual.
Mac laptops always seem to have these fucked up problems. /Hyperbole
I have a macbook pro. Nice Machine. So far nothing has come up but I use it pretty lightly. I have also had a Titanium (prone to hinge and case cracks), 12" Powerbook, Aluminum powerbook, Powerbook G3 Pismo (GREAT LAPTOP!), Powerbook G3 Wallstreet, and supported all models of apple laptop as my job. The bottom line is you get Applecare when you purchase a laptop and it will be covered during its useful lifetime. Anything surviving beyond that (3 years) is just bonus time. We have seen plenty of 8 year old (or more) mac laptops boot and run just fine. Someone hauls one in every now and then. I had a sony VAIO that practially fell apart in my hands after 3 years, we had a batch of HP laptops with docking stations that would stop working after a month (a clip would bend up), had a run of dells with bad hard drives, etc etc. At the end of the day, there are just as many hardware problems with PC's as Macs, but you get it repaired and its ok. If there were only 2 types of PC laptops (instead of 1001) you would see these kinds of stories about pc's too. Remember the Dell that blew up?
music lover since 1969
Everyone ought to know to not buy first-gen Apple hardware by now - the large majority of first gen hardware have issues that get resolved in the second revision.
Of course, this whine sounds more like a power supply issue than anything else - modern electronics use switching supplies to generate the various voltages needed, and they tend to operate anywhere from 10kHz and up, but are well known to drop lower in frequency, or induce noise in other bits of the system. The fact that the noise can appear and disappear as the system is loaded is key to the problem as switching supplies rely on feedback loops to ensure regulation. Increase the load and the power supply works harder and likely generating more switching noise which induces itself in analog lines to speakers and such. And if the switching transistors have to remain on longer, it could reduce the switching frequency to something people start to notice. Most recommendations for eliminating noise comes from reducing system load, turning down the backlight (double effect, since the backlight inverter is yes, another switching supply).
It's the sound of a high-voltage capacitor bleeding current. As prior post said, very high pitched -- toward the upper end of human hearing. If you're over 40 years old or attend rock concerts/listen to loud music you probably won't be able to hear it, but children can pick it out quite easily since their hearing is typically more sensitive. Must be annoying as hell for dogs.
Electrolytic caps tend to reform incomplete insulators with use, and occasionally correct themselves. I suspect this is a polyester or metal film polarized cap so the odds of self-correcting are, well, very low to nil. That being said, the charger on my Macbook (low-end 1.83 core duo, not a MBP) makes this sound. I plan to give it a month to see if it sorts out or gets worse. Not too concerned so long as it continues to charge.