High pitched noise in late 2013 macbook pro at idle

PArt of that sound is probablydue to the cooling fan...having the MacBook Pro on our chest is providing a heat source, your body, to the case which acts as the heat sink for the computer. Do you get the same sound if the MBP is sitting on a desktop or table? By adding our body heat to it the fan has to run to remove the heat of the computer plus that which you are adding.

If it is late 2013 model contact Apple whilst it is still in warranty. It could be that the fan is failing an Apple store should be able to help, do you have a store nearby?

Does it get louder as it gets warm or starts working harder?

If you have a way to consistently reproduce it you will have a chance to show them & ask for a repair if it is deemed to be a fault. See if the 'more like this' links at the bottom have any better suggestions.

Have you got young ears?

Younger people can hear higher frequencies than older people, it's possible that others can't hear it as much as you. I'm not sure what to suggest. It may be worth a trip to the store if only to see if you can hear other Macbook Pro's do the same thing. I imagine you won't hear anything in that environment 🙂

I also wonder if you can hear it when someone else uses it - can you close your eyes & detect their touches? I suspect it may be due to the distance from the trackpad or metal case.

If you get a sympathetic genus at the store they maybe willing to look into it if you can demo it is real to your ears. You could also boot into recovery mode to see if it is something that the Mac always does or if it could be caused by a piece of installed software.

The trouble with these perceptual issues is people ignore them until someone points it out at that point it becomes the only thing you can hear!

Good luck with getting it fixed, it's always a good idea to get these looked at incase it does develop, it is disconcerting if it is the battery.

I have this exact same issue, it's driving me insane! It is definitely a noise that is only present when the laptop is idle. The sound vanishes the second I touch the trackpad/ keyboard. I hope there is a fix!

I just realised that the sound does stop if you plug the laptop in to the charger, so it is definitely the idle battery making the sound.

AdD959,

Take it in to an Apple Genius bar with your charger, and demonstrate it to them.

Ask to take in back or somewhere where it it is quiet to allow them to hear the noise. It could possibly be a bad battery....connection, filter, ferrite bead.....

I've had audio/electronic gear make strange HF noise, and it is commonly a component on a circuit card.

Just a thought to try, as the apt is free.

The evaluation is free, make an appointment first so as to not waste time waiting.

http://www.apple.com/retail/geniusbar/