Malfunctioning Fan - Macbook Pro

soxfan121

soxfan121

JAG
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Dec 22, 2002
23,043
So last night the fan in my laptop started making a noise like a million crickets on a summer evening; laptop is ~6 months old. How much is this gonna cost me? Can such an item be replaced?

Further, I keep having this problem with laptops in general; overheating, fans, etc. Is there something I'm doing wrong or is there a brand that does not have these problems (previously a Toshiba and an HP before this Mac)?
 
TIA.
 
Eck'sSneakyCheese

Eck'sSneakyCheese

Member
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May 11, 2011
10,465
NH
If its only 6 months old Apple should take care of it. They all come with a 1 yr MFG warranty.

As far as fan issues go, smoke, animal hair and dust can kill a fan prematurely. Also, they are called laptops but actually using them on your lap for long periods of time can cause them to overheat because you're more or less suffocating it. On a tabletop the fan has a little room to circulate.
 
derekson

derekson

Member
SoSH Member
Jun 26, 2010
6,262
Eck'sSneakyCheese said:
If its only 6 months old Apple should take care of it. They all come with a 1 yr MFG warranty.

As far as fan issues go, smoke, animal hair and dust can kill a fan prematurely. Also, they are called laptops but actually using them on your lap for long periods of time can cause them to overheat because you're more or less suffocating it. On a tabletop the fan has a little room to circulate.
Click to expand...
 
 
The air circulation inside of a MacBook Pro shouldn't be inhibited by using it on your lap. You get worse heat dissipation due to having the bottom against your lap rather than a bit of air under it on the table, but the actual airflow comes in the bottom of the sides and goes out below the screen in the vents by the hinge. Unless you're doing super intensive stuff like 3D gaming or 3D rendering or video work or something, using it in your lap isn't going to cause any kind of issues. There have certainly been plenty of "laptop" designs over the years with vents on the bottom, but this really doesn't apply to a MacBook Pro.
 
As for the actual question, the quoted post is correct that Apple should fix it for you if you make a genius bar appointment and bring it in since it should still be under warranty. This seems to be a pretty rare problem with MacBooks though (I can't say I've really ever encountered fan failures, though there were all kinds of heat issues with one year's models around the AMD/ATI GPUs (2011 maybe?). 
 
mascho

mascho

Kane is Able
SoSH Member
Nov 30, 2007
14,952
Silver Spring, Maryland
derekson said:
 
 
The air circulation inside of a MacBook Pro shouldn't be inhibited by using it on your lap. You get worse heat dissipation due to having the bottom against your lap rather than a bit of air under it on the table, but the actual airflow comes in the bottom of the sides and goes out below the screen in the vents by the hinge. Unless you're doing super intensive stuff like 3D gaming or 3D rendering or video workor something, using it in your lap isn't going to cause any kind of issues. There have certainly been plenty of "laptop" designs over the years with vents on the bottom, but this really doesn't apply to a MacBook Pro.
 
As for the actual question, the quoted post is correct that Apple should fix it for you if you make a genius bar appointment and bring it in since it should still be under warranty. This seems to be a pretty rare problem with MacBooks though (I can't say I've really ever encountered fan failures, though there were all kinds of heat issues with one year's models around the AMD/ATI GPUs (2011 maybe?). 
Click to expand...
Oops. It was the passing preview, right? My bad.

To the Genius Bar!
 
Comfortably Lomb

Comfortably Lomb

Koko the Monkey
SoSH Member
Feb 22, 2004
13,042
The Paris of the 80s
derekson said:
 
 
The air circulation inside of a MacBook Pro shouldn't be inhibited by using it on your lap. You get worse heat dissipation due to having the bottom against your lap rather than a bit of air under it on the table, but the actual airflow comes in the bottom of the sides and goes out below the screen in the vents by the hinge. Unless you're doing super intensive stuff like 3D gaming or 3D rendering or video work or something, using it in your lap isn't going to cause any kind of issues. There have certainly been plenty of "laptop" designs over the years with vents on the bottom, but this really doesn't apply to a MacBook Pro.
 
As for the actual question, the quoted post is correct that Apple should fix it for you if you make a genius bar appointment and bring it in since it should still be under warranty. This seems to be a pretty rare problem with MacBooks though (I can't say I've really ever encountered fan failures, though there were all kinds of heat issues with one year's models around the AMD/ATI GPUs (2011 maybe?). 
Click to expand...
 
It can be an issue as your laptop gets older. Dust and stuff can get on the inside making harder for the fan to cool as easily as it did when new. Now put it on your lap where you basically have a heater under it instead of a desk and a small air pocket and it can struggle.
 
T

TheWinkleman

New Member
Jan 8, 2012
43
The warranty should make this a moot point, but I can share my story. I had a MacBook Pro, about 4 years old, with a left fan that suddenly developed a very loud grinding noise. I was able to find a replacement left fan for $5 on ebay. Then I followed a guide on YouTube to replace it myself without any computer repair expertise. It wasn't fun because I was worried about damaging something, given how tightly everything is packed in there. It was successful, though, costing me only $5 and maybe an hour of my time. The computer has run well since and the fans have been fine.
 
You'd obviously rather have an Apple Store do this for you while it's under warranty, but my point is that is should be easy and cheap to repair. A newer MacBook Pro probably won't have the same design, which might make it more or less difficult to open up and fix for a novice. Either way, the repair center should be able to fix it quickly. It's possible the fan just needs to be cleaned off because it has collected dust, or it could simply be defective like mine was. If you have concerns about how hot it's getting on your lap, you could look at getting a laptop cooling pad or stand that fits your needs.
 
Blacken

Blacken

Robespierre in a Cape
SoSH Member
Jul 24, 2007
12,152
Apple will replace a Retina MBP fan for $50 flat. I had my 2012 MBP (which I have beaten the absolute shit out of) refreshed--new top case, keyboard, battery, and trackpad, plus both fans replaced because they were starting to get whiny--for $300.

My machine is about ten percent slower than a 2014 rMBP. I went in there ready to buy a new top-of-the-line MBP, and Apple steered me away from it. I'm not mad about that.
 
Comfortably Lomb

Comfortably Lomb

Koko the Monkey
SoSH Member
Feb 22, 2004
13,042
The Paris of the 80s
Blacken said:
Apple will replace a Retina MBP fan for $50 flat. I had my 2012 MBP (which I have beaten the absolute shit out of) refreshed--new top case, keyboard, battery, and trackpad, plus both fans replaced because they were starting to get whiny--for $300.

My machine is about ten percent slower than a 2014 rMBP. I went in there ready to buy a new top-of-the-line MBP, and Apple steered me away from it. I'm not mad about that.
Click to expand...
 
They convinced my mom to refurb instead of buy a new one too after some issues with one of the slightly older MBPs. I was very surprised (and the refurb was great... ended up with a new logic board and battery for the standard refurb cost). She basically uses the thing for email, internet, and streaming netflix but I assumed they would just get her to splurge on a new one.
 
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