MacBook Pro 2019 Speakers are making pop sounds

Question

Level 1

31 points

MacBook Pro 2019 Speakers are making pop sounds

Hello everyone,

I know this problem has been reported before but i have a brand new (two months old) BTO 2019 machine and i find it impossible to work like this.

I have a random click - pop sound coming from the right speaker almost every 30 seconds. I have done all the troubleshooting, reset SMC, NVRAM, logged in as a new user, even a disk reset and fresh install. Nothing worked.

This is very easy to replicate. Every time a video starts playing in Vimeo, You Tube or any other platform, a pop is coming through the right speaker. If i place the cursor at any moment of the video, there is always a click sound after loading and just before playback begins.

It happens even if i open a video from my desktop at the time the playback begins.

The problem goes away if i plug in an external audio device or headphones. So it may be related to the internal audio interface, although i can't hear the pop while using the headphones.

I took the machine to an authorised reseller, the tests showed that everything is ok and i just got it back. Apparently it's not ok as i can replicate this at any time (i did this in front of the technicians) and it's really frustrating. My work has to do with audio and i can't deal with this on such an expensive device.

MacBook Pro 2019, i9 2.3, Vega 20, 32GB Ram, MacOs 10.14.6

Any Ideas?

Thanks for your time

MacBook Pro 15”, macOS 10.14

Posted on Oct 18, 2019 3:51 AM

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Answer 1

dimitrios212 Author

Level 1

31 points

Oct 22, 2019 3:56 AM in response to huseynm

Hi Huseynm.

The official answer i got yesterday from Apple is that this is a software issue. According to them the pop sound is produced when the laptop's audio device is switched on and off to save battery life. They said that it "may" get fixed in future OS updates.

I am running Mojave at this time but as you can see on the other posts here, the issue remains in Catalina too.

So they shouldn't change the top case as this is a fix for older laptops that produced click noises due to thermal expansion. Different story.

This specific issue has to with the audio device's driver which is a part of the OS.

Apple, please fix this. This is a nightmare for audio engineers and video editors!

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Answer 2

imacproX

Level 1

8 points

Oct 22, 2019 5:46 PM in response to dimitrios212

I just went to Apple Store today and decided to exchange for new one with same configuration that I had before. I'm happy to report that I'm no longer having an issue with a popping noise. I installed a mac os Catalina, and did some testings on my new macbook pro such as watching videos on YouTube or listening to music. The result is no popping noise comes from the speakers.

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Answer 3

dimitrios212 Author

Level 1

31 points

Nov 19, 2019 12:48 PM in response to bentley123456

Thanks for your feedback guys. And don't forget to hit the "I have this problem too" button. This is a major issue and we must give sufficient feedback to Apple so that it gets addressed.

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Answer 4

Oct 20, 2019 5:59 PM in response to imacproX

I bought it about 3 weeks ago, I will contact Apple Support later today, it seems they can do some remote diagnosis, but I guess that won't tell too much.

But from my research so far, this issue is quite common and seems to be because of the macOS.

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Answer 5

imacproX

Level 1

8 points

Oct 20, 2019 6:37 PM in response to James1812

I also have 2015 macbook pro 15 inch, and it is running great so far. When I installed mac os catalina, I haven't heard any popping noise from the internal speakers. I think it could be a hardware problem.

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Answer 6

dimitrios212 Author

Level 1

31 points

Oct 21, 2019 12:16 AM in response to James1812

Hi again guys and thanks for your feedback here.

This issue (if it's a software and not a hardware issue) is not strictly related to Catalina. I am running Mojave 10.14.6.

Also i have seen this on the web with older machines and OS versions.

Apple has to give us an official response on this. It may be a minor issue for some users out there but it's definitely a deal breaker for someone who is working with audio.

Waiting for a software update is not a solution. What if this turns out to be a hardware issue and my machine gets out of warranty? Not cool for a 4500€ laptop.

I am talking with Apple representatives the past two weeks and as you can see in my first post, i have done some serious troubleshooting all by my self.

After having such a negative experience on a machine that costed me a fortune, i am sure i (we) deserve some explanation on what is causing this.

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Answer 7

Oct 23, 2019 1:44 AM in response to dimitrios212

I just got a new one with same configuration as mine before, and I did a few tests especially forwarding playback in YouTube, and seems the issue is gone.

It’s hard to say it’s definitely a hardware issue yet, because these parts like speakers, wifi chipset, might come from different suppliers, it seems to me the ones have this issue might come from a particular supplier only.

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Answer 8

Oct 23, 2019 3:53 PM in response to imacproX

I gave the old one to my brother, he does not care about the speaker issue at all, and I just get a new one.

But just an update, after I upgrade to catalina, the popping sound issue seems still there, but compare to the old one, the sound is quite smaller, even in the quiet night it's not that noticeable, and it happens not that often, the only place it still happen is when I watching Youtube, and use the keyboard to forwarding video very often then it will pop the sound.

I still think it's a software/macOX issue, maybe the sound card driver, and Apple definitely need to address this issue.

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Answer 9

Nov 16, 2019 5:29 PM in response to imacproX

imacproX,

Don’t feel bad. I just bought the new 16 inch and it has the same popping issue.

I’m going to return it.

So just a confirmation, for anyone who’s wondering this problem persists on the 16 inch

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Answer 10

dimitrios212 Author

Level 1

31 points

Nov 17, 2019 12:53 AM in response to jwilliams_490

Hi jwilliams, i am sorry to hear that.

I was expecting that with the new speaker design of the 16 inch model the issue would have been addressed.

So we can conclude that many 2018 and 2019 models are affected. As someone suggested in the commends of my YT video this may have to do with the Cirrus Logic codec - interface in conjunction with the audio drivers.

My question now is why the popping noise has variances in volume from one laptop to another. Many 2019 stock laptops i tested in the stores do this but it's barely noticeable, while in my case it is loud enough to distract me.

So Apple refreshed the MacBook Pro line 2 times this year and didn't even try to solve this. Fingers crossed...

Take care and please inform us about the outcome of your case.

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Answer 11

Nov 19, 2019 11:19 AM in response to imacproX

I have the new 16" MacBook Pro and the issue is still there. The speaker pops on closing Youtube videos and on pressing an arrow key while one is playing. I went to the Apple store today where they have 3 of the new computers on display. I played with Youtube on all 3 and at least one of the three had popping. Can't rule out the other two as it was so noisy in the store I could have missed a soft pop.

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Answer 12

imacproX

Level 1

8 points

Oct 20, 2019 5:54 PM in response to James1812

How long did you buy your macbook pro? Did you contact to Apple Support to address this issue? Mine is 2019 macbook pro 15, i9 2.4GHz, 32GB Ram, 1TB, Vega 20. I may exchange it for 2019 macbook pro 13.

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Answer 13

huseynm

Level 1

8 points

Oct 22, 2019 3:39 AM in response to dimitrios212

Hi. I have the same problem. Every time I start music or video there is a pop sound from left speaker. I took my laptop to Authorised Apple service provider. First they couldn't detect any issue. But when I insisted and showed them myself they told me they had to replace the top case. I have waited for more than a month. They changed top case but the problem is still here.

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Answer 14

dimitrios212 Author

Level 1

31 points

Oct 23, 2019 1:41 AM in response to imacproX

Hi imacproX.

I am glad your problem is solved.

On the other hand i am very confused right now because the fact that you got a new unit without this issue points out that this is indeed a hardware problem and not software since we have the exact same configuration.

I will repeat my self and ask again, hoping that Apple representatives are watching these forums.

Do we have an answer to what is causing this issue?

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Answer 15

imacproX

Level 1

8 points

Oct 23, 2019 7:47 AM in response to dimitrios212

I think Apple has a problem with a quality control. My older 2015 macbook pro 15 has no issue to run mac os Catalina. That's why we have 14 days return policy. If you receive a defective product, you can either exchange or return it.

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MacBook Pro 2019 Speakers are making pop sounds

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