Just received my second MBP16 (2.4/64GB/8GB/2TB), and it's faulty as well... It looks like you're the first one on this thread to have a replacement unit that's not faulty?
Did you proceed with the config? Is it still silent?
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PSA: Coil Whine on MBP 16
- Thread starter milhous
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Just received my second MBP16 (2.4/64GB/8GB/2TB), and it's faulty as well... It looks like you're the first one on this thread to have a replacement unit that's not faulty?
Did you proceed with the config? Is it still silent?
yeah. Almost OLED quality without the disadvantages. Totally iterative
You‘re not bursting anything. So no need to feel sorry. And I can guarantee you that the 8-Core 10nm won’t take two more years.
Have not transferred data or really set much up yet. Will be doing that in the next few hours or over the weekend. It is still silent, but nothing tested so far has really stressed the machine at all.
You’re getting that mixed with microLED. That is the technology with benefits of OLED without the drawbacks.yeah. Almost OLED quality without the disadvantages. Totally iterative
You‘re not bursting anything. So no need to feel sorry. And I can guarantee you that the 8-Core 10nm won’t take two more years.
and don’t take my word on no 10nm 45W chips...It’s from intels own mouth.
you Should read the articles more often
Hi everyone!
New here. I recently bought the 16" MacBook Pro, a huge upgrade from my mid 2012 MacBook Air. Yesterday I started to notice the exact same sounds as described and recorded here. My configuration: 2.3 i9, 1TB SSD, 32GB RAM, 5500M 8GB. SSD Details:
Free: 595,41 GB (595.410.784.256 bytes)
Capacity: 801 GB (801.000.890.368 bytes)
Mount Point: /
File System: APFS
Writable: No
Ignore Ownership: No
BSD Name: disk1s1
Volume UUID: F3219C76-956B-490B-A069-305ECFFD7F30
Physical Drive:
Device Name: APPLE SSD AP1024N
Media Name: AppleAPFSMedia
Medium Type: SSD
Protocol: PCI-Express
Internal: Yes
Partition Map Type: Unknown
SMART Status: Verified
So here are a couple of things that I noticed from my testing, as well as some personal thoughts on the matter:
1) The issue seems to be GPU/CPU related, more than SSD related, at least in my model. When running the Blackmagic Disk Speed Test, the noise is essentially nonexistent, unless you really press your ear to the keyboard. The Black Magic RAW Speed test on the other hand, as well as other benchmarks like UNIGINE Heaven and general processing tasks like adjustment layers in Affinity or Photoshop produce a still very subtle, but definitely more audible sound. Live Affinity adjustment layers are actually the most consistent way I found to replicate the issue: sliding on a recolour adjustment property is perfectly in sync with the sound. As soon as the you stop sliding, the noise abruptly stops. Further evidence of a CPU related issue can be found by disabling TurboBoost: the noises essentially disappear.
2) We all seem to be experiencing the same issue, but at different magnitudes. The noise coming from my unit is covered by the slightest fan spin-up, and definitely cannot be heard from 2m away. I can barely hear the sounds just by leaning back from the screen. The videos of some older MBPs with a similar issue are way louder compared to my unit, not to mention compared to similar issues on the Dell XPS or HP Spectre.
I'm really torn, not to mention disappointed, and would like advice on what to do. I love this machine, and I don't have a replacement laptop (my old air died). I do have an old iMac, but I travel often so that is not really a consistent option. The noises are inconsistent, and when they are there I can barely hear them. But, on the other hand, it annoys me that such an expensive machine is troubled by these issues. I also experience the sound popping issue sometimes, but I hear that a software fix is coming and it's not as prevalent as in some other cases I've seen (notification sounds aren't affected for example). I also do not have an Apple Store nearby, so I'm not sure how the whole replacement thing would work anyway. It would take time for sure, as my MBP is a custom config, and at the same time the replacement is likely to have the same issue (not to mention the possibility of getting a worse display and other issues). Buying a second one and returning this one is not an option. I genuinely have no idea what to do. Any advice would be welcome. Thank you in advance.
New here. I recently bought the 16" MacBook Pro, a huge upgrade from my mid 2012 MacBook Air. Yesterday I started to notice the exact same sounds as described and recorded here. My configuration: 2.3 i9, 1TB SSD, 32GB RAM, 5500M 8GB. SSD Details:
Free: 595,41 GB (595.410.784.256 bytes)
Capacity: 801 GB (801.000.890.368 bytes)
Mount Point: /
File System: APFS
Writable: No
Ignore Ownership: No
BSD Name: disk1s1
Volume UUID: F3219C76-956B-490B-A069-305ECFFD7F30
Physical Drive:
Device Name: APPLE SSD AP1024N
Media Name: AppleAPFSMedia
Medium Type: SSD
Protocol: PCI-Express
Internal: Yes
Partition Map Type: Unknown
SMART Status: Verified
So here are a couple of things that I noticed from my testing, as well as some personal thoughts on the matter:
1) The issue seems to be GPU/CPU related, more than SSD related, at least in my model. When running the Blackmagic Disk Speed Test, the noise is essentially nonexistent, unless you really press your ear to the keyboard. The Black Magic RAW Speed test on the other hand, as well as other benchmarks like UNIGINE Heaven and general processing tasks like adjustment layers in Affinity or Photoshop produce a still very subtle, but definitely more audible sound. Live Affinity adjustment layers are actually the most consistent way I found to replicate the issue: sliding on a recolour adjustment property is perfectly in sync with the sound. As soon as the you stop sliding, the noise abruptly stops. Further evidence of a CPU related issue can be found by disabling TurboBoost: the noises essentially disappear.
2) We all seem to be experiencing the same issue, but at different magnitudes. The noise coming from my unit is covered by the slightest fan spin-up, and definitely cannot be heard from 2m away. I can barely hear the sounds just by leaning back from the screen. The videos of some older MBPs with a similar issue are way louder compared to my unit, not to mention compared to similar issues on the Dell XPS or HP Spectre.
I'm really torn, not to mention disappointed, and would like advice on what to do. I love this machine, and I don't have a replacement laptop (my old air died). I do have an old iMac, but I travel often so that is not really a consistent option. The noises are inconsistent, and when they are there I can barely hear them. But, on the other hand, it annoys me that such an expensive machine is troubled by these issues. I also experience the sound popping issue sometimes, but I hear that a software fix is coming and it's not as prevalent as in some other cases I've seen (notification sounds aren't affected for example). I also do not have an Apple Store nearby, so I'm not sure how the whole replacement thing would work anyway. It would take time for sure, as my MBP is a custom config, and at the same time the replacement is likely to have the same issue (not to mention the possibility of getting a worse display and other issues). Buying a second one and returning this one is not an option. I genuinely have no idea what to do. Any advice would be welcome. Thank you in advance.
Base i9 2.3/16/1TB definitely had a lot of coil while noise while OS was reinstalling. In a quiet room it was unmistakable, even with the fans on a little.
Had my MacBook 16" for about a week. I only get coil whine when in the bootcamp drive selection screen where you can choose to either boot into Windows or macOS. Can't remember if I'm fully updated to 10.15.2 or not.
Software update's not going to fix the coil whine. It's the nature of the SSD itself. All SSDs make some noise, even my 2016 15" has the same sound, it's just quieter and you have to put your ear up to the computer to hear it. I'm not sure why it's more noticeable in the 16", but it is.
The noise is most noticeable for me when I start up a program, like Music or Pages. And as I said, the noise can be replicated by scrolling through your music library on the Music app.
The noise is most noticeable for me when I start up a program, like Music or Pages. And as I said, the noise can be replicated by scrolling through your music library on the Music app.
I'm keeping it, yeah. It's not a big enough issue for me to send it back. I wish it didn't happen and when I notice it, it sucks, but this is the best MBP I've ever had and I'm not giving it up just because of this one issue. The keyboard is better, love the larger screen, it's noticeably faster than my 2016 model...I intend to keep it.
The whine is a result of the SSD; choice of processor has no bearing on whether the whine is present. There are posts earlier in this thread from people with the i7 model and the whine issue.
came across an interesting observation:
i dont usually hear it, but the only way i can reliably reproduce the sound is opening "music", and scrolling under "songs". scrolling under "artists" or "albums" is silent.
but here's where it gets interesting...if i connect my computer to an external display in clamshell mode and do the same scrolling under "songs" i don't hear anything.
if i OPEN my computer lid while connected to the external display, and the music app window is located on my laptop display and i scroll through "songs" i hear it. but if i just drag the music window to the external display and then scroll through "songs" i don't hear anything.
either way its a pretty soft noise and as long as its doing no damage to the SSD i don't mind it. i rarely hear it anyway unless i'm in a completely quiet environment
i dont usually hear it, but the only way i can reliably reproduce the sound is opening "music", and scrolling under "songs". scrolling under "artists" or "albums" is silent.
but here's where it gets interesting...if i connect my computer to an external display in clamshell mode and do the same scrolling under "songs" i don't hear anything.
if i OPEN my computer lid while connected to the external display, and the music app window is located on my laptop display and i scroll through "songs" i hear it. but if i just drag the music window to the external display and then scroll through "songs" i don't hear anything.
either way its a pretty soft noise and as long as its doing no damage to the SSD i don't mind it. i rarely hear it anyway unless i'm in a completely quiet environment
If you launch Minecraft and mute the computer. It’s starts getting super noticeable. Just make Steve walk and zoom it goes. For me a drag cause I like to game a little before work when it’s quiet.
Received my MBP16, no coil whine to be seen during setup. Nothing regardless of the apps I launch (tried Pages, Music, added Google Drive, Macs Fan control, BTT). Will install the adobe suite tomorrow, these are heavy installs so maybe they'll trigger it.
If I put my ear straight to the keyboard I can hear noises, a mix of the fans and probably the coils working (but no whine if that makes sense), but that's something every single piece of powerful electronics I've ever owned had.
At the very least no hissing and if its there it's no even remotely to the point where it's return worthy.
If I put my ear straight to the keyboard I can hear noises, a mix of the fans and probably the coils working (but no whine if that makes sense), but that's something every single piece of powerful electronics I've ever owned had.
At the very least no hissing and if its there it's no even remotely to the point where it's return worthy.
But there is definitely more fan noise on i9, correct? So if it’s SSD, does getting 4TB or 8TB help?
Mine is i9 and is dead silent for now, so I don't think that's a factor. I have 1TB drive.
I believe there are two issues, or at least, I have two different issues.
Issue number one, that most of you seem to be reporting, sounds SSD related. If you run the BM disk speed test, I can hear the noise on my 16" as well. It also makes sense that you hear this during boot or during installs since that's a heavy read/write to the SSD. This sound, although noticeable and I'd prefer silent, doesn't bother me too much.
On the other hand, there's a second noise that is very noticeable on my device, and I see only a few people mention it here. Some have said they hear it when they enter the bootcamp selection screen. While I don't use bootcamp, I do hear it every time I hold down the option key during boot to select a device to boot from.
Originally, I wanted to run memtestx86 on my device to very the memory looks good, but the first time I reached the screen to select my USB device I noticed it, and it happens every time I reach that screen. As soon as I pick a device to boot from the noise disappears. I only hear the coil whine on that screen, which worries me, because it sounds like a T2 chip issue or something. The computer isn't under stress when you pick a device to boot from, but the whine is pretty crazy every time I get to that screen.
I believe everyone has the first issue with the SSD, and it's just a matter of how much you hear it and how much it bothers you. But my question, is who has the second issue? I've only seen a couple of people report this issue, and I'm not sure if it's as common as the SSD issue. It's hard to judge if this is a common issue since most of you likely never select a boot device other than the default hard drive or use bootcamp.
Can those of you with noise issues try rebooting and holding down the option key? When the screen appears asking you to select a device, do you hear the coil whine?
Issue number one, that most of you seem to be reporting, sounds SSD related. If you run the BM disk speed test, I can hear the noise on my 16" as well. It also makes sense that you hear this during boot or during installs since that's a heavy read/write to the SSD. This sound, although noticeable and I'd prefer silent, doesn't bother me too much.
On the other hand, there's a second noise that is very noticeable on my device, and I see only a few people mention it here. Some have said they hear it when they enter the bootcamp selection screen. While I don't use bootcamp, I do hear it every time I hold down the option key during boot to select a device to boot from.
Originally, I wanted to run memtestx86 on my device to very the memory looks good, but the first time I reached the screen to select my USB device I noticed it, and it happens every time I reach that screen. As soon as I pick a device to boot from the noise disappears. I only hear the coil whine on that screen, which worries me, because it sounds like a T2 chip issue or something. The computer isn't under stress when you pick a device to boot from, but the whine is pretty crazy every time I get to that screen.
I believe everyone has the first issue with the SSD, and it's just a matter of how much you hear it and how much it bothers you. But my question, is who has the second issue? I've only seen a couple of people report this issue, and I'm not sure if it's as common as the SSD issue. It's hard to judge if this is a common issue since most of you likely never select a boot device other than the default hard drive or use bootcamp.
Can those of you with noise issues try rebooting and holding down the option key? When the screen appears asking you to select a device, do you hear the coil whine?
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I'm honestly not even sure everyone has the first issue, it's 8am here, home is dead quiet, ran Black Magic speed test, could here 0 coil whine. Like I said earlier, I haven't had any coil while since I got the machine regardless of what I do.
Is there anyway to check the SSD's manufacturer? If there's variance there maybe that's an explanation.
I haven't installed bootcamp yet so idk about the second issue though.