Noise from MacBook Pro Retina 13 late 2013

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Level 1

0 points

Noise from MacBook Pro Retina 13 late 2013

Hi,

I wonder if noise from my MacBook Pro Retina 13 late 2013 is normal. I can hear it only in quiet room (first time I heard it in the middle of the night). It’s very quiet noise. I don't know what to compare this noise. For me it’s sounds like clicking the spring. I can hear it when scrolling the webpage by trackpad, start mission control by gesture (or F3 key), changing the full screen apps by gesture or when minimize Safari or other apps. I think it depends on the graphic system work. It’s a little lauder when I use 1680x1050 scaled resolution than use 'best for display' resolution. I think the noise occurs when graphic system do some operation. Is it possible?

Today I was in Authorized Service Provider but technician heard nothing. There I can't hear this noise too, because this noise is very quiet and there is not total silence. Diagnostic tools show that everything is ok. But I still hear it in total quiet room. I tried to record this noise by iPhone but it can't do that.

Can you do me a favor and check this on your MacBook? Sit in totally quiet room, please. Set the scaled resolution 1680x1050 then bring ear closer to the keyboard and scroll a webpage (which have a lot of graphics) by gesture on the trackpad, start mission control or open notification center. Can you hear then any noise? Please listen carefully, because this is very quiet noise.

I’ll be very gratefully for your help. I wonder if only my MacBook making this noises or all MacBook Retina late 2013 making this.

Regards,

Mateusz

OS X Mavericks (10.9)

Posted on Nov 12, 2013 2:53 PM

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Answer 1

Jon Bo

Level 1

5 points

Dec 2, 2013 5:08 PM in response to emati

Hi Mateusz,

I have the same issue on my new MBP retina 13 late 2013. It's not disturbing because I can hear it in only very quiet room and only if the content of the screen is changing (like scrolling web pages). It reminds me the sound of old 3'5'' hard discs. I first thought it's a hdd, but then realised my mac has only SSD.

I think it's a noise from the voltage regulators. This is normal for very high speed high-voltage signals.

But any way, MBP 13 late 2013 is the best laptop I ever saw 🙂

It's just silent and cool like an ipad. I wonder if it has a rotating cooler at all.

Jon Bo

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Answer 2

Dec 2, 2013 5:16 PM in response to emati

It's how the the "new" and improved Retina Models behave, which I do not like at all.

Apple should have spent more time when making their Retina MacBook Pro's.

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Answer 3

Jon Bo

Level 1

5 points

Dec 2, 2013 5:21 PM in response to JaiJethani

Even despite these small problems, they are looking much better than non-retina models.

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Answer 4

Dec 2, 2013 5:28 PM in response to Jon Bo

I don't think so, I still would recommend anyone to purchase the Mid-2012 MacBook Pro over any of the Retina MacBook Pro's.

Bump up all of it's specs, and yet your looking at the same price of the base Retina Model.

Retina MacBook Pro's are not upgradable. It's worst selling point.

It's CPU's are not capable to run the "Retina" yet. (The Intel HD 4000) It just barely does it enough to give you a "decent" laptop experience. Note how I say decent, yet I still find it much poor than that.

They released the Haswell Chip. That was a great step from the Intel HD 4000, guess what, they Retina Models with Iris Graphics were known to have A LOT of problems, and still do. Trackpad freezes, Keyboard freezes, that yet the EFI( I think) updates were not able to fix yet.

Apple really rushed the Retina MacBook Pro's and didn't do a good job at all.

I could still go on about how I find the Retina super terrible, and how "bad" they are.

They really don't look "much better" than non-retina models for sure.

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Answer 5

Jon Bo

Level 1

5 points

Dec 2, 2013 5:41 PM in response to JaiJethani

1. Weight: 3.46 vs 4.5 pounds

2. Battery: 9 vs 7 hours

3. Resolution: 2560x1600 vs 1280x800

4. Microphone: stereo vs mono

5. HDMI output

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Answer 6

emati Author

Level 1

0 points

Dec 9, 2013 9:58 AM in response to Jon Bo

Jon Bo wrote:

Hi Mateusz,

I have the same issue on my new MBP retina 13 late 2013. It's not disturbing because I can hear it in only very quiet room and only if the content of the screen is changing (like scrolling web pages). It reminds me the sound of old 3'5'' hard discs. I first thought it's a hdd, but then realised my mac has only SSD.

I think it's a noise from the voltage regulators. This is normal for very high speed high-voltage signals.

But any way, MBP 13 late 2013 is the best laptop I ever saw 🙂

It's just silent and cool like an ipad. I wonder if it has a rotating cooler at all.

Jon Bo

Thank you Jon Bo for your response. I agree with you. This noise is something like electronic noise, and it is related to the graphics card.

The rMBP 13 late 2013 works without any noise other then situations I’ve described above. The noise is so quiet that I can't hear it when e.g. external HDD working in the same room.

Mateusz

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Answer 7

luke010

Level 1

4 points

Dec 26, 2013 10:23 AM in response to emati

emati, thanks for posting. I'm very happy to hear I'm not going crazy. I also can hear what you describe. Only in a quite room. And especially when I'm editing or scrolling through photos. It's not annoying or anything. It sounds exactly like a very quite hdd. I thought for a minute that Apple had actually mistakingly put a hdd in my pro retina.

Anyway, Jon Bo's explanation makes sense. Most electronics, especially laptops have such electronic ghost noises. And My pro retina seems to emit much less of this.

Thanks emati and Jon Bo for your comments!

To anyone one else reading this thining about buying a pro retina, most of us over 30 probably can't even here this faint noise even in a quite room.

luke

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Answer 8

shabzbd

Level 1

0 points

Jan 22, 2014 6:11 PM in response to emati

Thanks for this. I am having similar issues while running MATLAB scripts. The sound is more like a tiny ball bouncing on a table. Like the first drops are louder as it fades away, similar to a hdd as well. Hope this creates no issues in the long run. BTW i am running my macbook pro 13 on scaled 1440x900. Thanks again.

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Answer 9

Apr 25, 2014 7:09 AM in response to shabzbd

Brand new late 2013 macbook pro retina 13 inch,

I have the same issue where when I read or write to the new PCI Exress SSD high frequency electrnic noise is created, in particular when running Blackmagic speed test or any other app that uses the ssd alot or even starting up iphoto etc..

Got a fresh replacement and indentical problem..
When will Apple accept it's a common issue and change the design manufacturing process..?
Apparently I have to take my pro retina into apple store to show the genius so that they can report it to apple engineering so they can fix it for the next mb pro..
Not really a great service, they should've tested this before selling it in mass.