10.4.8 and cpu whine

Is there any difference with cpu whine after installing 10.4.8 patch?

I was not under the impression that the CPU Whine was software related. Most everyone who seems to have successfully combated the CPU whine has gotten their machine fixed (c.f. Daniel Jalkut @ www.red-sweater.com).
Apple's own tech article regarding CPU whine asks users to call Apple Care which seems to be code for: we need you to send it in.
I haven't had (or maybe just haven't 'heard') the whine, so I can't tell you what 10.4.8 does to it in this regard, but I'm guessing not much, one way or another.

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17" MBP and CPU whine. Too early to call.

Many people who've now received the 17" are reporting no whine after an hour of use; almost certainly with it plugged in to AC. "Completely Silent" they say...
The truth will have to wait until there are more out there and have undergone charge and battery use cycle as that is when the whine is most apparent.
As far as I am aware, no one who has knowledge of the whine experience - ie. knows exactly what to listen for has cleared the 17" yet.
Until someone non-naive to the whine gives the all clear, it has to be considered an open issue.
Can anyone who knows the whine report to us as soon as you are confident about this issue?
Regards,

I had never heard a buzz or whine on any of my previous 10 or so Thinkpads, nor on my first Apple, the PowerBook 15/1.5 that I'm writing on now.
With my new MBP 15, the whine and buzz were both obvious and loud from the moment I turned on the machine. I did gradually get used to it, but it was blatantly obvious from the beginning. And I have hard hearing. It was the same whether using AC or battery power. None of the fixes worked, except dimming the backlight and then only for a few moments.
As I've said in many other posts, mine was one of the first off the block. My girlfriend purchased one a few weeks later and hers had no sounds at all (other than the soft "whir" of the hard drive spinning). So, as far as I'm concerned, the issue has been corrected.
As for heat, yest it gets hot. But so does the PowerBook. Frankly, I don't think it is safe or wise to have ANY laptop computer in direct contact with your lap. When in bed, I place it on a thin pillow. I've always done this. So the heat is irrelevent to me.

Is this the infamous CPU whine?

I recently got a new logic board for my MBP, and since then, I've noticed that a quiet whine coming from it. The MBP is a mid-2006 model; the logic board was installed by AppleCare a week ago. The whine only happens when the computer is not plugged in to the MagSafe adapter, and it's fairly faint; it's just barely bearable. Is this the CPU whine that existed several years ago, or is this just normal behavior? I thought they would have fixed the CPU whine problem on new logic boards by now. I don't think I heard this whine before in the 3+ years that I've had this computer. If I do stuff like scroll a page or run CPU-intensive tasks, then the whine seems to go away momentarily, which seems to be what the old CPU whine used to do.

Download SystemLoad and run that. See if you can get the CPU to "sing."
Dave M.
MacOSG Founder/Ambassador  An Apple User Group  iTunes: MacOSG Podcast
Macsimum News Associate Editor  Creator of 'Mac611 - Mobile Mac Support'

Is CPU "whine" a sign of bad things to come, or just annoying?

I bought a MacBook Pro for my wife in April. It's been good -- especially after the firmware update cranked up the fans and knocked down the temps a bit -- but it has the CPU whine/buzz/high-pitched noise under the keyboard. Like the MBPs of other folks, it goes away completely if you open Photo Booth etc.
My question is, is this just an annoyance or should we worry about shortened lifespan of the MBP or other problems? My wife is loathe to give up the machine if it's not necessary, despite the aggravating sound.
I asked Apple Care this question and the rep said it shouldn't be a problem -- as far as she knows. I didn't find that as definitive as I'd like. What do you guys think?

There are different power saving modes, they are labeled C0 (full power) through C4 (deep sleep). By disabling C4 the CPU only can enter C3 (sleep) and therefore consumes a little bit more power. I don't know if this increased power consumption is significant, but I guess you will barely notice it.
Mario
Mac Mini Mac OS X (10.4.6) Core Duo / 2GB

MacBookPro 15" CPU whine: how to test, samples as .mp3

My W8614… MacBook Pro 15" still has the CPU whine, both with the power adapter plugged in (lower volume) and unplugged (higher volume). It emanates from both speakers even when the speakers are muted (volume zero).
My guess for the root cause is not separating analog and digital circuitry
properly.
I put up recordings of the CPU whine at
http://www.heusser.com/pub/macbookpronoise/noiseonbattery.mp3
The Utility SystemLoad (http://www.bresink.de/osx/SystemLoad.html) will
play the scale on the MacBook Pro by loading the processors
http://www.heusser.com/pub/macbookpronoise/noisebatteryscale.mp3
I will try to get it replaced under the 14d DoA policy.
12" PB G4/1.2GHz- Mac Book Pro - 12" iB G3/500 MHz - PowerMac G4/450 MHz Mac OS X (10.4.6)

I haven't got used to mine since it came in February. I remember going to the Apple store to see about the whine and one of their staff told me to use photobooth to fix it!
Whining MacBook Pros arent allowed to be turned on in my school as it causes irritation to everyone!

10.4.7 CPU Whine!!!! Please HeLp.. Newbie!!!!

Hi Guys..
I recently got a MBP (week 23) standard config.. As far as i remember i didnt notice the whirring or buzzing sound (known as CPU whine) until i upgraded to 10.4.7..
Well its pretty faint but i can easily here it when i am in a silent room n the thought that i have it now really makes me hear that n indeed this bugs me.. This is my first ever Apple product n first ever laptop (I am a newbie)..
I talked to a guy on apple support n told him about the issue n he said it might be the inverter buzz n is a hardware issue.. BUT i told him tht it cant be hardware as it goes away whn i turn on the photobooth or i do CPU intensive tasks, so it seems to me that its a software thingy..
So i have two quetions:
1) Is it a hardware issue or not??? If it is then i am gona send it back (ny suggestions on tht too will be appreciated)..
2) Other than the slight whine, ITS PERFECT, totaly NO ISSUES.. Jus wondering tht i turn the photobooth on to make it silent what effect does it make on the battery??? Cant figure out
Any help will be much appreciated as i need to make a decision tht whether i m gona send it back or keep it (plz provide suggestions on tht too if you can..)
Kind Regards
SINGH
MBP 2.0 Ghz, 512 RAM Mac OS X (10.4.7)
MBP 2.0 Ghz, 512 RAM Mac OS X (10.4.6)
MBP 2.0 Ghz, 512 RAM Mac OS X (10.4.6)

Hello Singh1699,
Yes, I already talked to one of the Apple staff in Ireland (I lived in Swiss) and they admitted that it IS the hardware related problem. They said the build is not somehow fully compatible with the core program of MAC OSX causing the noise from CPU and, quite a few times, with the power invertor.
You can search my posts here for more information about this issues. What I would recommend you to do is try to get a hold of Apple store, ask them for a replacement (you can even put the noise on phone for them to hear as I did). You have to be quick before your 14 days of return expires. That what I did and now I am waiting for my new one to arrive.
Hope this helps
Cheers,
James

CPU whine on macbook pro 13in

Hi, ive been experiencing the alleged CPU whine, and was wondering if apple will fix or replace my machine for a new one. Im under the 1 yr warranty.

fuad24,
Welcome to Apple Discussions.
They will fix it if they find there is a problem, take it into your closest Apple Store after making an appointment and they will look at it. Once they have then they will determine if there really reason to repair it.
Regards,
Roger

CPU Whine Recording

Further to what someone posted in another thread, you can actually record the CPU whine in Garageband! It is at a lower frequency than the whine I actually hear (the microphone need only sample at ~8kHz) but is very distinctive and clearly heard. It even changes frequency on chaning CPU usage.
How this can be "within spec" is beyond me. Just thought I would record and post it before TNT pick up the laptop for refund on Monday.
You can hear a demonstration recording of the whine here:
http://ned.corpus.cam.ac.uk/~fjb31/
James

Yes, it's not great. I think that's an aberration of the sampling - although it could be due to OS scheduling of Garage Band.
What is also interesting is that in the recording the whine is softer when the power cable is unplugged. To me the whine is much louder - this might be due to the sound being transmitted better through the case, or ears more sensitive to lower frequencies. From the recording you get the impression that both are of the same intensity.
It would be interesting to record the sound at 44kHz find its true frequency and intensity and judge the human response to that - an oscilloscope trace would be good. It's not ideal recording the sound from within the case.
One thing I haven't seen anyone comment on is the effect this has on using the MBP as a recording studio/for Podcasts etc. The background noise when both cores are on (and not heavily loaded) is sufficient to badly affect the quality of this.
James

MBP Cpu Whine

Yesterday I recieved my Mac Book Pro 1.83 CTO 1gb ram and western spanish keyboard. The computer itself is incredible and I am very happy with it so far. The only problem I have is the cpu whine, which misteriously dissapears when I open photobooth and which dissapears when I open comic life and close it. After playing with my MBP yesterday for 20 minutes I already had a headache due to this whine. I called applecare inmediately and they prononounced my MBP D.O.A and offered to replace my MBP with a new one having to wait another 3 to 4 weeks and without any guarantee that the new one will not have this problem. They also offered to send the computer to austin for repair. I chose this option and am now waiting for the box to ship it to them. My question, is, have any of you successfully repaired your MBP cpu whine? If so what did they repair and how long did it take? After paying more than 2000 for this laptop I expect nothing less than perfect and this cpu whine will drive anybody crazy and I do not see why I should have to put up with it.Thanks!

you dont have to put up with it. after all the complaints about the whine im suprised people still buy it lol. if this was a PC machine with problems we would all be laughing at them. but its a mac with problems LOL are they laughing at us now haha.
PS mine is fine. but if yours isnt check the post below. there are like 500 responses so im sure one of them has good info for you. instead of waiting in here for an answer. this one is sure to have been answered in the other large post.

New Macbook CPU Whine? Wasn't this MBP only?

I bought my updated macbook last week (Black, C2D 2.16 Ghz, 2GB Ram) and I noticed that the CPU whine that bothered me so much in my macbook pro is on my macbook as well!
The photobooth trick works.. but I wish this could just be eliminated once and for all..
Any suggestions? And does anyone else have it?

I have covered this topic extensively for close to 1 year now. I've come to a conclusion that all MacBooks exhibit this problem to some degree. I've had my Logic Board exchanged in hopes to get rid of the problem - but no way - its still here.
I've learned to deal with it in the following manner:
1. I'm rarely in a completely quiet rooms - so in most cases I dont get bothered by the noise
2. If I need to work in a quiet room - I use the Photobooth trick (force quit Photobooth - put comp to sleep - wake it up)
3. I got Windows XP on bootcamp - I do most of my websurfing with the new Internet Explorer - and as most of you know - the CPU doesn't whine under Windows.
The fact that CPU whine is completly eliminated when using Windows Xp means that the whole problem could be solved with a simple patch from Apple. However - Apple will not release any such patch until more people complain directly to them.

C2D MacBook -- the CPU whine is GONE!

So, my black C2D MacBook has been up and running for the past three hours, and there is absolutely no hint of CPU whine!
That's my happy ending to a very sad tale of one bad rev. A MacBook after another...
This is the FOURTH MacBook I've had in the past six months. The first one was damaged right out of the box (misaligned case, and screwdriver scratches all over the bottom), so Apple replaced it. The replacement machine developed a really loud, grindy noise coming from the fan, and after two trips to the Apple repair center with no improvement, Apple finally agreed to replace that machine last week. The replacement had a nice, quiet fan, but plenty of CPU whine. Still not ideal, but I was resigned to live with it.
This morning, I learned of the C2D update. Fortunately, every time the Apple Store in Ginza, Tokyo, issued me a replacement machine, they also issued me a new sales receipt. So, I took the replacement MacBook I got last week to the Apple Store today, showed them my receipt for the latest replacement (indicating that I was within the 14-day return period), and asked for an exchange. I had to pay the restocking fee, which amounted to about $150. The way I look at it, I paid Apple about a dollar a day for the last five months to "rent" their rev. A MacBooks until the rev. B's were released!
Needless to say, I'm a very satisfied customer right now.
Whisper-quiet, super-quick and brand-spankin' new!
Black Macbook; Mini 1.5GHz (Late 2005); PB Lombard: PB 2400; PowerMac G3; Mac OS X (10.4.8) Blueberry iMac; iPod nano 4GB; and a Bill King bobblehead doll--Holy Toledo!

i would like congratulate you and to share your jubilation!
i have also had three macbooks since they came out after my very reliable ibook was stolen. no end of problems with my macbooks and just send the last one back a couple of days ago. only to log on today and find they have 2 core duo's now. So ordered one straight away. now i cant wait to recieve it :o) but am scared of what problems these may come with

Advice: CPU whine

Hi all,
I've noticed over the last couple of months that my beloved MacBook Air (purchased June 2009) has developed an annoying CPU whine, more commonly associated with the early MacBooks and some MacBook Pros.
Just to clarify, the noise resembles a static crackle and originates from the left side of the keyboard, in the vicinity of the 'tab' key. It is easily differentiated from the gentle hum of the system fan, located in a more central location. Varying the fan speed using smcFanControl doesn't appear to affect the whine, which also persists regardless of power source - AC or battery. Just as a troubleshooting step, the noise disappears with QuietMBP set at 80 or 90. Tellingly, the frequency of the noise varies with the slider setting in QuietMBP as well. Unfortunately, this has the detrimental side-effect of increasing system idle temperature by 7-8C. :'(
I can't remember whether my beloved has always exhibited this noise, which then proceeded to get louder and discernable over time, or if it followed the application of an OS update. I first noticed it when running 10.6.1 though, and it is beginning to drive me nuts.
I will have some time soon to get it looked at by an AASP. What I'm wondering then is if anyone has had any experience with this problem, specifically with their MacBook Air, but also in general. Any advice or insight would be muchly appreciated by a poor graduate student being driven ever so slowly to the point of insanity. Oh, let the crackling stop...
Yang

My Macbook 13" does it and has since I purchased it in late November. I've brought it to the Mac store, spoken to "geniuses" and scoured the net looking for other people reporting the problem, and hopefully someone with a solution. I have found little of the former and none of the latter. The previous comment seems to make sense to me though. What I can contribute is that it seems to me be related to power consumption. The whine actually starts when my Mac is using little power, such during idle moments or low CPU usage. Crank the CPU up and the noise seems to go so that it is less noticeable or maybe even gone. My theory is that there is a power saving feature that when it gets engaged produces the noise.
I refuse to install the quiet program because I'd sooner return the machine. This is a defect and if it cannot be fixed then I will hold Apple accountable to their warranty. If you ask me, Apple is aware of the problem and is not making it known. Call me a conspiracy nut, but I found this thread through Google. When I went to click through to it, it mysteriously was not available as if it didn't exist. Other threads on the discussions board worked fine. So I loaded the Google cached version. Today the thread is loading. Go figure.
Additionally, I am contemplating trying a SMC and/or PRAM reset but I'm unsure of any possible side effects of trying those out.
Please anyone with additional info post. The whine is incredibly annoying and interrupts my actually being able to get work done, thanks.
Message was edited by: macattacksnacklacks

CPU whine

Hello,
I bought a MacBook Core 2 Duo last week and I discovered it had a strange whine. It seems that this whine starts when the CPU is idle. I have found lots of information on the internet concerning this issue, but I haven't found any official sollution from Apple.
I would like to know what Apple is going to do about this issue. Should I ask for a replacement or should I wait for a software update?
Thanks for your answers.
Vaidas
MacBook MA700ZH/A Mac OS X (10.4.8) Core 2 Duo 2 GHz, 1 GB 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM

What puzzles me is that Apple officially acknowledged the CPU whine problem on the Macbook Pro, and offered a fix for it. There is an article on their site somewhere, I've seen it listed in the forums here before. So why not do the same for the Macbook?
Anyone know if after sending the MBP in for this fix if it's completely eliminated? Or at least to the point you can't hear it in a silent room?
Also, I doubt very much you'll ever see a downloadable fix for this issue without taking a hit in battery performance. The only reason the whine goes in WinXP is because Windows does not throttle the CPU down as far as OSX does. As a result I can guarantee that you'll get less battery life in WinXP, and the same for all those other fixes. It's a capacitor, diode, or something else along those lines that vibrates when the CPU is throttled down. This is only speculation. In any case, if there was a way to fix it with software they would have done it with the MBP. But instead they asked for the units to be sent it, which is more incurred cost for them...so that would suggest it was the only way to correct it.

CPU whine/hum/sizzle

I hope this is the right place to put this, I apologize in advance if it isn't. My computer has been doing a whining sizzle on the left side for several days now. It is loudest from the Q to R keys. This has done this in the past, but it went away pretty quick. Turning it off and restarting seemed to do the trick. However, this time it isn't going away. It seems to coincide with CDs or DVDs acting up - I have no idea if that's what caused it, but both times this started with a wonky disc; the first time, a scratched CD was inserted and I had trouble getting it out; this time I put a blank DVD in and my computer told me the disc was bad and to use a different one. Again, I don't know if that's just a coincedence, or what. The noise goes away when the computer is "thinking"...I took someone's advice (from these forums) and ran Photo Booth. That gets rid of the noise, but only because something is running non-stop, I'm assuming. Is there anyway to stop this? So far I haven't had much luck finding an answer! My software is currently all up-to-date. Thanks in advance!

I also experience the CPU whine/sizzle when the CPU is idle. It happens when the CPU enters the C4 power mode.
The utility ShhMBP (http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/22091) prevents the CPU from entering the C4 power mode and consequently stops the whine!
The ShhMBP description says to use only on a MBP but it is safe to use on a MB. Enjoy the sound of silence, I know I am
MacBook Mac OS X (10.4.8) Core Duo 1.83GHz, 2GB RAM

Analyzing the "idle CPU whine" issue

Hi All,
I have been waiting for a solution for the "idle CPU whine" issue since I returned my MacBook Pro because of the whine.
First of all, we need to filter out all the posts where a person says that he does not have the whine but has not heard a whining unit. So, we need to focus only on experiences of people who hear the whine or do not hear whine but have heard the whine in another unit.
Secondly, I think that the build week number has no significance on the whine issue. More interesting would be to have people sending here the last part of their serial number, which supposedly is some kind of configuration code, and stating if they have the idle CPU whine or not. Maybe we could get some new information out of that.
Do also state, if you have actually compared a whining and a non-whining unit. If you have not compared the no-whine opinions are useless as they are merely opinions without a reference to a faulty unit.

This was posted on MacFitIt today (www.macfixit.com)
" Mike, I thought you might find this reply from Apple regarding my contacting them with a noise issue with the MacBook Pro. I noticed that if I were to disable a processor core the noise immediately stopped and this is Apple's reply.
Eric"
Begin forwarded message:
"Hi Eric, I heard back from engineering and was informed that this normal behavior for the MacBook Pro. When the processors are idle a capacitor on the logic board will take on additional power loads causing the capacitor to vibrate, thus creating the noise. Turning off the second processor and/or using better energy saver settings reduces the load on the capacitor causing the noise not to occur.
For more information check out http://www.apple.com/support/macbookpro/. Please feel free to contact me if you have any additional questions..."

10.4.8 and cpu whine

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