MacBook Pro M1 pro 16inch

Hi nahil100,

If you believe you got a "lemon", you can start a return within 14 days of receiving the Mac, and get a full refund. Hopefully the next Mac you order shouldn't have that issue.

Returns & Refunds - Shopping Help - Apple

nahil100 Said:

"MacBook Pro M1 pro 16inch: Hi, 5 days ago I bought the new M1pro Mac and since one day I have some crackling and popping on my right speaker , do you have a solution please ."

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Try Reseting the Core Audio:

Type the following command in Terminal:

sudo killall coreaudiod

Hey even I have the same issue, but I bought my laptop in an apple verified retail outlet in Dublin , with in 13days of purchase I got the same issue on the right side speaker. I spoke to apple, Apple asked me to get in touch with the retail outlet, and the retail outlet tech ran the diags, nothing was found so they couldn't approve a replacement, so they reinstalled the OS & even after that I got the issue. I tried all other troubleshooting steps. but am not sure if this is a software issue or hardware issue. it doesn't happen all the time, but randomly I get this crackle in the right side of the speaker grill. any help will be appreciated.

Hello,

I must add to this subject:

We just acquired a few M1 Max 16 inch MacBook Pros for our company. We are developers and these machines are required to use a lot of CPU overhead.

When compiling (heavy cpu usage) playing music in the background results in crackles and pops in the audio output (right speaker, I believe).

This is 100% reproducible. Run any software with high CPU intensity and play something from Apple Music.

What should we do?

I've spoken to Apple Support, and it was a sobering, sad experience and we are now doubting our choice of this hardware.

Has anyone been able to resolve this by getting a replacement or any other means?

I only have the means to reproduce this issue using 3rd party software not made by Apple, such as Unity (Unity 3d, Unity Pro) which requires heavy CPU load when compiling. I am sure this happens with any other CPU-heavy Software development tool, too, such as audio processing software. "Possibly" only when it's not yet optimised for M1.

Repro is:

Compile (or similar), play music at the same time. Note how this doesn't happen with Intel-based computers.

Sadly Apple support is using this as a conclusion to say that this is the fault of the developers of the 3rd party software.

Their reply is that they should be 'my first point of call'.

I am extremely disappointed with that. They base this conclusion on the information I was able to tell them on the phone.

To this I can only say that this software worked perfectly on a 2015 MacBookPro. It still runs fine on the M1 but it causes speaker-crackling when using heavy cpu load. The is not the fault of that program, the MacBookPro is a work station and it is required to work fine with any piece of software you run on it as long as the OS allows it to.

To expect the developers of Unreal Engine, Unity and any other such software to create updates just for the MBP workstations is ludicrous. Our projects are huge, we cannot simply update to the latest version as if this was iTunes, there are hundreds of dependencies to consider and this is not a little MacBook Air we use for browsing.

We might have to get our money back.

I just bought a MacBook Pro 16in M1 MAX as well and have the same issue on my left speaker. It makes a distorted blown speaker sound. Seems like it's triggered by lower bass. I have reinstalled the software, among other things that the forums have said for speaker issues and nothing has worked. I know I can get a replacement since I'm still in the 14 day window, but a replacement with my configuration will not arrive until late January according to the Apple store. I sent my old Mac back to Apple for a credit, so this puts me in a bad situation. I wish it were software related but maybe this is more widespread than we know.

If you purchased it from Apple, then you have 14-days from the purchase date to return it for a refund or exchange. The Apple Store or Apple Authorized Reseller will have the last word. You also have 90 days of free phone support and at least one year of warranty. We are fellow users and can do nothing about your apparent speaker issues. Schedule time with an Apple Store, or Apple Authorized Service Center to have that speaker looked at.

I have the 16-inch M1 Pro here without speaker issues.

I have the same issue! mine is triggered by lower bass sounds too its on the left side speaker MacBook Pro M1 16 inch with AppleCare +, any fix?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t7cSSQzNnE8

Can you hear it in this speaker test too? I noticed it constantly happening in music with bass.

I tried the core audio kill and it doesn't work, on clear crisp audio its not a problem but with low bass sounds I deff here a weird crackling/buzzing.

I have the same model but my left speaker, anything with low bass playing in a song or video it is constantly giving off an annoying buzzing sound.

It Is also prominent in this video on my left speaker so annoying it has to be a defect. I'm gonna have to make an appointment.

Hi thoMarma,

I feel I can shed some light on this, as someone who uses two 2021 16" models (both M1 Pro and M1 Max) in the day job in Data Science, as well as having a background in Audio Engineering.

This speaker popping/crackling (it's been described in numerous ways) is sadly, and more frustratingly an issue that stems back some time. When I got a 2019 16" model, not long after buying it, it started exhibiting this issue. Apple support will advise you to speak to developers, but in my eyes, Apple support need to be logging system usage to pass onto the Audio and software teams to try and isolate the issue, especially when it can be replicated in numerous scenarios with both native and 3rd party software.

Rewinding back to my experience, the speakers would start crackling at randomly occurring intervals when scrubbing through YouTube videos. It then started when playing music (Ie: it'd just starting popping, clicking during playback). Music with sharp, static highs and punchy low end would sometimes trigger it also at random intervals. However I'm currently doing some audio monitoring to see if I can be more precise on where the issue is susceptible to occur. I have also replicated your testing and experienced a couple of sharp pops.

I've seen a suggestion above about resetting Core Audio - this is only a temporary fix, and on several occasions when resetting core audio I've experienced crackling.

I would love to be able to say returning it would cure the issue, but I don't believe it will. I'm not convinced from my current monitoring testing the issue is hardware, but instead a deep rooted software problem that may take some time to fix.

If however you don't feel confident, and frankly I don't blame you: these machines are costly - then it may be best to returning them until a fix is in place.

Sorry to give you another grim reply, but I feel it's important with my background in Audio to shed some light and share my experience on where I feel Apple are at with this issue.

All the best.

After lots more testing it comes down to the simple fact that running Rosetta-translated software (intel) at heavy CPU loads will cause your right-hand speaker to crackle.

Th speaker needs to be set to 1/3rd volume level or more. It doesn't really matter what you play or whether you play it rom YouTube or wherever. As long as you have non-M1-native software running and your speaker volume is up this issue can happen.

Since Apple says any Intel-based software should be able to run on the M1 with the help of Rosetta this really is on them to fix. It doesn't have much to do with what software you run as long as it's intel-based.

This issue does not happen if you run software that has been built for the M1 Macs.

Not the case mate/bud/friend, sudo kill core audio no work, resetting system software no work.

I have to take back to applestore so they can fix my $3000+ M1 MacBook Pro ugh.

I'm making a Genius Bar appointment. I'm glad I didn't apply my Dbrand skin, and the sound is very noticeable, if another human being hears it they will know something is wrong compared to another Mac.

Its not a problem with rosetta mate or any type of software Lad

Regards,

St3ven24

Yes, I have the same issues with everything from music to podcast, anything with slight BASS is a problem any other human being can hear this.

This machine costed me $3000+ and I bought it a day before I had to go to my new job in person ( they require us to work from home so I needed a reliable machine, its ironic how after like 1 month I started noticing this smh, im a very clean person I never spilled anything and I even use a keyboard cover plus a case, I don't even eat while using this machine)

Frankly, when I see people eating while using their machines it makes me cringe SO BADLY and raises my anxiety level of all germs + its disgusting + we are in covid 19 right now.

I am not insulting those people but I wait until my break and lunch and go to a the break room or if im working from home I go away from my machine and eat properly.

Anyway with that aside, im making a Genius Bar appointment I paid for 3 years of AppleCare plus along with my base config of $3000.

Also, my mom's 15 inch MacBook Pro (which I had to give her my old mid 2015 CHAMPION 15 inch spec'd out it NEVER gave me any issues, I compared both of them her speakers did not have the issue im experiencing and even though she is hard of hearing she can hear the issue, I also never had to return that machine or take it back to apple care)

So none of the solutions anyone hear stated works, gotta take it back to Ze Apple Store Indeed.

Thanks all,

St3ven24

Can I ask, does this happen with every machine or just a couple?

I had the same problem, then I got a replacement and it does the exact same thing, I first notice it when gaming on steam which is rosetta, not sure what to do now. I hope its software, it seems too common to be hardware.

Update: I'm getting this audio cracking issues when ever i take a call on teams, Zoom meeting or whatsapp call on my MB pro M1 Pro. I think its an issue with software. It shows up when ever i hear the audio from another persons mircophone(Phones).