Level 1

2 points

macbook air fan noise

okay so i've JUST bought my new macbook air, i've had it for about 3 days now, been working fine, haven't been hearing anything from the fan... today i turned it on and realised that the fan was making quite a noticeable sound.. i was wondering if that was normal??

macbook air 11" late 2010, Mac OS X (10.6.4), also have macbook pro 15"

Posted on Oct 30, 2010 4:46 PM

151 replies

bwrl

Level 1

0 points

Feb 20, 2011 5:54 PM in response to bwrl

Ok, within seconds of posting this, I decided to thump the AIR to see if perhaps there was something stopping the fan spinning up. Sure enough, the fan immediately whirred into action and the clicking noise stopped.

A Handbrake encode was in session at the time. smcfancontrol now reports the fan is running at 6496 rpm (previously it was zero) and the CPU temp has gone down to 68 degrees (from 88).

What could have stopped the fan running? Maybe a loose wire obstructing one of the blades, or perhaps one of the bearings got stuck?

Message was edited by: bwrl

Mar 13, 2011 1:09 PM in response to jamestrent12

Hello there,

I also find that the cooling fan on my brand new MBA 11.6" makes a very annoying high pitch noise at minimum default setting of 2000 RPM. Can not hear anything on my 2008 MBP 15" at the same speed.

I also wish that Apple recognizes this design flaw, and replaces this cheapy fan by real stuff.

Message was edited by: claudemarchand

Mar 16, 2011 2:33 PM in response to jamestrent12

I get the same problem as a few others have described -- I can hear the fan running at idle in a silent room. I certainly couldn't hear it when the machine was brand new, back in December or whenever it was released. It definitely used to be silent.

It isn't loud by any stretch, but it is annoying. There's also a very strange clicking noise that I don't think I can describe very well. I'm sure it must be coming from the fan. These clicks are irregular, but must be going at a rate of about 5 clicks per second, and are super-high-frequency - almost at the top of my audible range (but I do have sensitive hearing, which may be the problem).

Anyway, I hope there's an answer to this. There are no Apple store's particularly close by me, so I might wait a while, but silent running is the main reason I buy Apple and if I can't fix it I'll be most disappointed.

Mar 16, 2011 2:40 PM in response to adrian.oconnor

I can't believe I wrote 'store's' with an apostrophe in my last post. Sorry about that. Edit: just found the edit post icon. Wish there was a delete button too...

Mar 28, 2011 3:24 PM in response to jamestrent12

I from Russia am sorry for my English. I have macbook air 13 late 2010. The first problems were on 10.6.6 sometimes the laptop didn't leave a sleeping mode. In support have advised to be updated to 10.6.7 then a problem it was eliminated, but has ceased to work itunes. Having solved this problem through a safe mode and the disk utility has noticed a new problem! On 10.6.6 fan in a usual operating mode didn't rustle in general

Only at viewing of video or start of difficult programs. But after updating on 10.6.7 rotates constantly, and at video start to rustle became stronger. Such sensation that new updating demands more resources from iron and consequently it works in a busy schedule! Who faced?? And how to solve a problem??

Apr 5, 2011 8:53 AM in response to jamestrent12

Wow, I can't believe all the posts about the fan being loud/annoying. I've had my MBA for only a month, but I have yet to hear the fan save one time when there was absolutely no sound in my house and I put my ear to the Air to see if there was indeed a fan inside and sure enough there was a slight sound. Other than that, my MBA is virtually silent. I would take the loud ones into the nearest Apple Store and have it looked at, because from my experience, it doesn't seem normal for it to be loud.

vchris88

Level 1

0 points

Apr 9, 2011 5:08 PM in response to PiccoloKu

its because you have the 11" version, almost all second generation 13" MBA make a noise

slyguy_28

Level 2

188 points

Apr 9, 2011 5:25 PM in response to vchris88

Mine is silent. Only time I hear the fans at all is while playing streaming video (YouTube)...
Sly

Apr 27, 2011 5:16 AM in response to matt0ne

Hey matt0ne,

I tried what you said and it worked. But it seems to work temporarily because I can hear the fans starting to get loud again. Atleast they're not as loud as before.

May 22, 2011 1:52 PM in response to bwrl

bwrl wrote:

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?

Yeah, this happens when the fan pops out of its groove and can't spin anymore. If you open up the back, just a gentle nudge (push in) will fix it. Once it's spinning freely, the clicking noise should go away. At least that's my experience.

SebiSeal

Level 1

0 points

Jun 22, 2011 6:50 PM in response to teddydelaguna

Yeah, but doing that voids your warranty (not that i care, i've done it too) so if you want to keep your warranty just take it in to the store, and i'm sure they read these at Apple and will know what to do.

Icepick

Level 1

0 points

Jun 26, 2011 1:26 PM in response to jamestrent12

Ok, if you just recently start to hear fan noises, it may be because there are some incompabilities between Parallel Desktop 6 and the Dock application after 10.6.8 update. If Activity Monitor is showing 100 cpu time usage by the dock application, AND you use Parallel Desktop 6 for virtual OS's, then there is a solution:

http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13727_7-20074173-263/dock-using-100-cpu-after-os-x- 10.6.8-update-for-parallels-6-users/

I followed the instructions from the above link, and problem seems to resolve. Now my MBA is back to ultra-quiet with no fan noise. Yay!

openrick

Level 1

0 points

Jul 5, 2011 4:17 PM in response to Icepick

Thanks Icepick! The solution given at

http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13727_7-20074173-263/dock-using-100-cpu-after-os-x- 10.6.8-update-for-parallels-6-users/

solved my fan problem!

Jul 15, 2011 4:48 AM in response to Icepick

Thanks Icepick!! Silence for the first time in weeks... it's beautiful.

Solution at http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13727_7-20074173-263/dock-using-100-cpu-after-os-x- 10.6.8-update-for-parallels-6-users/ solved my problem!!

Nov 4, 2018 12:08 PM in response to adrian.oconnor

Hello,

Any news about the whirring sound on the new MBA ? I remind you that this annonying noise was audible on the MBA 2010 at idle.

Thanks

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macbook air fan noise