14 DAY TRIAL // Apple is reportedly working on a fix for MacBook Pro owners whose 7,200RPM hard drives randomly click and beep as the computer accesses data on the drive. Hundreds of users on the Apple Discussions forums have complained of the issue, with some of them confirming that Apple’s tech support staff is aware of ongoing development efforts for the release of a fix.
“I recently purchased a new MBP 15, 3 Ghz, 500 GB 7200 rpm hard drive, build-to-order,” thread starter wessto writes. “The hard drive appears to be a seagate ST9500420ASG. I am experiencing a strange hard drive click followed 80% of the time by a beep. It is definitely not a beep from the speaker. Additionally, it happens at any time, even when the computer is sitting on a perfectly still table,” the Apple Discussions forum user explains.
Fellow forum users share their own experience with Seagate drives...
“Add me to the list of new 3 GHz/500 GB 7200 RPM owners who are experiencing the same thing. I get the same, infrequent beep from the hard drive at seemingly random times,” says KBeat, another MacBook Pro owner plagued by the issue. “The drive checks out completely on S.M.A.R.T. and other tests, so it doesn't seem to indicate a problem,” he writes. “I'm curious to see what the guys at the Genius bar have to say. My guess is they'll have no clue. This will be a learning experience for them as it's undoubtably a specific issue with the new Seagate drive. My big hope, of course, it this isn't indicative of a pending drive issue that will affect data. I'm doing regular backups, but I'm nervous,” the author of the post concludes.
AppleInsider signals that the issue has grown since January, when it was first reported. Recently, however, some forum users claim to have been on the phone with AppleCare representatives who allegedly told them that Apple was working on a fix. User jgcamil is cited in the AppleInsider report as saying that he was told by Level 2 support that Apple was "highly" aware of the issue and it was one of the company's "highest priorities." However, while the Mac maker can only issue a firmware fix, the problem seems to be mechanical. One of the site’s readers, whose laptop also beeps, says he believes the issue is caused by the original firmware for the hard drive.
"The crazy thing is that you can read comments about AppleCare Engineers stance on this issue: 'Its normal behavior,' (and) 'Apple´s Working on a fix,'" he told AppleInsider. "Also, some of them are recommending doing a complete reinstall, when this issue is factory related."