macbook air fan noise

Hello,

I agree with you that the fan buzzing noise, even if the MBA doesn't work hard, is very frustrating... The MacBook Pro, even if it has an hard disk which turns constantly, is noiseless...

Apple, can you fix it with a software update ?

Thanks

Hello and thank you for your help. This manipulation doesn't resolve the little fan noise simply because it is the natural noise of the fan, which is louder than the one of the MBP.

I can only hear the noise when I lean to the left of the keyboard.

Perhaps Apple didn't find better compromise between the thinness of the MBA and the heat removal.

Thanks

Joan

So the MBA 11" and 13" have the same fan noise. It is exactly as you say : the buzzing sound does not increase when the fan increase.

I don't think that there are MBA which don't have this sound because I just got a new one (I asked for an exchange to see if this sound was a problem from my MBA) and the sound is still here.

Did you try to hear it on other MBA 2010 ?

For people who have sensible hears, it is annoying...

Message was edited by: JoZoz

This machine supports serious workload. It nearly has the same specs than the MacBook Pro 13".

This fan noise is not influenced by the workload. Unfortunately, it is the natural fan noise which keep the same sound level even if the workload get higher. To delete this sound, Apple will have to change the fan.

Apple made a serious mistake with choosing this fan. With the MacBook Pro, I didn't encountered this problem. And it is a big problem because it disturb me when I work in a silent room.

2 weeks ago, I asked for an exchange and with the new MBA 13", the noise is still here. There is no problem with our machines. It is simply that the fan make a noise however the workload is. People who don't have sensitive hears don't hear it, unless they put a hear on the left of the keyboard.

"Again, if it is that loud then there is a problem." -> No, this is the natural noise of the new MBA's fan. If you listen with attention, you will hear it. For this machine, Apple didn't succeed to put a completely silent fan.

I asked on a french forum about this noise and everybody can hear it, even if it doesn't bother some of them.

"The cause of this issue has to to with fine dust or small pieces of hair being sucked inside the MBA via the keyboard or the right back side of the keyboard, which eventually get's stuck in the fan."

-> How do you explain that with two new MBA 13", which are supposed to be clean (no dust or anything), I heard the noise at the first boot ?

I don't think that the dust could be the cause of the noise...

The very bad thing is that it becomes hard to work with this MBA 2010. When silence is an indispensable condition, I am obliged to find a soft surface to reduce the noise... or to write on this forum to tell you how much I am annoyed.

It is very strange, because contrary to what you say I am convinced that the noise was present on my MBA since I bought it. In fact, I asked for an exchange to be sure that it was not an hardware issue and with the new one I have exactly the same noise since the beginning.

I have sent some of the interesting posts, as yours, to Steve Jobs. Perhaps he will read them.

As it was mentioned in prior posts, the noise that is annoying us is completely independent of the fan's speed. Apple technicians from Apple Stores won't be able to fix it because the source of the noise is probably the design of the MBA's case. Please read the prior posts before posting.

We don't speak about the same noise. In this topic, we speak about the "natural" noise of the fan which is completely independent of the fan's speed. We don't speak at all about the noise that a fan makes when it turns fast.

harlekinrains has opened his MBA and he supposed, as kintopp and others, that it comes from the design of the case.

I have one MBA 13" that does this noise. I asked for an exchange, and the new one makes the noise too. Moreover, my mother's new MBA 13" also makes the noise. It is not a coincidence.

" I would be annoyed by the simple fact of the noise just by design of the MBA's case and to assure that the noise is completely independent of the fan's speed" -> Yes, we are annoyed by this fact.

I totally agree with you, harlekinrains, even if I like the MBA's LCD 😉

So, I used an iPhone application to measure the decibel level. In a silent room (35dB), when I put the microphone at the same place as my head in a normal position to work, the level is 40dB. I don't know if there is any meaning of this kind of measure but all I know is that it is still difficult, for me, to work in a silent room with my MBA.

I really hope that Apple will do something to fix it.

So, I suppose that I should go to an Apple Store to fix it.... if there really is something to fix... which I don't believe, because I had an exchange 2 months ago and the new MBA that I received makes the same noise.

Here is the news : I went to the Apple Store Opera and they changed the fan. As I was waiting for, the fan noise is still here.

After an exchange of my MBA 2010 13", 2 months ago, and a change of fan this week, I conclude that this annoying noise is on every MBA 2010 13". It must come from the design of the machine.

The Apple Store can't do anything to fix it. We have to wait the next generation of MBA to have (I hope) a completely silent machine.

I have the 13" MBA with 4G of RAM and 256G storage. When I run heavy duty apps like HandBrake or games like Starcraft and WoW, the fans kick up to 6500 rpm. The sound level reaches 57 dB. It's either that or down-clock the processor, slowing down the performance. I prefer performance.

The MBA is thin and light. Two out of three isn't bad.