MacBook Pro 16'' popping sound

Same issue for me after upgrading to BigSur. It is unacceptable to have this kind of issue for this very expensive laptop. Apple needs to improve it customer relationship management. It is a shame!

I have tried editing the MIDI settings, tried restarting coreaudiod, the issue persists. I did not have this issue, started experiencing it after and update on MacOS Catalina. I hoped it would be fixed with BigSur, but same situation.

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?

So.... What you're saying is that you traced the problem to a bad cable or mixer, problem rectified and your MacBook is working well after you fixed the peripherals? Nice job on the troubleshooting, I understand the pain.

I have a 2019 Macbook Pro Retina w/ Touch Bar and this is also happening to me. Took into store and they said it was a software issue so couldn't offer me a replacement product. They told me to reset my PRAM and NVRAM which I'd already done numerous times after speaking with one of Apple's online assistants. They then said I'll need to wipe the software completely and re-upload a clean copy.

Hi. Sorry for the long post before. Long time Mac user and before my 16 Mackbook Pro, was using my 2007 Macbook Pro and 2007 era IMAC to record into Logic through a digital mixer. I've been recording on computers/mac and PC, since the 90s, so none of this stuff is new to me, and my stuff has been stable before the 16 MBP. My problems were complicated by the fact that the audio problems I've been having were ONLY on the Macbook Pro 16 running Catalina.(And Big Sur). I was lucky enough to have other computers and hardware to troubleshoot, but if I didn't have other equipment to rule things out, theres no way I would have been able to figure any of this out. It turns out that there were about 4-6 different contributing factors, some of which where Apple/OS related, and some were not. The bottom line is that the 16 MBPro didn't like the USB/Firewire soundcard Combo that was in my Digital mixer. (Full-size X32). A firmware update to the soundcard appeared to help resolve the issue, but then I started getting random dropouts. Random as in 1 dropout after 20 minutes of recording. Troubleshooted this for 2 weeks before I swapped out the sound card for a USB only card. (Got rid of the USB/Firewire combo card. (X-UF).

The USB/Firewire card was working fine with my older macs, including a newer Macbook Pro running Mohave (13 2017).

For some reason, the card, even after a firmware update, doesn't like either 64 bit drivers, or something else with the new MBPro. After swapping out the card, I've been unable to reproduce the problem, and am so happy the issue appears to be driver related with my soundcard. I guess the lesson here for people having issues with 16 MBPros and having audio issues is to budget for new hardware/sound cards, esp if they are older. The fact that I was not able to reproduce the problem with my older macs had me convinced the issue was with the Macbook Pro. It turns out some older soundcards may not work well with either Catalina or something else in the MBPro 16.

Apple, FIX THE PROBLEM! you have hundred if not thousands of people that have complained about this not working for years and it's still going on. What is it going to take to get some assistance on this? I complained about this earlier, but some dweeb decided that it was more appropriate to delete my post than respond to it. We have several on this thread alone that are complaining, mine has been having this issue for OVER A YEAR!

This issue has been ongoing for years and Apple has continued to ignore it. Oh its software related we can't fix that. Really? If you can't fix it who is? Big Sur upgrade and it returned immediately.

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 bought this machine the day it came out and apple still haven’t fixed this issue.

i’m going through the process of returning it to apple now and have asked for a refund under consumer law.

this, amongst other software or hardware issues such as sudden restarts, finding out that icloud drive messed up my hard drive and having had to wipe and clean install the OS three time now means i’m done.

ive had the speakers replaced with logic and tried the 48khz thing which works but causes other issues.

ive read that consumer law in the uk that if something isn’t ‘fit for purpose’ then you can get a refund within 6 years.

has anyone got any advice?

cheers.

I have the problem with Logic Pro and Catalina 10.15.4. It's very annoying considering the price of the Computer.

Still not getting it? Do you think it is fixed for someone?

Still getting it. Although, recently it is not a popping sound anymore but a brief (1 second) cut in audio - every few minutes on YouTube. It follows a smilar pattern.

Experiencing similar issue with MacOS Big Sur (build 20A4300b).

I have the same problem with Logic and Dorico with Catalina 10.15.6 and it's really annoying as there is hardly any decent use for the speakers.

Because apple does not look on this community, it is a user to user community,

Contact apple here - Contact Support