Are your macbook's silent? not sure if mine has a fault or not..

[Felix E]

Hi all,

I've had my macbook for about a week now, I seem to remember that when I was first using it, it was completely silent. Now however there seems to be a fan or something constantly on inside it, even when just running safari and browsing the web, as I am now.

There is also a high pitched noise present when I plug the power supply in, which goes away as soon as I unplug it.

So, has anyone else with a macbook noticed this kind of thing? the fan noise seems to be located near the dvd drive.

Felix

 

[Felix E]

iStat will show CPU idle at 100% but with exhaust fan at 1800rpm. CPU temperature at 37C. The fan turns off when I put the laptop to sleep (obviously) but as soon as it's active again it runs constantly. The other noise I only have with the power supply plugged in.. it doesn't seem to relate to cpu usage on mine although I'll test later to make sure.

The trouble is I work much better (uni stuff) in a silent environment, and it just seems like unnecessary noise.. I wouldn't mind so much if the fan just came on occasionally.

The power thing seems like a fault so I might try giving the apple store I bought it from a ring.

Felix

*edit* The power supply thing does seem to be related to CPU usage. If I have the MB plugged in I get the noise, when I launch a load of apps it goes away and then comes back once things have settled down. It's fine running off battery power.

Best theories so far suggest the problem is a flaw in the power supply, which vibrates in response to fluctuating power draw and produces audible noises. The most recent shipping units seem less likely to exhibit the problem, though it seems some are still squeaking (heh, heh) by. I’ve never read of or heard of anybody who has sent a machine in for repair and had the whine fixed, though I have heard from several who have received replacement units with no whine. Fixability Factor: I’m guessing it’s 100% fixable but perhaps a 10% or less chance a defective unit will actually come back fixed.

 

[Felix E]

it's not meant to be there.. mine's only 6 days old so i'm probably going to ask for a replacement. Just been watching vids on youtube type website, the cpu usage is between 0 and 25% yet the temp is rising up to the 60s and the fan is spinning up to 5500rpm!

 

[Felix E]

Just to revive this thread in case anyone was interested!

I did take my macbook back to the apple store, it was taken into a quiet back room and the guy came back and told me that he could hear the whine and that they were prepared to offer a refund or replacement. However he also warned me that they had a MBP in the back room and that he could hear a whine from that one as well if he listened closely.

Anyway I went for an exchange and walked out with a new MB... which it turns out has the same problem. I've decided I can live with it as it's obviously a common problem and it seems slightly more quiet than the first one, it's just a bit of a shame as it's the only bad thing I have to say about the laptop.

On the upside, the first MB had one dead pixel and this one has none! Result.