This is super old news. At this point continued mentioning of it smacks of people just trying to stir up dirt.

I have a week 12 MBP that had the squeal - but I could only hear it when everything else was quiet.

I took it in to replace a faulty fan and they asked me if I had the squeal and would I like the motherboard replaced. I said I could hear it but it wasn't an issue. He offered to replace the board anyway.

Sure. Why not? In the end, I was without my laptop for 36 hours.

As far as Apple goes, obviously they do consider it a problem and fix it with grace. As they usually do.

It really is a non-issue and has been for at least six months.

It may be an old issue, or it may be a non-issue for you, but by now some of the early MacBook Pro's are showing up on eBay, and new buyers might be wondering why their new computer is making odd noises. Posting a few bits on the Internet doesn't cost much. I don't see the harm in re-exposing issues every 6 months.

I suffer from the problem myself. I have a very quiet house, and find the whine very annoying. It depends on many things. For example, at nearly full volume, I can barely hear the Apple Mail chime when I get new mail at the office. The whine is not a problem at all at the office. At home, anything higher than about 20% volume and I get dirty looks from my wife sitting across the room.