There is a cracking/popping sound when I play music/video using the mbp speakers, and jump to next song/video

No they didn’t. They just did their standard checks (I even had to boot in safe mode to see if the cracking happened there and in safe mode the sound drivers are disabled). Looked to me as well as their shift was over and the support guy wanted to go home. So for the support, no thinking out of the box there.

It seems to me the issue happens mainly in Apple Music as the music starts and stops immediately when pressing the buttons. In Spotify I don’t have the issue but there is a small delay after play, stop or skipping actions.

So I think the root cause is a hw issue (maybe it’s just normal behavior like @verstaerker2 mentioned ), but with smart programming it can be hidden.

I hope you guys realize that this is community, self-help type of forum and complaining here doesn't do anything? You must contact Apple and open support tickets, so they know the scale of the problem.

In my case I had the issue first day with YT, but then, it went away. I don't use pro audio software.

These speakers are incredible for what they are, but they are not pro grade speakers and anyone assuming that doesn't know anything about sound.

As much as this is annoying and frustrating to have this type of problem in so expensive equipment, Apple has not been producing quality hardware for many years so nobody should be so surprised.

It is like buying top class Mercedes. You have nice looking car with similar problems you will find in new Toyota. But since you can afford Mercedes you won't worry about that, just drop it off for repair.

Can you guys afford not to worry about this luxury item? Because for work, there are many other pro-grade brands/models.

I have the same problem with my new MacBook Pro 16 inch and the popping speakers. It happens when playing mini motorways. Always when open the game after the arcade logo and some times during the play of this game.

Have the last Catalina update 10.15.3

I tried all the fix described on YouTube or different other sites/forums and nothing works.

thanks

/s

Don't you all have a 14-day-no-questions-ask-give-back-guarantee from Apple? As to my best knowledge, Apple offers this worldwide for any purchase. Buy, test, if the issue is there, return at zero cost - can be done within one day of purchase. Am I missing something here? Given that guarantee from Apple I can partly understand Apple's reluctance to take the hardware back at a later date. Why to delay the testing?

DPJ - just done the 10.15.4 update and its fine this time on this machine. So strange!! I have had 3 laptops from Apple now, with 2 being affected by the 10.15.4 update and then this one is absolutely fine!!!

One thing I’ve noticed is to be careful of the usb c wires you’re using. It appears that some cheaper wires can attempt to draw more current than they need hence a spark being created before insertion. The usb c ports output 20V of energy so I’m just trying to plug in everything before powering it.

Anyway... my popping got much worse with that 10.15.4 update. It now happens continuously on simple playback of videos from firefox, safari, etc. Apple has finally agreed to service and I’m mailing it out in a few days. Will keep you all posted.

Hi Guys, I did have issues with my first two MacBook Pro 16"'s. The third one that came after fighting with Apple, is perfect. Even with the latest 10.15.4 update, which started the popping for me. Prior to 10.15.4, I did not have any issues at all. This was two machines that update broke, so I have had more exposure to many different machines as compared to the rest of you. I have just followed the steps (with that awful song! :) ) and I did not hear any popping or untoward noises. I tried it many times as if I would have heard it, this machine would have been going back too.

If that's what they are telling you then definitely get a refund. It's not happening to all of us but if you're experiencing this after multiple machines then this is not the Mac for you. Apple should have no issue refunding you so you can move onto something more suitable.

"LOL! I can only offer what Senior AppleCare advisors are saying to me on the phone."

I'm not telling you not to believe them. I'm saying that as a forum you're saying what THEY SAID but there's no facts or proof of the conversation you had with Apple. Until there's a public statement of hardware defects then a conversation you had on the phone with Apple cannot be used as influence here since there's no way to verify this. There's always a chance there were some models that were shipped out with defects but this is in no way a widespread hardware issue especially since I and few others here have stated our machines are no longer popping in sound after the update.

I'm certain you will find you a nice machine be it a different Mac or a Windows machine to satisfy your computing needs. Good luck.

I have the same issue. I made a video showing what's up. https://youtu.be/0-be20m4lGU

Apple, can we get a comment? Will this be patchable? Otherwise is going back to the apple store.

Yes. Very bad. Also shows up in Youtube. Also happens when stopping or starting an audio track. Sometimes it goes away. Many cases showing up. 2019 16" MacBook Pro with specs maxed out.

It's a known Youtube issue, not limited to the 16" MBP.

Software most likely. Should be resolved in a future update.

Can confirm the popping sounds are still present on 10.15.2. Epic fail. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KLSo5kJ6ogY