Crackling noise in EarPods connected to MacBook Pro M3 Max 16" when a sound starts/stops playing
I am experiencing an issue with a new MacBook Pro 16" M3 Max 48 GB:
When I'm listening on wired earphones—specifically EarPods—I can hear a light crackling noise when a sound starts playing, and about 1-3 seconds after it stops playing.
It looks like the noise is caused by the DAC turning on/off.
The problem persists with other pairs of EarPods, but it is absent when listening on built-in speakers, wireless headphones such as AirPods, or wired headphones with higher impedance such as Sennheiser HD 650.
I never encountered this issue on any other MacBook Pro (I checked other generations — 2015, 2019, 2021).
The easiest way to reproduce it (please see the screenshot below):
- Plug EarPods
- Set the sound volume to 1 (the noise occurs on any volume, it's just easier to spot it on lower volumes)
- Click the play sound button and listen.
Expected result: The sound should be clear.
Actual result: There is a crackling noise when the sound starts and another one after 1 second when the sound stops playing.
It happens with any sound, music, audio effects, video, etc.
My questions are:
- Has anyone else encountered this problem?
- If so, were you able to fix it?
- Is this considered a defect or a "feature"?
- Is it significant enough to return the laptop if it is a defect?
- Is there a way to prevent the DAC from turning on/off every time a sound is playing?
P. S. For some reason, Apple has linked a wrong MacBook Pro to this topic; I can't change it.
The actual config is: MacBook Pro 16-inch M3 Max 48 GB, Nov 2023, macOS Sonoma 14.3.1
MacBook Pro 15″