This thread regarding sound issues on the MacBook Pro:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=9530160#9530160
touches on many of the issues mentioned here. It seems Apple are incapable of a) listening to their customers, b) acknowledging problems with their products and c) rectifying them in later releases.
To summarise the (lengthy!) thread:
-Don't expect Apple to magic this away with an update - its a hardware problem caused by issues a), b) and c) mentioned above.
-High impedence headphones (40-50 ohms or higher) reduce the bleepy nonsense to the point where it may not be noticable. Not GONE. Just not AUDIBLE. This is a medium-expensive workaround (not fix).
-Some people have eliminated the problem by using a Firewire audio interface. This is an expensive and impractical solution for a laptop. Maybe not so impractical for a desktop.
-Many users have reported that a cheap-as-chips "Volume control headphone extension" from Radio Shack does the trick. Turn up the volume on your computer and turn down the volume control on the doohickey to the appropriate level. This is a cheap workaround that, like high impedence 'phones, supresses rather than eliminates the problem.
Now you don't have to plough through 181 messages about this problem which SHOULD HAVE BEEN FIXED IN THE TWO YEARS APPLE HAVE BEEN RECEIVEING COMPLAINTS ABOUT IT!!!
"Geniuses", my
**ing arse.