2013 Macbook Air 13" Microphone Input Volume Issue

I'm having this issue with my brand new 11" Air. I'm on my second whole laptop and still having the same issue.

Here's what I've done so far:

* Went to the Apple Store

* Created a new user, no fix

* Reinstalled the OS from scratch, no fix

* Went back to the Apple Store

* They ran a hardware diagnostic and found nothing

* They were going to replace the logic board, so I left it

* The next day someone from Apple called and asked if they could have the laptop and they would send me another one, I agreed

* After a few days, I called to see if I could get a tracking number, they told me they had just received my old laptop in Cupertino, and they would _place_ the order for me new one now

* After a few more days, I called to see if I could get a tracking number, they told me that the order had finished building and that they would email it to me as soon as it shipped

* Get the shipping label, wait for it to arrive back at an Apple Store

* They want to open and inspect the new laptop (I should have let them)

* Take laptop home, open it up, plug in headphones, SWEARING

Still broken … I hope they can fix this with firmware …

I'll be waiting a few days before taking it back because I need to get _some_ work done.

I've tried the Apple headphones that come with the iPhone 5. As well as some Klipsche S4i. Both work on my previous MacBook Air and on iMacs in the store, not to mention my iphone.

I have the same problem as well.

Brand new Macbook Air, which I bought in Hong Kong less than 2 weeks ago. Now in Singapore which doesn't have any Apple-owned Stores, so I can't take avantage of the 2 week return period. Considering that Apple has had the computer for repair longer than I've had it in my hands, you can see why I'm a bit peeved.

2013 mid-year model 13.3inch air, 1.7ghz 8gb ram, 512ssd (the highest end one)

Using a pair of ATH-CKS55i (Audio Technica), and also tried it with a pair of House of Marley headphones and the man at the authorized service center (which Applecare over the phone sent me to) also tried with his own headphones. Same issue all around - the microphone volume would be very very low (1bar) as soon as an external headset w/ mic is plugged in.

It worked FINE, however, with the apple first party headphones (the ones that come with an iphone5). No issues with the actual built in mic for the comptuer either.

OS Reload and hardware test haven't helped.

I should add that all the other tested headphones worked fine with my old MBA (2011 mid-year model) and phone. Also considering that all these headphones are 'designed for Apple iPhone, iPad and iPod', i don't see how come it's all of a sudden an issue on the new MBA. I'm willing to hazard a guess and say that this is a more widespread issue, but most people don't use headset mics so it won't be as heavily reported as the wifi problem.

colour me frustrated.

I tried a different set of headphones. Seems I was using iPhone 4 headphones.

The iPhone 5 headphones work! And they still show the checkbox for "Use ambient noise reduction" when plugged in!

That checkbox goes away when I plug anything else in.

The conspiracy theorist in me thinks Apple is disabling access for 3rd party headphones … :-/ but in all probability it is just a software/firmware bug, possibly related to the ambient noise reduction behavior.

Hey just out of curiousity where is this checkbox showing up? I guess I can't test any of this yet until my machine comes back from so-called repairs.

Curious though, did you get a chance to see if this fault appears on any of the store demonstration models as well or just your own? I wonder if it's an issue for all the new 2013 MBAs with noise reduction or only with some machines.

That's a great question. For whatever reason, the genius bar had me check my headphones with an iMac.

I'll go back tonight and try with the S4i and iphone 5 headphones.

Oh, and the checkbox shows up under the list of inputs between the input level gauge at the bottom and the persistent output volume slider. It's there when no headphones are plugged in and it uses the internal pair of microhphones.

I also just tried plugging in normal third party headphones without a microphone, and it does properly sense that they are just output and have no microphone.

Added a bit more detail.

Hello, I thought I would report, if it would help anyone, that on my new (custom) Macbook Air (about one month old), I have no trouble hearing at good volume through various non-Apple headphones, and the 'ambient noise' reduction feature is checked.

I am currently using a 'better' Sony headset. I also tried a pair of cheaper Griffin earbuds having a built-in volume control button and mike in the cord, userful for skyping. I find the same good volume.

I do not know what is going on but wonder whether it is not a hardware glitch of some kind.

Finally, I read a tip online about "low" volume and another feature for assisting with it. It involves turning on the PREAMP feature and raising the slider (see picture below) within the Equalizer window, which can be found under the "WINDOWS" tab along the top of the iTunes window. If you raise that slider, you may get the overall boost you seek. Worth a try?

Best of luck with things.

It's not the headphones. It's the microphone. But thanks.

My guess is this is a widespread issue across most if not all the Macbook Air 2013s. The gentleman i'm speaking to at applecare (on the phone) at the moment is telling me that they new computers have 'a changed architecture' and 'no longer have an audio-in functionality'. I'm thinking that they aren't receiving adequate training.

Who the heck builds a new computer which no longer works with external microphones? And given that the sound is still going through (albeit extremely soft), I'm thinking that the issue is linked to the input being picked up as noise rather than actual input. Probably firmware. How the heck do we report this issue to someone so that they can even acknowledge that they're working on a fix?

Been without my brand new computer for over a week now (at this stage Apple and their repairers have had this machine longer than I have). And you know what's the worst? The repairers and Apple don't know where the computer is anymore so I'm waiting for an investigation of the missing macbook air - no end in sight for when I'll get the machine back. What a joke.

aggarwal.achal what are your plans now? sit tight and hope for some update? Are you able to select the built-in mic as audio-in when you plug in the headsets?

Laughing at tech support saying it has no audio-in. Probably meant that it's not separate, but still. Derp.

Yep, had the same question in this other thread:

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/5110741

It seems weird that it would be a change to the standard, because the headset that came with my iPhone 4S works with it, and that's almost 2 years old. Also, the only other mic I've gotten to work with it is a Plantronics MX505 ("WindSmart Boom Headset for iPhone 3G 3Gs & 4"), which is very old (not a three-button headset, just one of those one earbud + little boom mic thingies)

I've checked with a couple other new and old MacBook Air owners, and it seems that this has not been a problem on any of the old ones, but *none* of the new Air owners can get them to work... Hrmph.