Am I the only one with a blip/pop noise?!

That's exactly the noise my Macbook is making. Could this be a completely normal hard drive noise, since it seems to occur with every MBP you've tried? I'm mainly concerned that this is a sign that the hard drive is going to fail somewhere down the line.

This is not a completely normal hard drive noise. who wants to live with the noise OR the fear that it might mean a hard drive failure down the line? the noise is not "normal" and if it is and all the users (that hear the noise) are putting up with it then we are expecting a lot less for an expensive machine from a company that has a pretty **** decent reputation for **** good products. i am typicall working on my MACPRO and i have never had a problem or heard such a noise. I frequently use my POWERBOOK in the field - never heard such a noise. The CS rep I am working with now seems determined to figure it out and is working with engineering. I may be being naive but the worst thing that could happen is I get my money back. The best thing is that someone discovers what the **** the noise is and we can all begin to work again in that quite hum and occasional tick of the older products.

Is this a IBM/Hitachi drive?

If so, the noise you are hearing is something common among those drives... I had a 3.5 desktop drive that would do this just as you describe... despite this noise the drive lasted 5 years to this day. We actually still use it for storage/backups.

I also noticed this on another friend's machine, where I heard it randomly when I was looking over his shoulder for a project... I asked him if he had a Hitachi drive, and sure it enough it was.

I dont know what it is, and everytime I tried to talk to Hitachi about it, I could never get it to replicate, and since there was no ill effects of it, I could never get the drive replaced by them.

mine has the 120gb fujitsu. anyone else? is it specific to these drives?

You have a fuji and it makes the noise?

I have a 120gb Fujitsu and it does NOT make this noise.

Message was edited by: KalisonX

That stinks not having an Apple retail store close to you, digwitch. Good luck on getting a full refund, I hope it happens for you. Digwitch, are you going to get another Mac if you do get a refund?

So far I haven't been able to hear the popping sound in an Apple retail store because of the ambient noise. I have only used my MacBook Pro at home because so I can't say for sure it isn't environmental. However I have tried different locations in my house and I always hear the popping sound. Also an AppleCare specialist told me he didn't think electrical interference could be the cause of this sound and that the MacBook Pro is shielded to prevent interference.

I brought up the driver update idea because a worker at the Genius Bar thought that the sound might be eliminated with a driver update. I thought if this thread gets big enough maybe Apple takes notice and really investigates this popping sound thoroughly. They might solve it with driver update. Just throwing the idea out there.

Anyway, I talked to a product specialist yesterday on the phone and I told him about this thread and more specifically the link to the video that you posted. (I hope you don't mind.) I told him that the sound I am hearing is identical to the popping sound that you hear in your video. (By the way thanks for posting the video I know for sure I am not the only one hearing the popping sound now.) He said an engineer heard the sound and told him that this is the sound of the hard drive and that it is completely normal. The product specialist said his MacBook Pro makes the same popping sound only a little louder and that he just accepts it. He said it doesn't bother him.

It sounded like the product specialist was sincere and really trying to help me. He sounded like he really believes that this is just a normal sound of the hard drive working. I am still unsure though. The popping sound doesn't sound normal to me no matter what he says. If this sound is really normal, ie. common, then I am surprised more people are not complaining. MacBook Pros are supposed to be quiet, right?

Has anyone out there heard this popping sound on a different computer (mac or pc)?

Conversely, does anyone out there have a 15" MacBook Pro that does not make this popping sound?

Finally, has anyone MacBook Pro that makes popping sounds successfully resolved their situation and ended up with MacBook Pro that doesn't make this popping sound? Any help is appreciated.

Message was edited by: MellowmanB

I seem to recall a drive I had in my last HP laptop making this noise. I believe it was by Futjitsu (or perhaps Hitachi?). It did eventually fail after two years. This is why I am thinking it is probably normal, though I am with digwitch in being unhappy that my otherwise silent and beautiful new laptop is making this noise.

It is obvious that I have a HITATCHI drive in my POWERBOOK but less clear in my MBP.
I can not copy the image I captured of my bus but it reads:
HL-DT-ST DVDRW GSA-S1N
If this is in fact a HTIATCHI is still to be determined? I sent the image of that screen to the CS rep I am working with at APPLE. Encouragingly enough he has been reading this string and asked me to look. What discourages me is that APPLE may in fact be using these drives and an earlier post mentioned HITATCHI saying this was a normal function of the drive. No replacement. What would APPLE say to that? I would like to think they make a stand becaue the other APPLE products I have made a part of my working and leisure life have no deffects and or annoying noises. I refuse to believe other MAC users would put up with this from an otherwise solid machine that they paid good money for. How would they feel if this noise eminated from TV sets. Maybe that is the problem. Too much TV and not enough expectations. Not to get maudlin. Lets just solve it. I would like to know if AGENT11, who started this discussion on Nov. 12 has rectified the issue and how?

I believe this is a normal operation of the Hitachi's... as I stated below, I had one for over 5 years, and its still running strong despite this noise. Hitachi help desks wouldnt let me return/replace it... they believed the noise to be normal, there was also no ill effects.

Mine is Fujitsu as well. It sounds like this can't be confined to a brand of HD.

I also have a FUJITSU so perhaps the hardrive is not the issue. Back to the drawing board. This is not a "normal" noise. Has anyone ever seen the movie NETWORK????????

Does anyone else's pop sound sometimes have a more metallic sort of "clink" at the end of it? I'm starting to worry about my HD.

Jeff, you can hear my video that is posted in a reply to Mellowman not very far up the discussion chain. It is a link to a website. Mellowman, how are you making out? I am leaning toward returning the MBP. I had a friend say her machine makes the same noise and could not understand why it was such a big deal? I suppose most people put up with it or do not notice it. I will not pay money for this machine to hear the annoying noise. I will stick with the older machines that purrrrr.

Well digwitch, my last contact with Apple was with a product specialist, who assured me that the popping sounds I am hearing are a normal part of hard drive functioning. But I am not satisfied. I don't like that my 15" MacBook Pro makes these sounds. I think it should be quiet. Even if the popping sound is normal I don't think it should as loud as it is. I guess I need to call Apple again and explain that I am not satisfied with the notebook and see what they say. That's about where I am at.

What about you digwitch? Is Apple willing to give you a full refund? Are you going to try a different model Mac at this point or wait for a MacBook Pro update? Wouldn't you like to know just how many people notice this popping sound, and how many of those don't like it? I bet there are quite a few people who don't like it.

Jeff, I haven't noticed a metallic sort of "clink" at the end of the popping sound that my MacBook Pro makes.

I guess normal is just not good enough. Perhaps if I had not had MACS in the past I would be ignorant to the way they sound and run. Granted, this is a "new" machine for MAC but I can not believe this is the way the machine should sound.
I am expecting a call from the CS rep I have been working with. Have not heard from him yet today. As I have a POWERBOOK (was going to sell it) I guess I will live with that for now. I toyed with getting the 2.4 iMac? Maybe it is a firmware problem and I have heard there is an update coming in early Feb?