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Electric Buzz on SR Macbook

I

iViking

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Oct 23, 2006
293
0
We have two of the new Macbooks in our family and they both have an annoying electric buzz sound emanating from them.
(It's like the sound a fluorescent bulb makes, only louder.)

The odd thing is that the sound is stronger on the left side, on one of them, and on the right side, on the other one.
 
Another buzzer...

iViking said:
We have two of the new Macbooks in our family and they both have an annoying electric buzz sound emanating from them.
(It's like the sound a fluorescent bulb makes, only louder.)

The odd thing is that the sound is stronger on the left side, on one of them, and on the right side, on the other one.
Click to expand...

My friend just got a SR MB and his buzzes too! None of our combined 4 MB 2.16 ghz made this electric buzzing sound.

Is this just a bizarre coincidence or are the rest of you getting SR MB's that have a screen or fan buzz that sounds like a fluorescent bulb only louder?
 
I do!!! It is faint, but it is still there, on the bottom right side of the screen.
It's too bad, because that is one of the things I really hated about my old dell, which would make the loudest screen noise EVER. This is bearable....I suppose....
 
Thanks for starting this thread- I noticed it for the first time yesterday and was worrying that mine was going to just degenerate into a buzzing nuisance. I guess it still might, but it's nice to know I'm not the only one hearing it..:eek:
 
Jrolls said:
Thanks for starting this thread- I noticed it for the first time yesterday and was worrying that mine was going to just degenerate into a buzzing nuisance. I guess it still might, but it's nice to know I'm not the only one hearing it..:eek:
Click to expand...

Thanks for the encouragement. I hesitated to post it when the first one was buzzing, (in case a fanboy got on my case), then decided to do so when the second one buzzed, and then after the third one, 3 out of 3 macbooks with the buzz, well...it seems like an issue.

It's not really really loud but in a library or silent room it is very annoying because it's not even a steady buzz--it warbles a bit like a bee flying around, and it is distracting.

The reason it stands out is because I've had many of the other macbooks, (2.16 ghz C2D models), and none of them had the issue.

Newly upgraded computer, new issue. Bummer.

By the way, although all three of the new SR MB's I have used have the buzz, the volume on all of them is not equal. On one of them the buzzing is noticeably louder. I'm keeping one of them, my friend is doing the same, and on the third one, the one with the loudest buzz, I will attempt to return it.
 
Interesting- If you could, keep us all informed on how they respond to the issue at the store, in case it becomes more of an issue for any of us, or in general.
 
Mine's got it too, if I put my ear close up to my SR MB, it sounds like it's coming from behind the top left of the keyboard.
 
~David said:
Mine's got it too, if I put my ear close up to my SR MB, it sounds like it's coming from behind the top left of the keyboard.
Click to expand...

Does the buzz change depending on the CPU load? Start something CPU intensive, do you notice it go away?
 
yeah, i have that buzz too! and it gets a little louder especially when the mbp is plugged in.
 
Only fan noise here!

Eidorian said:
Does the pathetic viewing angle or clunky keyboard count? :D
Click to expand...

Viewing angle does suck, but how often do you NEED a notebook to have a good viewing angle. Sometimes people actually prefer a small viewing angle for privacy. If you are showing people things though, it is annoying. I like the keyboard too. That's probably because I'm already used to the new aluminum iMac keyboards though.
 
macdim said:
Only fan noise here!



Viewing angle does suck, but how often do you NEED a notebook to have a good viewing angle. Sometimes people actually prefer a small viewing angle for privacy. If you are showing people things though, it is annoying. I like the keyboard too. That's probably because I'm already used to the new aluminum iMac keyboards though.
Click to expand...
It's nice for privacy but there are some occasions where the optimum viewing angle is beyond the angle you can tilt the screen back. :rolleyes:
 
Eidorian said:
It's nice for privacy but there are some occasions where the optimum viewing angle is beyond the angle you can tilt the screen back. :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

That is true. I wasn't thinking about up/down viewing angle, only left/right. I have found that you really need to sit at the right height relative to the computer to get the best picture out of the screen. Also, 130 degree max tilt...:rolleyes:
 
I have a new 2.16 Ghz macbook which is making this annoying buzzing noise. I rang apple they tried a few things to fix it over the phone but didnt work so they said bring it back to the shop and they will replace it. My question is though the shop is out of the 2.16 Ghz models so will they be getting in more of those models or will it just be the new Santa Rosa machines. I'd love if I got the Santa Rosa machine even though i originally bought the 2.16 Ghz model
 
Crap...

And I thought I was only having problems w/ the graphics...

Just listened to mine, same thing. I think this issue has happened in other Mac laptops in the past and firmware updates helped, if I'm not mistaken. Anyone else remember?
 
You guys suck!!!


haha i never heard it before, now i can hear it!! ahhhhhh


well anyways i can only hear it if i literally put my ear on the LEFT side up near the screen... im prety sure it is the Inverter card under the LCD... but those are known to make a tiny bit of noise... on a normal laptop that isnt as "wisper quiet" you would never hear it......


buy apple care and dont worry about it, unless yours is loud enough that you can hear it at your working angle
 
Ah, yeah. I didn't think about that. I hear the same sound on my old Dell, and my ancient Thinkpad.
 
The sound you guys are probably hearing is the sound of the power management module on the intel motherboard. This is a characteristic of Core Duo and Core 2 Duo's. For some reason, some laptops display this sound more while others it is less noticeable.

When I had the Core2Duo Non-SR, i used to hear it a LOT. Very very annoying, on the other hand I can't hear it with my SR MBP.

Anyways, you can try getting it replaced, but chances are there is nothing Apple will do about it. Just try to ignore it :)

PS: My friend has a Dell XPS and it has exactly the same buzz
 
Returned Successfully!

DaLurker said:
The sound you guys are probably hearing is the sound of the power management module on the intel motherboard. This is a characteristic of Core Duo and Core 2 Duo's. For some reason, some laptops display this sound more while others it is less noticeable.

When I had the Core2Duo Non-SR, i used to hear it a LOT. Very very annoying, on the other hand I can't hear it with my SR MBP.

Anyways, you can try getting it replaced, but chances are there is nothing Apple will do about it. Just try to ignore it :)

PS: My friend has a Dell XPS and it has exactly the same buzz
Click to expand...

Got mine returned. The tech guy said it was borderline and that it reminded him of the original MBP whining issue, only it's more of a buzz.

Anyway, it seems they all have the buzz, but mine was much louder than my brother's or gf's, so I got the SR MB returned and got a SR MBP instead and am really happy with it other than the fact that disc 2 of the OSX discs packed with the MBP doesn't work.

It's like this:

Apple products are awesome as ever.

Apple quality control these days blows.
 
iViking said:
It's like this:

Apple products are awesome as ever.

Apple quality control these days blows.
Click to expand...


You know, that's a good genralization. Probably a result of so many new things coming out one after the other after the other... When was the last time you saw so much happen in just 2-3 months: iPhone, entire iPod line revamp, Leopard, new MBs... it's been crazy. I kind of feel bad for them. It's probably a heart attack waiting to happen over in Cali :)
 
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