Macbook Air mic not working: worth fixing or possible to use external mic?
I recently purchased a used Macbook Air and noticed that the built in mic doesn't seem to work. I opened Sound preferences up and the mic doesn't register any sound. I'm totally disappointed as I wanted to use the MBA for skyping on the road.
How much it would cost to fix the mic? Will an external mic plugged in to the headphone jack work? What about a USB mic?
your problem, maybe simple, I would say for example, there is a little cable that connect the mic to logic board, or in worst case you mic is damaged from intern. I think that the best thing that you can do is bring you macbook air and go to an apple store.
If the Mac is out of warranty and not covered by an AppleCare extended coverage plan, you'd have to get an estimate for repair costs. There's no way to us to say since we can't know exactly what might have failed.
Will an external mic plugged in to the headphone jack work?
No, that jack is an output only.
What about a USB mic?
That would work, as would a USB audio adapter such as the Griffin iMic.