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

@DPJ This isn't the issue... seems you haven't read through this entire thread or researched this problem thoroughly. This problem is varied. It doesn't just happen while scrubbing it happens during normal playback, when switching between apps, and no that issue has not been addressed. You don't know what you're talking about, so please stop spreading disinformation and being an Apple apologist; there is an issue, it's unacceptable, and hasn't been addressed.

Glad to know your issue was resolved even though you had to go through a couple of bad units. I've been successful as well after the recent update. Some people here just refuse to believe anybody when they say the issue was resolved. They just want rant on until they turn blue in the face and childishly hurl insults. And yes that song was awful! 😂

I hear you, but I think most people are genuine with their experiences. There might be a few rogues, but generally, people are fairly competent and honest with their experiences. This issue is extremely nuanced, so you've got to take that into account. Here's something I experience I haven't heard from anyone yet, when I have notification audio on, whenever I'm listening to anything and a notification comes through I get an unreasonably loud and long disruptive crackling. For me, this laptop isn't getting better, but worse. That's my experience, that's the truth, as is for many customers.

I am having issues again unfortunately, this is the 4th machine. Been on the phone again to Apple and they have asked me to return for another replacement. 4th time lucky!! I am thinking of giving up on the product.

Thanks for the update but you're saying a lot of THEY SAID and THEY SAID. This can only be taken with a grain of salt since there's no facts to back that up. Like I said not all of us are having this issue anymore. My popping sound is now gone after the recent update. Since you now appear to have gotten your refund you may either look for a different Mac or look into Windows options.

LOL! I can only offer what Senior AppleCare advisors are saying to me on the phone. We went through multiple steps, I was on the phone for nearly 2 hours with them. It's a shame as the machine is exactly what I want and I have had MacBook Pro's for 10+ years now.

I must have misread your post. I thought you were stating that you were getting a refund.? My mistake. My advice honestly for you would be to request a refund if that is possible. After 4 machines it's best to let this model go. I can't guarantee any further success for you. It certainly wouldn't take 4 machines for me to be convinced to move on. After the second machine I would've gotten a refund. I bought my 16" MBP in late January. I immediately noticed the popping sound from reading about it. Since Catalina and the 16" were new at the time I gave it a couple of software updates. Things happen. Not sure why after 4 machines the latest update didn't fix your machine. Perhaps different parts? Apple does resource their parts from different vendors.

Staying on Mac you may want to try an iMac if you need the power of the MacBook Pro, or an older 2019 15" MBP. If those aren't suitable then take a look at the Dell XPS and while I don't care for this other model you may try the Lenovo X1Extreme 2 or the Razerblade laptop.

Who are you referring to DPJ? Who is trying to downplay? No one here has done anything except represent their personal experiences and have stuck to that. Please point out where the "downplay" was occurring.

I experienced this for the first time on 10.5.5, changing the MIDI frequency didn't help. It keeps making a random noise even while I'm not doing anything. At first, I thought it was a fan problem but it gets much worse when I'm actually playing audio. Muting the system audio is the only way I can get it to be silent, but that's not practical.

Dear Apple, is this ever going to be fixed? Throughout the whole week while having online meetings I had a regularly recurring popping sounds with the built-in speaker. I have it in Microsoft Teams and have while listening to music in Spotify. If I restart the machine they go away but simply plugging in an external speaker (via jack plug) can break the system again and the popping/breaking sound comes back to the internal speaker (external speakers unplugged).

Hey,

I have the same issue on my new MacBook Pro 16 inch. I just bought it and went to a local Apple store to replicate the issue on their new demo computers.

We tested 4 demo Macbook Pros. 3 of the 4 we can replicate the issue.

Steps to replicate:

1) Open Youtube.com/SoundCloud.com

2) Play a media content with audio

3) Jump to another webpage, you will hear an audible POP as the system exits the page.

4) If you don't hear a pop,... navigate to previous page, and repeat step 3.

Notes:

Tested YouTube/Soundcloud on Safari, and Google Chrome (2 different browsers with 2 different webpages)

Tested Spotify by exiting the application instead of skipping to new song, creates a popping sound. Spotify Application has a built-in gradual descent on the audio, to 'mute' the sound instead of actually cutting the audio out completely like the other applications.

I don't know if we are allowed to post links, but here are some additional forums with same discussion.

https://www.reddit.com/r/apple/comments/dy7c9l/16_inch_macbook_pro_speaker_popping_issue/

https://www.reddit.com/r/apple/comments/dztbj9/macbook_pro_16_popping_sound_issue/

http://www.fcp.co/final-cut-pro/articles/2227-clicking-audio-issue-with-new-16-inch-macbook-pro-and-final-cut-pro-x

Dear Apple, do you plan to address this hardware/software issue? I am inclined to say it is a driver/firmware issue, but only your company is able to provide this statement.

Same here. Brand new MBP 16-inch base model.

Happens on YouTube in Safari when skipping around the video, or when closing the tab that's playing the video. Pops come randomly out of the left or right speaker whenever the sound is stopped abruptly. Doesn't happen when skipping around an MP4 video in QT Player. Doesn't happen when playing music in Spotify and skipping around - but it does happen in Spotify if I stop the sound abruptly by closing the lid or plugging in headphones.

Another reliable way to reproduce: Utilities > Audio MIDI Setup > MacBook Pro Speakers > Configure Speakers > click either of the Test buttons in the bottom right corner of the window. You'll (usually) hear a click after the test noise stops.

Would be great to know if this is hardware or software related. I'm assuming it's a driver issue at this stage.

BTW there are other reports of this issue with the 16-inch appearing at the end of this thread on the 2019 15-inch model:

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/250758649?page=3

I fixed it.

I have owned a 2014 MacBook Pro 15 and bought a new MacBook Pro 16 today (2.3ghz I9, 16GB RAM). I run Ableton Live 10 for professional music production.

First Attempt (brand new laptop, failed): Used Migration Assistant to restore data from Time Machine. Sound was terrible - I had the clicking issues as well as other dropouts in Ableton Live.

Second Attempt (success): Factory Reset - which is a two step process. First delete your data (https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT208496) and then reinstall Catalina (https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/reinstall-macos-mchlp1599/mac).

If you used Migration Assistant / used an older mac backup on your new laptop, maybe this method will work for you too.

Any one test if Beta 2 macOS Catalina 10.15.3 Beta 2 has fixed the speaker popping issue?

where are the beta versions?