A weird humming noise/buzzing noise?

[newlife2788]

I'm new to this forum and I just bought a new iMac 20" 2.66GHz, I turned on my computer and noticed a weird sound (buzzing or humming noise) not loud but loud enough to here I notice when I messed with the Brightness it went away is there something wrong with that or is that a known issue?

Thanks for your help!

 

[newlife2788]

Anyone?

 

[bsheridan]

can you still hear it when you are scrolling something, a web page for example?

 

[newlife2788]

can you still hear it when you are scrolling something, a web page for example?

No its when I turn it on in the mornings and it sound like a bug zapping light. However if I mess with the brightness on the screen it goes away at full power and sounds louder if you turn down the brightness.... ANYONE?!?!? Help!

 

[thecrackerjack]

If its related to the screen brightness, I wouldn't turn it on. Sounds to me like something is arking if it sounds like a bug light.

 

[Nordichund]

I had that buzzing sound on 3 of the first gen 24" iMacs I returned back to Apple. The more you dim the screen the louder the buzz. No buzz at full brightness. This was a problem which a minority of iMac users have suffered from. There were a few threads about it last year on a number of Apple boards.
The bad news is that the third defect iMac I had instead of just returning it, I had it sent to an Apple authorized technician who said that the buzz was within Apple's specifications of what is acceptable. I still sent the iMac back though, mainly for the poor screen, but that buzz sure was annoying.

Good luck, maybe now the people at Apple might have a solution if you give them a call.

 

[newlife2788]

Update. I took my buzzing computer back to apple and one of the techs look at it and instantly knew the problem. BAD INVERTER. Thanks for all the help guys.

 

[Eminemdrdre00]

My 2 week old iMac just started buzzing/humming when I turn down the brightness! I always keep my screen at full brightness, but I hit the "brightness down" key by accident last night and thats when I noticed it. At full brightness, no buzz or hum, but as soon as it goes down I hear it. Now my question is, since I always run at full brightness, should I just not worry about it? Or is there a chance it'll start buzzing/humming even @ full brightness someday? I have AppleCare, is this something they'd fix a year or two down the road?

 

[Dmac77]

My 2 week old iMac just started buzzing/humming when I turn down the brightness! I always keep my screen at full brightness, but I hit the "brightness down" key by accident last night and thats when I noticed it. At full brightness, no buzz or hum, but as soon as it goes down I hear it. Now my question is, since I always run at full brightness, should I just not worry about it? Or is there a chance it'll start buzzing/humming even @ full brightness someday? I have AppleCare, is this something they'd fix a year or two down the road?

Just get it fixed now. It's the easiest thing to do.

Don

 

[simsonbenny]

Update. I took my buzzing computer back to apple and one of the techs look at it and instantly knew the problem. BAD INVERTER. Thanks for all the help guys.

I'm having the same problem..
got the replacement but still making that buzzing sound..
did they fixed it for you?
i dont feel like getting mine goes into surgery so soon..
just got mine last week.

 

[al256]

My girlfriend just bought the new 2.4ghz 20" Al iMac and we heard this exact electrical buzz from the time we set it up. Has anyone else had success with Apple care? This noise should not exist.

 

[newlife2788]

My girlfriend just bought the new 2.4ghz 20" Al iMac and we heard this exact electrical buzz from the time we set it up. Has anyone else had success with Apple care? This noise should not exist.

No I just took it into Apple store and a mac genius took care of it right away, He said it was a bad inverter. And gave me store credit.

 

[simsonbenny]

Lucky for you guys having an actual apple store. It's not the case here in NZ. I had called apple care but they acted dumb, even after i suggested it might have been the inverter.

Well, I went back to the store where i bought it and ended up upgraded my imac to 24" after three replacement of 20" with the same issue.. And glad to say it's so far so good.
Lucky i didnt buy the extended warranty here.

 

[al256]

No I just took it into Apple store and a mac genius took care of it right away, He said it was a bad inverter. And gave me store credit.

Just for an update they did take it back without a problem. The new iMac works fine.

 

[17Patty]

Same exact thing with mine (aluminum 13" MacBook- NOT Pro, got it when it first came out). Regarding the weird buzzing/humming, and how when you turn the brightness down it goes away...

My question is this: what if my laptop is not new? It's like a year old now, I believe. Can I still just bring it to the apple store and have it fixed??

 

[totheloop]

@17patty, I have the same issue with my (same-gen) Macbook. Are you saying there is or isn't a change in the sound when you lower/raise brightness? Mine doesn't change at all! Still loud as ever. And it's more of a case buzz/fan buzz than an electrical thing (so maybe it's not related, I'm not sure.)

At any rate, I'm taking mine into the Apple Store today, so I'll let you know what they say. Good luck!

 

[WilliamG]

Sadly the buzzing on the non-LED iMacs is normal (if we're talking about the same buzz/hum sound). I had the same thing on my Apple Cinema Display 23". I had several replacements before giving up. It really is normal, since the bulb inside those systems is a traditional CCFL type. The same thing happens to your lights in your house if you dim them: i.e. you hear a buzzing/pitch from the light bulb! The only way to get around this is to put your screen to max brightness, at which point the issue goes away. This is one of the biggest reasons I sold my 23" Cinema Display and picked up the new 24" LED Cinema Display. No more buzzing!