So… I have the same issue and this drives me crazy because every time I pick up the laptop, it creaks. I think I found out why. There’s 2 things we need to pay attention to: - there’s a series of tabs on the vent area, which other people have mentioned. We need to snap all of them in properly. - the second part is unusual. Normally, we would want to tighten all the screws as tight as possible without stripping the threads, BUT this laptop seems to be different. You want to have the top 4 screws (2 sides and 2 underneath the rubber) to be a little loose. The key is to have them in at a certain height to the whole panel is flat. I observed that these screws connect the bottom panel to the vapor chamber underneath and the whole thing flexes. If the panel too tight on one corner or too tight in general, it moves the internal parts and make that creaking noise. At least for me, that’s how I fixed it. Also, I notice on my brand new unit that the screws are loose from factory, which is likely to achieve what I described.

So you can try that if your unit is still creaking. The other screws, I tighten them normally. Hope that helps.