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
    2019-12-19T04:36:33+00:00

    Totally agree. The buzzing is highly likely to be coil whine, a.k.a., electric current induced transistor vibration. Mine is loud enough to distract me from focusing.

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  2. Anonymous
    2019-12-19T03:33:09+00:00

    I returned mine about an hour ago. I am dissapointedto say the least. 

    First laptop had a strange stain on the cover and was obvious in any light. 

    2nd laptop had loud buzzing and issues with Wi Fi after waking from sleep. The buzzing actually felt like it was vibrating through to the laptop. 

    I got my money back and will invest in a product that does not seem to have these problems.

    Let me state, I am not looking for a perfect laptop...but for the price we pay, I dont expect stains on a laptop fresh out of a box, or a laptop that has buzzing from day 1.

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  3. Anonymous
    2019-12-18T17:18:26+00:00

    hi, yes, exactly. Thanks for sharing the noise recording. Mine is way worse than yours. I will return mine soon.

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  4. 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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  5. Anonymous
    2019-12-18T06:51:37+00:00

    I also have the same buzzing. 

    Again it is not that loud, and it was by pure chance I put my head up next to the laptop to hear it..

    However, this is my 2nd unit as the first unit had some weird stains on the cover of the black surface. 

    Im just going to suck up the buzzing because performance wise has not been affected.

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