Mac mini M4 Pro: No sound from audio interfaces OR Mac internal speaker

Question

Level 1

4 points

Mac mini M4 Pro: No sound from audio interfaces OR Mac internal speaker

Whoa, my sound is SERIOUSLY hosed: Mac mini M4 Pro, OS 15.7.4. Everything was just dandy and then, yesterday, I suddenly had NO sound at all, including no system sounds. I have professional audio interfaces connected via Thunderbolt. Playing from the Music app or QuickTime Player did not show any level on the interfaces, in fact, Music did not even appear to be playing (that is, it did not show a progress bar or time display), though the Play button did turn from the triangle (stopped) to the parallel vertical lines icon (playing). I have tried the following:

Checked the audio interface control software. It reports the interfaces are detected and working fine.
Checked Audio MIDI Setup. It showed the interfaces properly set up for Sound Input and Sound Output, and system sounds were routed to the Mac mini internal speakers.
Checked the Sound Control Panel. Again, it showed everything correctly assigned. I tried playing a system sound from the control panel and there was no sound, nor do I get a bootup chime when the Mac starts up.
Tried changing Sound Output to the Mac mini internal speaker but still had no system sounds, no bootup chime, no sound from Music or QuickTime Player.
Tried zapping the PRAM and it appears to be ignoring the Opt-Cmd-P-R key combo altogether and going straight to the login screen. I tried this about a half dozen times, sometimes waiting until l saw the Apple icon appear onscreen before pressing the keys (It only stays onscreen for about one second, so pressing the keys in that short interval was a trick), as well as holding the keys down as soon as I choose the Restart command from the Finder menu, so that they were being held down from the moment the restart began.
Decided that the fact that I have no sound from the internal speaker suggested something fouled at the system level, but being unable to zap the PRAM prevented me from taking the first and most obvious step to fix it. So I upgraded from OS 15.5 to 15.7.4. It locked up on the Apple screen while finishing the update. I hard shut down the Mac and then cold boot it. It came up functional with 15.7.4, but still no sound.

I'm a professional sound guy and I've dealt with system sound problems before, but this is more severe than I can remember encountering in some years.

Suggestions? I am willing to dive into CLI, if necessary, and have done so before, but I would not go so far as to call myself proficient. I don't often have the need to get under the hood that way.

Thanks in advance!

Mac mini, macOS 15.7

Posted on Mar 2, 2026 3:37 PM

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Answer 1

Larry the O Author

Level 1

4 points

Mar 3, 2026 3:01 PM in response to MartinR

Simplistic? SIMPLISTIC?

No, man, stupid is the dominant form of technical mistake. I've been a bench tech, I've done tech support, I know.

And guess what? WINNER WINNER WINNER!!!

I did not know about that Mute box. Never spotted it before. Sure and begorrah, it was checked, and unchecking it fixed everything. I must have hit that key when I went to power down one time. Can it easily be disabled? I really don't need it, as I have a desktop monitor controller and I just hit the mute button on that when need be.

Today, you are the genius (and maybe every day, for all I know) and I am the clown (oh gawd I hope not every day)!!

Thank you SO VERY MUCH!!! I am BACK, BABY!!!

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Answer 2

Mar 3, 2026 7:39 AM in response to Larry the O

Start your mac in Safe Mode and try to play some audio. Still nothing?

Please run Etrecheck and post its full report here. Use the "additional text" button and paste the report into the text box.

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Answer 3

MartinR

Level 7

24,942 points

Mar 2, 2026 5:43 PM in response to Larry the O

Larry the O wrote:

Ha! Shows what *I* know! But I did a hard shutdown and cold boot after updating the OS and it didn't fix the problem.

Glad you have a sense of humor about this!

Given all that you have done so far, my impression is that there's a hardware problem. But I don't want to rush into any conclusions at this point.

1 - Try shutting down the mini, then disconnect all the external audio gear and see if you get a bootup chime when the mini boots.

2 - Is your display connected via HDMI and does it have its own speakers?

If your display is connected via HDMI and has its own speakers, create a new user account and see if you get sound in that new account via the Music app or QuickTime.

3 - Exactly what audio interface are you using? (Make, model & connection).

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Answer 4

den.thed

Level 10

92,410 points

Mar 3, 2026 8:35 AM in response to Larry the O

Was there or is there something plugged into the Mac mini's 3.5mm headphone port..?

There have been cases where a broken off jack in the headphone port or a stuck micro switch inside of the headphone port caused an audio output configuration issue. As a test, open the Sound settings and try inserting a 3.5mm headphone jack in and out of the headphone port a few times to see if that clears up the issue.

If that doesn't help? Another thing to try before taking it to Apple, is to reset the Mac mini's Audio MIDI Setup.

https://www.francoisgeorgy.ch/midi/how-to-reset-the-macos-midi-configuration/

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Answer 5

MartinR

Level 7

24,942 points

Mar 2, 2026 4:51 PM in response to Larry the O

Larry the O wrote:

• Tried zapping the PRAM and it appears to be ignoring the Opt-Cmd-P-R key combo altogether and going straight to the login screen. I tried this about a half dozen times, sometimes waiting until l saw the Apple icon appear onscreen before pressing the keys (It only stays onscreen for about one second, so pressing the keys in that short interval was a trick), as well as holding the keys down as soon as I choose the Restart command from the Finder menu, so that they were being held down from the moment the restart began.

Apple Silicon Macs do not have PRAM/NVRAM or SMC. The system is reset when you do a hard shutdown & restart.

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Answer 6

MartinR

Level 7

24,942 points

Mar 3, 2026 12:11 PM in response to Larry the O

I know this sounds simplistic ... but have you checked to make sure the audio isn't muted?

There's a mute key on the keybard (next to the two volume control keys) and a checkbox in System Settings > Sound.

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Answer 7

Larry the O Author

Level 1

4 points

Mar 3, 2026 2:58 AM in response to Larry the O

Well, I disconnected the MOTU audio interfaces and still did not have a bootup chime or system sounds. I also double-checked the Sound control panel to make sure "Sound on bootup" was enabled, which it was.

I also ran Apple Diagnostics, which reported no hardware errors.

Really don't know where to turn with this, but maybe I just have to try and take the Mac back to Apple and see what they can do with it.

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Answer 8

MartinR

Level 7

24,942 points

Mar 3, 2026 4:11 PM in response to Larry the O

Larry the O wrote:

I am BACK, BABY!!!

I am so glad it was something simple and you are back in business.

In my experience most problems end up having simple explanations & solutions. Getting there is the challenge because all too often we overthink the possibilities and ignore the simple explanations.

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Answer 9

Larry the O Author

Level 1

4 points

Mar 2, 2026 5:06 PM in response to MartinR

Ha! Shows what *I* know! But I did a hard shutdown and cold boot after updating the OS and it didn't fix the problem.

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Answer 10

Larry the O Author

Level 1

4 points

Mar 3, 2026 3:04 PM in response to den.thed

MartinR called it, and, as usual, it was the most obvious, *** thing. Thanks for your suggestions, though!! I appreciate the help.

[Edited by Moderator]

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Answer 11

den.thed

Level 10

92,410 points

Mar 3, 2026 3:16 PM in response to Larry the O

Larry the O wrote:

MartinR called it, and, as usual, it was the most obvious, *** thing. Thanks for your suggestions, though!! I appreciate the help.

I'm glad to hear, that you are hearing again.

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Answer 12

Larry the O Author

Level 1

4 points

Mar 2, 2026 10:13 PM in response to MartinR

First, thanks for your assistance. I have two Dell gamer monitors, one connected to the Mac mini HDMI, the other connected to an HDMI port on a Plugable Thunderbolt 4 expansion dock. The monitors do not have speakers.

As for the interfaces, they are legacy MOTU interfaces: a 1248 connected via Thunderbolt, and then a 16A and an 8M connected to the 1248 through a MOTU AVB switch. The 1248 acts as the system master.

I'll try disconnecting the MOTU interfaces shortly and see what happens. I really hope it's not a hardware issue, because I'd have to think it's the Mac mini hardware, unless you think there's a way that the 1248 going bad could kill the Mac mini internal speaker. The MOTU interfaces were actually factory serviced last year. But it does act like it could be a hardware failure: everything was fine and then all of the sound died.

It really is a somewhat mysterious problem. Again, thanks. I'll report back after I try disconnecting the interfaces.

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