Intermittent vibration on Macbook Air when connected to power supply

I made a bit of a hack mod to my three pin power adapter and ran some twisted copper flex from the plugs earth pin round the top of the plug to the earth pin area in the adaptor and used some insulation tape to seal it - better than not having my macbook earthed. My last macbook died using the same adaptor design - and it was out of warranty - Not 100% sure but I think this couldn't have helped my whole chassis being a electro static generator. :|

Funnily enough the same idea occured to me, just hadn't bothered to try it yet. That's reassuring that it works well for you, and I may well give it a go.

As you say, electrical earthing through the Unibody can't be doing anything any good!!!

Cheers 🙂

I have the exact samt problem with current going through the aluminum case. I actually get a small shock delievered to my fingers everytime I touch my mac book air. I have written a complaint and hopefully people will do the same.

www.apple.com/feedback

Thank you all for posting, it is nice to know we are not alone.

Hi Sweejin, thank you for sharing your knowledge.

I've got my macbook air 13" 265GB in Hobart just before Xmas 2011.

I didn't have such problem when I charged my macbook air in Aussie.

I've got that electric shock since arrived in Sarawak. I thought I damaged the laptop somehow.

Thanks again heaps!

Hmm, the same thing happened to my iPad 2 while connected to a power source...

kirkegrd wrote:

Just got a 13" MBA about ten days ago. It works fine, but once in a while I feel a strange vibration when I put my hands on the aluminum case (but not on the track pad). This only happens when it is connected to the power supply (I am using the 3 prong adapter) and it happens somewhat intermittently. I've read that some people had this problem on the old MBA's when travelling and using 220V but this is happening on my normal house plug. Because it's intermittent it's also hard to test for solutions. I have three days left on the 14 day exchange to exchange it, so I may well do that, but I thought I'd also look for answers here if anyone has any.

you're welcome ^_^

I'm in the UK, and I get a different behaviour from my Macbook Air. I get the current / vibration only when I'm using the extension cord - and I feel it on the metal of the case next to the trackpad, the same as the rest of you do.

If I take out the extension cord and just use the short cable that's connected to the power supply then there's no current.

Hi there,

My experience matches you all affected by the vibration issue on my MacBook Pro 13" — I bought it on February 2012, so that means the problem is still there.

Special thanks @sweejin for the great tip of using the extension cord to get rid of the vibration; meaning we now have to carry it along with the MBP — not very handy.

I did send the feedback with my complain, so let's hope for the better.

I'll week an eye on this thread, hopefully we'll get a lasting fix for it.

"we'll get a lasting fix for it."

There is a lasting fix. Use the 3-prong AC cord, and assure that it is plugged into a properly grounded AC receptacle. If you insist on using the ungrounded plug, perhaps turning the plug 180 degrees will alleviate the problem.

"There is a lasting fix. Use the 3-prong AC cord, and assure that it is plugged into a properly grounded AC receptacle."

Not a fix for me, sadly. I get the reverse problem: I only get the buzzing / shocks when I'm using the extension cord. This is in the UK, with a Uk model laptop, where the basic cord already has three prongs. It's as if the extension prevents the ground prong from working.

Anyone have experience of this revese problem?

Hi again,

The outcome of my story is not of my entire satisfaction. I went to the apple store (Genius bar) and they told me the "vibration", "tickling", "electric current" — or whatever you want to call it — is a normal, expected behaviour for any aluminium unibody notebook. In addition, they say it will not harm the compture nor the user. The explanation is that, as said in this forum before, the MagSafe adapter is not earthed. According to thech support it is not an issue to be worry; just that is how the MBP has been design!

Tech support recommends using the magsafe adapter with the extension cord to avoid any discomfort.

what a joke!

"what a joke!"

Why do you consider this to be a joke? The scheme used by Apple is used industry-wide, not just by Apple. An IEC - a compliance agency - regulation REQUIRES that the computer to operate using only two prongs. The lack of a grounding pin is not an oversight.

If my statement made you angry, I do apologise! — I'm new on this Apple communities and have noticed most people reply in a very rude tone, and that's not a joke.

I called Apple tech service and they said the same thing to me. It is "expected behaviour", actually using the English words although the rest of the conversation was in Danish. I assume Apple is aware of the problem and have a standard reply to us users.

This can not be "expected behaviour". I live in a low humudity area resulting in an actual electric shock being delievered everytime i touch my macbook air. Ouch.

Not happy with this. I hope you all write feedbacks to

www.apple.com/feedback

Thank you all for posting.

This can not be "expected behaviour". I live in a low humudity area resulting in an actual electric shock being delievered everytime i touch my macbook air.

It is expected behaviour with a conductive object that is not grounded in an environment likely to be prone to static charge build up - and low humidity is a crucial factor in that. One could argue that Apple should have designed their laptops to be non-conductive and therefore less prone to static build up, or to be grounded (as is the case when using the 3-prong power lead in an earthed socket) in order to drain the charge to earth, but otherwise they cannot change the laws of physics.