Popping Sound, MBP 2016

Good to see you had a pleasant experience. May I ask which location this was at? I've been jumping through hoops over the last two weeks trying to get this resolved and they won't budge on giving me a replacement machine even after I've provided video evidence. I'm extremely frustrated with Apple at this point.

I too have the same sound on my 15" MacBook Pro 2.6 500 GB Radeon 450 and as you point out it can be reproduced by pressing on the center back bottom of the screen. It initially only happened rarely but now happens almost constantly and is starting to get on my nerves. Has anyone actually gotten a fix for this from Apple?

I was offered a replacement over the phone on Tuesday (5/9) for a laptop outside of its return window once a report had been escalated to engineering on (4/22).

I had already exchanged the computer for another one though (the new one still makes noises) so a return was unnecessary since I am still in the 14 day window for the newest laptop.

All replacements or exchanges I've made have been within the 14 day window. Nevertheless, because I received a call offering a replacement after the return window had ended for an already exchanged laptop, I can only assume replacements are offered post-14 days.

A first laptop was replaced; however, before it was replaced, a report concerning it was sent to engineering. After exchanging this laptop for a second one, I was called about the report that had been sent for the (first) now exchanged computer. (Apparently it was not noted the computer had been exchanged). At the time of receiving the call, the 14 day window for returning the first laptop had closed. Thus I assume that if the issue is reported, they will offer to replace it because I was called about a replacement for the first laptop after its return window had closed.

All laptops have had the same issue, i.e. five different laptops.

If you're worried about replacements, the terms of AppleCare's one year warranty and federal/state laws often mandate that if an issue cannot be fixed after multiple attempts, the machine must be replaced.

Hopefully that clarifies things.

So for clarification, the popping noise [I'm only getting it when I'm plugged into my speakers] requires taking my laptop to the Apple Store? I hope that Apple does come out with a fix for this and I will take my laptop to them then. As I was reading the thread I saw that the sound came from near the battery (?) and this worries me as well. I dropped a fortune [full spec] on this computer and I hope to see Apple come out with an official statement telling us why and further steps of action.

On the computers I've owned the sound occurs regardless of speakers and doesn't come from near the battery but instead where the hinges are located.

I would highly recommend you take your laptop to the Apple Store. Although, (I assume) you can no longer return the machine, the issue can by filed as something that existed prior to the warranty ending. This way, if there is eventual degenerative damage caused by whatever causes the popping sound, your computer will be repaired/replaced for free.

Furthermore, if a report is sent to engineering you may be offered the same treatment I was - a replacement.

However, if your issue occurs only with speakers plugged in, are you sure it's not another similar issue related to Boot Camp's drivers? See this article for more.

Has anyone used a utility to check the temperature when the pops occur? I installed one yesterday to try find a pattern so the technician can replicate it, he couldn't make it pop when I took it in. It's very frustrating for me because the intermittent sound makes it hard to get the problem resolved.

I think you may me correct about it being more widespread than is reported. But I'm also inclined to think that there may be more than one problem, I say this because l only get the hinge clack very occasionally, pretty much only on the first opening of the mbp for the day, and not every day. I cannot replicate the sound by pushing on the screen as described by some, mine happens most often when loading a new web page, scrolling through the timeline of a movie or pushing on the trackpad to make a selection, it appears to be caused by the execution of a command rather than thermal expansion caused by heat generated, as i would expect that to occur with a delay.

I have both issues: the popping sound on thermal expansion (ie. compiling code, loading heavy webpages fast), plus I can make a slightly different popping sound if I press halfway between the "Pro" of "MacBook Pro" and the right side of the monitor, from the inside (so pressing on the black/matte)... but the latter (pressing) happens far less frequently than the thermal expansion popping (probably because i'm taxing the CPU a lot more than an average user)

These might be two separate issues. Or the same.

@AlphaHelix any CPU measurements are averages over time. The issue is that a 50ms CPU burst of 800% (all cores & threads firing at max) might generate a localized heat buildup that causes the issue to occur, but a 50ms burst like that will hardly register on your activity monitor graphs. Ditto measuring temperature - you're not going to find the correlation easily. Either apple owns this, or they don't care...

You're welcome. I think the starting temperature of the CPU/GPU heatsink is a big factor. I notice that if the machine has been dormant overnight, it's a lot more likely to make the noise than if it's been on / in-use for some hours. I assume that's because once the heatsink is saturated (full temp), the rapidity of the change in temperature is much less. And I assume it's that speed of change that makes it happen or not...

I have smc fan control, because it was free, i don't have money to spend on a utility unfortunately. It shows fan speed and temperature, which is passable. I have no intention of using it to alter fan speed, only to monitor stats. I also experience the pops when not under heavy load, sometimes it happens when it's just sitting there idle for some time. That doesn't seem like thermal expansion to me, unless it occurs over a small range at low temperature, like at shifts beween 29 and 32 degrees C (made up example).

Is there a way to follow the GPU load instead of the CPU? Could there be a correlation of popping frequency and thermal load from the GPU load and not CPU?

I wasn't using any graphics intense application until buying a game and it's then that the popping became noticeable and recurrent. After launching the game, with the screen opened in a 90ºC angle, while pressing on the screen behind the "MacBook Pro" letters, there goes the popping sound! Visually it looks like the thermal expansion of the hinge. And let's not talk about the clicking from some the keyboards keys...

(In "Settings > Energy Saver > Automatic graphic switching" I have the option unticked since my MacBook Pro (15") was freezing while playing a game)

No i got a brand new one and i bought mine in january but the people at the store were awesome. I dont think it is normal for someone to get a brand new computer but when i brought up i didnt want to spend 3k on a refurbished comp the manager understood and gave me a new one.

I am starting to wonder if there is MBP that doesn't have the issue. I have the issue. Well I went to the Apple Store, they replaced my screen + hinge. I had hoped this week, but it is happening again. I might go back to the apple store this Friday so they look into that once again.