Macbook Pro 13-inch 2020 speakers crackling and distorting sound

Thanks Blokzeit for the command :)

Hi gpress64:

1) Open your Spotlight Search on your Mac > type in "Terminal"> "return"

2) A black window should open and this is where you paste in:

sudo launchctl stop com.apple.audio.coreaudiod && sudo launchctl start com.apple.audio.coreaudiod

followed by return to submit the command

3) You will be prompted for your computer password. Enter it, followed by "return" to submit it.

You should be able to open a new session to test the audio again without restart. Mine was gone then came back for a few seconds (thought the command didn't work) but then it stabilized :)

Hope this helps!

this fixed it for me without a restart:

sudo launchctl stop com.apple.audio.coreaudiod && sudo launchctl start com.apple.audio.coreaudiod

Go to Spotlight/Search, type "Terminal", copy-paste that command and run it. It'll prompt you to enter your password, since it's making a system change.

(In general, you shouldn't just run random commands if you don't understand what they do, since they could do things like delete the contents of your laptop. This one doesn't, though.)

The command stops and restarts what seem to be Apple's audio drivers, or some software associated with the audio. This suggests the crackling is a software bug, not a problem with faulty hardware.

Note: while this fixed the original issue for me (speakers crackly 100% of the time), I'm still noticing the occasional "pop" from my laptop speakers, which shouldn't be happening. I'm not sure why yet.

Yeah, I chatted with support a few days ago...they offered to exchange for a new one, though not sure how widespread the problem is, but may be worth a shot. Also, they told me that the return/exchange window is extended to 45 days (from normal 14) due to pandemic, which is helpful. Alternative is taking in for repair, but based on earlier posts, does not sound like that offers much hope.

I gave up and returned my laptop / exchanged for a new one (I only had the original for all of two weeks). A new laptop shouldn't have any of these issues requiring end-users to input terminal commands, etc, no matter if it's a software issue or a hardware issue. Apple is obviously shipping out defective laptops judging by the number of people reporting this same issue. I now have a new one, and so far....one week in....no issues whatsoever.

Do you have a consistent way of reproducing this?

In your case can it be fixed by killing coreaudiod process?

If it's fixed by killing coreaudiod, it clearly seems to be an issue with software, not hardware.

I contacted Apple by phone to explain my issue. They told me to bring my device in an Apple store. But no time slot was available. So, I brought it to an official Apple vendor. He tried to reproduce the issue without success. He told me he couldn't do anything if he doesn't observe the issue himself. He advised me to capture videos when the problem appears.

I succeded. It's a random issue, but when it appears, it does for all videos or music I play.

Now, I must go back to Apple store or official vendor to bring my device and my evidences. I'll keep you imformed

Finally brought my Mac at the Apple Store.

They noticed the problem and sent it in repair.

They replaced the « Top Case with battery ».

I got back it today. It seems the problem desapeared. I’ll let you know if it appears again.

I have the same issue on my 2020 MBP 13". I find that stopping and restarting coreaudiod doesn't help, but only stopping (and waiting a moment for it to restart automatically) does — i.e. I run only:

sudo launchctl stop com.apple.audio.coreaudiod

My advice? Return it to the retailer you purchased from and get a replacement. That's what I did and my replacement MacBook Pro does not have this issue.

I am a blind VoiceOver user who depends upon stable audio output to manage my MBP. This has been an issue since a week after I purchased this machine in the summer. I have spent many hours communicating directly with Apple Support, executing the tests they requested, providing sysdiagnose traces, and dproviding critical details as to the problem. These hours were wasted. I created an alias in terminal to kill/reload coreaudiod so at least I am no longer rebooting in the midst of a project. I am very fond of this little laptop, and would not have anticipated the dismissive behavior Apple has exhibited. I also have indications from this thread that updating to BigSur would be unlikely to resolve the matter. I have considered wiping the disk and rebuilding from the ground up, although I doubt this would resolve the matter. I certainly hope Apple gets its act together. It is most disappointing.

I've contacted Apple Support about this issue, they were unaware of it and they've asked me to try to reproduce it and report back to them.

Basically I was asked to create a new admin user and with that account try to reproduce the issue, so that they are sure it's not something that I've installed on my usual account that is causing it. Only then they will escalate it to the engineering team.

The problem is that it happens randomly to me. I have no way of reproducing this issue. I've told them about that fact, but still they need to be sure before sending it to the engineering team.

Did any of you find the steps to reproduce it?

If we don't have a consistent way of reproducing this issue, I'm pretty sure it will never get fixed because the engineering team won't be able to reproduce it either.

I have the exact same issue, it happens more often after macOS returns from sleep.

I have an external monitor always connected, and somehow this also seems to be related to this issue.

The command to restart coreaudiod seems to work. Which tells us this is a software bug.

Please Apple, fix your mess.

I've been having this issue recurrently, it's unacceptable to have something like this.