MacBook Pro 16'' popping sound

After a long wait to see if a software fix would resolve this; I finally called into Apple Support near the end of October. They went through the usual scripts and then agreed it must be a hardware issue. They arranged a collection and box, and it was sent off on the 28th October 2020.

I got it back on 2nd November 2020 all fixed. They replaced the I/O board and Top Case/Battery combo. Brand new speakers I guess as part of that assembly. It's sounding fantastic! no pops or distortion whatsoever.

Took me a while to restore it from my Time Machine, and I am happy to report that everything is perfect now.

So thats my very positive resolution to this irritating problem.

(I am in the UK).

It is a Mac OS issue - or at least this fixes it for me every time:

Open Activity Monitor

Search for coreaudiod

Force quit coreaudiod

It's ridiculous this is still happening. I was thinking to maybe write a script to regularly kill coreaudiod. It doesn't happen that often but had it happen 2x in a row recently, I had to force quit it 2 times during a zoom call.

Unbelievable!

I had the same problem with my 16" MacbookPro. The popping sound wasn't fixed with Mac OS 10.15.5 and neither SMC nor PRAM reset worked. However reinstalling Mac OS over internet recovery did the trick. The popping sound is gone.

I changed the audio settings to 48,000 Hz

That solved the problem for me.

I bought the 16" MBP and have been experiencing this without fail. After Apple's recent software update of 10.15.4 I have not experienced anymore popping sound. Did many tests with both Safari and Chrome and everything is perfect now.

I often get this issue while compiling in Xcode. I think it is just due to resource exhaustion or heat causing a driver/hardware bug.

Anyway if you open Terminal, paste:

sudo killall -9 coreaudiod

This will kill the core audio daemon and it will quickly restart without the popping sounds (at least for a little bit)

For bonus points, you could also put this in a `restart-CA.sh` or whatever script, `sudo chmod +x` it, and then make a shortcut to it or open it using spotlight whenever you need it.

I've been using the 48000 sound output for a few weeks and so far the popping issue has yet to return. My speakers have maintained the 48000, verified in the System Report.

Thank you! For me, I had to quit process name "coreaudiod". Resolved issues instantly.

All you can do at this point is to get in touch with Apple Support. I use Logic Pro constantly to create music for my business. After the recent Catalina update I have not experienced any popping sound. A higher priced product doesn't reduce the chance of issues. Not sure why you think that. But reach out to Apple here. Contact - Official Apple Supportsupport.apple.com › contact

I can give more color too re: the hardware vs. software.

In bootcamp, this audio crackling issue also exists. If it *isn't* hardware, then the same bug exists in the driver (software) for both Bootcamp Windows and macOS.

Using Terminal, search for coreaudiod, then select it within the list view. Press the Stop button (Circle with an X).

A dropdown will appear with th option to Quit, Force Quit or Cancel. Force Quit.

There are better ways to exit and relaunch coreaudiod.

I have not encountered the issue in a few weeks. Good luck

Unfortunately for me it occurs whether it's 44.1kHz or 48kHz.

I usually get a small pop then a big pop when playing audio, the 48kHz makes the small initial pop a little quieter but the loud pop still occurs no differently.

It's 100% not malware either as I'm able to reproduce this on a complete clean install of Catalina (and now Big Sur) with zero third-party applications installed.

It's also not a macOS problem as the same issue occurs with Windows 10 via Bootcamp.

Big Sur - Crazy this is still happening 1 year later. Hello? Apple, fix it?

If restarting coreaudiod can fix it then it can't be that hard to fix.

Or maybe it's some malware?

I used the new MacBook Pro 16 for a month, and all good until today, first it was very imperceptible but sometimes they are very strong and this is only today, I have Windows 10 installed with bootcamp and the problem is the same in Windows and I have not made no update. The problem is unexpected, only sometimes. Catalina version 10.15.6

I also purchased a 16MB pro in March, fully spec'd out over $3000. I purchased it specifically to record audio semi-professionally, and do semi-pro video which I have been unable to do. I have considered reaching out to people to see if there's interest in a class action suit. This is not acceptable. After endless troubleshooting, I've determined this is some type of bug. The issue for me is random. I'll be working in Logic Pro and everything is just fine. Then, out of the blue, playback will sound like it's being processed from a resonator, sounds like Darth Vader, stuttering/skipping, almost as if it's a buffer issue. It happens with all buffer settings, and it happens with no plugins.(latest version of Logic Pro, etc). Changing buffer (I assume this reinitializes core audio or something) fixes the problem temporarily. (so does a restart of Logic - not acceptable) Even after a buffer change/restart, after a ramdom amount of time, the problem will come back. Not acceptable and extremely embarrassing to say the least. I agree with one poster that this could potentially be a thermal issue as the problem doesn't start until some period of use. Another issue I have is when using Logic Pro, if I stop it, then open up you tube and play something there, it sounds similar - like darth vadar/resonator/stuttering. Not always, random. There have been times when I DID NOT use Logic after a reboot, started youtube, and then after 20-30mins, the audio problem started. Even though I wasn't using Logic, I went into Logic and changed the Audio buffer, when back to youtube, and it was ok. I have the Midi settings at 48khz, and I use an external mixer (Behringer X32) and have no issues with any other Macs. (most are running pre-Catalina OS.) As a final hope, I did upgrade to Big Sur last week. It seemed stable after a while (hour or so) , but alas, after about 30-40mins of using Logic, I went to open youtube and it was doing the same thing. (playing audio, but sounded like it was playing through blown speakers). I have recorded the output to a USB stick on my Mixer and can post somewhere if anyone has a similar issue. Bottom line, this is not acceptable. Maybe we need a dedicated web site for people who are having this issue to share experiences and maybe find a lawyer that would be willing to help. Contact me if you are interested in pursuing that. At this point, I would want a full refund so I can buy something that works. I was worried when I bought this and realized that I would no longer have support for 32 bit apps/plugins,and wonder if this could be an issue with 64bit core-audio drivers or something?