MacBook Pro 16 M3 internal microphone not working

Yesterday, during a FaceTime call, my microphone wasn’t reaching the other person. At first I thought it might be a bug, but after checking the settings everything appeared to be fine. In Sound → Input I can see the MacBook microphone, but when I speak nothing happens. I also tried the option below, which is the microphone of my phone, and that one worked without any issues.


At this point I have no idea why my microphone suddenly stopped working or where the problem could be. I’m using a MacBook Pro 16 M3 and I’m very careful with my belongings, so I don’t expect anything to be physically damaged. A few days ago everything was working perfectly, and now out of nowhere it isn’t working anymore.

MacBook Pro 16″, macOS 26.1

Posted on Dec 9, 2025 2:56 PM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Dec 10, 2025 8:25 AM

Remember that your camera and microphone are considered PRIVATE, and use by any Application requires explicit authorization.


Settings > privacy & security > Microphone ...


... and slide the slider next to any software you DO want to have access to your private microphone data.



2 replies

Dec 9, 2025 5:54 PM in response to ELBALIKO

ELBALIKO wrote:

Yesterday, during a FaceTime call, my microphone wasn’t reaching the other person. At first I thought it might be a bug, but after checking the settings everything appeared to be fine. In Sound → Input I can see the MacBook microphone, but when I speak nothing happens. I also tried the option below, which is the microphone of my phone, and that one worked without any issues.

At this point I have no idea why my microphone suddenly stopped working or where the problem could be. I’m using a MacBook Pro 16 M3 and I’m very careful with my belongings, so I don’t expect anything to be physically damaged. A few days ago everything was working perfectly, and now out of nowhere it isn’t working anymore.



—Have you shut down and restarted the Mac

>Shut down


—A SafeBoot Start up your Mac in safe mode - Apple Support will sort many anomalies

Login and test. Reboot as normal and test. Caches get rebuilt automatically.



—Take a look at the Audio MIDI Setup .app in your Utilities folder...(?)

Verify Mute is not on microphone— toggle changes to Format and compare your results.

ref: Audio MIDI Setup User Guide for Mac


—ref Apple Support If FaceTime isn't working on your Mac


MacBook Pro 16 M3 internal microphone not working

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