Crackling Noise Macbook Pro Retina Early 2015

Exactly the same sound and exactly the same intermittent sound issues - for a while it was consistent and then I ordered a new right speaker and it disappeared,... happens again from time to time!

Speaker has now arrived, but I am going to wait for it to become a serious issue again before I take everything apart and replace.

Same issue. Same lack of regularity. Sounds horrible. Is there a way to tell Apple: Hey there are a lot of us here, and we need to know what you do about this issue. You guys use these computers too. Chances are: some have this problem.

I have the exact same issue with a 2015 15" retina macbook pro. Apple cleaned the fan and the diagnostics indicated everything was fine, but the sound happened again after my genius visit.

It seems more likely to happen when I have the laptop propped up on a insulating service that doesn't draw away the heat, like a pillow. The noise seems more situated under the top right of the keyboard, and when its happened the top right underside feels hot but not crazily so.

I can't make another genius appointment for some months but I can take it to an authorized apple tech to maybe clean the fan again or possibly install a new one

I have this issue, too. Awful noise- very startling especially when it's quiet and you are focused. Started about a week ago. I've had the computer since Jan 2016 and used it LIGHTLY at most. It does NOT appear to be based on the surface the computer is on- is just happened and my computer is on wood, is cool, and has only been on about an hour or less. NOT ok for a computer that cost $2,000, especially buying the 'gold standard' for laptops. And one reason I spent this money happily is I DON'T have time for issues like this.

I have been having this problem ever since I spilled liquid on my machine. I replaced the fan, but it hasn't fixed the issue. The noise appears to be coming from the battery, and the trackpad gets warm occasionally, but none of the temperature sensors are overheating. Do I need to replace the battery??

Hi, all,

Same exact thing (verbatim) happened to me this week. It started on three days ago and, initially, was quite loud and now is intermittent. I've scheduled a visit to the genius bar but I'm not too hopeful after looking at these entries.

Has anyone heard back from Apple or been able to fix the issue? I read somewhere that it could be dust or particles in the fan but it appears that hasn't been the case for the folks here.

I am having the same issue. It just started today (I got my MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Early 2015) last September 2016 and have had it almost a year). I was just traveling and went from my relatively humid environment to a dry environment and back to humid--I'm not sure if that would have any effect on anything. I did not use my computer at all while traveling, but now turning it back on it is making the crackling noise in the right top corner. Nothing has happened that would have damaged it and nothing out of the ordinary has happened to it to my knowledge.

Have people found it helpful to go to the genius bar? Has Apple acknowledged this issue? Does it typically seem to be the fan or speaker? Has anyone noticed something that provokes/enables this symptom?

Cheers.

I finally took my MBP in to a Genius at the Apple store and they replaced both my fans for free and the problem is now gone. I had Apple Care that expires later this summer, so I decided to fix it before it ran out.

So in my case it was fan failure.

I too have an Early 2015 Macbook Pro which has just begun making the cracking/popping noise on the upper right hand side of the keyboard intermittently. Has Apple given anyone a clue as to what it might be?/Is it serious?/Can it be fixed? Thanks!

Will apple genius bar help/replace for free? This awful but gentle crackling noise just started on my 2015 Pro retina as well and it's making it impossible to focus on anything. Mine is intermittent at no consistent pattern but constant.

Mine was repaired for free (new fans was the fix) because I was still under apple care ( I bought that when the MBP was new).

W/O apple care it would have cost $113.00.

Had the same problem with my Early 2015 13" Macbook Pro. I looked around some forums and someone suggested doing a SMC Reset and it worked! Super simple process:

1. Shutdown your MacBook Air / MacBook Pro
2. Connect the power adapter to the Mac
3. On the MacBook / Pro’s keyboard, hold down the Shift+Control+Option keys and the Power button at the same time
4. Release all keys and the power button at the same time – the little light on the MagSafe adapter may change colors briefly to indicate the SMC has reset
5. Boot your Mac as usual

Source: http://osxdaily.com/2010/03/24/when-and-how-to-reset-your-mac-system-management- controller-smc/

Let me know if that works for you guys.

This started happening for me in the last two weeks. I have a Genius Bar appt later today. For those that are struggling to constantly reproduce this issue (mine was intermittent too) I downloaded a copy of Cinebench as something that would push the GPU & CPU as I suspected it was a heat or rendering issue. I can now reproduce it every time. Thats good and bad 🙂

If Apple refuse to do anything ill just replace the fan myself.

Your best course of action is a visit to an Apple store genius bar. However you might run Apple diagnostics and see if that might offer a clue:

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202731

A possibility is that the fan is faulty on an intermittent basis, but that is only a guess.

Ciao.