I recently bought an M1 MacBook Air and the display lid seems to make a quiet but noticeable "sticky clicking" noise when opening it, especially after being left closed for a while. Anyone else have this issue? Is it normal or should I go and get it fixed?
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M1 MacBook Air display lid makes a "sticky" noise when opened
- Thread starter ciremoh
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My 2019 MacBook Pro made the same noise right after I purchased it but after a few months it went away so I wouldn’t worry too much if it were me.
I've noticed the same sound on my M1 MBA and I think I figured out why--it's that rubber gasket that's all around the edge of the top half. It sometimes sticks to the metal at first, especially right after I take it out of the leather sleeve.
My estimate is that that sound comes from the flat cables / hinges that connect the screen with the body.
On MBP, they are visible from the bottom side (2 flat, brown tracks) when you open/close the lid. On MBA its hidden as there are no vents.
I'm certain it's the rubber gasket around the screen, as it has a sticky rubbery sound that only appears after the screen has been closed for a few hours, and is only present when you open the lid for the first time since last use, ie in the morning. Subsequent opening and closing immediately after doesn't reproduce the sound.
From my understanding it's the powerful lid magnet that's pressing the rubber gasket against the aluminium base, causing air to escape slowly causing a slight depressurization, making the rubber gasket adhere even more strongly to the base. Which is why sometimes, if the mbp has been in my backpack and "squeezed" together, the lid will be stuck so hard to the base, when opening the lid, the entire mbp lifts up from the table.
It's a bad design from Apple. My 2018 MBP 13" had it, and now my 2020 M1 MBP 13" has it. I even read on reddit that a user with the 2021 M1 Pro is experiencing this as well.
It's the state of Apple laptops these days I'm afraid, might as well just get used to it, since it's not going away.
From my understanding it's the powerful lid magnet that's pressing the rubber gasket against the aluminium base, causing air to escape slowly causing a slight depressurization, making the rubber gasket adhere even more strongly to the base. Which is why sometimes, if the mbp has been in my backpack and "squeezed" together, the lid will be stuck so hard to the base, when opening the lid, the entire mbp lifts up from the table.
It's a bad design from Apple. My 2018 MBP 13" had it, and now my 2020 M1 MBP 13" has it. I even read on reddit that a user with the 2021 M1 Pro is experiencing this as well.
It's the state of Apple laptops these days I'm afraid, might as well just get used to it, since it's not going away.
It's just the rubber gasket around the LCD which exists to cushion your LCD as you close the lid so that you don't end up slamming your glass LCD into the aluminium chassis. It also lifts the LCD so that it doesn't make direct contact with the keyboard.
The sticky sound "goes away" over time because the rubber gasket gets coated in dirt and dust which reduces its friction coefficient, thus preventing it from sticking to the aluminium of your MacBook and making a sound as you open the lid.
REGARDLESS, it's nothing to even think about. Just use your MacBook.
Good lord some people are neurotic. What do you expect exactly? Does the barely audible sound of rubber completely demolish the usability of your laptop or something?
The sticky sound "goes away" over time because the rubber gasket gets coated in dirt and dust which reduces its friction coefficient, thus preventing it from sticking to the aluminium of your MacBook and making a sound as you open the lid.
REGARDLESS, it's nothing to even think about. Just use your MacBook.
Good lord some people are neurotic. What do you expect exactly? Does the barely audible sound of rubber completely demolish the usability of your laptop or something?
Neurotic or not, not all macs have it, ie my wife's macbook air never makes this rubber sound, I know because I tested it side by side. Does it prevent me from using the mac, no? Is it annoying? yes. Can I live with it? yes, of course, i'm not crazy. But it doesn't change the fact that it does annoy me every time I open the lid, especially knowing that not all macs has it, it jsut happens to be so with mine.
And also, something must be wrong with the design when the entire mac lifts itself up from the table when I pry the lid open if it's just sat untouched long enough. But yeah, sure be a rude internet troll and be condescending, instead of understanding, and call me neurotic. Thanks, and have a merry christmas @lumpycustard.
And also, something must be wrong with the design when the entire mac lifts itself up from the table when I pry the lid open if it's just sat untouched long enough. But yeah, sure be a rude internet troll and be condescending, instead of understanding, and call me neurotic. Thanks, and have a merry christmas @lumpycustard.
Clean the rubber gasket around your wife’s MacBook and I’ll guarantee you that the rubber “sound” will happen on her machine.
I wouldn’t be surprised if her machine doesn’t make a noise simply because she doesn’t clean it as fastidiously as you.
Dust and dirt on the rubber seal, or hand oils on the keyboard deck will prevent the rubber from “sticking”. If you’re the type of person (like me) who wipes their MacBook down daily with a micro fibre cloth then the sound will always happen.
My wife does not give a single solitary **** about her laptop and just uses it, barely ever cleaning it, and hers never makes a sound.
And I’m sorry if you feel offended, that isn’t my intention.
Merry Christmas to you as well.
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I'm not sure if your explanation is right or not, but it makes total sense to me. It's better than any explanation I've been able to come up with. The gasket itself on my M1 Air doesn't seem especially sticky, and has acted this way from day 1. I make it that much worse by storing mine in the Apple leather sleeve. It really gets held firmly in place at all times when I'm not using it.
All that being said, I don't really care. It only annoys me for that second when I'm opening the laptop. I can't consider that any kind of deal breaker when I take into consideration how much I love the computer in general. It's everything I've wished for years that the Mac would become once it wasn't crippled by Intel.
What might be happening is that act of firmly pressing the lid closed is creating a vacuum inside the gasket which is what you hear when opening it. The sound is air rushing to fill the vacuum rather than the gasket sticking against the metal. Makes sense that putting it in a sleeve could cause the issue because it is actively pressing the lid closed. Try putting something between the gasket and palmrest, like a couple of index cards, something which will stop the gasket from sealing perfectly.
When I open my MBA it makes the same sound. This seems like it might be because of the magnets. It might be a design flaw. Someone posted a video on YouTube about this. Many people who commented had the same problem. I don't know if there is any way to fix this. Every time I open my MacBook after a while it makes a sticky noise.
No way to fix, and it doesn't fade with time. My 2018 made the sound consistently if I hadn't used it for a half a day or so, or opening it in the morning, sitting with lid closed on my desk or sitting inside its sleeve in my backpack. I was wondering if applying some silicone to the rubber gasket would fix it, but I don't feel like experimenting with that
All I can say is, either return it or learn to ignore it. Getting a replacement might not fix it. It's pretty much a lottery it seems.
No way to fix, and it doesn't fade with time. My 2018 made the sound consistently if I hadn't used it for a half a day or so, or opening it in the morning, sitting with lid closed on my desk or sitting inside its sleeve in my backpack. I was wondering if applying some silicone to the rubber gasket would fix it, but I don't feel like experimenting with that
All I can say is, either return it or learn to ignore it. Getting a replacement might not fix it. It's pretty much a lottery it seems
The thing is, is this something to be worried about? Is this an actual problem?No way to fix, and it doesn't fade with time. My 2018 made the sound consistently if I hadn't used it for a half a day or so, or opening it in the morning, sitting with lid closed on my desk or sitting inside its sleeve in my backpack. I was wondering if applying some silicone to the rubber gasket would fix it, but I don't feel like experimenting with that
All I can say is, either return it or learn to ignore it. Getting a replacement might not fix it. It's pretty much a lottery it seems.
I agree. Apple really has to fix these annoying problems or people won't buy their products anymore. Apple has these annoying design flaws with their products all the time. They just won't become better. It always happens every time they release new products.
Then you are one of the lucky ones who didn't get one of those macs. Unless your hearing is damaged, it is very noticable. I would estimate it's around the same volume the keyboard clacking makes. If you can hear your keyboard when typing, and you have one the macs that makes this sound, you'd hear it.
I know right. At least a high percentage of Macs make this sound and I believe it is the magnets.
My theory is that the it is creating a vacuum inside the rubber screen gasket, but I don't have an afflicted computer. To test this you need to place something on the edge of the palm-rest, which is thick enough to prevent the gasket from sealing against the metal surface, and see if the sound still happens when a vacuum isn't created because the gasket can't seal against the metal.
Ok. This must be a design flaw and it does not effect the functionality of the MacBooks but there is always some little annoying thing that annoys us this tends to be with Apple products, even iPads and iPhones, all their devices have some little design flaw that drives people crazy.
You have a point. Because when I just cleaned my MacBook the noise was worse.
Even my MacBook Pro 14 2021 that I got yesterday is making this sound. This is actually a replacement laptop, the first one I got didn't have this sound. Should I ask for a replacement since its brand new?