After upgrading to Monterey, the built-in speakers stopped working on my 2019 MBP. I found that restarting coreaudiod enables the speakers for exactly one application/thread. I've reset NVRAM but no joy. Airplay works fine.

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Level 1

4 points

After upgrading to Monterey, the built-in speakers stopped working on my 2019 MBP. I found that restarting coreaudiod enables the speakers for exactly one application/thread. I've reset NVRAM but no joy. Airplay works fine.

After upgrading to Monterey, the built-in speakers stopped working on my 2019 MBP. I found that restarting coreaudiod enables the speakers for exactly one application/thread. I've reset NVRAM and followed all of the other suggestions on here, including fully reinstalling Monterey.

I have "tailed" the launchd log to see what happens when I play a video from a web site or from the file system. Nothing occurs until I do something like "sudo killall coreaudiod". That seems to enable the speakers again, and I can play a subsequent file and hear the speaker audio. But when the end-of-file is reached, and I select that file or any other file again, there's no audio. Restarting coreaudiod is not a viable solution.

Bluetooth and Airplay via QuickTime work fine.

MacBook Pro 15″, macOS 11.4

Posted on Mar 2, 2022 6:38 PM

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Answer 1

Mar 3, 2022 1:06 PM in response to KhaoKalokRaf

Hi KhaoKalokRaf,

You started from an excellent resource. If the internal speakers on your Mac aren't working

Does the issue continue when booted to safe mode?

Turn on or restart your Mac, then immediately press and hold the Shift key as your Mac starts up.
Release the key when you see the login window, then log in to your Mac.
You might be asked to log in again. On either the first or second login window, you should see ”Safe Boot” in the upper-right corner of the window.

You can view those steps here as well: How to use safe mode on your Mac

Additionally, you can run a diagnostic: Use Apple Diagnostics to test your Mac

There's also a previous post that has resolved the issue with the steps Malcolm Rayfield provided. Be sure you have a backup of your data before completing any of the steps, and only do so if you're comfortable.

System Preferences / Sound / Preferences do not stay

Should the issue remain, reach out to Apple Support directly to report the issue and further assist.

Contact Apple Support

Best!

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Answer 2

destiny241

Community Specialist

Mar 4, 2022 6:11 AM in response to KhaoKalokRaf

Hey KhaoKalokRaf,

If you've used diagnostics, there is no hardware issues found and have reinstalled macOS, then the best next step would be to contact Apple Support: Contact Apple Support

We'd suggest giving them a call. They'll know how to take it from here, you'll be in good hands with them.

Wishing you well, cheers.

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Answer 3

KhaoKalokRaf Author

Level 1

4 points

Mar 4, 2022 2:45 AM in response to OrigamiFan1

Interesting! In safe mode, when I double-click on a .MP4 or .MOV file, an error pop-up says:

The document “IMG_1964.MOV” could not be opened. An unknown error occurred (-101)

I had previously booted in diagnostic mode and ran diagnostics which showed no errors. Since I already re-installed Monterey once, what's the next step?

Note #1: When in normal mode, I can play a file exactly once before the sound goes away, so it's not like the speakers are defective. They sound fine when they work.

Note #2: I'm in Thailand for several more months, so taking my MBP to the nearest Genius Bar isn't going to be a quick solution.

Note #3: I crafted a 1-line shell script and tacked it to the Menu Bar so that I can at least restart coreaudiod with a couple of mouse clicks.

Note #4: The solution suggested above was for *external* speakers and had to do with settings being lost across reboots.

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Answer 4

KhaoKalokRaf Author

Level 1

4 points

Mar 8, 2022 4:33 AM in response to destiny241

No luck after completely wiping the drive and reinstalling Monterey. Same issue, and same workaround, which is to execute "killall coreaudiod" after every usage of the speaker.

The iCare shop in Hua Hin advised me that they would be wiping the drive and reinstalling for a fee and would need a week. I did it all in < 2 hours at home.

I can't imagine my laptop is the only one experiencing this problem.

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Answer 5

KhaoKalokRaf Author

Level 1

4 points

Mar 13, 2022 3:48 AM in response to KhaoKalokRaf

A follow-up after I spent 1395 baht to have iCare Hua Hin "diagnose" the problem. Downgraded to Big Sur and the speakers work again. This is a bug with Monterey. Apple clearly states that the 2019 Macbook Pro 15" can be upgraded to Monterey.

Yes, it can, but the speakers may not work properly.

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Answer 6

Apr 13, 2022 7:27 AM in response to KhaoKalokRaf

I really wish apple would address this.

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After upgrading to Monterey, the built-in speakers stopped working on my 2019 MBP. I found that restarting coreaudiod enables the speakers for exactly one application/thread. I've reset NVRAM but no joy. Airplay works fine.

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