MacBook Pro M1 2020 Skipping Video/Audio via HDMI

Same issue for my MacBook Pro 13” M1 with Sonoma 14.5… Reboot trick works for me too!

I also have the exact same issue on my MacBook Air M2, audio/video playback when using a USB-C to HDMI adapter is in fast forward when connected to an extended display wether it be via the cable or via dock which then utilises a HDMI to HDMI cable. I notice this is only when trying to use the sound from the external display. When using the MacBook speakers this issue does not arise. This is particularly annoying when you want to take benefit of your home theatre speaker setup to watch movies/tv shows etc. Hopefully this bug will be fixed soon as I have tried many different cables/docks, non seem to work.

I've been having the same issue for about 6 months and as others have mentioned on this thread would have to restart my laptop after setting my sound output to my monitor whenever I wanted to use an external speaker. A few days ago I updated to Sonoma and haven't had the issue since. I know that's not a viable solution for everyone, but another solution to potentially solve this.

Having the same issue on MBP M1 Pro 14, both with HDMI and DisplayPort audio. It periodically happens since Monterey. Right now it's happening on latest Sonoma version(14.3.1). The only temporary fix is a restart. What a garbage...

I've just been restarting every time I try outputting video/audio on HDMI since I have my M1 Pro 14" since over a year ago. Doesn't matter what source of video, be it local files or web streaming stuff, always I need to restart then it outputs HDMI ok.

I seen reddit and here talk of doing an SMC reset, seems to be on Arm Macbooks SMC reset is done when powering off then waiting 30 seconds before powering back up. I might try that, wonder if in combination with one of the latest OS updates this might be fixed.

Could it be this is a hardware fault somewhere around HDMI output function by Apple that they may have fixed in new batches of the Macbook?

Weird is this bug happening accross several Macbook models from M1, M1 Pro, M1 Max and M2?

My guess is it gets somehow synchronized to HDMI video/audio output so it continues working as long as the HDMI cable stays connected and the Macbook isn't rebooted. If you disconnect the HDMI cable, and if you watch some videos without HDMI and then you come back to try to reconnect a HDMI cable, this out-of-sync problem might re-appear requiring yet another restart while keeping the HDMI cable plugged in on the Macbook during the restart. So if you keep your macbook always connected to the HDMI for a long time, it might stay synchronized through suspend/resume for as long as you don't restart or power off the Macbook.

I have almost the exact same setup. The only diff being I’m using sound “optical” out of my Samsung to my Sony theater system. Only solution currently to select sound output to Samsung, then reboot. Not ideal, but instant fix until Apple comes up with one…

Hey there jordandupton,

We understand you're having trouble playing video out to your TV through HDMI. We'd be happy to provide information to help you address this.

Test to see if changing the HDMI cable may help. If not, it's possible that the app you're trying to play from does not allow you to play it to a TV.

Kind regards.

The only way around it I have found is to use the volume from the Macbook itself but in a classroom I can see this not being loud enough. Really hope Apple get round to fixing this as not being able to utilise my new home theatre system for videos/films is a real pain.

jordandupton wrote:

My MacBook Pro M1 2020 (Ventura 13.2.1) used to play video to my TVs via a USB-C to HDMI adapter, but now it will only play video from clips or games in fast forward or at normal speed without audio. It is set to play audio out to the devices, not the MacBook speakers. It was fine a week ago, but now it won't work on multiple TVs, HDMI cables, and adapters, so I'm confident it's a software issue with my computer.

Note: Apple grabbed the OS 11.1 from a different laptop but won't let me change the listing. It is 13.2.1.

Were you using Ventura 13.2.1 when things worked?

What I'm trying to get at is whether "things stopped working" right after you installed a new macOS release (even just a point release). If they did, that might be useful information to include in a report to Apple. "It worked in X.Y but not in X.Z" suggests a closer look at the changes between ".Y" and ".Z".

I had similar issues with audio only using HDMI, Bluetooth, and using the headphone jack and I narrowed it down to my computer speakers. In System Settings-->Sound, if the Output volume is set too high, my speakers would make a popping sound. My theory is that the speakers are trying to prevent distortion when they receive an input above some threshold, so they pop. It appears to be random because the high output may only be for a short time (cymbals crashing, someone yelling, etc.) while other audio plays fine. I verified this on my Windows machine so my speakers are getting returned.

Hope this helps those with the audio problem.

My problem was solved after doing an update.

This also happening to me with my Macbook M1 Pro 14inch (Ventura 13.4). I have already tried with two displays, one TV and one monitor, one with an HDMI cable and the other with an USB-C cable - same issue, fast-forwarding the videos at super high speeds in some cases (browsers), in others just stuttering the sound. This only happens when the external sound output is chosen, everything is fine when the Macbook speakers are selected.

Has anyone heard any updates??????This same thing is happening to me, every time I plug my MacBook into my TV via HDMI it just speed fast forwards through the whole video if you try to go back it does the same thing over and over, I have found the workaround for some reason when you change the audio to the MacBook speakers instead of the TV it fixes it but that obviously doesn’t cut it with volume. Has anyone heard any updates or found a way to fix this, mine has been like this for over a year now. how has apple not addressed this?

I have the same problem only after waking up from sleep either fast forwarding video or audio distortion occurs. Only rebooting or using the MacBook speakers helps.

Has anyone tried to reset the SMC and NVRAM (PRAM) parameters? Will this help?