1. I paid for two processors, not one.

2. Battery life when running on two processors is actually (confusingly) better than when running on one.

2) The second and most likely source of the sound is from the inability of the logic board to handle the changes in power requirements that the two processors draw upon. When the processors are churning away, the logic board has a pretty easy time handling the distribution of power to the processors. This is why opening up a program like photo both will reduce the whining sound (The program draws on a lot of processing power, the processors require a consistent and “more quiet” flow of power, and the noise is reduced).

However, as soon as you close photo booth the whining will come back, this is because not all of the capabilities of the Intel processors are being called upon, and quite frankly the logic board just can’t shut off the power all the way. Hence, your second processor (chip, core, “brain”- or whatever you call it) begins to whine. If you listen over the F,G,H, and D keys you should be able to hear this.

Now you know the problem…Wanna know the solution???
Well I really don’t know..I just recommend spilling copious amounts of water or alcohol on the machine…see what happens!

NOT. DON’T BE STUPID. NEVER WASTE A GOOD DRINK.

Instead,
1) open the pack of CDs that came with your computer. Or you could download CHUD off the internet..
2) Look for the CD that says “Developer Tools” on it…it may be called CHUD
3)Insert Disc
4)Run Disk
5) Run the program known as CHUD
6)Install all the little programs…really they are ridiculously small…just put them in the Application folder and forget about them.
7)Go to system prefs
8)Go to processor
9)Check “SHOW CONTROL IN MENU BAR”
10) Click the little icon and change it to one processor
11)Enjoy the silence =P

That should do it…Peace Out.

Hmm. this is interesting, my friend has a mac, even though you cant hear a wine, if i plug head phones in i can hear the same noise that u are describing. (the modulation in the pitch that is) when ever the cpu is working.

I have the whine which is *really* irritating as I use the machine a lot for looking at PDFs of notes whilst in the library. There seem to be 3 regions of noise:
almost no usage (e.g. looking at a PDF in Preview): quiet
little usage (e.g. scrolling said PDF): whine
more usage (e.g. opening an application or whatever): quiet(er)

I realise I’m posting later than most of you; has apple sorted this problem somehow, or are you all just getting used to it?

Richard

The Processor system preference is on both of my systems but I’m not sure where it came from. I know it wasn’t there originally; perhaps TinkerTool or the Developer Tools stuck it there.

I’m not sure if the Intel processor will allow you to disable processor napping in that manner, but it causes an immediate and abrupt end to the processor whines of my G4s the moment the checkbox is unchecked. Hopefully the Intel ‘Books will let you do the same and make my comment useful.

- D