Speaker crackle/rattle

I also noticed a rattling sound when playing some audio. I asked my dad about it and he said it was normal. If you push any speakers too far, then you will hear the crackling. We have some very powerful speakers and if you turn up the volume enough, you will hear that same noise. I don't know how good the speakers in the macbook pro are so im not sure if it is a defect or just a sound problem. I will post back if i get answers.

Hello to all,

I'm currently experiencing the same rattle coming from the right speaker on my late 2008 MacBook Pro. The rattling started about two days ago. If I play music at volume over 50% it starts to rattle. I was searching this forum for any other users experiencing this problem. Anyone out there have a solution? I think I'm gonna have to take a trip to the Apple Store.

I also have the Unibody MacBook Pro (2.4GHz), but I haven't experienced any rattling sounds with my internal speakers, although I have noticed this problem with my friend's MBP, also of the unibody variety..

I advised her to take it to the Apple Store, so I would suggest anyone with this problem to do the same and have it serviced immediately. It could just be a hardware defect.

Cheers 🙂

I've noticed the same problem on my macbook pro which I've had less than a week. As it's just the right speaker its not an issue with distortion as the left speaker works fine at higher volumes. The higher frequencies in some audio seem to be causing the keyboard to rattle against the case. In mine it's the backspace and right shift keys, placing my fingers on top of these keys seems to stop the problem.

Will take it into a store this week and see if they'll take a look at it. I'd guess there's something missing or misplaced that should be holding some of the keys firmly in place

I appear to have the same audio issue with the right speaker. I've had the MBP for 3 weeks and it just started last night. It almost sounds like the noise you hear when a Tweeter cone tears or isn't seated properly. I was ready to bring it into Apple this afternoon until i read this last post. If i lay my hand lightly over the keyboard the noise stops. I'm listening to Angels and Demons at 60% volume and the noise is non stop. I had to put on head phones because it was ******* me off so much.

I love apple products but I fear that Apple Q/C is starting to slip. I say that because the MBP unibody is a replacement for my (twice over) defunct MBP SR 2.2 8600. Now i'm having issues with the computer they gave me as a replacement. grrr. Thank heaven for AppleCare.

I'd say this isn't normal and you should let Apple take a look at them. I've had my volume up at full quite a lot on my MBP and it doesn't make this noise.

These speakers are pretty loud for laptop speakers, I can fell the thing vibrating if they're on full, so it is possible they're making something else vibrate that's looser than it should be. That's just a guess though, don't hold me to that!

Not a bad idea to take it in anyway. Better safe than sorry. If something is loose it's always better to have it looked at. Let me know how your trip ends up. I need to get a full back up of my Machine done before I go into the Apple store again. It will most likely be this weekend before i get there.

I have the same problem as well. The right speaker rattles, and the keys along the right side (delete, backslash, return, and shift) vibrate when there is any sizable sound coming from the speaker. If I gently touch those keys, the rattling stops, but I can feel a lot vibration under the keys. The same does not happen on the left side.

I bought my MBP from Apple Online Store, and received 8 days ago. Can I take it into an Apple store, or do I need to deal with phone/mail support?

Hi everyone. Any news on that one? Did anyone of you try to get the machine replaced / repaired? Any improvement?
I've got myself a machine from the the 53rd week of 2008 (30.12.2008).
iTunes music is mostly ok, but anything else, like movies, YouTube videos rattles like **** even at 60% of volume.
I plan to pay a visit a local Apple reseller and ask them to show me if all of the models behave in such a "rattling" fashion...

i have this same problem! Pretty much from day one (mid november). I figured I blew out my right speaker, but after reading this thread I plan on taking mine in to an apple store.

Share with us the outcome of your visit to apple store, once you're back 🙂

I have the same problem with my new Macbook Pro. Right side only rattles. I would love to take it into a store but can't be without for the next 6 weeks. Anybody try to get this fixed yet?

I haven't had any issues with rattling around the right speaker whatsoever on my Late 2008 MacBook Pro, even when the volume is set to higher levels.

That's all wonderful, but did anybody have it repaired and can confirm the issue as solved after the repair?

Hi everyone. I thought I'd write with an update. To recap, I was having the issue where the right speaker of my UMBP (only 2 weeks old, started pretty much out of the box) would rattle when certain kinds of sounds were played. Not all sounds/music, and it seemed to be independent of volume. This happened even at low-moderate volume levels. There was also a very noticeable and strong vibration under the right keys when the speakers were in use, particularly at the times when the rattling happened.

Last week, I took it in to the Genius Bar here in NYC and they replaced the whole laptop right on the spot when they felt/heard the problem.

The new one was better, but still has some rattling. You can hear it very clearly in the system sounds such as Hero and Funk. It's definitely an improvement over the last one, and the strong vibration under the keys doesn't happen on this new laptop.

I returned to the Genius Bar today to ask about the rattling I was still getting, and was told that it "sounds normal for this computer" and that "since the speakers are very tiny, they can't handle all sounds." I wasn't exactly satisfied with this answer, of course. On another note, the Genius also told me that a new MBP battery should take about 2 hours to drain from 100%-0% when in sleep mode. So, I'm not sure she was that knowledgeable.

Does anyone out there have a new UMBP that exhibits absolutely no rattling or crackling in the right speaker? Should I be resigned to living with it or not?

Thanks!