External speakers quit working with macOS Tahoe 26.2

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Level 1

4 points

External speakers quit working with macOS Tahoe 26.2

Since upgrading to Tahoe 26.2 my speakers do not work correctly, I get very low sound out of left speaker only and cannot use settings to make any adjustments. I have a Mac Book Air, LG montior with built in dock which connects to the Mac book via a USB C for video, data and sound. The docking has a built in DAC which is connected to Kanto YU2 speakers via USB. It has worked flawlessly until the update. Video is fine, data is fine. The sound controls do not operate correctly, and even connecting to speakers, like my Sennheiser buds, is challenging and flaky. But I did manage to connect to my buds, although it continued to play through the buds even though I selected MacBook Air speakers in settings. Is there a fix on the horizon? I am literally considering buying a new computer because of this issue. I am listening to music through Apple Music. Same issue using Zoom on a meeting. Nothing fancy or weird. I tried rebooting, I tried plugging in and unplugging. Then I tried the aux cable to my speakers, even worse, distortion static etc. Thanks Apple, maybe fix things like this before wasting time on AI I won't use, voluntarily anyway.

[Re-Titled by Moderator]

Original Title: Speakers quit working with Tahoe 26.2 "upgrade"

MacBook Air (M3, 2024)

Posted on Jan 12, 2026 2:54 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

djkwas1 Author

Level 1

4 points

Jan 13, 2026 10:38 AM in response to djkwas1

I figured it out. Ha, I did a hard hard reboot, power off to everything and let sit for a half hour. Then I turned on and a USB DAC device showed up in the list, and that did the trick. It wasn't there before. Whatever, they work and sound great!

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Answer 2

John Galt

Level 10

155,720 points

Jan 13, 2026 7:32 AM in response to djkwas1

Yes. I think it's likely the reason is some incompatibility with macOS 26.2 that you can't do anything about. Contact the manufacturers of that software, but by all means contact Apple as well. Apple will probably have you go through some perfunctory motions to definitively rule out any hardware faults, after which they'll lose interest. Ultimately it's up to third party hardware manufacturers and software developers to keep up with frequent macOS updates... a full-time job most of them are remiss at doing.

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Answer 3

John Galt

Level 10

155,720 points

Jan 13, 2026 4:54 AM in response to djkwas1

Then you isolated the problem to a non-Apple audio driver or something else external to the Mac. Go ahead and contact Apple but they won't be interested in anything other than the Apple product itself. If you want to be proactive contact the respective third party manufacturers for support.

Contact a third-party vendor - Apple Support

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Answer 4

John Galt

Level 10

155,720 points

Jan 12, 2026 4:15 PM in response to djkwas1

If you are asking about the MacBook Air's built-in speakers, then contact Apple Support since there appears to be a hardware defect if one of them is not working properly.

FYI posting to this site is not contacting Apple. If it was your intent to contact Apple, you have to contact them. Start with the Support link on these pages.

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Answer 5

djkwas1 Author

Level 1

4 points

Jan 13, 2026 5:45 AM in response to John Galt

I agree with the logic. I will test the speakers. It seems unlikely it is the speaker, but my wife mentioned it could be a driver issue which seems more likely.

Thanks for the input, it helps to have fresh eyes on it. The sound settings seem unstable too, compared to performance up to this point.

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Answer 6

djkwas1 Author

Level 1

4 points

Jan 13, 2026 6:01 AM in response to John Galt

To elaborate on the software issue. The volume controls do not work correctly, even with the Macbook speakers. When I choose the external speakers, the volume control on my keyboard or the slider on the screen does not work at all. Not only that, the physical knob on the external speaker does nothing. Could this still be a driver issue?

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Answer 7

John Galt

Level 10

155,720 points

Jan 13, 2026 10:43 AM in response to djkwas1

From your original description of the problem (I tried rebooting, I tried plugging in and unplugging) I was under the impression that you rebooted everything already, but glad you figured it out. Thanks for the followup.

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Answer 8

djkwas1 Author

Level 1

4 points

Jan 13, 2026 4:46 AM in response to John Galt

Ah no. The laptop speakers are fine. The external speakers are the issue. Also, the speakers themselves have a DAC not the monitor.

I will contact support as well. Thanks.

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Answer 9

djkwas1 Author

Level 1

4 points

Jan 13, 2026 10:35 AM in response to djkwas1

I looked it up, these speakers are plug and play, no driver.

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