Q: Macbook pro retina 15 2013 newest version fan noise for few seconds

Hallelujah! Some press coverage on the issue. Thanks Mashable! Maybe Apple will start to take notice. Feeling a bit let down by this experience.

http://m.tuaw.com/2013/03/11/macbook-pro-with-retina-users-report-fan-issue/

Just got my new macbook pro 15' retina it's a 2013 version with 512 and 16gb. I also experience the fan issue, already done a smc reset but no luck. But today I noticed that when working on a different location office all day I had zero fan spikes while doing a lot of Photoshop work. The only difference between the two locations is a wall socket with ground pins and one without ground pins. So I thought maybe its a possible static charge issue messing up the smc.

Next time you are in the office try copying something to the SSD in the retina. Like a few hundred MBs to a GB of data. It seems it happens when you are actively using the SSD, IE the flash drive in the system.

Not that PS doesn't use the drive, it does, but only as a swap system and with 16GBs of RAM the drive doesn't get used much.

Jasper1981 wrote:

 

Just got my new macbook pro 15' retina it's a 2013 version with 512 and 16gb. I also experience the fan issue, already done a smc reset but no luck. But today I noticed that when working on a different location office all day I had zero fan spikes while doing a lot of Photoshop work. The only difference between the two locations is a wall socket with ground pins and one without ground pins. So I thought maybe its a possible static charge issue messing up the smc.

Thanks for the tip Shootist007, you made a good point about Photoshop and the 16Gigs of mem.

So I followed your advice and copied several gigs back and fort between an external disk and the Macbook. I even downloaded the song that every one talks about that also triggers the fans when you play it for a while. But no luck in the office I don't get the fan spikes.

I started to test what happens if the Macbook runs on its battery only to test the power cord and its grounding theory. And now it becomes very weird even on battery I don't get the fans to spike noting nada... but this morning at home and yesterday in the evening the fans went ape **** crazy. With every copy action the fans would go to the max...

Next I went searching for another explanation, and the only other difference between home and the office is that in the office I'm next to a big window much light and my keyboard backlit is forced of. I only used the laptop at home with backlit keyboard on as I can recall, because it was late in the evening or early in the morning.

So I covered the sensor, enabled the backlit and run the same tests and the fans spiked in the office.

I know about the Sandisk - Samsung explaination but I'm still a bit dazzled getting the Macbook fans not to spike, before I messed with the backlit and bright sensor.

It seems so incredibly far fetched to me.

Is this the SMC fix posted by apple Mar 14, 2013

About MacBook Pro Retina SMC Update v1.1

This update resolves a rare issue where users may experience slow frame rates when playing graphics-intensive games on the 15-inch MacBook Pro with Retina Display. It also includes bug fixes for Power Nap, wake from sleep and fan control.

Boot ROM or SMC Version Information: After this update has successfully completed, your SMC Version will be:  v 2.3f35

http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1559

Thanks for posting this!

I am planning to buy Mac 15inch with 512GB and 16GB -  before buy, I want to doubly sure whether the fan issue now resolved?

Thanks