Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
First 2018 15'' base model had it - and it was annoying as ****.
Got rid of it and now caved and bought one again due to a few apps that I really missed - and the second one has it as well. I'm thinking it's the 256GB edition specifically with the Toshiba SSD.
It helps tremendously to disable Turbo Boost, but that's not a good solution at all.
Got rid of it and now caved and bought one again due to a few apps that I really missed - and the second one has it as well. I'm thinking it's the 256GB edition specifically with the Toshiba SSD.
It helps tremendously to disable Turbo Boost, but that's not a good solution at all.
Can you still hear the scratching noise during SSD scanning or installing an app even with Turbo Boost being off?
Yes, but barely. I really have to put my ear close to the machine for that. And then it's a non-issue. But with Turbo Boost enabled, I can hear it from 2-3 meters away with a high-end desktop pc on full load with loud fans next to me.
Any news in this matter?
I am pretty disappointed about the constant audible, but low, fan noise from my new MacBook Pro 15", 2.2 Ghz, 512 GB SSD that I recently received: https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...ans-running-high.2132493/page-2#post-27028664
I run across this discussion and tested my MBP with the Blackmagic disk speed test, turned out I can definitely hear the coil whine...
Now I am thinking of giving up the 2018 model...
I am pretty disappointed about the constant audible, but low, fan noise from my new MacBook Pro 15", 2.2 Ghz, 512 GB SSD that I recently received: https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...ans-running-high.2132493/page-2#post-27028664
I run across this discussion and tested my MBP with the Blackmagic disk speed test, turned out I can definitely hear the coil whine...
Now I am thinking of giving up the 2018 model...
there has been no reports of any other SSDs than Toshibas in the 2018, and none of the responses correlate noise with drive size tho
I have a 13 inch model and I have this problem. terribly loud
[doublepost=1550009770][/doublepost] in Android and iOS compilation (Android studio and xcode)
Last edited:
Got mine back today, allegedly the logic board has been replaced. Although i even got the serial number of the new logic board, I highly doubt that there has something been replaced at all. Coil whine is still here, exactly the same as before. Of course the delivery note says that they couldn't hear anything. Definitely dissapointed in terms of noise.
Thats a shame, I am waiting for my replacement but that will probably change nothing. Do you find your 15" fans in idle audible btw? I am surprise how audible they are when doing nothing at all.
It seems the coil whine is a less frequent problem with the 13" model, but that's maybe not the case?
They are audible, always spinning around 2000 RPM when doing light tasks. But that's no big deal for me, I barely work environments where I hear that at all.
And jeah, coil whine seems to be less frequent with the 13" models. Friend of mine got a 2018 13" which is completely silent.
There's a neat Apple sale here right now and I'm thinking about selling my 15" and get a new one. Basically, I even win around 150€ and get a new device which - maybe but unlikely - won't have the coil whine. Decisions, Decisions ...
I still have problems accepting that fans are always audible. I don’t remember this being the case with my old MacBook Pro 15” 2012, and this also had fans always running 2000 rpm...
It’s so strange it’s easier to get a 13” without coil whine... Anyone else with totally silent 13”s?
I have tried two 15”s now, both with coil whine. I will give it one more try, after that accept coil whine, change to 13” or wait for new models. Decisions, Decisions ...
I sold my first MBP and got me a new one now, exactly the same coil whine as the first unit, so definitely audible for my ears at normal working distance. However, saved another 150€ and got a new unit, so that's at least good. Payed a great price anyways now (3300€ at Apple directly, 2770€ cheapest online reseller price here and i paid 2230€ in the end), so I can live with that. Hope the next refresh will have this fixed though.
Well, I got a mid-tier 2.6ghz/560x/512gb 2018 15" and I can hear the coil whining when I run the blackmagic speed test w/ my ear directly touching the keyboard deck. At a normal typing distance, I cannot hear it and the level of whine is acceptable. If this level of noise is what others are experiencing, I think this is a non-issue for vast majority of people. I consider myself an audiophile w/ sensitive ears and I'm young.
Just as a comparison to my 2012 rmbp 15" which has a sata samsung ssd, I can hear the same noise during the same test so I think it's safe to say it's normal.
Just as a comparison to my 2012 rmbp 15" which has a sata samsung ssd, I can hear the same noise during the same test so I think it's safe to say it's normal.
Well, I got a mid-tier 2.6ghz/560x/512gb 2018 15" and I can hear the coil whining when I run the blackmagic speed test w/ my ear directly touching the keyboard deck. At a normal typing distance, I cannot hear it and the level of whine is acceptable. If this level of noise is what others are experiencing, I think this is a non-issue for vast majority of people. I consider myself an audiophile w/ sensitive ears and I'm young.
Just as a comparison to my 2012 rmbp 15" which has a sata samsung ssd, I can hear the same noise during the same test so I think it's safe to say it's normal.
Mind testing some more intensive task like scrubbing around in the timeline in Finalcut, Davinci Resolve whatsoever? This is where this **** really gets noticeable.
Just wanted to add some information regarding coil whine on people's MacBooks.
I had a maxed out 2015 13" MacBook Pro (3.1 Ghz i7, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD), and it had pretty audible coil whine. When running a program like the Black Magic Speed test, the noise was especially bad. But the noise wasn't only audible when the SSD was being used, weirdly enough you could also hear the electrical buzz when scrolling in Safari and even when having your fingers on the trackpad. This really bothered me as before that I had a base model 2015 MacBook Pro and that thing was silent.
Ended up selling the maxed out machine and got a 2015 MacBook Pro with 256 GB of storage instead, and it has no whine whatsoever.
I had a maxed out 2015 13" MacBook Pro (3.1 Ghz i7, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD), and it had pretty audible coil whine. When running a program like the Black Magic Speed test, the noise was especially bad. But the noise wasn't only audible when the SSD was being used, weirdly enough you could also hear the electrical buzz when scrolling in Safari and even when having your fingers on the trackpad. This really bothered me as before that I had a base model 2015 MacBook Pro and that thing was silent.
Ended up selling the maxed out machine and got a 2015 MacBook Pro with 256 GB of storage instead, and it has no whine whatsoever.
Mine has that too, at least when you scroll around/move the cursor in programs like Final Cut, Adobe Lightroom, DaVinci Resolve ... and this is really noticeable then, that's why I asked in my last post.
However, the unit I had before did exactly the same, so this seems definitely to be normal with these unfortunately. But you get somewhat used to it, the fans get way louder anyways.
FWIW, I just got off with Apple Support on coil whine on my 2018 Mac Mini, support confirmed this is expected behavior. Apple QC is so bad now. Here is my post: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/apple-confirms-coil-whine-is-expected-behavior-in-mm.2175938/
It is not just Apple. I hear some coil whine on Dell XPS 15s and Microsoft Surface Books. I even hear it on my desktop machine Windows machine in certain cases from 4 feet away. Seems to be the speeds we are pushing data through these things and lack of masking noises, i.e. ultra quiet fans, SSDs instead of rotation drivers, etc.
Also, my 2015 15" Macbook Pro also made a lot of fan noise when hammering away so that may have masked coil noise.
This is nothing new and is considered normal by all manufacturers. It's true that this doesn't occur with all CPUs, chips, etc.. I believe it's just based on luck of the draw.
It's also true that some people hear this and others do not, depends on the individual's hearing sensitivity.
I had several Macbooks over 15+ years, some have had the coil whine (high pitch noise), others have not.
e.g.
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/2100814
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/387453
https://www.engadget.com/2006/03/14/whining-macbook-pro-youre-not-alone/
I don't know from a technical perspective what exactly causes this but from my personal experience, only option is to keep exchanging it until you get one that doesn't have this noise. Though, I wouldn't bother as it's very likely the next one will also have the same issue.
Back in 2007 or 8, I went through 3-5 (don't recall exactly) white Macbooks until I got one that didn't have the coil whine.
That said, I can 100% confirm that my 2018 15" MBP does NOT have the coil whine noise, I'm super sensitive to this and would notice it right away.
It's also true that some people hear this and others do not, depends on the individual's hearing sensitivity.
I had several Macbooks over 15+ years, some have had the coil whine (high pitch noise), others have not.
e.g.
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/2100814
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/387453
https://www.engadget.com/2006/03/14/whining-macbook-pro-youre-not-alone/
I don't know from a technical perspective what exactly causes this but from my personal experience, only option is to keep exchanging it until you get one that doesn't have this noise. Though, I wouldn't bother as it's very likely the next one will also have the same issue.
Back in 2007 or 8, I went through 3-5 (don't recall exactly) white Macbooks until I got one that didn't have the coil whine.
That said, I can 100% confirm that my 2018 15" MBP does NOT have the coil whine noise, I'm super sensitive to this and would notice it right away.
Last edited:
Many mfgs will RMA coil whine, especially in the PC gaming parts space as us gamers hate it. I've never heard of a Mac with coil whine until the most recent MBPs and Minis. Apple QC.
I never had coil whine with my macbook pro 15 2017 (256gb ssd). Since i upgraded to Mojave 10.4.4, the buzzing and scratching noises started suddenly. When i power up the mac, i can hear some kind of buzzing sound. After i login to macOS, the scratching of the ssd starts. It's now so loud, i can leave my room, and can hear it outside of the room when i download something.
I called Apple, and they told me the mac is out of warranty and cannot do anything about it. Guess im out of luck
I called Apple, and they told me the mac is out of warranty and cannot do anything about it. Guess im out of luck