talik26

Q: Weird noise coming from a Brand-new Macbook pro, randomly. (Includes a recording).

Hello,

I bought a brand new Macbook Pro Retina 15' about a month ago, and this morning it started to make some weird noises.

 

I first heard the noise while the Macbook's lid was shut, and it was in sleeping mode. (kinda strange.)

After I opened it and started working I found out that the same noise is returning Randomly, every about 5-10 Minutes, sometimes even 15.

 

I have made a recording of the sound, you can find it around the 3rd second, its' volume is a bit boosted:  (some kind of 3 fast beeps)

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B8brkNKWoKWObnd2WlVoTHVEd1k

 

it is not very loud, but it seems like it should be noticed.

I am a bit stressed about it, being a brand new machine. has anyone heard this kind of sound before ? knows what it could mean ?

Any answer would be helpful.

 

Thanks a lot,

Tal

MacBook Pro with Retina display, OS X El Capitan (10.11.5), null

Posted on May 30, 2016 11:45 AM

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Q: Weird noise coming from a Brand-new Macbook pro, randomly. (Includes a recording).

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  • by Grant Bennet-Alder,

    Grant Bennet-Alder Grant Bennet-Alder May 30, 2016 11:50 AM in response to talik26
    Level 9 (60,909 points)
    Desktops
    May 30, 2016 11:50 AM in response to talik26

    The latest MacBook Pro 15" has no moving parts inside, except the cooling fans.

     

    Do you have a rotating external drive?

  • by talik26,

    talik26 talik26 May 30, 2016 12:51 PM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Notebooks
    May 30, 2016 12:51 PM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

    Hi Grant,

     

    No, I have no external drive connected to my laptop.. It sounds like the noise is coming from inside the computer, hard to figure out from where, but i'm guessing from the right side. as for now it is not loud, but noticeable. Do you think I need to run any diagnostic or hardware check somehow ?

     

    It doesn't sound like a cooing fan in my opinion. more like a hard drive sound ? or maybe i'm wrong.

  • by OGELTHORPE,

    OGELTHORPE OGELTHORPE May 30, 2016 12:54 PM in response to talik26
    Level 9 (52,313 points)
    Mac OS X
    May 30, 2016 12:54 PM in response to talik26

    It will not hurt to run Apple Diagnostics:

     

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

     

    Ciao.

  • by talik26,

    talik26 talik26 May 30, 2016 1:38 PM in response to OGELTHORPE
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Notebooks
    May 30, 2016 1:38 PM in response to OGELTHORPE

    Thanks.

     

    Right now i'm actually quite scared to even restart the Macbook. Do you think it is possible that this noise means something bad about my hard drive ?

    Is there any chance that the hard drive will fail to boot if I'll restart ?

  • by steve359,

    steve359 steve359 May 30, 2016 1:43 PM in response to talik26
    Level 6 (14,032 points)
    May 30, 2016 1:43 PM in response to talik26

    Retina systems (what is currently sold) have only fans as moving parts.  Storage is a an SSD which is more like memory-chips and not spinning platters.

     

    SSDs can fails, but noises you hear are probably related to something else.

  • by OGELTHORPE,

    OGELTHORPE OGELTHORPE May 30, 2016 1:48 PM in response to talik26
    Level 9 (52,313 points)
    Mac OS X
    May 30, 2016 1:48 PM in response to talik26

    talik26 wrote:

     

    Right now i'm actually quite scared to even restart the Macbook. Do you think it is possible that this noise means something bad about my hard drive ?

    Is there any chance that the hard drive will fail to boot if I'll restart ?

    Someone will have to start the MBP.  It will be either you or a technician at an Apple store genius bar.  I know it is not my MBP, but if I were in your position, I would press the start button.  If there is going to be bad news, I would like to know sooner than later.  Do not dismiss the possibility that it may boot normally.

     

    Ciao.

  • by talik26,

    talik26 talik26 May 30, 2016 1:53 PM in response to steve359
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Notebooks
    May 30, 2016 1:53 PM in response to steve359

    I am just trying to be rational.

    Something is making these noises, and it never did before. did you listen to the recording ? do you think it sounds like fan-related ? if not, what could it be ?

    it keeps on making this noise every 10 minutes or so. the weird thing is it did it when it was in sleep mode as well.

     

    Any thoughts/ recommendations ? I am starting to get quite stressed. Paid a lot for this brilliant machine

  • by steve359,

    steve359 steve359 May 30, 2016 1:56 PM in response to talik26
    Level 6 (14,032 points)
    May 30, 2016 1:56 PM in response to talik26

    Either follow OGELTHORPE's advise and turn it on for the Diagnostic test, or take it to Genius Bar so they turn it on to check.

     

    You have 14 days from purchase to return "without question".  You should not let that time elapse.

  • by talik26,

    talik26 talik26 May 30, 2016 2:10 PM in response to OGELTHORPE
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Notebooks
    May 30, 2016 2:10 PM in response to OGELTHORPE

    Thank you, 

    I will consider that.

     

    Would love any more thoughts regarding the noise itself and what could it be...

  • by Grant Bennet-Alder,

    Grant Bennet-Alder Grant Bennet-Alder May 30, 2016 2:20 PM in response to talik26
    Level 9 (60,909 points)
    Desktops
    May 30, 2016 2:20 PM in response to talik26

    It cannot be Hard Drive noises, because your Mac does not have a Hard drive -- it has a Solid-State drive (SSD). SSD uses memory similar to a really fast Flash drive inside. Nothing moving.

  • by talik26,

    talik26 talik26 May 30, 2016 2:29 PM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Notebooks
    May 30, 2016 2:29 PM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

    Got it, thanks.

     

    So my only question is really, what could it be ?

     

    Edit- I have close the lid again, putting the MBP into sleeping mode. 5 minutes later - it has made the same noise again. while asleep. even louder this time.

    It really freaks me out, as nothing should be even working, it's on sleep mode !

     

    Please, any thoughts ?

  • by Grant Bennet-Alder,

    Grant Bennet-Alder Grant Bennet-Alder May 30, 2016 2:29 PM in response to talik26
    Level 9 (60,909 points)
    Desktops
    May 30, 2016 2:29 PM in response to talik26

    The guys at the Genius Bar put their hands on these Macs all day every day.

     

    Physical Problems and Power problems are what they are best at.

     

    But you could try running the diagnostic to see if it finds anything. If it says so, be sure to read "No fault detected" quite literally -- that is a far cry from "All is well."

  • by talik26,

    talik26 talik26 May 30, 2016 2:40 PM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Notebooks
    May 30, 2016 2:40 PM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

    Ok.

     

    I think i'm going to try the Diagnostics.

    It's the weirdest thing i've ever heard of. i'm quite new to Macbooks, but still, a computer making physical noises while on sleeping mode is very odd. I'm sitting in my room and it's next to me, literally making noises every few minutes. the noises seem to be even louder while the lid is shut.