So pretty much, whenever I click on play on any Unity project, my MacBook starts making this weird noise(Not From Speakers). If I tab out or stop playing the project, the noise stops. Is This Normal?
Oh yeah, It only happens on Unity.
Sounds like (no pun intended) you have an audio object⌠you know⌠playing some audio⌠
I donât think it is the speakers, it is more like from the middle of the macbook.
Here is the audio file: Unity.m4a - Google Drive
I think it might be from the ssd though.
Have the same problem. I have many different projects. Iâve created a sample URP project from the template and inside play mode it starts to make this sound. This is not coming from the speakers. If I disable the camera object it stops.
If I disable post-processing it changes to a slightly lower sound but still persists.
Same Here. M2 Max. Sounds very similar and itâs quite annoying
Itâs strange that this doesnât happen when developing in Unreal, even on hardware-intensive projects.
Activity monitor shows bursts of recordings to the SSD when start âplayâ and Console.app overflowed with event such as
CacheDeleteVolume
com.apple.osanalytics.user.cachedelete
com.apple.nsurlsessiond-cachedelete
CACHE_DELETE_FREESPACE
etc.
Having the exact same problem on my brand new Macbook Pro M4 Pro (16 in.)
Did not have any of this on my previous model (M1 Pro)
The same problem here on my macbook Pro M4. That strange sound is produced when zooming in/out, viewing the scene by right-clicking, or playing and running the game.
Same here. Whenever I click on play in Unity (6), my Mac Book Pro M4 Pro (16 inch) will make those squeaking weird sounds as well.
I am creating a 3D game and my main camera is controlled by my mouse movements - when I move the mouse around, the sounds do change in height (sometimes higher tones, sometimes lower tones).
It does not sound âgoodâ, aka I am fearing that this might be bad for the health of my Mac.
What could cause this? And how to prevent damage to my Mac?
In case this âhelpsâ anybody, it seems to be because of the chip itself and not because of unity.
You can verify this in 2 ways:
- turn ON power saving mode, the cracking sound is gone.
- launch any other game, cracking sound is there (I tested Minecraft, but any other game will trigger it as well)
To me, it just sounds like bad design from Apple.
I have since swapped my MBP M4 Pro since I first had the issue, and the issue persists on a brand new one, so, this on top of the rest is proof to me that it is simply poor design and low effort from Apple rather than a Unity problem.
MacBook Pro M3, Sequoia 15.3, Unity 6000.0.34f1
makes a âcrackleâ or âhissingâ sound, not fan noise, when using Unity.
only when I hit Play does the âcrackleâ become a more audible âhissâ. its sound like electricity. I equate it to a shitty PSU or a bad soldering job. itâs faint, but disconcerting. if it causes my Mac to failâŚim toast. I canât afford another one in my current state.
additionally, when I click OFF the Unity window, in Edit more or Play mode, and click on another window, or just click on the desktop, taking focus off the Unity window, the noise is gone. It can still be running the game/project, but itâs not the active window, and the noise goes away. comes back as soon as I click back on the project.
when Unity is in play mode, the CPU usage is only 1.5-2%. nominal. so I have no idea what is up.
ran diagnostics on the Mac, hardware passed. i tried different configurations of externals, to nothing connected to the Mac, and all scenarios gave me the same result. a hiss while Unity is in Play mode, and the scene has nothing it other than the light and the camera.
Stopped using unity because of this annoying sound. I was very disappointed that the release of unity 6 did not solve the problem. And judging by the fact that this occurs on the m4, buying a new MacBook will not solve it either.
I can confirm that valentin566101âs method with switching to power saving mode works. This is at least some kind of solution, you can develop and disable power saving only when you need all power.
Still, I donât think it is only because of hardware, despite the fact that it occurs while gaming in minecraft.
At work, I often compile a heavy project in Xcode (cold build load CPU at 100% and it long ~ 10 min). I also periodically use Houdini, Blender and ZBrush. All this works quite well on max chips. You can even download some free splashscreen scenes in Blender to run a heavy render or do any kind of simulation in Houdini. Unreal also seems fine.
I hear this sound only in Unity.
And apparently the problem seems is not so widespread, considering that Unity is very popular for mobile gamedev. Maybe this only appears on 16 inch macbooks or on certain ssd sizes(mine 2tb). I will check if there is sound on my old macbook 14 with m1 pro
I also experience this issue on my 16" M3 Max MacBook Pro w/ 2TB SSD. I only ever notice the sound in Unity. Iâll play closer attention now, but never in the past 15 months of owning this machine have I noticed it in any other app or game.
I am connected to a dock and run two external displays, if that matters. One from the dock, one in a USB C port of the MBP.
Hey, I have same thing on my M4. The moment I hit play I can hear a tiny squeak, kind of high-pitched. I had similar noise years ago when I over-clocked my PC GPU, just louder back then.
What happens is called âcoil whineâ. The little power coils that feed the GPU switch on-off very fast (tens-hundreds kHz). When the GPU needs more powerâhigher clocks, more ampsâthose coils vibrate harder. If the switching speed (or its echo) lands inside what our ears can hear, it turns into that squeaky / chirping sound.
Itâs annoying but not dangerous. Some chips just do it more than others, so results may vary. Hope this clears things up!
Have this weird noise too, @epicoro , is there any possibility to turn this off?