Is it normal for MacBook Pro CD/DVD drive to makes noise on wake after long sleep

Question

Every time I put my MacBook Pro (13in, mid-2012) to sleep and shut the lid, then wait at least 20 mins then open the lid and wake it up, my CD/DVD drive makes an odd sound as if it thinks there's a disk in there to read but then realizes there isn't and stops the sound.

Many of my friends own MacBook Pros and none of their CD/DVD drives do this on wake after a long sleep. I should probably also mention that this sound only started happening about 6 months after I bought it, it's now 1.5 years old.

So, is it normal for my MacBook Pro to make a sound on wake after a long sleep?

Answer 1

Yes.

After all, OS X wants to allow you to access what's on the disc currently inside the drive. When you eject a disc, the system reacts by no longer showing the disc on the desktop or in Finder. When you insert a disc, the system reacts by showing the disc on the desktop and in Finder.

When the system is asleep, it's no longer keeping track of whether a disc has been ejected, inserted, or replaced with a different disc. It has to check what's in the drive when it wakes up in order to react properly to what's there.

Answer 2

Yes, but I've seen different sounds and behaviors across different Superdrive manufacturers. Since Apple only buys the drives from other hardware producers, like Mashita, they are basically commodity hardware, and not all of them are as exquisitly designed as the rest of the MacBooks ;) but don't worry, in a few years you probably won't have a Mac with any spinning disk in it anymore!

Answer 3

Yes. I've never figured this out, but some older models with disc drives would definitely make a noise when waking. Even if there was nothing in the drive. (My mac mini 2009 does this too)