Macbook Pro 16 inch speaker pulsating noise?

The best demonstration of the issue with with a simple sine wave,

https://youtu.be/MTSdtJJJcxc

I've been working with Apple's tier two support for the last couple of weeks on this issue. And as of today I feel confident I have a simple reproduction for Apple's engineers to use. My next call with them is this weekend, and hopefully by then they will be able to confirm they have reproduced the issue. I'm a software engineer myself, and from what I'm seeing, I'd put money on this being a software issue. It's transient and pervasive, which just smells of software bug. If it were a hardware issue I would imagine not so many of us would experience it (unless there's a significant manufacturing defect), and it wouldn't come and go. But this is all conjecture, and we'll have to wait and see what Apple says.

If I get any significant update from Apple I'll share it on this thread.

Hi there, Pepi_Aly.

I see that, after the popping and crackling sounds from the speakers in your MacBook Pro, was resolved after updating, another issue has started. You're hearing a pulsing sound while watching videos, whether online or on your Mac. I'm glad to help with this.

Reset NVRAM or PRAM on your Mac -- Reset the nonvolatile random-access memory (NVRAM) using the steps in this article. Once the process is complete, see if you still hear the distortion.

Use safe mode to isolate issues with your Mac -- If resetting the NVRAM didn't resolve the issue, restart your Mac in safe mode and test how it responds. If it works while in safe mode, reboot normally and test again in your own user account. If not, continue to "How to test an issue in another user account on your Mac" below. 

How to test an issue in another user account on your Mac -- If the issue is also happening in safe mode, use this article to create and test a new administrative user account. This will demonstrate if the issue is isolated to your account, or if it's system wide. You'll need to share or locate some music to test playing music that's stored on your Mac.

Let me know how that goes, and take care!

Yeah, I'm also hearing this. And yes, it's mostly noticeable when I'm working with simple sounds, like a single instrument, in something like Ableton or Logic. Here's a video that captures the issue.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1cUetWeq0JNrnYEcienbrn7sdK-byf_Xm/view?usp=drivesdk

There are two other threads on this:

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/251163041

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/251173282

It seems like musicians are the ones that notice it most readily because we're working with sound, and know exactly what it *should* sound like. I'm guessing it's a software issue, so hopefully a fix will be forthcoming. You're clearly not alone.

pgrodon116--

Thanks for sharing your problem solving and your work-around!

Let's hope it solves the problem for Others as well.

Does anyone at Apple support know you have a proposed causal-link and a work-around? You would be doing others a favor if you told them, and/or sent a product feedback:

https://www.apple.com/feedback/

.

I have this problem too (detailed with video here).

I sent my computer for repair but the reply was "Our technicians performed comprehensive testing and determined that the symptoms you reported were within Apple's specifications for acceptable appearance, performance, usability, and functionality. Because it was within spec we didn't perform any repairs for those symptoms. Your product passed every diagnostics test we performed."

Because the noise is intermittent, and apparently random, I guess they didn't hear it when they tested it. If they did, I doubt they could have concluded that this audio problem is acceptable.

Software issues are more pervasive because all of us have the exact same software on our computers. We get a digital copy of macOS and GarageBand that's precisely the same as everyone else. So if one person experiences the bug, everyone does. For hardware issues there are two cases:

1. We all got lemons. Most laptops are fine, but us unlucky ones got a bad batch and if we got a different laptop it would be fine. I don't think this is the case because you've tried three laptops, I've tried two, and there are others on the internet that have it too. So if we all got lemons, there are a lot of lemons out there. Which is case 2.
2. There is a flaw in the hardware, and every (or nearly every) MBP 16" has this issue. It's a definite possibility; but I think it's less likely. I cannot reproduce this issue without installing and using GarageBand. I tried a fresh install of the OS on my MBP, with no applications installed, and I couldn't reproduce the issue. Then I installed GarageBand, and boom, reproduction. When my buddy unboxed his new one yesterday he couldn't reproduce the issue either.... until he installed GarageBand. So what kind of hardware issue only shows up after you install a certain piece of software? It's definitely possible. But if I had to bet, I would bet on software.

The GarageBand thing is the real smoking gun. I wonder if we all just did fresh installs of macOS, and skipped GarageBand, maybe none of us would see this issue.

One final note. These kinds of bugs, let's call them "quality bugs" because they don't actually crash or stop you from doing a thing, are really sneaky. Most people will never notice because:

1. They're listening to a YouTube video of a cat dancing. The audio is probably pretty busy, so no one is noticing a clicking sound amongst whatever cliched music the cat is dancing to. And even if they notice the click noise they'll just chalk it up to one of a) the internet being slow, b) your computer being slow, c) the audio on the video being of low quality to begin with.
2. It only happens if you install and use GarageBand (and potentially other DAWs, Logic Pro highly likely to cause the problem IMO). What percentage of people using 16" MPBs use GarageBand? Maybe 5%? Maybe 1%? Maybe even less?
3. And, if you are using a DAW you're probably rarely using the MPB built-in speakers for audio.
4. And finally, the problem comes and goes. So if you think you heard it, then try again and it goes away, that just reconfirms it was something else outside your control.

I honestly think I've been experiencing this problem since the day I got my new laptop, in Dec. It took me 5 months to finally be convinced there was a real problem and report it. And I'm a (crappy) musician, (mostly good) software engineer, and a bit of a perfectionist. I'm the guy that was supposed to report it on day one! Not that I blame myself, obviously. It's just these kind of bugs... well... they can take a long time before they really get nailed down. You just need the right kind of stupid to figure'm out ;-)

Hey all! Found a work around for this and wanted to share it in hopes it will TEMPORARILY fix the problem for you until apple gets it together and fixes this permanently.

The short answer is that it appears to be an issue with sample rates. By default, Logic Pro (what I work in) will create projects using 44.1 sample rate in order to help save space on the drive and use less computing power. If logic is open with any project that is defaulted to that, you cannot change the sample rate in Audio Midi Setup and you will hear the dreaded galloping noise. However, if your project sample rate is 48kHz - viola! everything is crystal clear!

Now, if you are creating a new project this is a super easy fix - just set your sample rate to 48 on the setup splash screen and you'll be good to go.

If however, you are like me and already have a dozen projects your currently working on you'll have to do two things to correct the issue:

1. Convert all your current audio files in the project to the new sample rate (instructions below are for Logic, but the same concept will apply regardless of DAW)
   1. Click on the Browsers button (the one on the far top right with the film roll, camera, and music note) and then go to the Project tab
   2. Select all of the audio files there (might be a good idea before you do this to dump any one you know you won't use and clean up your project a little so you don't waste time/space/power converting them) and then select Audio Files -> Copy/Convert Files
   3. Change Sample Rate to 48kHz and leave all other settings at the default and wait for the conversion to finish. One that is done we still need to change the project settings before playback will work correctly though
2. Change the Sample Rate of the entire Project
   1. Go to File -> Project Settings -> Audio
   2. Choose 48kHz, hit apply
   3. Save your project!
   4. Enjoy that crispy audio. :D

Hope that helps some of you! It's worked for every one of my projects so far. Apple still needs to get it together and fix this issue, but in the meantime at least we'll be able to use our new machines (mostly) as intended.

Thanks for flagging 10.15.7

Unfortunately the update hasn't made a stitch of difference. Here is the process I undertook this evening:

1. Downloaded the update
2. Rebooted
3. Launched Logic Pro X - mids/bass seem OK. Good start...
4. Launched Firefox and played this song (referenced on my support call with Apple) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hbe3CQamF8
5. Issue is there (bass sounds like horses hooves galloping over it)

As mentioned prior, I've been using external speakers to work with and this seems OK, which would indicate the issue is related to some aspect of how OS X is processing sound to the internal speaker system.

Will telephone Apple support again tomorrow and update my ticket No.

The other day when I updated my call number (101169148237) Apple told me:

1. Issue is with Logic Pro X
2. Big Sur will probably solve it

I have to say this statement seems contradictory. If the issue lies with Logic I can't see how an update to OS X is going to solve it. Also, this doesn't account for Garage Band users who've reported the same issue, which ironically would suggest the problem does lie with some shared part of the audio engine, i.e. OS X. In trying to give them the benefit of the doubt one might interpret this as the problem being experienced in Logic/Garage Band but originating in OS X.

I've tried all tests others (including Apple) have suggested and none of them have worked unfortunately - the 44.1 KHz conversion to 48 KHz sample rate in Logic may help with new projects but as a bandaid for old projects it's not practical.

Going to wait for an update to Logic and possibly Big Sur, but not having a fully functioning audio system on a £2.4K computer is a very serious issue in my view. Going to have a further think about what to do going forward.

Hi ,

I had the exact same issue but my popping & crackling stayed even after 10.15.4.

I was so frustrated like everyone else..

And I had this error message:

After some googleing to find a solution for this problem I played around with the Logic Pro X settings and

that eliminated the whole problem for me.

I don't really know why it's working now but it does, even system wide

(had the issue on splice as well but it's completely gone after I changed the Logic settings 🤷🏼‍♂️ don't know why)

Here are my settings:

(I hope it works for everyone else too)

I tweaked my settings in Logic and am not hearing the ""whup whup whup" diseased galloping sound" (That description is bang on by the way :-) ) Increasing the I/O buffer size seems to have made things better. Obviously that won't fix other apps but I'd be interested to know if it sorts Logic for you.

Thanks for the advice guys. I was just happy to get it working. I've now changed the Project settings to 48khz in Logic by going to File>Projects Settings>Audio

and changed the system settings by searching "Audio Midi Setup" in spotlight and choosing Window>show audio devices to bring up the settings for the speakers and have changed them to 48khz too.

The lowest I can get the buffer in Logic, without it going full "Rice Krispies" - snap crackle and pop on me is 64 though. I can confirm that the galloping sound has gone for me with those settings too. I'd be interested if anyone has got it down to 32 although I suspect at that level of latency it's more accurate than my actual playing :-)

This is what fixed this issue for me on my MBP 16 inch 2019 model:

I was getting the same issue with the "galloping/popping" sound while working with audio in Logic until I opened Spotlight with Cmd+Spacebar, then searched for "Audio MIDI Setup". Going to the "Output" tab of my speakers I changed the format to 48,000 Hz.

I had to select this about 10 times, as it kept flickering back to the default value, but eventually it let me choose 48,000 Hz. Someone else I know had the same issue. The dropdown menu appears to be bugged, but keep clicking 48,000Hz and it'll eventually change!

As soon as I changed to 48kHz format, the issue stopped, and I haven't had it since.

Apple employees do not Troll the forums looking for problems.

To be certain Apple knows this is a problem, call Apple Care (1-800-APL-CARE in the US) or use the Contact Support link at the top of every forum page. Do not let the first responders dismiss your case as "solved" unless it truly IS solved, or they have filed a Bug report to get it on record and get someone working on it.

Yes. (After HOURS on the phone with tech support) they have acknowledged it's a problem and are trying to fix it as a software update - but after working with a tech specialist, his conclusion was that it is probably hardware. I don't know - all I can say is that it is an issue with new and refurbished MBP 16 inches.

I am on my second replacement in 5 weeks (3 total) and they all have the same sound issue!

Here is mine (and thanks for describing it so accurately - speaker pulsating noise).

https://youtu.be/jvYScIZIEJM