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

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

0 comments

375 answers

Sort by: Newest
Most helpful Newest Oldest
  1. Anonymous
    2021-04-30T10:12:00+00:00

    Are you really talking about the brand new Surface Laptop 4? Does the new Surface Laptop 4 have the exactly same issue as Surface Laptop 3?

    Yes, the description in this thread seems to match what I've experienced. There's a sound that seems electric rather than mechanical in the SL4 that appears to come from the back edge of the keyboard. It appears to have a bit of a pattern to it, not a constant buzz. I've found that if I hold down a key such as page up or page down, the sound stops, then starts again as soon as I let go. CPU load is ~1%, pretty much idle.

    It's not loud. It's just on the edge of my hearing, just enough to be annoying in a quiet room. The fans are silent unless the system is under load.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  2. Anonymous
    2021-04-30T10:00:42+00:00

    Are you really talking about the brand new Surface Laptop 4? Does the new Surface Laptop 4 have the exactly same issue as Surface Laptop 3?

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  3. Anonymous
    2021-04-30T09:33:15+00:00

    For anyone interested: this issue very definitely exists with the Surface Laptop 4 with an i7 processor (no idea about AMD).

    It's really irritating. I can't keep the SL4 because of this; it's faint but constantly audible even at lap distance. It's a great shame, since otherwise it's a very nice device.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  4. Anonymous
    2021-04-28T05:59:52+00:00

    From the keyboard upper side comes more and more often another crackling sound. That is not the same as the rattling sound that comes from the bottom side of the device.

    I also had it before but now it does that more and more often especially when I charge the laptop and it is turned on.

    You can hear that sound on this link,

    https://youtu.be/kZ\_o9fdScQ4

    It's more or less the same with the one that I get.

    Does anyone else get the same crackling sound?

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  5. Anonymous
    2021-04-17T22:25:04+00:00

    It was suggested on this thread to download RingCentral.  It's some kind of messaging program.

    I installed it, opened the program and the buzzing sound went completely silent. You can click on X and program minimizes to system tray, so you don't have to worry about keeping it open.

    Without the program on, the sound comes back on.

    Was this answer helpful?

    1 person found this answer helpful.
    0 comments