Macbook pro 16" M1 pro 2021 popping sound OS 12.0.1

Since updating to Mac OS Monterey Version 12.3.1 (21E258) I haven't had any pops.

I also tried the previously mentioned suggestions (deleting files etc.) but those didn't seem to do the trick, only the update solved the issue.

Switching the output format down to 44khz seems to have fixed the issue for me too. Fingers crossed!

My previous Macbook pro (2016) had similar issues - only far worse, so it's been a solid 6 years of high priced hardware with unusable built in audio... Hopefully no more :D

switching Midi to 44000 has been the only reprieve for my machine. This isn't a permanent fix however as it does eventually come back. I switch it to 96000 and it goes away for a short time as well.

I love these speakers when they work...but the cracking and persistence of this issue definitely doesn't look good on Apple. I don't need their Pro products specifically and will be thinking twice before purchasing another one (I don't have this issue on an Silicon 13inch MBP).

[Edited by Moderator]

MacBook Pro (16 pouces, 2021)

MacOs Monterey 12.3.1

What worked for my case :

1. (Menu Bar): Go > Computer > Macintosh HD > Library > Preferences > Audio
2. Delete the com.apple.audio.DeviceSettings.plist and com.apple.audio.SystemSettings.plist files
3. Empty trash
4. Restart your computer

I have also been having this same issue with my 16in MBP since I got it about 6 months ago. It happens with the internal speakers, a Rhode external USB mic with analog audio out, as well as my Bluetooth headphones. It happens in every app that I use with audio including Adobe Audition, Quicktime, Safari, Youtube, Premier Pro, Zoom. The problem is solved after restarting, and it comes back after the machine has not been restarted it might be a day or more don't keep track. It gets worse the longer it is left on until I get annoyed enough and restart then it is fixed for a while. Since I do a lot of Audio work on my mac this is a huge issue and needs to be fixed. I also notice that this sometimes corresponds with a slowing down of the machine with jumps in frame rate and lag for saving and switching apps etc...

What "Singervienna" said seems to be working well for me. I tried both mixup audios' decibel and, sonnox's listenhub. Sonnox's Listenhub ended up working well because it is a system-wide application whereas mixup seemed to only be a plugin. You can get a trial for 15 days. So all you need to do is install it. Then switch your audio out to the new Sonnox's ListenHub, and make sure you change the settings in ListenHub input source to system, and output device to whatever you want the sound to come out of. Ill update if it stops working I have been using it for 2 days without any issues.

This worked for me -- thanks to @Sitti_S

Go to Audio Midi Setup (in Utilities folder), toggle the format to 48,000 (or any setting it isn't on), play something. Return to Audio Midi and reset to 44,100 or 48,000. Don't know why this worked, but it did for me.

Crackling occurred in my left speaker after about a year of usage. ATM using MacOS Sonoma 14.4.1.

Deleting the plist files worked for a day or two, but the crackling came back.

Installing eqMac did nothing.

Switching between frequencies did nothing.

I've used Audio MIDI Setup and moved 'Balance' all the way to the right in my speakers configuration. There is no crackling anymore. It's a bit weird, but seems to work. Will see how long it lasts..

It worked for me as well

This has so far worked with me too.

In my case the issue was caused by the iOS simulator when kept it open for about a day, after I closed it everything started working fine.

Same issue here, and it really surprised me. All aspects of this machine is great, the sound of the speakers is the best I've ever heard on a laptop, and then this stuff happens…

Chiming in to add to the evidence that – while this seems to worsen with CPU load – I have had several pops (and one is one too many!) with only a handful of apps open, such as a couple of text editors, a browser, and over 81% of resources available. When this first appeared, I had 63% available and audio could severely pop every 10-20 seconds. Which is inexcusable. I have never had this happen apart from manually switching / pushing the latency and I/O buffer in apps such as Ableton Live.

Closing nearly all apps seems to resolve the issue. But I have also simultaneously opened all the most complex apps (Logic, Ableton, Final Cut, the whole Office Suite, the whole Apple productivity suite (in the blink of an eye) with no pops, so it is not directly a CPU thing. Later I tried playing 3x 4k video streams. This produced no popping… for a minute. And then it suddenly pops. Both on Apple Music and Spotify. Sampling frequency was set to 44,1khz.

Really needs to be addressed.

Another data point to add: since upgrading to 12.4 mine hasn't made the noise. Since Apple has been completely silent on this issue I'm not confident it is fixed and suspect it is a matter of time before it returns.

It's driving me crazy. The popping is still a thing in 2023. I'm just trying to enjoy some music while doing my work. The dozens of cracking per song completely ruins any good faith or mood for the day. Apple's audio performance is a complete dumpster fire at this point. Quality is no longer a concern for Apple anymore. I'm using a high quality external DAC and even like that I still can't avoid the mind boggling popping.

Apple better advertise this as a feature called "i-Popping" Otherwise I don't see how they can explain for such a horrible user experience. Back in the days, it was iPod that made Apple famous. They're about to revolutionize audio again with i-Popping in 2023.

A pattern I've noticed is that the poppings seem to be related to RAM or system load because it sometimes happens right after I've clicked the mouse, trackpad, or given any type of user input to the computer. Dragging a chrome window around can cause a popping or several popping sounds in a row. Right after starting to play a YouTube video is an almost guaranteed several popping sounds in a row. Right after Apple music switching the song is an almost guaranteed several popping sounds in a row. etc.

I'm using a M1 Max 16-inch pro 32GB - Monterey Version 12.4 (21F79)

It's driving me crazy. The popping is still a thing in 2023. I'm just trying to enjoy some music while doing my work. The dozens of cracking per song completely ruins any good faith or mood for the day. Apple's audio performance is a complete dumpster fire at this point. Quality is no longer a concern for Apple anymore. I'm using a high quality external DAC and even like that I still can't avoid the mind boggling popping.

Apple better advertise this as a feature called "i-Popping" Otherwise I don't see how they can explain for such a horrible user experience. Back in the days, it was iPod that made Apple famous. They're about to revolutionize audio again with i-Popping in 2023.

A pattern I've noticed is that the poppings seem to be related to RAM or system load because it sometimes happens right after I've clicked the mouse, trackpad, or given any type of user input to the computer.

• Dragging a chrome window around can cause a popping or several popping sounds in a row.
• Clicking on something could cause it to happen
• Typing could cause it to happen
• Right after starting to play a YouTube video is an almost guaranteed several popping sounds in a row.
• Right after Apple music switching the song (manually or automatically) is an almost guaranteed several popping sounds in a row.
• In the middle of a song the music suddenly gets stuck for a short while then keeps playing (can happen 2 to 3 times per song when it's really bad)
• In the middle of a song the volume gets louder automatically (this happened just one time and it was on today. Never had this before. I don't know what's causing all these audio issues but apparently it's getting worse)
• etc.

I'm using a M1 Max 16-inch pro 32GB - Monterey Version 12.4 (21F79)