Random crackling sound

Problem hasn't occurred with me since the upgrade to macOS 12.3.1 three days ago.

It could very well be that it wasn't the new version that fixed the sound problem, but that it was the restart of the MBP that comes with the upgrade, which automatically resets NVRAM and/or SMC (can't remember which one). This often the first thing Apple Support suggests to do. It did fix the sound problem for others, as mentioned here: 2021_macbook_pro_speakers_crackling_and_popping

I own a 2021 14" M1 Pro. And same here: Spotify is on all the time, and when it's not I'm probably listening to meeting attendees on Zoom or MS Teams.

Right after my previous post, I experienced crackled sounds when my MPB's memory usage was in the orange zone (currently 14 out of 16 GBs in use)

14 GB of memory usage is rather exceptional in my case, btw. So that is maybe why I don't experience the problem that many times.

Closed some apps and brought the memory usage back in the green: no annoying noises whatsoever.

I had the issue with my M1 16" 2021 Macbook pro as well. I reset the SMC by shutting it down and now, in early tests, the issue seems to have gone away.

It is commonly spread issue. Here is the link to developers forum https://developer.apple.com/forums/thread/132423

Seems like new Macs have some firmware bug related to audio.

For example I'm getting crackling when mac's memory is under pressure ("yellow" memory presure in activity monitor). CPU load is 1-10% (basically free). In this case system is working very smoothly and problem is only with audio.

This needs to be fixed ASAP as this is annoying and for some people it will block normal working with audio/video etc.

Hi Lyro91,

Thanks for coming to Apple Support Communities for help with a crackling sound on your MacBook Pro M1.

Is this issue happening only with the internal speakers or does it also happen with external speakers and headphones?

Have you tested the issue in a new user account yet? This can help isolate the issue even further. Please see: Set up users, guests, and groups on Mac.

Let us know.

Have a fantastic day!

I have the same issue. Reported it to AppleCare+ and went back and forth for about a month or so, sent a good amount of evidence, diagnostic data and even a script that can reproduce the behaviour - they went silent. I have noticed this only happens whenever the memory pressure increases above the green, seems like the smart stuff around compression/swapping is messing with the music source? Internal speakers only, recently even my USB DAC started having staggers (not a popping/crackling sound as in case of the internal ones). I have not noticed any such behaviour when playing via Bluetooth.

M1 Pro ~ February, always latest OS

Hi all

I have received a brand new replacement MacBook Air M2 and the issue is the same as with the other one. So I was wondering if others have it as well and I went to the local Apple Store, checking a MacBook Air there. And it has it as well. Easy to detect when playing the pre-installed ring tones, simply by clicking them multiple times in a row (I think „breeze“ is a good one for that). I made the guy there aware of it. I can’t check right now but I think I remember that I even can hear it wearing AirPods.

Cheers, Seb

Hey @sebmann,

Can confirm that on my 2021 MBP M1 Pro the "Breeze" sound effect is a good way to reproduce the crackling sound. In Preferences > Sound > Sound Effects, repeatedly clicking on the Breeze alert sound does it for me.

And I can confirm I can reproduce the issue with the Breeze sound effect through my Airpod Pros (2nd gen). This might indicate it's more of a software issue, no?

So that'll become handy when I take my MBP back to the store. Contrary to what I posted on Sep 13, I'm experiencing the issue way more frequently as of late. Even when memory is not under pressure, and even shortly after I've restarted my MBP altogether

(Now, if only someone affiliated to Apple would drop in this discussion and explain us there side of the story..)

So, installed 12.3.1 today. Saw it was available. So far, no crackling. We shall see.

The problem has been reported on Reddit too (not only with Spotify, so it seems), and some suggestions to fix it have been shared

Have a look at : 2021_macbook_pro_speakers_crackling_and_popping

If you don't see the link, do a websearch for "spotify macbook crackling sound reddit" (Moderator erased 2 links to harmless music streams in my previous response)

At least two people here seem to notice a link with memory usage.

The problem is not fixed permanently for me, but I have the impression that a MBP restart (which comes with a SMC reset, doesn't it?) does suppress the crackling for a while.

I'll have a look at my memory usage when the crackling occurs again

Can confirm that the problem persists in Spotify, regardless of the hardware acceleration setting

Streaming quality is set to "very high": will do some test with lower quality settings

Testing audiostreams now via Safari: early findings are promising (as in: no crackling sound) but needs longer testing period

[Link Edited by Moderator]

I am hopeful this will get fixed. Either not enough people have reported this or it is a nasty one it seems. I have seen reports of similar behaviour on models even prior to the M1 release, so I am also hoping it is not an issue edged into the silicon, but a software one. Out of interest, which model are you running on?

With the support, they made me partition my disk and reinstall macOS there, essentially making a minimal set-up where nothing else could interfere. There is also a special way to do the SMC resets on the M1 lineup. Although I am noticing it getting temporarily better after a restart, this was and is one of the major reasons why I got a mac -> to avoid being forced into restarts. I should add that I was able to reproduce in the browser Spotify/youtube, as well as in the desktop Spotify app.

I am playing music 24/7 pretty much, this is very annoying, sort of an Achilles heel on an otherwise perfect device.

I have the same problem. This is happening only with the internal speakers. I was hoping the latest update would fix that. But unfortunately, this is not the case.

Please help!

If anyone from Apple reads this.... this is a massive issue for many people. see 21 pages of this over at the developer forum

How to Fix Cracking and Popping So… | Apple Developer Forums