MacBookPro 16-inch has current noise, cpu turbo frequency noise?

I found that during the use of the newly purchased MacBookPro 16-inch, such as opening large software and restarting the system, noisy sounds will be heard under the keyboard. Should be the noise caused by Intel CPU Turbo? Some in the community also said that it was noise from SSD read disks. It's strange to hear this kind of sound at night when it is quiet. Is it a quality problem? Is it normal? Does everyone's MacBookPro also have this current noise? Wait for your feedback, thank you. (My MacBookPro 16-inch is i9-9880H CPU and 1T SSD)

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Posted on Jan 1, 2020 5:52 PM

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Posted on Apr 4, 2020 2:01 PM

Model - MacBook Pro 16, Intel Core i7-9750H

The coil whine appears when there is a sharp high power supply to the processor.When the turboboost is turned on, the power is jumped to 80 watts and the squeaking is heard. If you turn off the turbo boost and run the test, the power will not rise above 40 watts and the coil whine will not be heard. For the load testing was used Geekbench. For power measurement, the Intel Power Gadget was used. Turbo Boost Switcher was used fo turn on/turn off turbo boost.Below images with measurement.

With turboboost on




With coil whine - turbo boost on


Without coil whine - turbo boost is off


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Apr 4, 2020 2:01 PM in response to area3d

Model - MacBook Pro 16, Intel Core i7-9750H

The coil whine appears when there is a sharp high power supply to the processor.When the turboboost is turned on, the power is jumped to 80 watts and the squeaking is heard. If you turn off the turbo boost and run the test, the power will not rise above 40 watts and the coil whine will not be heard. For the load testing was used Geekbench. For power measurement, the Intel Power Gadget was used. Turbo Boost Switcher was used fo turn on/turn off turbo boost.Below images with measurement.

With turboboost on




With coil whine - turbo boost on


Without coil whine - turbo boost is off


Jan 4, 2020 5:05 PM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

Hello. Are you working for Apple? I heard the sound of my MacBookPro (16 inches), which is indeed similar to this YouTube video. However, I don't think this is from the SSD. why? Because I don't involve reading and writing disks when I perform some application software operations, I have 32G memory and will follow your operation to generate this noise. I tried to use Intel Power Gadget software to monitor the frequency and power consumption of the CPU. I found that the timing of this noise basically coincided with the changes in CPU frequency and power consumption. I also found that the location of the sound should be near the CPU. In other forums, some people said that he disabled the CPU core frequency by using a software (Turbo Boost Switcher), and then this current noise disappeared. So, it seems that all this proves that this current noise comes from the CPU Turbo.It's the coil whine issue.

Jan 5, 2020 5:25 PM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

You should do a test. Under macOS, some operations do not involve too many reads and writes to the SSD, and there will still be current noise at this time. For example, in Photoshop, most of the image zoom operations, this noise will be synchronized with the operation and appear at the same time. Because the memory is large enough and the picture is very small, the system does not need to use SSD as virtual memory (dynamic swap file), and no other programs are running in the background, so this picture scaling operation hardly involves reading and writing to the SSD hard disk. Why is the noise very synchronous with Photoshop zoom operation? I think there is only one reason, and that is that when scaling, the frequency and power consumption of the CPU, including the GPU, have changed. Therefore, current noise is generated. Of course, not only the operations under Photoshop can generate current noise, but any software with high load on other software will also generate similar current noise. I suggest that you perform some operation tests that can change the CPU frequency and power consumption in an instant, and try not to involve the operation of reading and writing the SSD. At this time, you will be pleasantly surprised.

Jan 3, 2020 10:41 AM in response to area3d

If the noise you hear is similar to the noise in that YouTube video, it comes from very fast writing of data in the SSD drive. It is NOT a defect, just a surprise, because, you know, no moving parts was supposed to be like ... silent. But it's not.


If you change operating parameters so that the speed of writes gets even a little slower, like turning off Turbo, you alter the timing and that will alter the sound generated.


The sound is not caused by any of the other items you mention. The battery and the power adapter are under 20 Volts DC, and there is far less of the power supply stuff you imagine that is actually doing anything interesting that would produce such noise.

Jan 4, 2020 6:11 PM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

I got the same thing on my new 16". But I can trigger this like crazy in Photoshop as I zoom in on the picture I am working with and moving it around. This electricial kind of buzzing sound (almost like a writing HDD) actually changes frequency the more I zoom in and out. No it’s not fan noise I’m not that stupid. On the Intel power gadget it also shows that the CPU reaches it’s highest peak (4,6Ghz) when I zoom and the sound triggers. It’s not the biggest issue but in the silent night of Photoshop editing it can be heard. Feel like the 16" has a lot of "satisfied" customers already.

May 2, 2020 6:22 AM in response to shpakdm

I've got MBP 16 i9/32Gb/1Tb/8Gb and the same problem with it. During my own "investigation" came to the same conclusion - the source of squeaking sound is the Turbo Boost, not the SSD. And if it was just scratching, this could be tolerable, but in some apps it's like ultrasonic dog whistle , and brings really uncomfortable feeling. Hope that Apple solves this with firmware update like you proposed!

May 4, 2020 3:30 PM in response to shpakdm

The Lenovo Thinkpad X1 Extreme 2 is the same pricing as the 16" MBP and it exhibits coil whine. The Dell XPS 15" also exhibits the same thing. Demanding a replacement will reward you with the same machine and same coil whine. People here are expecting Apple to have some magic potion to get rid of the coil whine when Apple is using much of the same sourced components as every other computer manufacturer.

May 4, 2020 4:34 PM in response to DPJ

My point is not about blaming Apple for coil whine in general, my point is that MBP 16 model design is poor compared to previous macbooks, because they had whine to, but it was much quieter. This time it's much louder and really annoying. May be the larger gaps in new scissors keyboard are just letting more sound out? Why 2017 MPB 15 doesn't sound like a floppy drive, but this one does? They aren't supposed to have many differences: the same design with touchbar, the same Intel 14nm architecture.

Mar 7, 2020 1:43 PM in response to centas

When you post here, you are "preaching to the Choir" -- Rreaders are all other users like you, and Apple movers and Shakers do not troll the forums looking for problems.


If you want to get this resolved, call the AppleCare toll free number or Contact support using the "contact support" link at the top of every forum page, then follow through and do not let them call your case "Solved" if it is NOT solved. Insist they file a Bug report or escalate your issue to the next level support.

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MacBookPro 16-inch has current noise, cpu turbo frequency noise?

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