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
    2021-01-15T16:38:12+00:00

    Ditto here - mine is now technically out of warranty although this is clearly a manufacturer's defect affecting this entire lineup.  

    It's (unfortunately) incredibly agitating......this little "buzz" has me completely re-organizing my home office setup just to get the laptop OUT OF EARSHOT.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  2. Anonymous
    2021-01-14T03:57:26+00:00

    I too have the exact same problem. Buzzing sound coming from under F121/Power button. It is absolutely driving me crazy at night in a quiet room.

    I've had constant issues with this laptop from the day I purchased it. Google chrome doesn't work (freezes constantly), Night Lite mode wont turn off even when toggled off in the settings, my cursor jumps around (luckily this was fixed by resetting my laptop to factory defaults), and finally this buzzing annoyance.

    It is absolutely unacceptable that over 250 of us have posted about this very problem and over 1000 people have up voted the original poster's question and we have been completely ghosted by Microsoft.

    This is clearly a manufacturer's defect. We would at the very least appreciate acknowledgment from the company that sold us $2000 laptops with mickey mouse engineering. We did not get what we paid for and you know it.

    I switched from Apple for this laptop... I am questioning that choice.

    Was this answer helpful?

    3 people found this answer helpful.
    0 comments
  3. Anonymous
    2021-01-04T17:40:27+00:00

    I booted into Win10 Safe mode where the processor frequency is fixed to 1.5Ghz and voila, no buzzing sound at all!

    So it is definitely the speed stepping of the processor causing this buzzing issue.

    At least this let me hope that it can be fixed with an driver update.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  4. Anonymous
    2021-01-04T12:34:31+00:00

    Yes, maybe they can fix the issue with a driver update. But for me, it looks more like a hardware issue...

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  5. Anonymous
    2021-01-04T00:34:44+00:00

    just noticed that when you go into the BIOS the Buzzing sound is completly gone. 

    Means to me that it has something to do with CPU/ Power Mgmt, Speed step drivers

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments