MacBook Pro :: New 13.3" Unibody - Sharp Cracking Noise From Hinge
Jan 16, 2010
My new 13.3" Unibody MacBook Pro has been great up until now. I've had it since September and it's worked without a charm. For some reason, as I went to close the hinge (slowly) today, it made an extremely sharp cracking sound, as if the screen had broken off. I had mini-heart attack on the inside, thinking that the screen of my MacBook Pro had just broken. I quickly opened the screen to see that nothing was damaged. I went to close it again and I went past the point that the cracking noise happened at (it sounds like it gets caught). As I kept closing it, the cracking noise happened about 3 more times. No noises come from it as I open the MacBook Pro, but when I slowly close it, it cracks (really loudly).
I've been closing the lid really quickly now, and no cracking sounds occur when I do that. Do you think it's a loose screw or something like that? Should I take it into an Apple Store to see if they can fix it? This laptop is like my baby. I somewhat temporarily alleviated the issue by pushing a piece of paper through the hinge and out the back of the laptop an pulling it back and forth. The hinge worked well for about 5 times, then started cracking again. Now that I think about it, it might be caused because it's been on for about 11 hours. I've never worked it this hard before. I'll try again after I go to sleep, and see if the problem has gone away. the problem is a little better now. There are still tension points (there are less though), but they don't crack very often as I go past them.
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Sep 8, 2006
I got my Unibody MacBook the first day they were available, and since late December, the hinge has gotten stiffer and stiffer, making a cracking noise when I move it after it stays in one position for a few seconds.
I took it to the Genius Bar (covered under AppleCare) but the people there wouldn't do anything about it, saying it's within normal spec and classifying it as a "user perception issue." (The slightly condescending sound of that phrase is for another post.)
Has anyone attempted to lubricate the hinge in their laptop themselves? I removed all of the bottom paneling and looked at the hinge, but didn't see how to separate it from the case easily. Would it be a bad idea to try to squirt a little silicone lubricant into the hinge to see if that helps the issue? Is there another trick I could try.My mom has a Unibody Pro with a hinge that glides nice and smoothly and it's annoying mine is no longer working properly like this.
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Jun 6, 2009
On my 13" MacBook Pro, the hinge makes a cracking noise on the right side of the computer (near the power button) when the screen is positioned all the way back.The entire hinge also makes a loud popping noise when I adjust the screen position. The screen seems very tight, and it takes a little bit of effort to move the screen, and when the screen is moved it makes the loud popping noise.
This is probably going to make some of you guys cringe, but sometimes putting pressure down on the top of the case close to where the black hinge meets to unibody enclosure seems to stop the popping noises. Putting downwards pressure on the hinge, or flipping the computer over and putting pressure on it that way, also seems to alter how much popping noise there is.
If I mess around a bit with applying pressure on different parts of the computer around the hinge, I can usually eliminate the noise. But, the cracking noise when I put the screen all the way back is still there.Any ideas what to do? It's not interfering with the operation of the computer, it's just incredibly annoying and this is only a four month old machine which shouldn't be creaking and cracking already.
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Sep 1, 2009
Last night I noticed about 8 little hairline cracks on the bottom side of my unibody hinge when I turned it in the light just right. They are small, but they are definitely cracks in the hinge. I'm rather irritated since the machine is essentially a desktop replacement and has only ever traveled to work with me 10-20 times, if that. The machine is absolutely pristine otherwise. If I make an appointment at the Genius Bar to have this replaced, what can I expect them to replace? Do they have to replace the entire display/clamshell/hinge/lid as one piece? I REALLY don't like the idea of them replacing the whole entire thing because the one I have is great with no bowing and the display is fantastic, and I have a feeling I'll end up with something lesser if I send it off. Also I am worried they will somehow blame it on me since Apple seems to be pretty crappy about warrantying hinge issues...
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Jul 10, 2009
Well I brought my white early 2009 MacBook to apple today because it is cracking at the hinge near the speakers. They told me that the cracking isn't under warranty. Is this true or is only the top case covered? I can post a pic soon. It runs the whole length of the inner part of the hinge.
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Apr 4, 2010
Title says it all.. It'll feel like there's a bit of resistance to moving it and when it does it makes a rather loud cracking/creaking noise. After I've just done it, it won't happen again until I leave it sitting in one position for a while. 13" MBP Is it going to break and if it does will apple replace it?
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Aug 17, 2010
I'm still waiting to get a MacBook because I don't think they should be breaking. I have other plastic laptops that lasted for years and never got a crack/chip once. Why does MacBook? Too much money to spend on something that you can't rely on in my opinion... I was thinking of getting a MacBook Pro but don't really wanna drop an extra 100-200 dollars to get a 500 GB harddrive like I would on the normal MacBook.
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Jun 12, 2006
its normal for the lid to be making a plastic cracking noise when closing and opening it? Its like a clicking noise as if it catching on something as its being opened. I didnt notice it at when i first got the unit, but now it seems to be getting progressively worst. Also was wondering, does anyone else find the case flimsy around the ports on the left handside? I can push the plastic in and out with my pinky.
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Jan 28, 2009
My new week old unibody macbook hinge is so tight that when i open it, the rest of the macbook slides back a bit.
I have seen radtech's glide kit to adjust the tightness of the hinge of the old macbooks and powerbooks but nothing has been mentioned of the unibody.
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Feb 15, 2009
My Mac is only 2.5 months old, yet when I open and close it, I get these sporadic, clicking-like noises, almost as though the plastic hinge is coming into contact with the actual notebook, generating friction. I'm not quite certain what to make of it. Sometimes, it opens and closes smoothly and silently, yet more often than not, it makes the aforementioned noises, and I'm just wondering if this should be cause for concern. Has the plastic expanded from the heat? Could it be a loose spring?
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Dec 22, 2008
I am trying to anodize my alluminum Macbook unibody that I just got and I have begun disassembling it. In order to anodize or electroplate the aluminum, it must be stripped down to pure metal. No cable, wires, boards, nothing. THe bottom half of the computer with the motherboard and keyboard I have succesfully gutted. The top half, however, I am having no such luck with. I need to remove the hinge/lcd/display assembly from the aluminum back cover. I have searched everywhere online and can find nothing. Ifixit does not go that far. The youtube video by this other company shows the Macbook Pro display and hinge magically come off, but they do not share how [URL].
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Feb 16, 2009
I got my Unibody MacBook the first day they were available, and since late December, the hinge has gotten stiffer and stiffer, making a cracking noise when I move it after it stays in one position for a few seconds.
I took it to the Genius Bar (covered under AppleCare) but the people there wouldn't do anything about it, saying it's within normal spec and classifying it as a "user perception issue." (The slightly condescending sound of that phrase is for another post.)
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Jun 10, 2009
Build-quality wise the unibodies are really as perfect as I've ever experienced any machine to be. Simply amazing. BUT, the black plastic hinge cover is cheap and creaks as soon as I grab the computer or open the display. I opened her up to see if there was anything I could do to reinforce it or something, but I didn't want to mess with it.
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Jan 9, 2010
Occasionally I'll be listening to music or just changing the volume and a sharp popping sound will occur from the internal speakers and then they shut off. No sound can play it all. To fix the problem I just have to reboot and then the speakers work fine. Does anybody know why this happens?
This happens on my iMac sometimes and it just happened on my new MacBook Pro and I'm wondering if it's damaging the speakers in any way.
Edit: I don't remember what I was doing on my iMac to cause this, but I do know what caused it on my MacBook Pro. I was recording my canary singing (don't ask why) using Quicktime Pro, and then listened to it (it worked fine). I imported it into GarageBand to crop it and when I previewed it there to figure out where to crop the file, my speakers popped and GarageBand gave me a warning about the current track not being optimized or something. Note that never happened on my iMac.
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Aug 29, 2009
Everything works perfect except this one thing. Was wondering what you guys thought of this problem. Didnt return it because i was hoping that it would go away with wear in. I checked the back, nothing is coming out of place, its just theres a sound when i open the macbook after its been closed for more than 20 minutes.[URL]
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Feb 6, 2010
I just got my new white unibody Macbook in the post today and I have one small problem.
When I open the lid the hinge makes a little click noise every time it goes past the vertical position. It doesn't happen when I close it just open.
The noise is very quiet, it's not loud or anything like that. I'm just curious to see if anyone else has had a problem like this before?
I'm pretty sure it's cause the laptop is new and it will just go away but I just wanted to quickly ask on here but I spend all day putting my data on the machine and settings it up.
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Nov 18, 2010
I just got a 13" MBA last week and noticed that the black plastic hinge cover moves a bit and makes noise when I push it lightly.
It also rattles when the fan blows hard. I took it to the Genius Bar but they said that the hinge cover is designed that way.
I checked a few demonstration units and they didn't seem to have the same amount of play. Is this normal?
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Apr 4, 2010
I have a 7 day old Macbook Pro 13" 2.26GHz and sometimes when I open the screen I hear a click noise coming from the right side of the hinge it happens about half way open and some times when I pick it with the screen open it doesn't happen all the time it was doing it about 30 mins.
ago but as I type this its not doing it. Should I take it to the Apple store tomorrow or should I keep an eye on it and see what happens?
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Sep 15, 2006
My problem with my brand-new (three day old) MacBook is not a "creaky" hinge (a problem already posted at [URL]); rather, when the computer has time to warm up, the hinge makes a one-time "CLICK" upon opening the lid (the sound comes from the right corner). This is really annoying me, and I'm worried that the repeated click (which signals something rubbing against something else) will wear down the joints and ruin my computer prematurely.
[Side note: The click is especially loud and offensive when the MacBook is warmed up after half an hour or so; when it's cold and shut down, the click is much quieter. This makes me think that the plastic parts are swelling and expanding a little when the computer is power on. I'm not too comfortable with the idea of the joints wearing down due to normal use. I want this computer to last me 3 years at least!]
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Jun 22, 2010
I see that a few people have an issue with the unibody 13" MBP making a "clicking" noise when the lid is opened. The issue varies from a mild click to a loud click. Usually, once the click occurs, it does not repeat itself until after sometime. This poll is to help determine whether or not it's worth it to get this issue fixed by Apple, specifically if the clicking is not bothersome (read: not too loud).
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Jul 7, 2009
My 17" Macbook Pro was purchased on Feb 24th 2009 via telesales, so it's less than 6 months old. The hinge is very creaky and on the right hand side it makes a loud clicking noise when I open and close it, also the whole screen seems to creak, not just the hinge. The wall charger is in my opinion very loose, it was loose when I got it ( should have changed it then ), but I haven't really moved it that much ( maybe 10 times in the space of 5 months and this is also becoming a concern. I contacted Apple today and they told me I have 1 year of telephone support and 3 years parts and labour as I order though Higher Education.
They told me that I can go to a Apple store or authorized repair centre to have it looked at, but all the stores are 2 hours away. I asked about mail-in repairs and he said that could be set up but they would prefer if I went to a store. The question is, should I send it in and hope they take care of my Mac i.e don't scratch or mark it etc. After reading some stories about repairs, I'm a little concerned about it, and don't like anyone to touch my Laptop. Obviously I would prefer a replacement as I have work to do and I don't want to be without my Mac.
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Jun 13, 2010
When I use my computer, at random times, I hear a popping noise that sounds like it's coming from the plastic hinge without me moving it. I think this has happened on other 13" models I've toyed with, but I can't fully remember. Everything else works great and it doesn't happen super often so I think I'm just going to deal but does anyone else know what's up? I think it might be the heat coming off on the plastic hinge causing a popping noise every once in a while but not sure... computer works great. Also, it's not the sudden motion sensor clicking for sure. I know what that sounds like.
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May 25, 2012
My 13" MacBook Pro (Mid 2011) is making a loud click, or snapping noise whenever the clamshell is closed, or moved a little sometimes. It's becoming very persistant and doesn't seem normal. Most of the time it does make the noise (which is from the back right). I'm taking it in tomorrow under warranty. Any suggestions? Is this normal? The screen also moves smoothly and is always in place. It's all strange and hopefully they can replace the hinge.
Info:
MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.7)
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Sep 4, 2009
my dell monitor keeps making this cracking slash banging noise on the right hand side occasionally and it sounds like soumthing is hitting it or making it crack...anyone else have this problem?
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Nov 11, 2009
On my 13" MacBook Pro, the hinge makes a cracking noise on the right side of the computer (near the power button) when the screen is positioned all the way back.
The entire hinge also makes a loud popping noise when I adjust the screen position. The screen seems very tight, and it takes a little bit of effort to move the screen, and when the screen is moved it makes the loud popping noise.
This is probably going to make some of you guys cringe, but sometimes putting pressure down on the top of the case close to where the black hinge meets to unibody enclosure seems to stop the popping noises. Putting downwards pressure on the hinge, or flipping the computer over and putting pressure on it that way, also seems to alter how much popping noise there is.
If I mess around a bit with applying pressure on different parts of the computer around the hinge, I can usually eliminate the noise. But, the cracking noise when I put the screen all the way back is still there.
It's not interfering with the operation of the computer, it's just incredibly annoying and this is only a four month old machine which shouldn't be creaking and cracking already.
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Feb 1, 2009
I have had my new pro since christmas, and it has been incredible. however i noticed from day one that periodically i get this buzzing noise coming from the left speaker - closest to the screen. is it the hard drive? what is it... and is it normal? sometimes if i tap the speaker area (next to the magsafe) it goes away.. and other times its pretty loud. i do NOT have applecare. should I purchase that as well.
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Jul 25, 2009
Well my Macbook Pro makes a loud "sticky" sorta noise when I click on the edges of it, and you can really hear it when i click outside the trackpad on the actual frame. Its quite annoying, and I just bought the new 13" Macbook Pro and this does not make this noise. [URL]
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Dec 27, 2009
I got the 13" Pro from that big fella in the red suit who lives up north. So far so good with the computer but if I pick it up fast or jostle it around, I hear this clicking type noise coming from the area of the hard drive. I have been told that this is a sensor locking down the hard drive before the computer falls and hits the floor for example and is nothing to worry about. Is this the case? Again, it only happens when I give the computer a quick movements and once it happens, I can't reproduce the sound until the computer has been still for a while which makes sense if this is a safety feature. Also, I can only get the computer to "click" when the screen/lid is open and the computer is awake which also backs up the safety feature explanation.
I just want to make sure I have nothing to worry about. My 2008 white Macbook will not make this clicking sound but I have been told that is will but you just can't hear it. My guess is the aluminum amplifies the sound a bit.
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May 31, 2008
My Macbook Pro is fairly new, and the hinge on both side is already making squeaking noise when I open my screen. It gets a bit annoying, I open it from the center top of the screen, not by the side. Is this a problem that I should be taking to the Apple Store? Or this can be fixed easily?
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Dec 10, 2008
I am starting to a hear a clicking sound opening and closing my new MBP. It sounds like a loose hinge or a cable getting caught or something.
I took it to an Apple store to see if they could pop it open and take a look but they said they would have to send it away and it would take 7 to 10 business day. I really don't want to be without my new computer for 7 to 10 days. It isn't that big of deal but it does tick me off every time time I open and close and I worry that if it is a cable it would eventually cause a problem.
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