Macbook Air M1 - Microphone malfunction with horrible noise

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Level 1

14 points

Macbook Air M1 - Microphone malfunction with horrible noise

Hey guys,

I've had my new Mac Air with M1 chip for a few weeks now and it's been fine. But last week during a Zoom call my counterpart told me she couldn't hear me because of the noise. I shrugged and switched to the phone and didn't think about it twice. Until today when I wanted to quickly record a song idea in Ableton and it turns out my internal mic makes this horrible horrible noise while on, like continuous white noise. I tried killing the coreaudio process, tried restarting - didn't help. Uninstalled zoom (zoom managed to kill my camera on my previous MacBook pro 2015) - didn't help. The only last thing I can think of is to uninstall Ableton - since it's not native, can it be causing the malfunction and thus affecting the mic? The noise is present in all apps, not just Ableton.

Before uninstalling, since it's some trouble to install it back afterwards with all my plugins, I just wanted to check if anyone else has this problem or it is a hardware problem after all and I should take it back to the shop (I really don't want to). I don't know if the problem has been there since the beginning since I didn't use the mic before.

MacBook Air 13″, macOS 11.1

Posted on Jan 30, 2021 4:44 PM

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Answer 1

karina184

Community Specialist

Feb 2, 2021 7:36 AM in response to amedumonde

Hello amedumonde,

We understand you're experiencing an issue with the microphone on your Mac, and we'd like to get you pointed in the right direction for a resolution. Get started with the guidance listed here: How to use safe mode on your Mac

These steps will help you isolate between the hardware and software of your device!

Take care.

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Answer 2

amedumonde Author

Level 1

14 points

Feb 10, 2021 6:51 AM in response to karina184

update - the service centre confirmed it was a factory hardware problem and now they are taking the laptop away for a month (to wait for a replacement part), on top of a week for diagnostics. All this time the laptop will be sitting in the service centre, and I won't be able to work. All because I dared to purchase a new laptop and paid money for it.

Both the shop and the service centre refuse to provide a temporary replacement laptop which they are required to by local law and human decency. The laptop was purchased through an official Apple authorized reseller (of which there are only four in Ukraine) and brought to the official authorized service centre. I wish Apple would pay more attention to the kind of service they provide (lack of thereof). But my country is not even present on your website so there is no way for me to even contact any kind of support.

I need the laptop to have an income during these difficult times. How am I supposed to work without a laptop?

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Answer 3

amedumonde Author

Level 1

14 points

Feb 2, 2021 12:54 PM in response to karina184

Didn't work. Had to take it to the service centre. The laptop is two weeks old. Now I'm gonna be without a laptop for a month. I don't know how I am supposed to work. Thanks Apple 😒

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Macbook Air M1 - Microphone malfunction with horrible noise

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