27" Apple Studio Display - Distorted Choppy Sound

I have a brand new Apple Studio Display connected to a Mac mini with the Thunderbolt cable that came with the display.

It worked great for a couple of weeks.

But then one day, the audio became choppy.

I tried audio from websites and from iTunes. Still choppy audio.

I tried new Thunderbolt cable. Still choppy audio.

I tried playing the audio from the Mac mini speakers. NO Problem.

I tried the display connected to an Intel iMac. Display is OK

I played the audio to my iMac speakers, NO Problem.

I played the audio from the display speakers, Still choppy audio.

I conclude that the choppy audio problem is due to the Studio Display.

Anyone else have this same problem?

I suspect that the problem is the firmware for the A13 Bionic chip inside the apple Studio Display.

How can I fix it?

HELP !!!

Hi, rozhasi. From here, we would recommend reaching out to Apple directly to take a look into this with you further. There aren't really any particular settings that should cause a sound like you're describing.

You can reach out to Apple directly here and let them know what you're experiencing: Get Support.

Cheers.

rozhasi: You are a genius.

I Unpluggedhe Studio Display from power.

I Wait 15 seconds.

I plugged it back into power.

Problem SOLVED.

How did you ever find this solution?

You are smarter than Apple tech support and the Apple geniuses in the store.

Thank you very much.

I've had the Studio Display for a week and it has been running perfectly. Today, all of a sudden, the audio coming from the Studio Display's speakers became choppy, and broke up after each second or two. I tried rebooting my Mac Studio. Problem continued. When I switched the output to the Mac Studio's internal speaker, the audio sounded okay. The problem is definitely in the Studio Display. Since there's no power button on the Studio Display, I have to shut down the Mac Studio and then unplug the Studio Display's power cable - forcing a hard reboot. When everything powers backup, the problem goes away. I sure hope this is an isolated software glitch. I'll report back if it happens again. I also notice that the firmware version of the Studio Display is 15.4 (presumably the latest version), but the current iOS version is 15.4.1. Anyone care to comment on whether the Studio Display should be running the exact same iOS version?

Thanks for this thread...

I also have a brand new Studio Display and experienced exactly what you have described. I'm glad that unplugging and waiting 15 seconds worked... BUT, for the money I paid for this thing, I REALLY hope this isn't a chronic condition. I work from home and listen to music ALL THE TIME. This would really become a massive inconvenience if it happens every few weeks.

Apple better come up with something to fix this.

I just downloaded the new MacOS to my Mac mini which is connected to a Studio Display.

Then you must "separately" download the new firmware to the Studio Display.

The Studio Display firmware can be updated by connecting it to a Mac running macOS Monterey 12.4, which was just released.

After installing the new Mac software, Studio Display owners can go to:

System Preferences > Software Update to install the firmware.

I have heard that the new Studio Display firmware update WILL solve the choppy audio problem.

Only Time will tell if this fixes the choppy audio problem or not.

Let us know what your experience is.

I have just started having this same problem with a new Studio Display, bought about a month ago. Whether it is listening to a radio app, Spotify, YouTube, etc. the sound keeps distorting and/or cutting out. So annoying having paid all this money to have good sound as well as resolution! Started happening when trying to have a working meeting using Google Meets, so I don't know if this could have set it off? Also the mic stopped working, and would not reconnect, is this related does anyone know? If this can't be fixed permanently, I will be tempted to send the monitor back...

I just downloaded the new MacOS to my Mac mini which is connected to a Studio Display.

Then you must "separately" download the new firmware to the Studio Display.

The Studio Display firmware can be updated by connecting it to a Mac running macOS Monterey 12.4, which was just released.

After installing the new Mac software, Studio Display owners can go to:

System Preferences > Software Update to install the firmware.

I have heard that the new Studio Display firmware update WILL solve the choppy audio problem.

Only Time will tell if this fixes the choppy audio problem or not.

Let us know what your experience is.

Follow up...after upgrading to 15.5 a few weeks ago, my Studio Display does not seem to have any audio problem when awaking from sleep mode or from cold start. It seems that the choppy sound problems has been resolved.

Choppy audio problem not fixed here. Running 15.5 display version on a Mac Ultra with 2 Studio Displays. Both started having choppy audio within the last 2 days after starting out fine as new for a couple of weeks. Have tried pulling the Thunderbolt cables from both and waiting a minute but problem still persists. Watching an mkv video using VLC, the audio becomes so bad I can't listen anymore. I made an aggregate device using Apple Midi Utility to link both Display's speakers to audio output and everything worked fine for a couple of weeks. Now totally choppy. Please Apple, fix the audio issue!

I too am running Studio Display 15.5 firmware, and just experienced audio shutdown 4 seconds after starting any audio from all websites & photo library. Saw previous postings, unplugged power source; all appears normal at this juncture; clarity and continuity were not a factor in my case, went silent exactly at 4 seconds from all inputs.... FYI

I just experienced the same problem after several weeks of problem-free audio. The audio stopped after a few seconds from any source. I had to power off the Studio Display. After booting back up, it appeared normal again. This Thunderbolt 3 audio issue definitely has not been fixed. The frequency of occurrence however seems to have decreased after 15.5. Minor yet annoying!