How come the Macbook/MBPs don't have that ghastly CPU whine?

I moved from being exclusively Dell to being an Apple fan in very short order. Among the issues I had with my Dells (the M1330 being the last), I could not BEAR that awful CPU high-pitched whine. I had a student next to me in class tell me it bothered her, and that was the last straw. Now, bearing in mind the M1330 has the same chipset as the MBP current iteration, how come the Apples don't have this problem? I'd read reports they used to, but now they apparently don't anymore.

Now, I experienced this CPU whine on my XPS Gen 2, my XPS M1710, and my XPS M1330.

So, what gives? What did Apple learn that Dell apparently didn't?

 

Better acoustic insulation on the MBP?

 

I'm sure it's nothing to do with insulation. The sound from the CPU whine I can hear from a mile away. I can put my ear to the Apple and there's no sound at all..

 

As I recall, some of the early MBP's at least did have at least some people complaining about CPU whine; as I recall it usually had something to do with the CPU idling/etc. (one of the solutions had been to run PhotoBooth in the background so it was always being utilized).

It's probably more just a matter of Apple having already gone through whatever caused those problems and fixing it on the more recent models. The XPSM1330 was a more recent machine; as I've read, Dell has a solution to the CPU whine as well for the XPSM1330, so it's probably something similar.

 

actually, i have heard of people using mac complaining of it.

anyway, the main reason for the whine is due resonation of frequency b/w the c3 and c4 sleep states. it could be that osx doesn't utilize the c4 state, so there is no whine. do you use windows or just osx/leopard?

 

It was the earlier Core 2 Duos that made the whine. I'm assuming they fixed it after everyone complained.

 

I think i know what your talking about and that might be from the screen or something.

 

My 17" Macbook Pro has the whine...

It's only very audible when the battery is charging. If it's full you'd have to put your ear down to the keyboard to hear it. I'm getting this exchanged for another though all my previous MBPs were unaffected.

 

Are you sure that's a CPU whine and not something else? Just thinking that since it is occurring when the battery is charging, it might be something in the power system itself.

 

My MBP doesn't have the whine. My power brick on the other hand does make a noise that is (usually inaudible) that I suppose could be characterized as a whine.

 

I've never heard my mbp "whining" - it's pretty quiet in general. The fans only rev up when charging, for some reason.

And Apples have their share of problems too...go check out macrumors.com and behold the thousands of mac users with defective macs!

 

I never really understood what this whine was about. I've read about it, but could never seem to find it on any of my notebooks.

 

The first gen early MBP i had developed a horrendous CPU whine and an inverter whine/buzz problem. Apple replaced this unit for me in time with a brand new MBP. If you go on YouTube you will see videos that people made back then of the CPU whine they had with their Mac notebooks.

If you go on Mac related forums now you will read of owners of MBP's complaining of this CPU whine problem with their SR Mac notebooks. This problem does not seem to be to the extent that it back in early to mid 06 but it seems for some people it is an issue again. It appears to have been a problem at first then it appears to have went away but now it appears that it is back to a lesser degree.
In fact i read of an M1330 past owner who bought a MBP because of the CPU whine with their M1330 notebook but then received a MBP that had this CPU whine as well.

I have a M1330 but i don't have a CPU whine problem.

 

Maybe some people can hear the whine and some people can't. I bought a m1210 back in march and I had to refund it simply because I couldnt stand the whine.

 

No "CPU whine"... but I do hear a slight buzz if I put bring my head really close to the keyboard. It's not noticeable at all when I'm using it normally though.

 

in this case your computer probably does not have the whine, because if it does you will surely notice it. It goes into your head and drives you nuts

 

I don't have any CPU whine on my April 2007 MacBook. Good thing too, I would be really annoyed at it .

Other than minor build quality issues (screen bezel doesn't sit perfectly flush against screen), my MacBook is great!

 

Tell that girl to get over it or move.

 

I've had notebooks in the past with the whining noise so I'm quite confident thats what it is. It's more noticeable when the battery is charging for whatever reason. Where as in the past with two of my HP notebooks it would be more noticeable when running on battery power...

 

It has something to do with the OS. I have Tiger and Leopard on my 17" Macbook Pro (purchased in November). When I use vista on it it whines like crazy, but not in Tiger or Leopard.

I'm thinking about selling it though as I think a think pad is a better solution for me.

Go figure

Jeff

 

I had always heard that the CPU whine came from when the CPU was put into SpeedStep throttling mode.