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arun.vbn Author

Level 1

10 points

Macbook Pro Retina when tilted or flipped makes a clicking/popping noise

Hello All.. Not sure if anyone of you have experienced a (formerly faint but growingly clearer) clicking noise from the 13 inch retina macbook pro?

I started hearing this about 3 or 4 months back, from inside the case of my macbook whenever i tilted it, not while working or when the device is stationary, only when I flip the device to one side, usually about 90 degree, whether with lid open or closed.. I already took it to two different Apple Authorised Service Centers in Germany (the place where I live does not have any Genius Bars).. But both of them could not fix it, one of them (Compustore, Nuremberg Germany) I think opened it up and made a bigger mess (now I can hear the noise a bit more louder), and the other (Gravis Retail, Nuremberg Germany) told me that all retina macbooks make the same noise when tilted, which of course I find difficult to believe..

When I bought it, the notebook had absolutely no noise from anywhere.. I live in Europe, and living rooms here can be freakishly quiet.. And I used to love it when there was not a click or a hiss out of place while working or carrying it around... To me, this made the device feel solid, and gave the impression of no moving parts inside, even though there were still the cooling fans.. But even they seemed held together so tight not making any noise out of the ordinary.. Of course one could hear them pretty well when they ran in top speed.. eg. during some heavy graphics, games etc.. But this again was a very steady whir.. which upon closing the heavy graphics app, slowed down steadily bringing the noise back to a zero. (I don't know if it's just me, I always thought it was intentionally part of the design, to try and make the whole device look and sound as solid as possible, like nothing lying loose inside).. I used to admire this in Apple devices.. But maybe I was wrong.. I don't know.. Is it only my macbook, or is it all retina macbooks and only I notice and care about such stuff?

MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Late 2013), OS X Yosemite (10.10.1)

Posted on Mar 5, 2015 11:00 PM

71 replies

jibs23

Level 1

8 points

Apr 25, 2016 9:59 AM in response to arun.vbn

Am facing exactly same issue. I have macbook pro 13' early 2015 model purchased in july last year.

Its under warranty,

Whats the solution provided to most of macbooks facing the same problem?

Repair or Replacement?

Please guide.

Jay2087

Level 1

4 points

May 2, 2016 3:12 PM in response to Etuj

I'm with you on this my 2015 rMBP 13" is only two months old and has the same noise coming from inside the screen. If you pinch the screen a little one inch from the side and tilt there is no sound.

dugel13

Level 1

4 points

May 4, 2016 6:02 PM in response to arun.vbn

I have the same problem. I googled to find a solution, but posts here are disappointing. No clear solution for this problem! Even from Apple!

Apple should handle this problem.

May 5, 2016 3:58 PM in response to arun.vbn

I was in apple service and they replace screen, but nothing changes. They ordered new one. Now i need to wait 2 weeks
https://youtu.be/a5xgerdLdas

May 13, 2016 4:55 PM in response to FatFrumos

I am going to meet the genius now. The sound started this morning suddenly. I had an early 2011 MBP 13 Retina I changed that and got an MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Early 2015). The reason was my first Mac had 8 GB ram I wanted 16 so I got this one. It has core i7 same as the previous one.

On the 15th day of purchase I started getting this weird noise. The noise gradually subsided and is now only audible when you tilt it to one side. Must be a lemon.

Jun 8, 2016 3:27 AM in response to arun.vbn

I have two screen replacements. And every single screen have this issue. May be it's normal. I try not to worry about it.

Jul 22, 2016 10:47 AM in response to arun.vbn

Hi, I bought MBP 2-3 months back. Initial 1-2 weeks I did not noticed this problem. Off late, this noise is not looking good - get a blip sort of sound when tilting my screen. I wonder why apple do not have fix for this for my 63000 INR product. Pls post resolution if any. TIA. By the way, will apple service team/their quality/text analytics is looking into this problem? as this sound put apple in lower side if I work with this MBP in a team. 😟

ankit27

Level 1

4 points

Sep 24, 2016 2:58 AM in response to arun.vbn

its definitely the Screen part moving.... Funny thing is there is an ant that entered the laptop somehow and died inside it... I can still see the remains of it... And since today there has been so called noise coming from the screen...

I can clearly see that the ant's remains are moving to and fro with the noise coming out... I will be going ASAP to the nearest service centre....

BTW mine is the Macbook 12". I guess this is some kind of a universal mac problem . Please tell me if there is anything else that I could do???

riqu

Level 1

4 points

Nov 17, 2016 10:40 AM in response to arun.vbn

I had same problem with my macbook pro 13 retina early 2015. When tilt it left and right i heard that something is moving and makes that clicking noise. I took it in authorized apple service in finland and they found a plastic cover from camera connector what was cause of the noise. They said that it probably left the machine in the assembly stage.

Now there is no noise anymore so good result. But i was not happy that i had to take it in service after two days i bought it.

Nov 25, 2016 1:03 PM in response to Elixir1119

I`ve bought mbp 13 2016 and there is the same issue! 😐

Nov 26, 2016 11:08 AM in response to iegorfromkyiv

No way!

Come on Apple sort this out. This needs to be addressed. No premium notebook computer costing the amount of money you are asking for should have these parts moving around inside of it regardless whether or not it effects performance. If you bought a brand new Audi and the interior rattled Audi would fix the problem, if there was a design flaw it would be corrected at the factory. I am disappointed to see that this issue has been about for a long time and Apple have said nothing about addressing the matter. Now the problem has moved into the 2016 model?

I have had three screens on my 13" 2015 MacBook Pro and they all had this problem. Applecare will be sending me a brand new unit but I doubt it will be any different. Applecare told me that this problem is extremely rare. Apple need to start reading their own forums.

Macbook Pro Retina when tilted or flipped makes a clicking/popping noise