My theory about the whine

OK, here are my assumptions:
a) Apple rarely lets their clients down
b) They've been looking into the whine problem
c) 17" don't whine
d) 17" OS has a different built number than 15"
e) last assumption is based on right-click with two-fingers on 17" that is not yet available for the 15"
f) new firmware update is not for 17", only for 15"
g) this update reduced idle speed to 1Ghz, and users that didn't notice whine are now noticing it.
h) a system update will bring 17" and 15" OS's at the same built number...
i) idle whine disapears from 15"!!!
Pray that I'm right...
MBP 1.83Ghz, 2Ghz Mac OS X (10.4.6)

The whine was surely not an AC related problem in may case. I had a 2GHz 15.4 beginning of April. It had the whine in a big way. Took the machine back, because I work a lot of the time in the quiet, and it drove me mad in just one day. There were no machines on stock that didn't make the noise, so I got my money back.
If I used the machine (touched the pad, or used the keyboard, the sound stopped. Within seconds of stopping work, the sound started again. Running the camera stopped the noise too. I don't see why I should have to run my camera every time I start up, just to fix apples mistakes though.
Well hopefully they've sorted it out now...
I just ordered a new 2.16GHz, 15.4 from the new lot. I really hope the whine is gone from this one, or it's going back too, and I'm not sure I can be bothered waiting again for apple to sort this out, if it doesn't work this time.
If it'd help, I'll post my experiences with the new machine when it arrives.
Cheers, Rob
15.4 MBP 2.16

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About the whinning noice

Hello everyone,
These days I have been reading about the whinning noice issue. Suddenly, something about Physics came across my mind. It maybe a joke. The new CPU in MBP Core Duo has two core. Does that mean there are two source of high fequency waves? Interference occurs sometimes, especially when Constructive Interference occurs, you hear the whinning noice. What do you think?

Directionality of the output can be explained by more things than interference phenomena.
In fact, for interference to explain the observation, the frequency characteristics would have to be very pure. And the sound I've heard is far from a pure tone. Also, the sound would have to be phase-coherent. There could be no significant multipath. (These are the same characteristics that describe laser light.) Considering the baffle provided by the keyboard, freedom from multipath and phase coherence are unlikely to be present.
Lastly, keep in mind that higher frequencies are much more directional.
All that said, I, too, notice that the sound, which I can hear only in my office environment—never at home—varies considerably with the relative position and orientation of my head w.r.t. the computer.
Randall Schulz
iMac 20" Core Duo; MacBook Pro Mac OS X (10.4.6)

We maybe wrong about the whine

If the cpu whine only happens when the cpu is idle then try this. Run the MBP on battery, move the pointer around abit and you'll hear the whine. Now dont touch the keyboard or trackpad for a couple of seconds, and the whine goes away. So how can this be. I mean if the whine happens when the cpu is idle it is surely just as idle if not more so when there is no user input.
I wonder if the whine we are hearing somehow a result of the graphics card. I have heard the same sound produced by 3dfx and nvidia cards in pc's before. Perhaps the aggressive power management on battery in mac osx is causing the graphics card more problems than the cpu.
Infact it was the internal pc speaker picking up on interferance caused by the graphics card.
If there is an internal system speaker in the mbp then perhaps this is the issue.
If anyone has any good points for or against i would like to hear them, please no trolling or flames.
Regards,
Boozy.

Interesting theory.
But if its the graphics card or an internal speaker
picking up interference, then why do QuietMBP and the
Photobooth and the widget/ whatever other workarounds
there are work?
And regardless of what is causeing it...why is it
only a problem in some MacBook Pros, not all of
them?
Thirdly, somewhat off topic, my PC makes a high
pitched whine when it is turned off. It seems to be
coming from the PSU. *confuzzled - this is something
new*
Once again I must start by saying I do not own a MacBook Pro (yet), nor am I any kind of hardware expert. That said your probably right, I doubt it's the graphics card that is making the whine. It is possible, however, that it's the Intel Core Duo chip itself that is interfering with the speakers. Perhaps the interference is only picked up when the processor idles (which would explain why the Photobooth and QuietMBP fixes work). Mutting the speakers (as suggested in the other thread) would probably not fix it either as the speakers would still have power, they just wouldn't be recieving a signal from the MacBook Pro's sound card. Again, this is only something I read on another post so it's nothing I've had first hand experience with, I just wanted to make sure all sides were being shown.

New info about the whine, could this be true?

We all call the whine you get when your are idle called the CPU whine. I believe we discussed how the spinning or some field that produces the sound that we hear. Well according to one person at the apple store he says it is coming from this speakers. He said that the "tiny electromagnetic field that the processor creates has some how maybe through wireing or that the speaker is so close to the field that the speaker amplifies the sound." Now what I want to know is if this could be true or this could be the case. If it is the case, the problem might be a little easier to fix, but then again, why does it go away at different times? And I quote again "different usages could create a different field which would produce a different sound." Well this is deffinately a new idea that I don't remember talking about.

The Power converter is the most likely source of the whine (singing). When you run a CPU intesive app., the CPU is drawing more power, causing the power converter's operating point to change. It's probably still singing, just a tune higher than you can hear.
The AC Power converter is a Switched converter (transistors called FETs are turned on and off to "chop-up" the AC source voltage/current,) and this allows the converter to change the Power from 115V AC to say 9-12V DC.
The switching frequency (or a harmonic of that frequency) is what you are hearing, and specifically what your are hearing is either the vibration of the plates or the copper coils in a transformer.
Common switching frequencies of AC/DC converters today is typically anywhere from 100KHz up to several megahertz (MHz.) It turns out that the higher the switching frequency, the smaller you can make the Power Brick. Human Hearing is usually in the 10Hz to 20KHz (for the gifted.)

New thing about the whine...very very strange

Hi Guys,
I also have the whine and I use the mirror widget to stop it. I've recently noticed that if I run i-movie-hd the wine suddendly restars. Probably i-movie cheks the usb ports for devices but also the integrated i-sigth is connected by usb so I think that the problem is in same menner related to the usb ports.
Let me know what you guys think!
luiss

"This has nothing to do with the "whine" at all. This has to do with properly closing applications, and when you close imovie, the widget closes too."
wow nice attitude.
thing is, bob, that when you open the mirror widget, the whine goes away. when you close the mirror widget, the whine does NOT come back.
so this is interesting. it means that imovie properly releases the resources used by the camera, and causes the whine to return.
it's not earth shattering, but it does prove the existance of the bug in the mirror widget.
i found this interesting

The Official "I Called Applecare about the Whine" Thread

Hello fellow Macbook Pro (/w the whine problem) owners:
I think it would be helpful (if not helpful, at least amusing) of all the responses you've received from Apple Care Phone Calls regarding the CPU Whine. For example, did they tell it was with-in spec? did they tell you to send it in, only to get it back unfixed? did you get a refund? Anything would be best for this community.
Hopefully, this will also motivate more people to call Apple-care themselves and push Apple to solve the problem.

after 3 weeks of calls they accepted the POS back as faulty
they "repaired it" - less hot and now has creak on the case
came back exactly the same
phoned again, they said engineers said it was within spec (screen buzz and left whine)

Funny Thing about the Whine!

I am one of the fortunate/unfortunate people that have the whining MacBook.
Since it happens at idle maybe its Apples way of saying:
"MacBook Pro, Do More With Your Computer..... seriously"

I tried my very best to check this notebook out before paying $2,600.00
Hours later I discover the screen has "noise" and the cpu/powersupply or what ever is also making the "noise"
Called customer support and was told they're getting many complaints about the same issues as I described.

The Whiner is away, how do I get a good one?

After hours on the phone with techincal and sales support, they have agreed to refund me for my machine. I finally admitted that 2500 dollars was just too much to have to deal with the inconvenience of mirror widgets and battery draining programs.
They will be placing my money back in my card as soon as my package arrives in California. I will then walk down to my local Apple store (35 minutes away) and purchase a new Macbook. According to all you people out there who claim only a small minority of macbooks whine, I shouldn' get another whiner should I? My first 2 whined, we'll see about the 3rd.
It sounds like week 12's and 11's are pretty good machines. How would one go about getting a Macbook from these weeks or one that doesn't whine?

I am not sure what all the fuss is about the whine. I can't believe some people (many people) on this forum have excahnged their machines twice, even three times in hopes of some elusive "perfect machine".
I have the CPU whine, but it goes away when I plug the machine in. If I am on battery, I just launch "Quiet MBP" and the machine is dead silent. I also have a sticky "H" key and the occasional kernal panic (this seems to be under control now).
I have not seriously thought of returning my MBP because it is a wonderful machine. I guess I am way less picky than I thought--of course I have had to work through a lot of network/computer problems in the past, so maybe I am just more tolerant. But seriously, you could go through 10 of these machines and not get the one you want. There is no such thing as perfect when you think of the extrordinarily complex tasks this (and all computers in genreral) are undertaking on a second to second basis.
P.S. I also have the tilted eject key--who cares!

Very simple: Does anyone with the 2.16GHz have the whine?

I'm starting to notice something. Of all of the users who are (rightfully) complaining about the whine problem, it seems that none of them are those with the 2.16GHz upgrade. I recently ordered my MacBook Pro (and therefore do not have it), but a quick glance over the forums affirms my suspicion.
I could be completely wrong; I didn't have the time to completely delve into the many "whine" threads, so this topic will solve this matter fairly quickly!
I have a 2.0 iMac Core Duo. Soon to add a nice, shiny MacBook Pro. Mac OS X (10.4.5)

I'm starting to notice something. Of all of the users
who are (rightfully) complaining about the whine
problem, it seems that none of them are those with
the 2.16GHz upgrade. I recently ordered my MacBook
Pro (and therefore do not have it), but a quick
glance over the forums affirms my suspicion.
I could be completely wrong; I didn't have the time
to completely delve into the many "whine" threads, so
this topic will solve this matter fairly
quickly!
I have a 2.0
iMac Core Duo. Soon to add a nice, shiny MacBook Pro.
Mac OS X (10.4.5)
I Just recieved my 2.16GHz MBP today, and it does not have to LCD inverter buzz. I do however have a slight CPU whine but it is not terrible. Furthermore, I don't care much for notebook trackpads and am using a bluetooth mouse. The Mac Book is silent when the mouse is connected. I've read on these forums, that Apple knows of the CPU whine issue and a software update will be released. So far this is a very cool machine. I am calibrating the battery so I haven't tried out everything yet. By the way, I am using The MouseBT by Chwang Yi (formally MacMice) and I like it so far. I like that it's very similar to the Mighty Mouse which I use on my G4. Good Luck with your MacBook!
Power Mac G4 APG Graphics Mac OS X (10.4.5)
Power Mac G4 APG Graphics Mac OS X (10.4.5)
Mac OS X (10.4.5)

Physical reason of the whine (CPU, LCD) - explanations and suggestions

Hi everybody,
a friend of mine just received his MacBook Pro (2 Ghz, 2 GB RAM, 5400 RPM 100GB HD) yesterday.
I encouraged him to buy one of these machines in spite lots of people are complaining about the whine. We hoped he would be lucky to get one without the whine but we were disappointed.
The book has the whine (high pitched tone, very nasty). It is even louder when running from battery.
He will try out the book for a week and see if the whine is bugging him and
driving him crazy when working in a silent environment.
I would go nuts if I have to hear it all the time.
I studied lots of threads here in the discussion board but none had answered my questions.
1) How do I know which whine - CPU or LCD whine - my friend's laptop has?
2) What is an LCD inverter - 0 in 1 out - 1 in 0 out?
3) What could be the physical reason for the CPU and LCD whine?
4) Therefore what could be done to eliminate the whine technically in a correct way (not such 50% solutions like the mirror widgets or photo booth)?
5) Will there be a real fix in the foreseeable future?
Thanks for your help.

If you have the high-pitched whine that changes with LCD brightness, that is a recognized problem and can be fixed by changing the inverter board.
The whine related to CPU activity currently seems to be officially stated as normal by Apple (this might vary depending on who you talk to).
Am I right when I say that until Apple states that
the whine is actually a real problem we won't have a
official solution for that?
Another question when a MacBook Pro has the whine is
this a hardware defect or can it be seen as working
within normal parameters?
There are different reactions of Apple techs dealing
with the problem.
Is it worth calling them because of the whine even if
there is no actual solution or fix for that problem?
Thank you once again.

What is it talking apple so long to create an update for the whine issue?

I think it is pretty ridiculous that the only update apple has released that effects the whine issue, only makes it worse. Even worse is that users over here have managed to detect and resolve the issue before apple has managed to do so. So come on apple, what's taking so long? It's amazing how badly this situation is being handled.

They know about the whine issue, i just talked to a product specialist who told me that they knew about it.
He also told me that Apple was not planning on adressing it since the cpu whine was within specifications.
As i said, it was a product specialist not an engineer so there is still a little hope regarding this issue being fixed sometime in the future.
I am not the only one to be disappointed about this and other problems that MBPs have.
But for now i m going to try and enjoy what i have , at the end of the year i will buy a sony loaded with vista since Apple is not able to give me satisfaction.
I m a loyal Apple customer since many years, but i have had enough, no more repairs or exchanges for me; I wil just be switching back!
The only thing that could make me change my mind is if Apple recalled my defective computer in order to give me a machine free of problem.
So far it's impossible since they don't have such a machine in stock.

How loud is the whine

Guys I read about the whine and I am wondering how loud is yours? Mine isn't that loud but with the mirrow widget it goes away so I am assuming it is the whine you all are talking about it. Before I call apple and tell them about it I wanted to hear from you all.
Thanks
Thom

Mine is a shriek, not a whine.
As in, Warcraft in the background, movie front and center, I could still hear the MacBook Pro shrieking. Sometimes. Other times it was quieter, but still loud enough to hear over my dog barking/growling. He's sort of got a Barry White voice. . .you know, for a dog.
But, please do call Apple. It's pretty easy, in my experience, to tell the difference between "the whine" and a normal computer hum or murmur. My Dell makes a very easy-to-ignore soft whine/whir while running. The Apple, I was afraid, was possessed. The techs will have an easier time figuring out what's going on when they know which machines are broken. The more people who call with actual issues, the better.

Will Battery Replacement Stop the Whine?

Hi Fellow Mac Users,
My MBP 1.83Ghz is my 1st Mac, bought in April. I want to know a few things:
1) would the battery exchange(my batt is affected and just recently started bloating) solve the whine problem?
2) just how big a problem is the whining? Would it lead to some serious damage? I use my MBP for work, if the whine will not lead to some other serious damage, I will just let it be. The whine is not so annoying to me.
3) without resorting to software patches, how can I stop the whine? replace the logic board like what I have read here? Is it covered under the warranty?
Hope to get some advice, thanks!

Hi Fellow Mac Users,
My MBP 1.83Ghz is my 1st Mac, bought in April. I want
to know a few things:
1) would the battery exchange(my batt is affected and
just recently started bloating) solve the whine
problem?
Most likely not. I have seen 1 user that has actually reported the opposite - the whine started AFTER he got the new battery. The whine is a hardware issue and replacing the battery shouldn't affect it.
Try this, remove your battery on AC power - if the whine goes away that will answer your question
2) just how big a problem is the whining? Would it
lead to some serious damage? I use my MBP for work,
if the whine will not lead to some other serious
damage, I will just let it be. The whine is not so
annoying to me.
No one really knows. It's like 6 months after its release so it's hard to say if any real damage is being done. Apple CLEARLY knows about the whine, as indicated by Article ID 303365, and I'd imagine that if it had a negative affect on overall performance, they would recall the devices, not just produce an article on it. If it's not annoying, just let it be - just remember anytime someone tinkers with your stuff, there's a chance that they can either break it, or it can perform worse then what it is now.
3) without resorting to software patches, how can I
stop the whine? replace the logic board like what I
have read here? Is it covered under the warranty?
Funny, i thought you just said it didn't bother you that much. The bottom line is that you can't. Some users have reported very positive things from receiving the logic board, and others have not. You can go to an apple store to see if you are eligible for a logic board swap, but just remember that may mean being without your computer for almost a week. It would be covered under your standard AppleCare warranty.
I mean you have a really difficult decision - send it in when it can take a week to fix for something that is really just an aesthetic problem (and potentially not get fixed) or just live with it.
I don't know, you're going to have to make that decision - but if it doesn't really bother you like you say, I'd say leave it alone.

New factoid about the infamous WHINE

I have had my MBP2.16 with stock 1GB for one week and have noticed the CPU whine. It's not too loud, worse when on battery, goes off with photobooth, and mirror widget.
What I recently noticed is that when I open quicktime, go to preferences, and click the RECORDING tab, the whine starts up again. I don't know enough about computers to know what this means. Thought I'd throw it out into the community to see if any true gurus have any insights.
Thnx.
New Mac Convert x 1 week. Yeah! (whine or no whine)
i kinda miss right click though :^(

Curious as it may seem, I can endorse this - opening the Recording preferences panel in Quicktime makes the (high-pitched) whine come back (on mains power, screen brightness on full FYI). Damned if I know what'd make something odd like that happen... I guess if it's polling the iSight or the microphone it might be something to do with them.
(Please don't flame if I just said something dumb and obvious - I barely have time to read these forums during the week...)

The reason for Apple's silence on the whine issue (my theory)

As you get older , your ability to hear high pitched noises diminishes. This is a well documented fact, and if you don't believe me go here:
http://www.diyhappy.com/bug-some-of-them-darn-teenagers-or-create-an-adult-proof -ringtone/
listen to the sound and read the comments. (Note: The macbook pro speakers don't seem to be able to reproduce the high frequencies, but I can hear the noise with my desk speakers). YMMV.
Some stores in Europe play this sound over speakers to keep the kids away. It's so annoying it feels like your brain is being fried. However, old people don't even notice and go about their shopping as if nothing was happening.
Although the pitch is slightly higher in the recording mentioned above, perhaps the apple engineers are simply old and can't hear the noise. I know I can hear it - it drives me absolutely nuts. I have to run that "quiet macbookpro" program to get rid of it, eating into my CPU cycles and battery life. This is **** poor service from Apple in my opinion.
The worst thing about it is that this all seems to point to an issue that can be fixed via software. It's a simple matter of tuning the throttling software a bit to fix the noise. It boggles my mind why apple wouldn't simply release a patch to fix this once and for all.
Anyway, what do you guys think of my theory? The Mac bar "geniuses" might all have poor hearing too.

Interesting theory, but it has flaws.
First off, the Genius Bar employees are frequently not much older than high school graduates where I live. If you want to ensure they can hear it, ask them to find a quiet room in the store. Mind you, the problem of asking the Genius Bar employees to hear a high pitched sound after working in such loud music, is they are already probably partially deaf from being exposed to the loud music in the store, and will be for some time until they are out of the exposure of that loud music. The store I go to is never quiet, but who knows if they have a sound proof room in back. Ambient noises can obscure sounds like those too. I would call AppleCare and ask to have the machine mailed to their service center with specific instructions to take the machine into a sound proof room by someone whose hearing has not been compromised. Perhaps even include a printed page of the website and tape it to the MacBook or MacBook Pros when you send it in.

My theory about the whine

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