feedback from iMac speaker when I plug in an iPad Pro

Question

feedback from iMac speaker when I plug in an iPad Pro

I use Zoom to teach English to students. I recently bought an iPad Pro to replace an aging iPad Air. When I connect the iPad to this iMac and share material, mainly photos, I get an intermittent buzzing feedback from the iMac's speakers. It is a loud distraction for my students and I'd appreciate any help in fixing the problem.

I had no similar problems until I started using the iPad Pro.

iMac 27″, macOS 10.14

Posted on Nov 28, 2022 5:34 AM

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Answer 1

K_Faith

Community Specialist

Nov 29, 2022 6:03 PM in response to William Heber Percy

Hello William Heber Percy,

Thank you for reaching out to Apple Support Communities, and we'll be happy to help in any way we can. We understand you're having issues with the sound when using your iPad to Mac. Try the steps listed here to see if htey resolve the issue: Resolve Wi-Fi and Bluetooth issues caused by wireless interference - Apple Support

"Symptoms of wireless interference

Any of these symptoms could be caused by interference affecting the Wi-Fi or Bluetooth signal:

Device doesn't connect or stay connected
Connection is slow and signal strength is low
Bluetooth audio skips, stutters, cuts off, or has static or buzzing
Pointer movement is erratic or jumpy

How to reduce wireless interference

These general steps can help achieve a cleaner, stronger wireless signal:

Bring your Wi-Fi device closer to your Wi-Fi router. Bring the Bluetooth devices that are connecting to each other closer together.
Avoid using your wireless devices near common sources of interference, such as power cables, microwave ovens, fluorescent lights, wireless video cameras, and cordless phones.
Reduce the number of active devices that use the same wireless frequency band. Both Bluetooth and Wi-Fi devices use the 2.4 GHz band, but many Wi-Fi devices can use the 5 GHz band instead. If your Wi-Fi router supports both bands, it might help to connect more of your Wi-Fi devices to the 5GHz band. Some dual-band routers manage this for you automatically.
Configure your Wi-Fi router to use a different Wi-Fi channel, or have it scan for the channel with the least interference. Most routers perform this scan automatically on startup or when reset.

If you're using USB 3 or Thunderbolt 3 devices with your computer, you can limit their potential to interfere with nearby wireless devices:

Use a high-quality, shielded USB or Thunderbolt 3 cable with each device.
Move your USB 3 or Thunderbolt 3 devices—including any USB hubs—farther away from your wireless devices.
Avoid placing USB 3 or Thunderbolt 3 devices on top of your Mac.
Turn off any USB 3 devices that aren't in use.

Avoid physical obstructions in the path of your wireless signal. For example, a metal surface between your Bluetooth mouse and computer could cause the mouse to perform poorly, and a metal-reinforced concrete floor between your Wi-Fi router and Wi-Fi device could cause poor Wi-Fi performance.

Low interference potential: wood, glass, and many synthetic materials
Medium interference potential: water, bricks, marble
High interference potential: plaster, concrete, bulletproof glass
Very high interference potential: metal"

We hope this helps.

Cheers!

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Answer 2

Dec 1, 2022 7:37 AM in response to William Heber Percy

Thanks for that info William Heber Percy,

To further isolate the issue, we would like to test in safe mode and a test user.

Safe mode will rule out the possibility of interference from any third party app. Here is how to test: How to use safe mode on your Mac - Apple Support

A test user will tell us if this is system wide or specific to your user. To set ups. test user, here is a user guide: Change Users & Groups settings on Mac - Apple Support

Please test in each and report back your results.

Cheers!

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Answer 3

Nov 30, 2022 12:24 AM in response to William Heber Percy

Thank you for responding. I don't think it's a wireless problem. I didn't clearly describe the set up before so I'll try again. I'm using Zoom on this iMac and have the iPad connected directly to it using the USB3.1 cable which came with the iPad Pro. The buzzing interference/feedback emits from the iMac's speakers when I share photos or PDFs on the iPad using the screen sharing function in the Zoom menu. I tested the same operation again using an iPhone 13 Pro with a USB cable connected to a OWC USB4 hub. There was no audio feedback when sharing files from the iPhone.

I realised that if the iPad is logged in to the Zoom meeting I can still share the photos and there is no audio interference since there's no cable connection with the iMac, but I'd like to hear if you have any thoughts about why a thunderbolt cable connection results in noise where a USB connection is silent.

Thank you again for replying.

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Answer 4

1ssmith

Community Specialist

Nov 30, 2022 7:40 AM in response to William Heber Percy

William Heber Percy,

Let's continue with narrowing down why this is happening. If you test with a different thunderbolt cable, does the same buzzing noise occur?

Try connecting without using the hub. Is there any improvement with the noise?

Regards.

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Answer 5

Dec 1, 2022 10:13 PM in response to justinb2603

Hi,

I booted in Safe mode and got the same buzzing. I then set up a New user (standard) account, logged in to my Apple ID, installed Zoom and tried sharing from the iPad. Again, pulses of feedback about 30 seconds apart.

I hope that's the way you wanted me to test it. I had a Guest account already available from a telephone/Help session with an Apple support staff member who wanted to test something else, but I went ahead and set up a new Standard account.

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Answer 6

Dec 1, 2022 10:42 PM in response to Babelux

Thank you. I'll bear this in mind and try to test it later (but I'm not quite sure I follow the instructions.)

Untick Airplay receiver.

In the iMac's Settings panel, right?

share screen Ipad via Airplay.

Where? From the iMac's controls or from the iPad's?

On Ipad select Zoom screen mirror not mac.

I'm a bit lost here. Screen sharing from the Zoom menu or from the iPad's control?

But for now I'd really like to concentrate on trying to get to the bottom of why the problem is occurring.

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Answer 7

Dec 9, 2022 8:47 PM in response to William Heber Percy

Hi,

I realise it's a busy time for everyone but this problem remains unresolved. I've had no response to my feedback from Zoom and on their Community forums just one response from someone with the same problem. Can anybody here suggest further steps?

Thank you.

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Answer 8

Dec 9, 2022 9:54 PM in response to William Heber Percy

I've worked out how to do this but without the cable connection. Zoom's Share Screen menu allows you to select either an iPhone or iPad using AirPlay. Double click that button then on the iPad drag down from the top right corner of the screen to reveal Control centre. I selected the screen mirroring feature then chose my iMac so that content from the iPad appears in Zoom for others to view. I can annotate the image from the iPad using Zoom's menu on the iMac.

Since it is a wireless connection using home wifi there is no buzzing feedback from the iMac's speakers.

This is a great work around but the original problem remains...

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