Static sound coming from the Thunderbolt Display speakers

+1

It works for the first song or two, but then gets fuzzy and goes out. Come on apple, help us out.

+ 1 Same issue here. Let me know if you find a fix.

i'm also experiencing this. Static noise that stops maybe 30 seconds after the music is stopped or whatever sound is played thru the displays speakers. Cheapens this otherwise magnificent display.

Is this problem limited to MBA owners? Or is this something that MBP owners also are experiencing? If this static noise is limitid to us air owners, whats different in the hardware? Weaker soundcard ,thunderbolt controller or something?

MBP too .. to me it seems like a hardware issue. I bought two Thunderbolt Display monitors and returned both.

Then all display are like this...? Some component that sounds like this and you can't do anything about it?

Myself, I've given up for now, but I did get the 3-year warranty on the display. Close to the end of the warranty, I plan on raising ****, and getting a 'new' display. Will make Apple pay a bit for not fixing this issue, at least in my book. I like Apple, but do not like when they do not recognize and fix issues with their hardware.

As far as I know, ALL TB displays are like this. I have not seen anything that counters this claim. I think most people don't notice it because of environment - if is is somewhat noisy or more, you won't notice it much. Where I have my display, their is little noise, so it stand out like a sore thumb. I went through three displays with Apple, and they ALL had the same issue.

Just chiming in here that I'm another user experiencing the same hissing noise as described in this thread from the Thunderbolt display connected to my MacBook Air (both purchased in June 2012). I really do hope Apple finds a fix for this. Really not acceptable for a $1000 display.

Got it too. Thunderbolt CD and 13" MBA both 2012.

Don't think a fix is on the horizon. The display has had this problem for a year, and it feels like it's a hardware issue. Nothing a software update can fix.

I very much think it is a hardware issue. Something to do with the "baseline hiss" of the amplifiers built into the display. And the way the display's (or Mac's) system switches those amplifiers on (when the audio signal starts) and off again (a couple of seconds after the sound signal ceases).

I guess modifying (i. e. shortening) the time until the amplifiers are switched off again could help with the problem (i. e. the "hiss" is shorter), however, this wouldn't fix the underlying cause of the problem (i. e. "hissing" amps).

For completeness. Mine takes a variant amount of time to occur. Increases slowly over time once it does. It's not limited to any one audio source on my computer, but happens to all (rdio, iTunes, etc). Stopping the audio for an (also seemingly variant) amount of time fixes the issue.

Occurs whether or not I have external devices plugged into the display. Connecting the same MBA to a Pre-Thunderbolt ACD does not result in any audio issues. (Though I believe the USB transmits the audio on the ACD setup, so it could still be limited to Thunderbolt on the Mac)

I only have one Thunderbolt display here, so I haven't been able to test it on others. Apple support had me reset PRAM, and SMC, which seemed to help (prolonged the length of time before the static occurred) but after an hour of audio it became apparent it had no effect.

I think you are talking about a different problem. When the sound over time gets distorted and eventually you can't perceive anything? My display has this issue also. But here we are talking about a little humming sound that can be heard a short time after any sound source stops.

Ah, got it. Sorry. (I have that issue too.)