Periodic "tink" or click sound from inside new Macbook Pro

My MBP 2010 makes this same noise buy only when it is running a tad on the toasty side. I would imagine that taking it out may void warranties, but am not totally sure. Does anyone know?

I just bought a 15" MacBook Pro yesterday and this same "tink" noise has been occurring right out of the box. Extremely annoying. Anyone investigating this issue - keep us updated.

I'm having this issue as well. Incredibly annoying. Agree that it's not acceptable for a $3,600 computer to have this condition. If the proposed fix is safe, then Apple should have resellers perform it without voiding the warranty.

I'm convinced this is the answer. Had a period "tink" or sometimes metallic scratching sound when the computer was moved which seemed to increase in frequency when the computer heated up. Happened regardless of whether or not I had the computer turned on. Opened up the back case, saw where the ground was contacting the body. Instead of taking it out, I placed a small piece of electrical tape where the 2 prongs of the grounding piece contacted the case. Now, NO MORE SOUND. While some people may have a bad hard drive, I think that the majority of people who are hearing this are having a similiar issue.

I too had (until last night) been suffering with this increasingly irritating problem since my 2010 MBP arrived a couple of months ago. Glassy tinking noise coming from inside the unibody when moved slightly or touched in a certain way. Definitely not the parking heads on the drive as it even did it when turned off. I'd visited three different 'Geniuses" with the problem. None of them thought they could hear it, but the third guy took the back off and noticed that one of the two little tabs that clipped the back onto the unibody had been broken. They told me that this part was only replaceable with an entire new top case (seemed a bit excessive but I went along with it), so they ordered me a new one and a week later I went into the store to have it all taken care of. They simply stole one of the tabs from the new top case and swapped it over, rather than replace the whole thing. So, I got home, eager to experience my first Tink Free MBP experience.... It was still there.....

Not being able to face another humiliation in an apple store by being told that there's no problem with my £2000 machine, I've now followed the instructions on 'Fix Your Macbook Pro Like a Champ' and removed the little offending 'grounding connector' (apparently, even though it's not actually connected to anything) so not really sure what it is... whatever) and it's quiet at last!

Needless to say, I feel pretty let down that apple are just ignoring this problem and leaving it to customers to mend for themselves what is apparently one of the best, and certainly most expensive laptop that you can currently buy.

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I had the same annoying periodic click, tink or pop on my Macbook Pro 13 and I found the sound was caused by the hard drive parking its heads way too often when idle. Through this page ( http://tjunkie.posterous.com/macbook-pro-13-clicking-sound) I found somebody created a piece of software to control how often the heads park when idle. I downloaded it, installed it and restarted and the sound went away.

You can find the software to fix the periodic click or tink here:
http://mckinlay.net.nz/hdapm/

Good luck everyone!

I had the same annoying periodic click, tink or pop on my Macbook Pro 13 and I found the sound was caused by the hard drive parking its heads way too often when idle. Through this page ( http://tjunkie.posterous.com/macbook-pro-13-clicking-sound) I found somebody created a piece of software to control how often the heads park when idle. I downloaded it, installed it and restarted and the sound went away.

You can find the software to fix the periodic click or tink here:
http://mckinlay.net.nz/hdapm/

Good luck everyone!

I have a new 15" MBP and it tinks, plinks or whatever. I know it's not the hard disk and parking heads, etc. Reason is because I can increase the occurrence of the sound depending on the surface I rest the computer on, how I rest my hands on it and, or how hot the MBP is for a prolonged period. I had an early 2008 MBP 15" that died and was replaced under Applecare just two weeks ago. I lost a lot of time last month waiting for repair/replace when this happened and now I'm not ready to have to take this MBP in for such a minor yet irritating problem. I'll wait a while before feeling like removing the ground strap myself too.

I was able to eliminate the "tink" sound by removing the back (10 screws) and then reassembling using a star pattern. By star pattern, I mean tightening screws on opposite corners and sides (lower left, upper right, upper left, lower right, etc. Do this in two passes using a light snugging first followed by a final tightening. This ensures assembly with even pressures all around. (same technique is used to re-attach a car engine oil pan.

Having posted on Nov 11 about this problem, about a week ago I fixed it unknowingly at the time. I bought and installed an 8GB RAM upgrade. I thus removed and re screwed down the back cover after the RAM upgrade and I haven't heard a plink since. So, I'd say Jonharper's on to something!

I too had this issue.

I was concerned that something might be floating around in the laptop that might eventually short something out.

I took the cover off inspected it, and noticed the spring loaded contacts around the edges.

I didn't pay any attention to the bar below the memory,

Like the last two posters, I put the lid on and was careful to make several passes, tighting a bit more each pass and my tinging is gone as well.

Now that I've found this forum thread, I at least know what it causing it, and if it comes back I'll have some options.

I don't believe that simply taking the lid off and on are going to fix it long term, but it's nice to see what it is and that it's such a simple fix. Just knowing what it is makes it much more bearable, as at first I was concerned that it could be one of the fans going out.

So +1 for the lid reinstall, with a next step likely being the electrical tape if needed, as i'd rather add some tape then remove something from the laptop.

I've been having the same problem with my new macbook since the first day I got it. As stated before, very unacceptable for such an expensive machine.

Another new MBP owner here with the same annoying tink sounds around the track pad. It doesn't matter if power is on, off, hot, cold, level etc. Using the laptop in a normal way causes the sound. As your hands move around and change positions the tinks follow. After removing the bottom cover and inspecting the spring loaded contacts it's pretty obvious. Metal on metal is going to make noise when it flexes, and rubs against each other. I applied a very thin coating of electrical grease to the contact points and the case where the rubbing marks were present. Installed/torqued down the cover screws a little bit at a time going in a star pattern as previously suggested. My results were silence for only a few days. The obnoxious noise has returned. Like most I don't want to take it in for warranty repair until a sure fix has been discovered. The noise is very easy to reproduce. So, if your Apple store rep says there is no problem found have them, or you use your laptop right then and there until they hear it for themselves. This problem needs to be resolved. If they cannot provide a fix then they will be providing a refund for a lot of customers. I have called them and reported the problem. They said they had not heard of this issue before. I'm taking it in so it's at least documented that the problem is present during the warranty period. I suggest everyone else do the same. Make Apple do work son.

This issue is still unfortunately going on, I'm on my second 2.2 GHZ Macbook Pro as the first one made that "tink" sound just after about two days. I have just received the replacement to find the same problem after a day. i wonder if installing a solid state hard drive would make any difference as some people have found that it is either the hard drive or the bar thing. As someone stated above, $3000 computers should not make this irritating noise, and Apple will definitely be handing me a full refund. i might consider purchasing another one once they have decided to fix this problem.