MacBook Pro 16'' popping sound

Software engineer w/ a late 2019 MBP 16" here on 10.15.6 here. I notice the popping usually after the system has been under thermal stress. I have noticed my laptop having various issues, even locking up and kernel panics, all related to thermal stress. This is on a laptop stand w/ good ventilation and metal to conduct the heat away. System restart fixes it for me until the next time I need to do some intensive task. Just started happening in the last week or so.

This is in response the to the above post I left last week.

16 Macbook Pro USERS W/ AUDIO Issues Please READ: (esp ones with external/digital mixers that get their sample rate/word/Clock info from another device)

I purchased a 16 MB Pro fully loaded in March. Have been having sporadic issues since then, recently upgraded to Big Sur to see if the problems would go away. Problem still existed.

My issue was sporadic audio sounding garbled after 15-40 mins that would start out of the blue. Sessions would start fine, but after 20 minutes, sound would start to sound garbled and get worse after a few minutes. Based on other threads I read with users having similar issues, I was convinced it was a hardware/driver/thermal issue or Apple bug.

I spent many hrs comparing log files from when I was having the problem to see if I could find something in the logs that could be causing problem. As part of searching for other users having similar issues, I came across a few things that were related to digital audio sample rate/clock settings. If you have multiple pieces of equipment that are digitally connected, you need to make sure all the equipment is synchronized properly. If you're having audio issues that start out of the blue, for example after 20-40 minutes, that are resolved by changing buffer settings or restarting CoreAudio, but eventually come back, etc then check your clock source and make sure it's solid. Keep reading to see how I figured out what my problem was. Solution is to make main mixer the Clock source, and other devices slaves, and make sure your cable providing word/audio sync is good and not being subjected to static etc. My problem appears to be a bad cable from my main mixer that was getting audio sync/sample rate data from another mixer. It was hard to troubleshoot because the audio problem was not immediate. It was sporadic, usually after 20-40 mins. Likely some type of interference that caused the frame rate to be read incorrectly by the Macbook.

Heres some more detailed info in case you are experiencing a similar problem.

I have a complicated studio setup where I have multiple digital mixers connected to each other with a special cable. (AES50 - it's a sheilded Cat5 cable). The cable connects the devices, and allows for sharing of audio AND Clock/sample rate data.

I have confirmed that the audio problem I have been having, at least recently , appears to be the result of my Macbook Pro not getting proper Sample Rate/Clock information from my primary digital mixer. (The mixer was setup as a slave, and was receiving word/clock/sample rate data from another digital mixer via the Cat5/AES50 cable). I have determined the reason why I am getting audio problems after 20-30 minutes of use is because the mixer connected to my Macbook is dropping work clock data. I confirmed this by changing the primary mixer as the master clock source. Since doing this, I have had no problems with audio at all. I wanted to post this to correct my previous post where I said that after upgrading to Big Sur I was still having audio problems. That was true, but the reason for the issues was due to bad/incorrect word clock/sample rate data that my digital mixer was receiving from another device. This took me almost a month to figure out, so hopefully anyone else with this problem will see this and not assume it's a hardware issue with the Mac. Sample rate/clock issues with the hardware/mixer your Mac is plugged into need to be considered as well.

i have the popping sound happening on my NEW macbook pro 16" too. everything was working perfectly, then all of a sudden now whenever i have any sort of audio playing, I have crackling and popping. It happens with youtube, it happens with apple music, anything audio.

I've tried the fixes people have said on the internet, but nothing is helping. How and when can we fix this issue? Did i waste thousands of dollars on what is turning out to be a bad computer?

I have this issue with my Macbook pro 2020, 13 inch , It appears from time to time , there is two solutions:

1- restart the macbook pro , but when you work it will be annoying sometimes

2- open activity monitor and quit the audioid it works just fine

I hope apple solve this issue as soon as possible I trust them ..

Hello,

I've had this issue since I've had my Mac and I think I figured out the issue. try following the steps below:

1. Open Audio Midi/Setup APP
2. Make sure your all your speakers, microphones, Pro Tools Aggregate I/O is all set to the same sample format.
3. example : If you see microphone with a format of 44000 hz and your Mac Pro speakers at 48000 hrz you have different sample rates happening which will cause the audio drivers to produce odd audio playback.
4. So make sure you change all your formats (aka sample rates) to the same rate what rate doesn't matter although I'd stick with 44000 if your not doing video.

This fixed my issue I hope it fixes yours.

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.

Experiencing similar issue on Catalina 10.15.4. Listening music on Youtube in Chrome and periodically hearing the popping sounds (every 5 minutes or so). Tried Safari - same issue. Couldn't manually reproduce it by playing the same music. Seems to happen somewhat randomly.

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 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.

When I listen to music for instance every now and then I hear a clicking sound from the internal speakers. I have no clue what’s causing this but it’s somehow connected to actions I make in the system. For instance, when I selected an option in the field «What type of issue are you reporting?» in Feedback Assistant the sound appeared (not always but every 5th-10th time right after this change). I’ve attached a recording with this issue https://yadi.sk/d/lrBYPB-2rVt_1w It’s really not cool to have a computer for $3000 and have this kind of issue which is there since the launch of the product. The OS is Big Sur.

Is anyone still experiencing this issue? Running latest macOS Catalina 10.5.15

I bought my MacBook Pro 16 inch back in February and noticed the popping sound issue after a couple of weeks while editing video on premiere pro.

This happens frequently while starting, stopping and skipping anything that has sound (i.e Premiere Pro, youtube, apple music etc...)

I read that a future update will fix this but that was in an article from December 2019... I'm getting impatient and wonder if I should send it to the store to have it fixed/replaced. I've also read that some users replaced their MacBook a few times before getting one without this issue which is highly unacceptable to deal with.

Hello! I am also having this issue! I find it a bit ridiculous seeing as my 16 in brand new mac that was over 3 grand shouldn't be having these issues. I brought my computer in and got it completely replaced and I am having all of the same issues. I teach music and because of COVID I have been running Logic, Final Cut, Garage Band, Choral apps, and spotify a lot. This happens randomly but lasts forever. ON BOTH BRAND NEW COMPUTERS! 3 grand! Wow!

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

Did both

1- restart the macbook pro , but when you work it will be annoying sometimes

2- open activity monitor and quit the audioid it works just fine

Nothing fixed. I recently gave my MBP 16" for repairs as it got dead while working, when I received, I found the speaker has an issue.

Apple India service centres are pathetic. They do not care about the customer. During the time of covid, I was working from my native place and the nearest apple support centre is 100 miles away.

16" MBP owner here. Bought it on the day of release, so have had it for about a year now. Popping speakers since day one – and still no fix for this? What is taking so long? I Google the issue from time to time and the top hits are this thread and a few articles from late 2019 reporting Apple's promise to fix it. This issue and the fact the machine generally feels slower than my 2012 (!) MBP are seriously denting my confidence in Apple.