MacBook Moo Apples thoughts

I talked with someone from AppleCare yesterday. I have had the "moo" issue for almost eight weeks with my MacBook. The official word from the AppleCare rep is that this issue is still being researched and that no known fix is guaranteed to solve this issue at this time. As this is the only problem I am experiencing with my machine, I will continue to wait this out a few more weeks hoping for a solution. The "moo" can be quite annoying. Where did you see the message from Apple requesting users to contact them over this issue?

Just a though; I don't have a macbook yet but from what I've read, the mooing can be fixed by opening photo booth. In that case, has anyone thought about the isight being the culprit? Like it's trying to focus or something and by opening isight that resets it?

the mooing can not, to my experience, be corrected by taxing your cpu - such as by opening photo booth. Taxing the cpu is used to fix the whine problem people have reported. Mooing is caused by the fan spinning - only way to stop that is to bring the cpu temp below the threshold, or to raise it so that the fan spins more contantly. i am currently at 62 degrees and can only hear my desktop's fan (about 6 meters away) macbook is silent.

Actually the moo originates from the fan starting and stopping at certain temps...

It's not photo-booth or iSight related. Mine moos when it reaches the low 60's to high 60's and it is coming from the middle top which is where the fan is.

There is a video out there of this phenomenom and it is simply the fan going from stopped to full boar to stopped, to full boar and so on...

I took mine to the Apple "genius", and I use the word genius loosely and he claims all they could was ship it out for a week and try to get it fixed. I said no thanks and am continuing to wait for an official statement from apple or a fix.

Yah, what exactly did this statement suggest?

I have spoken to three AppleCare reps over unrelated issues (charger brick noise) and told them about my moo and all three informed me that a firmware fix is being researched and all knew about the problem once I mentioned the fan making a noise ("You mean the moo?" was their immeadite response).

I'm not too angry at Apple for this issue considering that it can be resolved (judging by what was done with the MacBook Pro , but I would appreciate some level of continuinty in terms of what a) can be done and b) is being done. Should I wait? Should I send it in for repairs?

I don't wanna sound stupid, but what is the "moo" exactly? I've heard a lot about it. I was gonna buy a MacBook here within a week...so it sounds like my odds of getting a mooing one are pretty good huh?

Hi

I don't wanna sound stupid, but what is the "moo"
exactly? I've heard a lot about it. I was gonna buy a
MacBook here within a week...so it sounds like my
odds of getting a mooing one are pretty good
huh?

Don't panic! I've had my MacBook for about a month now and the fan is so quiet that I can only hear it if I put my ear close up and listen really hard.

However, you should be aware that the casing does get really hot, so you can't use it as a "laptop" computer.

Bob

What do you mean by using it as a "laptop" computer? Like, to carry around and such?

Dye2435 (and others),

This thread might be of interest:

http://discussions.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=2779579

Whether or not the mooing is audible seems to have to do with the make of fan installed in one's machine. But the actual action of the fan turning on/off/on/off at a certain temp range may well turn out to be happening in all Macbooks (just inaudible in those 'without' the moo, unless you've got your ear pressed against the keyboard in a quiet room), and it may be something Apple can indeed fix with a software or firmware update. So waiting for them to come out with an official solution may not be in vain.

Having said that, for what it's worth an Apple Genius at a US store last month did indicate to me that the (audible) moo in my first MB could be fixed by sending it in. Maybe they'd swap the fan out--I don't know.

If it were me (my second MB has bovine laryngitis, so the fan action is no longer a problem for me), I would wait a bit longer and see what Apple does.

-Rhys

Hi all,

I Called Applecare UK during the week to discuss a number of issues with my week 19 built MacBook ( EG. Lower case/keyboard panel lifting, and video failure during boot sequence ), the guy at Applecare "Chris" stated, and I quote, - The MacBook is "NOT" designed to "mooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooooo" and this is certainly a "FAULT"!

Its under repair as I write this post

Smarteee

Sorry where did apple request "mooing" macbooks contact apple care? I've not seen anything like that...

That announcement is referring to the "whine" on the MBP, which is different than the "moo". (Though many MacBooks exhibit the whine also.)

Watching video tends to bring the MB's temperature into the 67-75 degree range where the fans start turning on and off etc. sounding like a cow (to some people. Actually, to me it sounds like a fan revving up and down. 🙂 )

I think whether or not this is audible has to do with the type of fan installed in your MB. I do believe Apple will respond if you approach them about it.

My macbook used to moo when it reached the threshold of 64C.
Then I need to send it in to have the logic board replace, I
mentioned to the genius that I have the moo problem and as a
result, Apple replaced my "fan and cable" along with the
logic board. I ran my machine last night and it is very quiet
and no more mooing even when it hit the 64C threshold.

So my take on this is the mooing problem can't be fix by a
firmfare update, the only solution is to replace the fan.

my 2 centavos

No, the MacBook manual clearly states not to leave the computer resting on your legs. The MacBook should stand on a solid, flat surface so that air can circulate naturally around it. I use my MacBook on my lap, but it's sitting on top of a $4.99 plastic cutting board that's almost the exact size of the MacBook.

-Doug