iPod owners report whining sound emanating from 2G nanos

In a thread over at the Apple Discussions forums, dozens of iPod owners are reporting high-pitching whining and / or buzzing sounds emanating from their 2nd Generation iPod nanos. Many of the owners cite that their units are fully functional despite the whining, although the volume of the unwanted sound varies between each report; for example, russgra states that the whining sound was the first thing he noticed after picking up his 8GB nano, although Energie claims that he wouldn't have noticed had he not seen the problem popping up in forums. There doesn't seem to be any correlation to any particular model within the range either, with 2, 4, and 8GB owners all reporting the annoyance -- notably, none of the reports notice any sound on their previous generation nanos, leading some to suggest that it's caused by a new or upgraded component such as the backlight or battery. In the interests of investigating the problem ourselves, we commandeered a nearby 2GB nano -- although we could hear a faint whining sound once pressed to our ear (which oddly changed tone after we shook it), we found the whine to be inaudible unless we practically lodged it in our ear. Could it be that this encounter is simply a reverberation of the post-Consumermas hangovers, or is this scenario a repeat of the whining problems with the MacBook? If the latter case is true, then it's worth noting that Apple was relatively quick to fix the problem and silence the buzz, along with the vocal minority of people who had brought the issue to the attention of everyone else.

[Thanks, David B.]

[jbstingray @ Jan 21st 2007 2:16PM]

Well, this happens to my 8GB iPod nano, but it really doesn't bother me at all. I noticed this the day I got it, but it is practically inaudible unless you have it right up against your ear, as you said.

Not to mention that you can't hear it with earbuds/headphones are in your ears....

[jbstingray @ Jan 21st 2007 2:16PM]

Well, this happens to my 8GB iPod nano, but it really doesn't bother me at all. I noticed this the day I got it, but it is practically inaudible unless you have it right up against your ear, as you said.

Not to mention that you can't hear it with earbuds/headphones are in your ears....

[Jake Jarvis @ Dec 31st 2006 5:26PM]

Looks like Apple deleted the discussion thread!

[Nate @ Dec 31st 2006 5:56PM]

I hear whines coming from virtually all my backlit gadgets. My 5G iPod and phone both do this, but it's almost impossible to hear unless I'm listening for it. I think its caused by the backlight, because the whine stops when the backlight goes off.

It doesn't bother me at all... but maybe the nano's whine is louder?

[GJP303 @ Jan 2nd 2007 8:19PM]

saw your comments and put it to the test. Had the backlight on and heard the whine. Turned the backlight off, and STILL heard the noise.

[Pedro @ Dec 31st 2006 5:29PM]

Link is broken, shoudl be
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=3339932

[jesse @ Dec 31st 2006 5:33PM]

I have noticed that my 2ng gen nano is also doing this. I cant hear it when im listening with ear phones but when its playing over the speakers in the car it can be quite annoying. I assumed it was the car before, but now i believe its the ipod.

[Cardbored @ Dec 31st 2006 5:35PM]

wow... this week is just not going well for Apple

[SpamBadger @ Dec 31st 2006 5:36PM]

I say, so what! People only whine about it because It's Apple. God forbid an Apple product have a slight flaw. My ATI 9600 XT whines loudly when you page scroll or do anything 3D, I know of others with this problem, but you never see people get mad about it. Nothing against apple, It's just my opinion.

[TheCount @ Dec 31st 2006 7:09PM]

Well obviously you have nothing against Apple, you just spent a paragraph telling their customers to suck it up and deal.

[Jason @ Jan 2nd 2007 9:36PM]

Yes, mine does the same thing.

[JCollum @ Dec 31st 2006 5:40PM]

I find it funny (as a .net web site developer) that:
- the apple forum link that I clicked on was a jspa page (never heard of it but i'm thinking I know what it is)
- the link got stuck in an endless reloading loop when I loaded the page. the post never showed.

It's like Apple's a club with their own computers, web page types and browsers. If you aren't with them then they don't want any part of ya.

[Leonard Nimrod @ Dec 31st 2006 6:46PM]

@ JCollum

JSPA is an initialism for Java Specification Participation Agreement, a Java community process. The code is not Apple-centric. Your problem mostly likely occured when you loaded the broken page that Engadget originally posted. As to why a .NET developer has never heard of Java is the really mystery hear.

BTW, Apple does have it's own web development tools called WebObjects.

http://www.apple.com/webobjects/

[Dolomite @ Dec 31st 2006 7:13PM]

How a web developer never heard of java is beyond me....

[derek @ Dec 31st 2006 8:53PM]

It's funny how dumb people that think they know things talk shit when they don't know what they are talkign about

[Hugh Jass @ Jan 1st 2007 12:08AM]

You are the n00b.

[mike_s @ Jan 2nd 2007 9:38PM]

I find it funny that a self-proclaimed ".net developer" is too clueless to know how to examine the source code for a page.

Loads fine with Opera on Win32, an obviously non-Apple browser. Kudos to Apple if they don't expend effort to work around well known and still unfixed IE bugs.

[treetrunk @ Dec 31st 2006 5:52PM]

@SpamBadger

Yes, but the primary purpose of your 9600 XT isn't to produce sound. That makes its whining a side-effect. The primary purpose of an iPod is to produce sound. That makes its whining a problem. The equivalent would be if your 9600 XT had a noisy picture.

[kai @ Dec 31st 2006 7:52PM]

i sure hear a whining sound, it sounds like it's coming from the general direction of ipod owners.

[Air @ Dec 31st 2006 5:56PM]

I don't know about the rest of y'all, but every iPod/ color handheld device i've ever owned "wines." (I have ears that are very sensitive to high-pitched frequencies.) It's something to do with the backlighting device. If it really bothers you, put a case over it (that should be enough to block the high pitched sound) or don't use the back light.

[GJP303 @ Jan 2nd 2007 7:23PM]

I hear most TV's when they are on mute whining also. Same with you?

[wahoo scott @ Dec 31st 2006 5:58PM]

i don't see why this is news now. the nano has been out for what, 3+ months now? i got my 2g nano the week they came out, and it was the first thing i noticed, especially when it's charging. i normally would leave it and my big ipod sitting on the nightstand, charging overnight. however, the buzz was keeping me awake at night, so i had to unplug it. i can also hear it coming from the person who sits next to me at work, and their nano is probably 12" away from me (we sit very close to each other based on the layout of our office). she can't even hear it...but i can. it's not a big enough problem imho to dissuade people from getting a nano. ymmv.

[Kenny Mc Aleese @ Jan 1st 2007 7:04PM]

I bought a new blue nano the day they were released and it has a loud whining sound, especially when it's connected to the iPod Hi-Fi... I hope Apple does something about this.

[Rick @ Dec 31st 2006 6:03PM]

The whine noise is the first step in a dangerously overheating battery, next they explode. Or the whine noise just might be some other kid wanting it.

[Asher M. @ Dec 31st 2006 6:04PM]

i also get a whining sound from my 30 gig ipod. what is wrong with apple????

[Johnny_5 @ Dec 31st 2006 6:07PM]

The loundness of the whining is probably more a function of hearing (very dependant on age) then the device. I can hear my Nano whine when it's within three feet of my ear even listening to music. But the 35+ people in my office can't hear it at all.

[Michael @ Dec 31st 2006 6:06PM]

Glad I have a 1G iPod Nano:-D

[John Doe @ Dec 31st 2006 6:09PM]

hmmm... I report a whining sound emanating from 2G iPod nano owners

Sorry
I couldn't resist

[Master Jedi Dan @ Jan 1st 2007 12:34PM]

LOL :D Nice.

[Victor Cornelius @ Dec 31st 2006 6:13PM]

This is news? Those threads have been around since around the time of the release of the 2G nano.

I bought an 8GB model within a week after they were released and noticed the whining sound, checked the forums and saw that it was pretty common. I never really thought too much of it because I hardly notice it, but this is definitely not a new problem.

Been an issue since the release of the Nanos as well as a similar problem with blank white screens showing up on power-on, which seemed to be fixed after I upgraded my firmware.

[Crazylink @ Dec 31st 2006 6:14PM]

@ John Doe: Nice one, I lawled.

When I read the title of this article I thought "Well duh, it's the hard drive spinning." and then I smacked myself when I remembered Nano's are flash based.

[Chuckles McGee @ Dec 31st 2006 6:18PM]

It's just the units transmitting coordinates to the coming invasion of our robot overlords.

[megan @ Dec 31st 2006 6:28PM]

I have an 8GB 2G Nano, never heard any noise at all from it, ever. Except the giggling noise I make every time i realize i have the most awesome nano so far. :)

[netdroid9 @ Dec 31st 2006 9:00PM]

Not even music?!

[Mr. B @ Dec 31st 2006 6:31PM]

I've noticed this myself, I had to put it to my ear to be sure though.

[Dirkus @ Dec 31st 2006 6:35PM]

After reading this I initially just wanted to reply with some snarky comment about how they'd stop hearing that whining noise if they'd just shut up and stop MAKING that whining noise.

However, after closely examining my own 2GB Nano that I got as an Xmas Bonus (Thanks, Canon!) there *is* a very faint whine from the unit, even with the backlight off. I think it's something in the power supply portion of the device myself. It's likely only to be noticible by folks who are extra-sensitive to high frequency sounds.

In reality though, this is a non-issue. The real source of the problem is the volume-limiter in the device. Disable it, crank the tunes a bit louder for a while, and you'll either A) stop complaining about the whining because you'll hear it constantly for the rest of your life, or B) Never hear the whining or any other high-pitched noise ever again.

[Nick @ Dec 31st 2006 6:37PM]

I got a 2g Nano, 4 gb. Doesnt whine, but my hearing is defective. It skips like a cd player does when hold is active tho.

[Dane Elshof @ Dec 31st 2006 6:45PM]

First Generation Nanos do have the same whining noise. Go into a quiet room (no running appliances or computers or fluorescent lights) and make sure the backlight is on. Hold the Nano up to your ear. See... whining noise. I am fairly sure that it is just the backlight or one of the other screen elements and is nothing to be worried about. I wouldn't worry about it :)

[Chris G @ Dec 31st 2006 6:49PM]

I had this problem when I bought a second-ge 4 GB Nano. If the room was fairly quiet, I could hear the high pitched whine from across the room. Some Nanos have a much louder whine than others. And some people don't have good enough hearing to hear it.

I sent it in as a repair and Apple replaced. Now I have a Nano with no whining problem.

[threefingeredlord @ Dec 31st 2006 7:32PM]

After reading this, i put my eat up to the backlit screen of my camera, and heard the noise. When the camera shut its screen off because it was on for 3 mins, the noise stopped. I also did this with ds lite and my phone, same thing. You have to press your ear right against the screen though and move it around until you find the noise. With the ds lite, when you change the brightness while its pressed against your ear, the sound flickers away and back again very quickly. All of these sounds are VERY quiet though.

[Jeff @ Dec 31st 2006 8:51PM]

Maybe there are advantages to being 48 and listening to too much Rock in my misspent youth. Can't hear anything above 18K cycles so no backlight/lcd whines to ever worry about.......

[John Doe @ Dec 31st 2006 9:17PM]

Like, say... how to spell?
or should I say
hwo ot splel?

[Kenny @ Dec 31st 2006 9:24PM]

Apparently teenagers can hear low frequency sounds which people in their 30's or above can't. Some guy even invented a device based on this to stop kids from hanging around outside the local convenience stores! assuming most of them are teenagers of course..

[threefingeredlord @ Dec 31st 2006 9:31PM]

Theres also a 'secret ringtone' you can get for phones for use in school, because the teachers cant hear it.

[L. M. Lloyd @ Dec 31st 2006 10:09PM]

I love how any time there is any sort of problem with Apple hardware, it is immediately followed by some sort of comment about how it is a vocal minority of people having the problem, because Apple users are perfectionists. On the other hand, if a single reviewer has a single tiny problem of any sort with a Creative device, or especially a Zune, then they are forever branded as buggy pieces of junk!

[kristian @ Dec 31st 2006 10:20PM]

So i got my old 4g mini stolen which really sucked. Now im in Thailand and i was about to go pick up my 8g nano from the little apple center in the mall. Reading this, im not too sure if i should buy one now? i mean the one guy sent his in and now its replaced but is it really worth spending? Is there a 50/50 chance that it wont buzz? I see that ppl hear it when the music is playing, and that really, really sux...

[harpoon l0r3 @ Jan 1st 2007 12:02AM]

My first generation nano makes a buzzing noise in the headphones when I have it charging while I listen to music through it. That's pretty clearly a power supply issue though, whereas this could be anything.

[panzerjedi @ Jan 1st 2007 12:17AM]

Don't all LCDs "whine" to some extent? I remember that my LCD hdtv used to whine loudly until I turned the back light setting higher.

[sachleen @ Jan 1st 2007 1:30AM]

What causes these whining sounds? I remember that a mac laptop also had this problem. I am still baffled on what the cause is.

-Sachleen
http://kubixproject.net

[Dillon K. @ Jan 1st 2007 1:46AM]

Hmm... I can hear it on my 8GB Black Nano... but it's nothing I would notice if I didn't press my ear up to the unit.