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Various audio problems with macbook pro

Hello all, I am posting here before I go through the trouble of trying to get my macbook replaced.

My laptop, which I bought around 3 weeks ago, is a 2.5ghz (upgraded processor) penryn 15" macbook pro. If it's worth anything, it's the model with a 512mb graphics card. I also upgraded the hard drive to the 7200 rpm version.

Anyways, I have been having problems with the right speaker as well as the sound in general. It was working perfectly until one day when I was watching a youtube video and the right speaker suddenly cut out. The only sound was a very high pitch whine that seems to constantly come from it until the speakers cut out to save power or whatever they do.

Now I know that hearing worsens with age, and I think that it's possible some older owners cannot hear this if they have the same problem. I am 18 and can hear it, my parents, on the other hand, cannot. It sounds almost exactly like it does when your ears are ringing, except higher-pitched.

As if listening to one speaker (the left one) and a high-pitched whine that hurts your ears after awhile isn't enough, I am also having problems with headphones. First, I am 100% positive that the headphones are completely functional as I also use them on my ipod and a PC (I also tried a second set to be sure). When they're plugged in, there is a constant static sound (until the sound cuts out to save power, that click is also really annoying), and when the system transmits a sound there are random beeps. It literally sounds like an R2D2 crawled into each of my ears.

Another thing I'd like to point out: when I restart my computer, both speakers broadcast the bootup sound perfectly. In fact, the right speaker continues to work for several seconds after logging in before it goes back to it's broken and whiny state. This makes me think it's a firmware problem.

Any help would be appreciated.

- Kyle

P.S. I have installed everything available from system update.

2.5ghz Penryn Macbook Pro, Mac OS X (10.5.2)

Posted on Mar 19, 2008 9:39 PM

Reply
50 replies

Apr 22, 2008 12:22 AM in response to Deekle

Intriguing. So the connection is

headphones -> audio jack to USB adapter -> USB port?

Sadly, I have the exact same problem. It is actually very faint, not directly noticeable if the output volume is high, or if there is a lot of ambient noise. There are two distinct audio phenomena:

1. White noise whenever headphones are plugged into the jack.
2. Random faint beep/boop sounds.

I can cope with (2), but (1) makes using headphones all but impossible, since it causes hearing fatigue after about 15 minutes. I just want to rip my headphones off, the noise is intolerable. And I'm not even all that young!

My four-year-old 12" PowerBook G4 does not have this problem; nor does my iPhone--even with the same headphones, which are a pair of Ultimate Ears 4vi. It is absolutely unacceptable. Although I would be willing to sacrifice a USB port to be able to hear clear sound, I feel that Apple should fix this problem to my satisfaction. The build quality of a Penryn MacBook Pro should be better than this.

Apr 22, 2008 2:49 AM in response to atomic wedgie

hi. I have a fainter version, but the same problem. with specific music i hear whining sounds on my right channel. this also happens on external speakers but is too faint to be heard on the internal ones. however, since i mostly listen to minimal electronic music with very distinct frequencies, this stuff drives me crazy. i even returned my freshly bought Sennheisers twice because i thought it's their problem. The sound is "best" heard on low volumes and only on the right. it's like a whining up and down squeeling. i don't want to use USB-converters (besides, extra cost).
any answer to this from technical support yet?
-david

Apr 28, 2008 8:03 AM in response to mrkyle72

Just to add my voice to the list:

My Penryn based MacBook Pro just today began exhibiting the same problem with the right speaker. The speaker suddenly stopped playing audio and instead gave off a high pitched whine. I tested the speaker's audio output by going into the Sounds Preference Pane and adjusting the balance all the way to the right and no audio came out except for the high pitched whine. Rebooting has not helped.

Apr 29, 2008 7:59 PM in response to mrkyle72

I too have this problem... nothing with the speaker, just headphone problems. Rather ridiculous. I was showing off the hardware to a friend of mine who is considering getting one, and he heard the headphone whine and was totally turned off by it. "What's that god-awful noise?" I believe was his exact quote.

PLEASE, APPLE... HEAR OUR PLEAS FOR HELP!

Apr 29, 2008 8:39 PM in response to Spencersage

I have warned everyone I know off the MBP right now too. I bought the first intel based machine and it had absolutely beautiful sound quality. Is this a sign apple's quality is getting worse? I'm also deeply disappointed by the total FOB off I got from the so called 'geniuses'. What jerks. That's the last time I pay for apple care....so much for that. What a waste of money.

May 5, 2008 11:03 PM in response to mrkyle72

Hi, same problem as the original poster, nearly the same machine but 2.6GHz. It is my first modern Mac and worked great from about a month ago until today, when it did two bad things: 1) got really hot though it was supposedly hibernating. 2) Right speaker stopped playing audio, started playing really high pitched tone continuously.

Like the OPs, the tone stops after about 25 seconds if no audio events happen. The volume control does not affect the tone's volume, except to cause it to "wake up". Though I did notice that pressing up on the bottom of the case directly underneath the fn key seems to make it temporarily stop. This makes me think some kind of internal shielding has broken loose. Guess I'm going to get acquainted with the "geniuses" tomorrow.

May 6, 2008 3:10 PM in response to Deekle

I also have this white noise problem with my Macbook Pro. It is the model with 2.2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo with 4GB 667 MHz. I am using external speakers that I used with my Macbook before and I never experienced this white noise with the Macbook so I know the problem came from the Macbook Pro. I have used two different jacks to connect the speakers to the Macbook Pro and it is giving me the same noise.

May 6, 2008 10:27 PM in response to andr001

I also have this problem and I it's not going to be fixed. The thing is when I bough my first MB (first gen) it had intel audio and there was no noise whatsoever.
Now, they start putting cheap realtek junk as sound devices and this is causing the issues (I had numerous issues on Windows with realtek stuff previously).
Bottom line is Apple is putting cheap components to get more money. It's a fact, just read the ton of issues people are having here with the newer version of laptops.

May 7, 2008 10:11 PM in response to mrkyle72

Has Apple solved this problem for anyone? I think there was a software utility to try to disable the C3 and C4 sleep modes of the processor, but it said it didn't support the latest revs of the Macbook Pros.

The beeps make using the notebook for anything audio related (music, videos, gaming) entirely unpleasant. I wish I had gone to a retail store and tried the audio out there. I'm telling everyone to check them out in person now, before buying, to see if they can tolerate it.

I'd rather not send my notebook in for repair or replacement if the problem is as yet unfixable.

May 8, 2008 9:12 AM in response to mrkyle72

Hello all!
So I too have the same problem with the right speaker. I was using it fine one day, and then all of the sudden it cut out and gave off the high pitch whine that is driving me crazy! I took mine into an apple reseller and watched them replace the right and left speaker (the are both hooked together and you have to replace them both. The computer came back to life and worked for a few hours and then it happened again! Now the whine seems to be louder, and when I called Apple directly they want to do a mail in repair. I don't think they know what the problem but I am pretty sure it's not the speaker. If I had to guess I would say that it's the left i/o board that they are plugged into.

May 16, 2008 8:01 AM in response to DrSirus

Did this work out for you? I'm also very frustrated with the R2D2 noises coming from the audio out port and constant background hiss. It makes listening with headphones annoying and not enjoyable at all. It reminds me of plugging in to a crummy PC laptop. Good sound quality has always been one of the reasons I've always liked Macs. This pathetic quality sound is really making me question Apple's commitment to product quality (along with the on-screen corruption issues in the latest Penryn MBPs and the alternate LED backlighting switch-off problem.)

Various audio problems with macbook pro

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