Why does my Apple laptop beep at me?

My flat-panel iMac did this to me twice last weekend.
The first time I was completely unprepared for it, but the second time (the following day) I paid closer attention. It sounded as if the beep was coming from the system unit rather that through the speakers. There was no sign of any on-screen alert or any entry in any of the obvious log files suggesting that OS X had encountered a problem. I haven’t heard it since, and my iMac is still operating normally, but naturally I’m curious as to what could have caused it.

A few years back when I was new to the Internet, my computer hit me with an error message that said, “Your domain needs to be resolved.” I’m still reeling from the existential shock of that moment….

I had this exact same thing happen with a Powerbook 800.
It would beep when charging. The resolution was that I needed a new AC power adaptor. I had Applecare and they sent me a new one free, but if you don’t have it, you can get a 3rd party charger for as little as $50.
Another symptom was that the green light on the plug that goes into the powerbook to indicate a full charge would not come on sometimes. It would usually come back if I wiggled the electric cord right near the plug.
There was no correlation between whether the green light was on and the beeping, but the new power supply fixed everything.

Sounds like your Powerbook has become infected by the Nokia message tone.

You might want to see if you can record the beeps in an AIFF file and put a link to it here so we can hear what it sounds like.

My iBook has beeped (and not through the speakers) for the last 2.5 years. While it was under warranty I called Apple several times, but they didn’t have a solution.

Oh my god. That’s fucking terrible. It was the bloody advert on Wired.com – I go every couple of days and I’d simply never connected the two in any way. They should do something about that, it’s been driving me insane with worry.

Maybe it’s because it was designed by Apple in California but assembled in Malaysia.

My Powerbook just beeped at me for the second time since I’ve had it (about 3 months). I don’t recall the scenario around the first time, but this time the only application I had running was iTunes and Illustrator CS. After listening to the last few songs again, it turns out it was just a funny rip of an Alice In Chains song. Weird. Here i was thinking, “only a couple more weeks until I can afford a back-up hard drive!”

In the interest of archiving a phenomenon, I confess that I too have a beeping G4 17-inch powerbook (minted first run Aprilish 2003). Same symptoms: one random simple beep, not from the speakers, never more than twice a day. Can’t discern any conditions that would give me reproducible results. Don’t have to be online, using Airport, doesn’t have to be in my lap, doesn’t have to be running hot. Doesn’t even have to be AWAKE! Happens at any time of day. Apple Store Palo Alto hadn’t heard a peep about this beep, so couldn’t give advice or warning. Hate to think it was something dying. Backing up like crazy just in case. Seems to be coming from behind, to the left. (???), but it has a ventriloquist quality of making me think some other errant device in the room is making the sound. Very interesting. If anyone knows what it is, let me know.

I have had this problem since yesterday. The beeping is every 15 or 20 minutes and happens also when the powerbook is sleeping or even OFF. I have a 12 inch powerbook (5 month old) and I use to work for Apple in Canada and have never heard anything like it before from other customers.
I haven’t installed anything new lately but am worried that the computer is slowly trying not to die. or at least backing up. Who knows?

as mentioned at http://www.crypticide.com/dropsafe/articles/apple/post20050509110923.comments :-
OK – this has happened twice in the past three months, although the last time I was not really certain I’d observed it; I put my elbows down on the tabletop, hard, enough to cause a vibration shock to the G3 700 iBook upon which I was working.
There was an extended, low-pitched, piezoelectric-speaker-sound warning “gleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep” sound – no syslog messages, no nothing else.
I am wondering whether the replacement mobo that it received earlier this year, has one of those antishock things fitted but is not wired to anything?
Or: it could be just dying, which is fair enough seeing as it gets hammered and is soon to be replaced anyway.
Has anyone else experienced this?

I had the beep for a few months……
….after installing Canons new EOS Digital camera applications, my g4 laptop took a large crash, beeping, spinning, snapping, crashing 24/7. SO, I reformatted and clean installed Tiger, now disk utiltiy is giving me red warning about fatal error and the hard drive needs to be replaced immediately.
so thats my epxerience with the ‘unexplainable beep’…. mine had a sort of a snap like sound with it as it beeped…. the sound came from under the keys towards the mid right side of the keyboard…. I thought heat had something to do with it, perhaps?.
off the Fry’s this morning to get a new drive.
take care and good luck,

Regarding your laptop beep,
My G4/500 TiBook has “subtly” since I bought it back in 2001. I beeps very softly, always at the same volume no matter waht the sound level is set too. In all this time, I haven’t noticed if it beeps while running on battery, but it does seem as though it’s not coming from the speakers. There seems to be no pattern to it and I have yet to find an answer to the issue. It’s very mysterious, but I’ve learned to live with it. Still, I’d like to know why it’s happening.

hello….my 15inch powerbook just didnt turn on today it beeps three times and the screen is blank. This laptop is only acouple weeks old and iam very pist. The sleep light is blinking the same sequence as well. Iam not sure what i should do and if i should be calling apple or is there some key command taht i need to use. PLEAAASEEE HELPPP MEE i need this computar for school.
-Thanks

The 3 beeps problem appears to mean no RAM found.
Check out this URL:
http://www.macosx.com/content/faq.php/q14375/Powerbook-Will-Not-Start-Up,-It-Just-Beeps-At-Me.html

I just purchased a 1.67 GHz PowerBook G4 17″ with DDR2-enabled RAM and have experienced the same issue, approximately once every two days, while the laptop was powered on. It sounds as if it’s coming from the left side of the laptop, but not from the speakers. My previous 1.25 GHz Powerbook G4 15″ never had that issue. I haven’t a clue as to what’s up; luckily it’s more of a happy beep than a low-pitched screeching noise 😉

I have a powerbook 667 and it has been freezing almost non-stop for the last week, making it unusable (I’m typing this from an e-machine). When it freezes, it beeps four times and the system “sleep” light also flashes four times as well. The only way to make it stop is to unplug the power and take out the battery. It doesn’t seem to matter if the computer is plugged in or on battery power. I’ve been the only owner it’s ever known, since June of 2002, and it has always worked fine up until now. I’m not quite ready to get a new computer (money and sentimental reasons) and I’m running out of options. I don’t want to have to use an e-machine for the rest of my life. Somebody please help!

Don’t feel alone, My Averatec Laptop beeps often. Just before I asked the internet, it beeped six times in a row.
Tech support says: They have no idea!!
Friend told me it means my HDD is dying a slow death. Your guess is as good as the techs.
HHH

I have an old mac laptop charger and the only problem with it was that the end was broken. Since I needed some powerful dc, I chopped off the end and ran the electricity through salt-water (for electrolysis). During some of my experiments the charger would beep at me. I believe that this indicates that the charger thinks it’s short-cricuiting. For the people who have only had beeping when the computer is charging, listen to the charger. The high-pitch noise is very hard to locate and this may be why most people thought it was coming from the computer.
Hope this helps some of you.

My damn Averatec beeps in law classes – school just started yesterday. People two rows ahead turn around and glare at me…No help from tech support. Turned off sound, disabled sound card – still beeps. Sound is coming from the CDrom drive. In addition to loans I may have to suck up the cost of buying a NON beeping, second laptop…

Don’t know about all the issues but the original where the Mac beeps 4 times is indicating a ROM problem. HOWEVER, RAM sticks can also cause same. I installed my own RAM about a year ago, had problems, switched them around and worked great. Now I get 4 beeps and the LED on the latch button blinks 4 times as well. Replaced RAM with original stick and seems to be OK now.

My Dell Inspiron 1150 gives a constant beeping sorta sounds like a heart beat. If I turn down the volume it goes away but ofcourse this means I have no sound on the computer. Anyone have any ideas about what this could be? I’ve been running virus scans and it occurs when no programs are running.

My G4 went black today. I have the 3 beeps too. I put in a CD to see if it would play and now it’s stuck (Erland Oye – DJ Kicks). I sure hope my Applecare is still in effect, because I’ve only had this 15 incher for 2 years, 2 months.

Im having the same problem as everone else. 3 beeps. Its a sort of elongated submarine beep. and It happens once ever 20 minutes! It doesnt beep when it is closed but otherwise, it doesnt matter if its charging or not. I cant tell where its coming from because its a general noise that emits from the computer. Like a bubble. Why isnt there a solution to this?

I have the same problem as some of you have….I am very computer illiterate and confused…i came home from out of town and my ex says the laptop doesnt work…I turn it on, the screen stays black and then the three beeps. Screen stays black and the sleep white light blinks three times. If any of you guys are good with computers or have fixed this problem on your own MAc PLEASE HELP!! Thanks. if you cant respond on here, lemme know I will give you my email.