You can make a difference in the Apple Support Community!

When you sign up with your Apple Account, you can provide valuable feedback to other community members by upvoting helpful replies and User Tips.

Looks like no one’s replied in a while. To start the conversation again, simply ask a new question.

Macbook Pro speakers - 'crackling' and 'popping' sounds when playing audio

TL;DR

Remove the files com.apple.audio.DeviceSettings.plist and com.apple.audio.SystemSettings.plist (Go > Computer > Macintosh HD > Library > Preferences > Audio)


Hi!


I had an issue with my speakers/sound on my brand new MacBook Pro (16-inch, 2021).

The sound started to 'crackle' and 'pop' suddenly. I think it was after the most recent update, although I'm not sure. But it wasn't there before at least.

I tried a few things: 

  • resetting my nvram
  • rebooting
  • change the format of my sound to different units of 'Hz': 48k and 44.1k


The above options didn't help. So what i just did to fix it is this:

I removed the files com.apple.audio.DeviceSettings.plist and com.apple.audio.SystemSettings.plist (Go > Computer > Macintosh HD > Library > Preferences > Audio) and restarted. Now the popping and crackling is gone. I got the answer from these pages (kudo's to them!): https://www.reddit.com/r/macbookpro/comments/qmpg3k/comment/hw9zmgm/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yyoD30qaku4


Is this a known issue and did i fix it correctly? As i now know a lot of people experience this issue, including the ones from the company i work at.


Edit:

Had a call with Apple Support about this issue. The above solution is a verified solution (it's a step they take sometimes to fix issues) and removing 'preference' or 'plist' files cant harm the OS much as they almost always get recreated on reboot. Disclaimer: do make a backup of the files before removing them so that you can always revert the changes.

Posted on Mar 25, 2022 8:31 AM

Reply

Similar questions

There are no replies.

Macbook Pro speakers - 'crackling' and 'popping' sounds when playing audio

Welcome to Apple Support Community
A forum where Apple customers help each other with their products. Get started with your Apple Account.