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New i7 has high pitched noise.

E

eddvedd

macrumors regular
Original poster
Apr 28, 2010
132
0
Just got my new i7 in the mail today after waiting for the refresh for 5 months and it has that stupid high pitched noise that you get when you adjust the brightness. Im so pissed right now id throw the F*^#ing thing out the window if it hadn't cost me $2500. I returned four of these things at the beginning of the year (2 HD failures, 1 power source failure, 1 DOA), one that had the hd failure also had this same high pitched noise.

I love these computers (minus the complete lack of quality control), so I don't want to switch back to pc, but im at my wits end here. Apple already gave me $150 off this computer for me trouble, but I just don't know if its worth the hassle anymore,

What would you guys do? Im returning it for sure, but would you ask for more compensation, maybe a ram upgrade or something? I don't like to be the guy who asks for free crap, but the way I see it, they can give me another hundred $, or I can go back to pc and they lose a customer for life.
 
eddvedd said:
Just got my new i7 in the mail today after waiting for the refresh for 5 months and it has that stupid high pitched noise that you get when you adjust the brightness. Im so pissed right now id throw the F*^#ing thing out the window if it hadn't cost me $2500. I returned four of these things at the beginning of the year (2 HD failures, 1 power source failure, 1 DOA), one that had the hd failure also had this same high pitched noise.

I love these computers (minus the complete lack of quality control), so I don't want to switch back to pc, but im at my wits end here. Apple already gave me $150 off this computer for me trouble, but I just don't know if its worth the hassle anymore,

What would you guys do? Im returning it for sure, but would you ask for more compensation, maybe a ram upgrade or something? I don't like to be the guy who asks for free crap, but the way I see it, they can give me another hundred $, or I can go back to pc and they lose a customer for life.
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Considering the complete bad luck you've been having, i'd return the mac and ask for a new one but with either a financial compensation or free upgrade. They must know your order history! But above all, be polite when asking! In my experience when complaining, politeness gets you more than you'd bargained for! Apple are a good company when it comes to customer service, above all premium products with a premium service. Your situation sucks and I would be inclined to through the machine out too!! :D However, just explain that you're incredibly frustrated and what are they going to do above sending out a new machine.....let us know what you get! :p
 
Does it only make the sound when adjusting the brightness? Or is it constant at certain brightness levels?

I'm ready to bite the bullet on the BTO i7 but I want to make sure I know what to check for when it arrives and how I would exchange it if it had a problem. Can I take it to an Apple store or do I have to mail it back myself?
 
tturland said:
Considering the complete bad luck you've been having, i'd return the mac and ask for a new one but with either a financial compensation or free upgrade. They must know your order history! But above all, be polite when asking! In my experience when complaining, politeness gets you more than you'd bargained for! Apple are a good company when it comes to customer service, above all premium products with a premium service. Your situation sucks and I would be inclined to through the machine out too!! :D However, just explain that you're incredibly frustrated and what are they going to do above sending out a new machine.....let us know what you get! :p
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Yeah, I always play the polite card when Im in these situations, which is actually fairly easy to do with apple because their customer service is very good. How much compensation is appropriate in your opinion? They gave me $150 off this one, but that was after 4 returns. Do I just ask for another $150?
 
i had the same problem with my former 24 cinema display and my iMac i7

The Cinema display buzzed with high brightness, I sold it and got and i7 iMac.

Then the iMac buzzed with low brightness :eek:, it went back to apple, my second iMac was perfect.
 
dwarnecke11 said:
I want to make sure I know what to check for when it arrives and how I would exchange it if it had a problem. Can I take it to an Apple store or do I have to mail it back myself?
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I was wondering about this myself. One of the reasons I've held back on getting an all-in-one iMac is the worry about how I would get it in for repair. I don't fancy having to make my way to central London on the tube lugging a huge box about to get it to the genius bar in Oxford Circus. What a nightmare!

What is their policy on repairs? I'm so tempted to pull the trigger on an iMac now but am a bit scared off by all these quality control stories and the thought of the hassle involved if there's a problem. At least with a laptop I could pop it in a bag...
 
dwarnecke11 said:
Does it only make the sound when adjusting the brightness? Or is it constant at certain brightness levels?

I'm ready to bite the bullet on the BTO i7 but I want to make sure I know what to check for when it arrives and how I would exchange it if it had a problem. Can I take it to an Apple store or do I have to mail it back myself?
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When you change from High to Low it makes this dog whistle noise that disappears on the lowest setting. Then as you go back up to the highest setting it makes this terrible electrical-like noise (thats the best I can describe it as, it kind of crackles and whines). The electrical noise is always there when the brightness is up, but its not as bad as it is when your adjusting the setting. Some people might not even notice it if they use their mac in a loud environment, but Im a medical student, so I sit at this thing in silence for hours on end. Ive only had it a few hours, and Im already annoyed.

As far as returns, they pay to have it returned and ship a new one for free, so its no expense, but you end up without a computer for a while because they dont send the new one until they have received the return.
 
Oh man, i really want to get an imac, but this reports are holding me back big time. :( Too expensive for so much trouble.
 
eddvedd said:
Yeah, I always play the polite card when Im in these situations, which is actually fairly easy to do with apple because their customer service is very good. How much compensation is appropriate in your opinion? They gave me $150 off this one, but that was after 4 returns. Do I just ask for another $150?
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Ask them what THEY consider appropriate given your track record with iMacs.....put the ball in their court! :cool:
 
Okay, it seems easy enough to return it. I think I'll go ahead and order the BTO i7 late next week. I think you should exchange yours one more time; they may even bump you to 8 GB of RAM for your trouble.
 
NeuroEmp said:
Oh man, i really want to get an imac, but this reports are holding me back big time. :( Too expensive for so much trouble.
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I wouldn't let it put you off....if you spend a little time reading through people's experiences, Apple's customer service is very good! It could just be a bad batch or two with the problems, but it does appear to be a little widespread. Put it in this perspective....how many satisfied owners are out there compared to unsatisfied owners with noise/yellow tint/bleed etc....people read and follow complaints more so than satisfied customers, so naturally people are going to want to read about problems. I'm willing to bet that over 90% of all iMac customers have no problems....just my thought....
 
FWIW, I just installed an 27" iMac from the previous generation. I can't hear it (no surprise with my ears) but the user immediately mentioned it. Turns out that turning the brightness to either the maximum or minimum eliminates the noise. You might try that.
 
tturland said:
Ask them what THEY consider appropriate given your track record with iMacs.....put the ball in their court! :cool:
Click to expand...
Agreed, typically if you just start demanding or asking for some specific compensation then you'll get nowhere. I'd go in, explain the past issues you've had, that you've already had to spend so many days/weeks without a computer because of past returns (if you had to). Say that you are not happy with the quality control of products that you've had and say that you are far from satisfied with what you have had to go through. Just make sure you are calm and appear reasonable.
 
Sounds like a bad screen inverter. I've had this issue on laptops in the past. Drove me nuts. I would ask for an exchange. Maybe they'll let you do it at a retail store.
 
Does anyone know if this issue is more common on the i7? It seems like whenever I hear about problems its the i7, but maybe its just a coincidence. Only reason I ask is that I would probably be fine with the i5 if theres a better chance that its not going to be jacked up. Thanks.
 
I'll add some more anecdotal evidence to the pool.

At the local Best Buy, they originally had a 21.5" and 27" C2D 2009 iMac. Both had the yellow tinge, especially the 21.5" After a few months, I walked by the display and heard a loud electrical buzzing coming from the 27" iMac. A week later, it had been replaced with a newer, Week 10 model. No tinge whatsoever, no backlight noise at all. The yellow 21.5" remains.
 
southerndoc said:
Is this only with the Core i7?
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I just set up the return for a new i7, but if that one comes back with the whistle I'm just gonna say screw it and go with the i5. I have no evidence that that will alleviate the issue, but its worth a shot. I'll let you know how the next one sounds, it will be here on tuesday.
 
I don't know why it would be exclusive to the i7 - they use the same backlight board as all the 27" iMacs. Like I said, the Core 2 Duo 27" at Best Buy made a loud buzzing sound. If this is something I have to press my ear up to the vent to hear (like my 17" Dell here), I'm not concerned. If I can hear it during normal use, we have a problem.
 
dwarnecke11 said:
I don't know why it would be exclusive to the i7 - they use the same backlight board as all the 27" iMacs. Like I said, the Core 2 Duo 27" at Best Buy made a loud buzzing sound. If this is something I have to press my ear up to the vent to hear (like my 17" Dell here), I'm not concerned. If I can hear it during normal use, we have a problem.
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ok, good to know its probably not an i7 exclusive issue (sorry, I'm technologically illiterate, so even though that probably seems common sense to you, not so much here). The bad news is that its very audible. But it would depend on your environment too. Im sitting here with my ceiling fan on high, and with some very quiet tunes on, and I can hear it. Im also pretty sensitive to sounds though, once I hear it, I have trouble ignoring it.
 
Now after reading this, I am starting to try to imagine things. I keep hearing this sound emanating from the iMac 27 i5. Now I am wondering if it is just the fan at a low 1000rpm speed or a buzzing from the monitor. Funny, before this thread, I didn't really notice.
 
JoelMarcey said:
Now after reading this, I am starting to try to imagine things. I keep hearing this sound emanating from the iMac 27 i5. Now I am wondering if it is just the fan at a low 1000rpm speed or a buzzing from the monitor. Funny, before this thread, I didn't really notice.
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It was funny, I was so pissed when I set this up today and it had the dog whistle noise. When my wife got home I was all mad and complaining about how bad it is and she couldn't even hear it :confused:. I guess if you dont know what your listening for it might not be that bad, but once you do hear it, its so annoying. If I were you, Id stop paying attention to this issue immediately, before its too late.
 
eddvedd said:
...If I were you, Id stop paying attention to this issue immediately, before its too late.
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Somebody hasn't seen Inception yet, ideas are viruses, once they've started you can't stop them.

Sorry, I had to make the reference.
 
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