Surface Laptop 3 Faint Buzzing Sound

Anonymous
2019-10-23T21:50:20+00:00

Hello,

I’ve got the i5 8GB Surface Laptop 3 (13.5-inch), and today, while browsing the internet, I noticed a fairly faint  buzzing sound coming from under the keyboard. It was faint enough you couldn’t hear it from a couple metres away, and sometimes buzzed continuously, other times buzzed in short repetitive bursts.

It didn’t sound like the fan to me, so I opened up the task manager to see if browsing was straining the computer in some way.

I have updated the computer completely, but the buzzing persisted.

Is this a normal electronics problem? Is it actually just the fan? Or is it possibly a defective unit?

Edit/Update:

I took the device into the MS Store today to see if there was something wrong. The staff took it into the back and tested it. They found increasing the computer's workload caused the sound to increase and described it as a popping static-y sound. They replaced the device and I have a new one now. Unfortunately, I've found through usage that this one is also making the sound. I am waiting to see if a firmware update reduces the noise since it seems pervasive across the devices.

Surface | Surface Laptop | Install and update

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  1. Anonymous
    2019-12-18T15:56:06+00:00

    I'm having same issue. I noticed it today for the first time. Symptoms include ...

    1. Faint buzzing seems to originate from underneath the keyboard
    2. Hard to locate exact location as sounds travels
    3. Unrelated to CPU load. I hear it when CPU is near 1% and fan is off
    4. Unrelated to power cord plugged in or out.
    5. Sound disappears when computer in standby.

    I managed to record it. You can hear it here. https://1drv.ms/u/s!At88Mf-PQl\_LgaNqddH7\_p-kPuJ13A?e=thGe2v 

    I hope Microsoft is able to resolve it. At a minimum, share with users an explanation of this noise and what can be done to eliminate it. 

    Thanks

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  2. Anonymous
    2019-12-11T16:28:15+00:00

    Is this buzzing sound only happening on the 13.5" model?  Or is it happening on the 15" model as well? 

    I have the 13.5 and I am experiencing the same buzzing sound under/near the power button.  I'm debating on whether or not to return it at this point.  I wish Microsoft would give us some insight on the problem...especially if it can be fixed with a firmware update.

    Perhaps the 15" model is not not experiencing the same issues?

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  3. Anonymous
    2019-12-09T13:17:47+00:00

    Wow! Extremely disappointed with Microsoft! I just got my new SL3 today and the fan's noise is driving me crazy! My 8 year old SONY VAIO(!) was way quieter than this!

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  4. Anonymous
    2019-12-08T17:29:09+00:00

    Why is there still no fix for this issue?

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  5. Anonymous
    2019-12-07T10:48:13+00:00

    I made a discovery today regarding this buszzing issue. 

    When I do a virus scan (I tried both quick scan/full scan) the buzzing sound goes away. When I'm on battery it goes completely silent. So if I do a full scan i the background it stays silent most of the time (only a few times did the buzzing start again, but then just for a short time before it stops again).

    If I'm using the charger I can still hear the sound, but It's not really buzzing the same way and it's much much more silent...sadly the fans seems to start when I'm scanning the computer with the charger plugged in (this happens even when I'm on battery, but the fans spin more with the charger).

    Maybe this means that this is a Harddrive issue? Anyway, more people could try it and see if it works for them. Ofcourse It's just a temporary fix since the second the scan is finished or stopped the buzzing starts again.

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