[harrisjamieh]

I just got my new macbook, and yes, it whines, a tiny bit when its on battery, and a tiny bit more when on A/C. Really, I don't know what all the fuss is about -yes, the noise is there, but this laptop is SILENT compared to 99% of laptops on the market today, and I accept the whine (which is hardly audiable) as a general operating noise of the machine - i know its not, as some MBs dont have it, but the machine is so quiet, I can easily accept it.

I really don't see what all the fuss is about... everyone complains about the whine, yet out of those, no one says how quiet the machine actually is...

I love mine so far

[b11051973]

I have noticed no whine and it doesn't get that hot. I did notice the moo last week, but don't remembering hearing it in days.

I think people just like to complain about things. When I got my revision A 12" PB, people complained about heat then too. They talked about how Apple needed to do a recall. I used my PB for over 3 years and it has always worked great. The same heat things are being said now.

I got a TiVo in 2001. People complained about heat then. I got a Xbox 360 last year. People complained about heat there. People just like to complain about heat in electronic stuff.

[andreas_g4]

It should be taken into consideration that the whine differs from machine to machine. There may be machines that you would not want to use.

[harrisjamieh]

Just a slight off-topic to my own thread (), the whine is not there whilst running XP, so surely the whine is a software thing that will be fixed in due course...

[Cold Warrior]

I have no whine on my MB. Arrived just yesterday. Love it.

[force838]

the paradox is the more beautifully crafted a machine is, the pickier we become of the tiniest "problems" and we magnify them way beyond proportions. it has something i think to do with the fact that good technology elicits not only a logical but emotional response from people. think about what you felt when you opened up that macbook box.

i find myself nickpicking sometimes but 99% of the time, i just love it. it's probably one of the nicest piece of technology i've ever owned.

[SpaceMonkey]

Originally Posted by andreas_g4

It should be taken into consideration that the whine differs from machine to machine. There may be machines that you would not want to use.

Also people have different tolerances/hearing abilities when it comes to high pitched sounds.

[Mojo]

MacNN has more than its share of people who have developed a fetish for their Macs...


Fetish:

An object that is believed to have magical or spiritual powers, especially such an object associated with animistic or shamanistic religious practices.

An object of unreasonably excessive attention or reverence.

Something, such as a material object or a nonsexual part of the body, that arouses sexual desire and may become necessary for sexual gratification.

An abnormally obsessive preoccupation or attachment; a fixation.


These people spend hours obsessing over rumors about upcoming models, spend their money on a new computer even though their current computer has years of useful life remaining, become angry or depressed when a new model is released shortly after they purchased a now "obsolete" model, and have unreasonable expectations when they discover that their fantasy Mac has even a single minor defect (see the recent post about a MacBook with one stuck pixel.)

If I taught a class on abnormal psychology I would direct my students to MacNN so that they could study multiple examples of over-the-top consumerism and obsessive behavior.

[amazing]

The reason some people don't buy first generation products is the inconsistent quality control and inconsistent engineering--things just haven't been totally worked out yet, and you're the beta testers.

The rev A 12" was a case in point: a significant proportion had heat problems, but enough of them were OK, with the result that the forums were filled people calling other people crazy. Rev B was better, but rev C was when the issue didn't come up anymore.

If you've got a relatively quiet MB then pour a libation (choose a good brew) to your good luck.

Telling people to stay away from rev A Macs is a waste of time. It's kind of like complaining about the hearing loss from listening to loud music on your iPod: The warning falls on deaf ears.

Of course, many people will tell you of the benefits of listening to loud music, namely you no longer can hear any stray noises.

[Star-Fire]

Well if you hear the MBP I had first, you would complain too, I could here the whine over the TV playing.

[BkueKanoodle]

I have both a MPB and a Macbook. My Macbook Pro 15 whines like a little baby, to the point where I can barely use it at home (I'm very sensitive to white noise, years of working in Server Rooms. )

In any case, my first macbook, middle of the road model had a slight whine, but not nearly as bad as my Macbook Pro. I sold my first macbook in a moment of buyers remorse, and now find myself the proud owner of a blacbook with absoutely no whine. (second macbook in 4 days)

I definitely agree on having an apple fetish. I think it's because I admin a a large windows network all day.

[cmoney]

Hmm, I think it's kind of foolish and self-righteous to call them examples of over the top consumerism or obsessive behavior. Sure some of them may be, but the fact is, people do pay a premium to buy a Mac and IMHO rightly feel that there should be fewer flaws as a result. Is a stuck pixel tolerable in a $699 Dell laptop? Probably. In a Macbook Pro costing $1800 more? Probably not.

Also as for it being a software issue, I'm sure it is. Funny thing is, I've had 2 different PowerPC Mac models now that both exhibited whine of some sort. My Dual 2GHz G5 and Titanium G4 Powerbook both had a whine, the Titanium G4 being very slight and almost unnoticeable. The Dual G5 however is loud enough that you can hear it over the fans. How do I know it's a software issue? In the TiPB, the whine didn't show up until after installing a certain version of OS X (don't remember which anymore) and in the G5, you could change the performance setting to Highest and trade off higher fan noise for no more whine. Unfortunately Apple has never done anything to remedy those machines. Perhaps a new hardware rev will fix it in the future but I have NO faith that a software update will fix the whine in these machines.

[Gamoe]

Originally Posted by cmoney

In the TiPB, the whine didn't show up until after installing a certain version of OS X

Could this really be a hardware issue that only shows up when software does certain things?-- like, for example, bad RAM showing up after installing a newer version of Mac OS X?

My old
Power Mac 8600 would vibrate irritable until I opened or emptied the trash on Mac OS 9.

... Or are we just superstitious Mac users?

[Yakov]

Originally Posted by amazing

Telling people to stay away from rev A Macs is a waste of time. It's kind of like complaining about the hearing loss from listening to loud music on your iPod: The warning falls on deaf ears.

People who buy computers generally do it because they need the things. I need a laptop right now for the summer and school year. Would it have been smarter to buy an iBook? I think not

[andreas_g4]

Originally Posted by Gabriel Morales

My old Power Mac 8600 would vibrate irritable until I opened or emptied the trash on Mac OS 9.

Seriously?

[Tarcat]

A couple things

1). A lot of Mac users are perfectionists. We have much higher standards of what is acceptable than a lot of casual PC users. This is doubly true for those who care enough to post on this forum.

2). People with a problem are more likely to post something than those who have a computer that works perfectly. So you get an exadurated sense of how widespread something is. I've been worried about problems the last two times I bought a Mac because of this forum. And both have been perfect.

[Tarcat]

"
People who buy computers generally do it because they need the things. I need a laptop right now for the summer and school year. Would it have been smarter to buy an iBook? I think not
"

I'm in the same boat. I need a new laptop for the fall because i'm going back to grad school and my old laptop is six years old. The MacBook is a much better choice for me than an iBook. Even if it is RevA

[Mojo]

Hmmm...duplicate posts for some reason, so I'm deleting one...

[cmoney]

Hmm, I think it's kind of foolish and self-righteous to call them examples of over the top consumerism or obsessive behavior. Sure some of them may be, but the fact is, people do pay a premium to buy a Mac and IMHO rightly feel that there should be fewer flaws as a result. Is a stuck pixel tolerable in a $699 Dell laptop? Probably. In a Macbook Pro costing $1800 more? Probably not.

[harrisjamieh]

Over here in the UK, you really aren't paying a premium for a Macbook over any other laptop. At £749, the base model MB beats the hell outa most other laptops in the same price range (except maybe for Acer lappies, as they are cheap and well spec'd, not that I like them).

[dialo]

In my experience with multiple MacBooks, the whine was extremely quiet and I typically couldn't hear it.

However, my experience with it, like other's, can't be applied to other people who may or may not use it in similar conditions. I live in the city, so the ambient noise is greater than it is for many people who do not. I can easily imagine how someone could be using it in an environment where it could get annoying.

Here a simple fact: the MacBook makes far more noise, whether it's the whining or the 67 degree fan on/off problem, than the dead silent iBook it replaced.

[Mojo]

I'm neither foolish nor self righteous, just making an observation...

One problem is that over-the-top consumerisn is pretty much the norn in the U.S., much to the delight of corporations everywhere, so it seems like normal behavior to many folks.

To expect perfection in any mass-produced consumer item is foolish, and to further expect perfection in a Rev. A portable Mac is even more foolish. First generation Mac portables have a spotty record, to say the least... Heck, in my experience iBooks have the most problems of any Apple product, no matter which generation we are talking about, so it really is a case of Buyer Beware.

A single stuck pixel is hardly a serious defect. In normal use it wouldn't even be visible unless you have a blank screen and know where to look.

If I needed a MacBook for the fall I would wait as long as possible because a Rev. B could make an appearance before then.

[Gamoe]

Originally Posted by Gabriel Morales

My old Power Mac 8600 would vibrate irritable until I opened or emptied the trash on Mac OS 9.

Originally Posted by andreas_g4

Seriously?

Yes. I've never found a logical explanation for it, but it was repeatable, though not consistent.