macbook air fan noise

Fenizzio wrote:
Hi,

I just received my MBA 11.5" 1.4Ghz and 4Gb or RAM yesterday morning, and after few hours of working with it, I also noticed the little buzzing noise coming from the fan, at the left of the keyboard.

I haven't installed any software yet, it's still with what it comes. I only installed iStat Pro's Widget to check how fast was the fan spinning, and indeed it's at a constant 2000rpm.

What's bothering me is that if the fan is at 2000 rpm, it should be almost noiseless, but if the room is quiet, I can clearly hear the buzzing little noise.

I can't compare it to any other laptop right now, but I can say that my last Macbook black was quieter when the fans were spinning at the same speed than the MBA.

I have the exact same config Macbook Air as you... and I have no noise coming from mine at all.

Even if you are in a completely silent room ?

Same config and same result: no noise what so ever - even in a completely silent environment.

Very strange. I have heard the noise on 3 MBA 2010 13"...

The buzzing is caused by a loose bearing on the fan. I had the exact same problem on an 11" Air, brought it to the Genius Bar and they replaced the fan. Now, it is silent.

Do you really think that the loose bearing was present on the three MBA 2010 13" that I tried ? They were totally new...

To be sure, I will to an Apple Store this week.

is there any news?

I didn't go to the Apple Store yet.

I have the MBA 13'' late 2010 model and directly when i started using it i observed it produced al lot more noise (even when idle) then its predecessor and other types of macbooks.

I took it to an Apple service point but the tried to hear the noise and said: 'this is normal for any type of macbook and they heard nothing wrong with it' and convinced me not to take it in for official diagnostics as they said: 'we can already surely state it will be within permitted specification guidelines'.

However: the noise keeps irritating me as I mostly work in quiet surroundings, and in time the noise gets worse.

The noise has however two places of origin, on the left AND the right under the keyboard.

On the left under the keyboard (this fan noise was no problem at first but everytime seems to become a bit worse everyday ); and

On right under the keyboard it from the start i bought the computer it (almost always) makes high frequency beeping sounds and produces constant whining/little scratching noises. A bit like the sounds the power adaptor produces as if it sends instructionmessages to the system, so could it be a fault in for example the batterycharging-, usbport-, display- or processorcontroller or could it be a bit a of a short circuit situation between the batterycells as 'the current capacity' that coconut battery app also shows quit wild fluctuation: during a total of 9 battery loadcycles and it fluctuates from 6700 to 6480 and now back to 6664.

Anyone having the same expiriences?

Hi guys!

Same problem here with the fan, only when streaming videos, no matter what quality or what source.
As today online streaming is a daily routine i find it strange that my macbook cannot cope with it. Fans go crazy but the performance doesn't slow down.

Using Safari or Firefox
streaming: youtube, iplayer, ov, ......

I could do with some help here since the sound is unbearable and disturbing.

Thanks!!

i ve the same issue on my MBA (2010 fall) It becomes unbearable to watch any video or to videskype

Have any one know what is the issue?

I have a theory that the fan noise is amplified by the design of the notebook.

Have a look at the MBA "Features" here: http://www.apple.com/au/macbookair/features.html

Now go to the bottom and read the bit about "Stereo speakers. Heard but not seen". Quote:

"Despite its compact form, MacBook Air delivers full stereo sound. Space-efficient design inside the enclosure allows for the placement of left and right speakers that project sound through the keyboard. So you’re able to enjoy a richer audio experience while chatting online, watching TV shows, listening to music or playing games."

I've been sitting here watching a netflix streamed movie for the last hour and 20 minutes...without the fan bothering me. I saw it running above the normal 2000rpm and temp was about 70C, but still not enough to bother me. The only time I've seen mine spike is when doing photo/video work in Final Cut or Aperture - something that can tax the system.

I've had my 11" Air for a little over a month now. I periodically do things that rev up the fan RPM, like Netflix or HD movies. The Air gets a liiitle hot, and I can, for once, feel the fan. However, my computer has yet to made any really detectable noise from the fan.

My 11 inch late 2010 Air has just started making this clicking noise. It is less than a month old.

It seems to come from the left side of the machine. It happens at precisely 4 second intervals and is absolutely constant and regular. Each clicking episode involves about 5 rapid clicks.

Believing that the Air has no moving parts except the fan, I suspected that something weird was going on in this department.

smcfancontrol reports that the fan is not running at all, even when a cpu intensive activity like Handbrake is running. During a Handbrake encode the CPU is about 88 degrees C, which certainly should be enough to trigger the fan.

Anyone else have this?