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when i plug in earphones/headphones into my computer (macbook pro 13 ) it doesnt work and the sound comes out of the built in speakers.

when i plug in earphones/headphones into my computer (macbook pro 13 ) it doesnt work and the sound comes out of the built in speakers.

MacBook Pro, OS X Mountain Lion

Posted on Jul 26, 2012 2:55 PM

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Posted on Jul 26, 2012 3:14 PM

If you have the volume icon in your menu bar, hold down "Alt/Option" and click on it, then choose "Headphones" from the resulting menu. If you do not have the volume icon in your menubar, go to "System Preferences" > "Sound" and under the "Output" tab select "Headphones". Please let me know if this fixed your issue.

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Jul 26, 2012 3:14 PM in response to rbzhelpme

If you have the volume icon in your menu bar, hold down "Alt/Option" and click on it, then choose "Headphones" from the resulting menu. If you do not have the volume icon in your menubar, go to "System Preferences" > "Sound" and under the "Output" tab select "Headphones". Please let me know if this fixed your issue.

Jul 27, 2012 1:26 PM in response to Pedro Perez

I'm not sure about your question. What do you mean by "line-in stereo"? What is the actual device you are using, a headset with microphone and speakers/speakers/microphone/audio input source such as an ipod with a dual sided stereo cable? I'm taking a wild guess here and thinking that your trying to use both the input and the output as outputs so you have multiple sources of sound? Need more information. Also, please clarifiy if you are indeed on a Macbook Pro, or a Macbook Air. As your last statement (miss the extra hole, lol) makes it seem like you only have one hole which would indicate an air or a retina Macbook Pro. Your profile only indicates you have a macbook and an iMac. Look forward to your response.

Jul 27, 2012 5:42 PM in response to Aaplluvr

Thanks for writing back!

So, I used to have the white MacBook, which had the dedicated headphone output and the dedicated audio input. Unfortunately, it got stole from my house and now I just got a 13" MacBook Pro, which only has one "hole," which, according to the specs, acts as both output and input. I have verified that the headphones work. Check! Today, I connected the line out from my amplifier to my MBP. For a couple of minutes, the computer was able to identify the input and I was able to record (digitize) one of my albums, like I used to with my white MacBook. Then, it just stopped recognizing it, and only the built-in mic was picking up sound. I tried going to Sound in System Preferences, but I couldn't get it to work. Furthermore, I also have an iMac and I tried it there, it worked. Except for the fact that now I cannot monitor what I record as the computer records it, as I used to do. That's another problem.

So, yeah, I am all updated to Mountain Lion, and my laptop is the 13" MacBook Pro, just got it last week.

Thank you for writing!

Jul 27, 2012 11:17 PM in response to Pedro Perez

Not sure about your iMac problem, but from reading about 16 different websites, this is a very widespread problem. I don't know how you ever got it to work, but everyone with a new 13" MBP with the combined audio port is saying that you have to use one of those special cables that has more "rings" around it like the iphone headphones that have a built in mic to use line in. Read this article http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1389284&highlight=audio+in+from+ste reo where there are a whole host of people complaining about this. Apparently there are some aftermarket parts you can get to solve this, but if I was you i'd make a trip to an apple store if thats possible, or pick up the phone and call them and confirm whether or not this should work. It seems they are advertising line in, and that is not possible without a combination cable. Either way I hope this helps you. Sorry I couldn't be of more help than this. Definitely opens my eyes about a combination port though. Please post back with your results, as I am considering buying a macbook air, and would like to know what i'm getting into if i'm using a combination port.

Jul 27, 2012 11:19 PM in response to Pedro Perez

Also, sorry, forgot to mention this, just out of curiousity, have you tried holding alt + clicking the speaker icon in your menu bar and changing it to input? Are you certain that your amp is outputting analog, and have you tried powering it on after you plug it in, and before too? My Bose headset has a in line ipod control, and it doesn't show up sometimes unless I have the power on first. Also, blow some compressed air in there to make sure there is no debris in the port.

Jul 27, 2012 11:35 PM in response to Pedro Perez

Okay, I just found one more thing to try, lol. Go into "Other" under your launchpad in Mountain Lion, and select "Audio MIDI Setup" and play with those settings. Maybe this will allow you to do what you need to. Just noticed this while looking around in Mountain Lion. On a side note, I think this used to be called "Utilities" under Launchpad, but i'm not sure if I renamed it or Mountain Lion did. Cheers!

Jul 28, 2012 8:42 AM in response to Aaplluvr

Good morning!

Yes, I read about this. How did I get to work? Heavens knows. I assumed that the computer would sense that there was a line level coming into it and switch from headphone output to built in input. Let me tell you what I did first. I opened quicktime and did an audio recording. No cable attached. It worked. Then, I did the same thing, but I plugged in the cable coming from my amp. The computer stopped for a second and then the sound bars on quicktime showed it was recording. I played it and it worked. I was able to hear what I had just recorded from my record. As I got ready to do it again, it stopped. I restarted the computer. Nothing.


Yes, I did the ALT+clicking on speaker, and that didn't give the option I wanted, as I read on someone's post before. I checked all my hardware, too. I plugged in my amp to my other amp and it worked just fine. I plugged it into the input of my iMac and it worked just fine. After testing all that, I decided to try my MBP again and nothing.


OKay, I am going to go and try again and again and again and see what happens. I shall report back.

Thank you for your input, kind sir.

Nov 21, 2013 8:55 AM in response to Aaplluvr

I also have no sound coming out of my headphone jack on my Macbook, but it's a 2007 13" model. I tried checking the Sound options, and the only Output option I have is "internal speakers". Same thing in the Audio/MIDI settings. I have (had) my Macbook hooked up to a pair of M-Audio speakers, and until this morning they worked just fine. Did a restart, then did a hard boot. Still no luck. No updates were done between yesterday and today. Running under 10.7.5.

Jan 24, 2014 6:24 PM in response to Aaplluvr

hello Aaplluvr,

well thank you for this advice about the earplug jack. I suppose the "mute" option was somehow "ghostly" activated when I upgraded to Maverick. I would never have thought of just going to the System Preferences panel, stupid me ;-)

thank you again for helping with such an easy solution that I did not even think about it ;-)

which is always the case with "easy" solutions ;-)

Celine134

when i plug in earphones/headphones into my computer (macbook pro 13 ) it doesnt work and the sound comes out of the built in speakers.

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