2012 Macbook Pro 15 fan noise!

mimac · July 11, 2012 6:35AM

Just received my brand new 15 inch Macbook Pro about an hour ago. Had it all set up and updated all software and all of a sudden this damn vibrating/purring noise starts coming outta the left side of the casing!

The machine was silent apart from a very gentle blowing of the fan then this friggin clicking noise starts up and its driving me nuts!

I assume its a fan noise but then again, it could be the hard drive. it is constant and changes tone and volume as i tilt the machine from left to right. No overheating issues.

Anyone have any ideas?

BTW, this is a base 15 BTO with a larger 750 GB HD (Toshiba).

Driving me nuts!

Marvin · July 11, 2012 9:25AM

You can check if it's the hard drive by letting the drive go to sleep. If the energy saver preference is set to sleep the drive when possible, they will spin down but set the display and computer sleep sliders high so the whole machine doesn't shut down. Leave the machine for a minute or more and listen to hear the drive spin down. If it stops clicking, it's the drive, if not it's something else.

mimac · July 11, 2012 10:07AM

Thanks Marvin. did what you suggested and I believe that its a fan noise.

I can also just about hear the HD clicking and spinning up/down when i shut the lid and the annoying purring noise stops/starts almost instantly. It is akin to the sound of an old film projector. Not extremely loud but obvious in a quiet room and loud enough to really piss me off after a while. The noise varies in volume and vibration as i tilt the machine in various directions, at times disappearing for a few seconds then returning.

I was under the impression that the MacBook Pro was generally pretty quiet in operation. Ridiculous considering I paid £1500 for this thing!

Not happy! Looks like a visit to the Apple Store and a demand for a replacement wouldn't you agree?

Marvin · July 11, 2012 7:07PM

mimac wrote: »

I was under the impression that the MacBook Pro was generally pretty quiet in operation. Ridiculous considering I paid £1500 for this thing!

Not happy! Looks like a visit to the Apple Store and a demand for a replacement wouldn't you agree? :(

One thing to try is get the fans running at a fast speed to see if there's something needing to be dislodged. You can run Cinebench over and over:

http://www.maxon.net/downloads/cinebench.html

or you can load up 8 terminal windows and run the following in each:

yes > /dev/null

Those processes will run until you quit each with ctrl-c. If the clicking never stops after running the fans at a high speed for a while, take it back. There could just be a cable brushing against the fan.

daniel cohn · January 5, 2013 10:33PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Marvin

One thing to try is get the fans running at a fast speed to see if there's something needing to be dislodged. You can run Cinebench over and over:

http://www.maxon.net/downloads/cinebench.html

or you can load up 8 terminal windows and run the following in each:

yes > /dev/null

Those processes will run until you quit each with ctrl-c. If the clicking never stops after running the fans at a high speed for a while, take it back. There could just be a cable brushing against the fan.

Hi Marvin, i also am having this issue, however:

I assume terminating each shell in terminal (no pun intended) with control+c is equivocal to quitting terminal all together. I ask because after reboot, fan noise was significantly louder, and hasn't gone away since. I worry that rather than this being a lingering command (which from what I know of the OS leads me to believe this is not the case), I instead shifted a rubbing coil or particle (or perhaps the high temps from fans on previous burn melted remaining adhesive). However, after tipping the computer on it's side and tapping/gently pounding the backside of the laptop (I know this is not advisable, but it seemed the only logical solution at the time), the noise rather suddenly disappeared. I then very cautiously returned laptop to normal position, and lion purr did not return. However I feel reluctant to move the computer from the table, lest the meat grinder come back with a vengeance!

By the way I'm a PC builder, so not super familiar with shitty MacBook internals, but don't hesitate to use complex descriptions if you have knowledge. I'm just about ready to tear this thing apart, given the warranty was void many years ago.

I know this post is ancient but so is this laptop. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

Marvin · January 6, 2013 7:45AM

daniel cohn wrote:

I assume terminating each shell in terminal (no pun intended) with control+c is equivocal to quitting terminal all together. I ask because after reboot, fan noise was significantly louder, and hasn't gone away since. I worry that rather than this being a lingering command.

Quitting the terminal will stop the subprocesses and rebooting would too. The fan can still run after reboot if the computer has gotten hot and still needs to cool down but it should stop eventually.

daniel cohn wrote:

after tipping the computer on it's side and tapping/gently pounding the backside of the laptop (I know this is not advisable, but it seemed the only logical solution at the time), the noise rather suddenly disappeared.

A few people have had similar issues here:

http://forums.cnet.com/7723-21565_102-362285/macbook-pro-grinding-buzzing-noise/
http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1405904
http://www.ifixit.com/Answers/View/38927/grinding+sound+from+left+side+of+computer

If it is the bearings in the fan, you'd need to have the fan replaced or lubricated (not spray lubricant). For an old laptop, a new fan might be the best option and they are cheap:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-CPU-Cooling-Fan-for-Apple-MacBook-Pro-A1278-13-Unibody-2008-2009-2010-2011-/170834259909?pt=US_CPU_Fans_Heatsinks&hash=item27c683efc5

2012 Macbook Pro 15 fan noise!

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