2013 Macbook Air 13" Microphone Input Volume Issue

Just tested we another friend's new 13". Same issue with 3rd party headphones.

pathetic, really. this issue needs more coverage 😟 new macs just aren't compatible with third party headset mics

Hey guys!,

I am also using the 2013 Macbook Air, the 13" model with the 256GB SSD and 8GB of RAM. I encountered this exact same issue when I got it about 2 weeks+ back and I search all over the internet regarding this issue but I was not able to find solution. I just happen to have time today again and I thought I'll search again and I found this thread.

I was pretty frustrated by this issue and I thought I had to return it, which would be a problem because I need a laptop for school everyday so I didn't get it exchanged. However, about a week ago I found a temporary workaround for this issue.

I have two 3rd party earpieces with inline mic and controls, a Klipsch S4i (flat cable) and SonicGear Earpump Aura. After a bit of tinkering, I found out that holding down either one of the volume buttons while plugging in the headphones, then giving it a second or two then releasing the volume button seems to resolve the issue of the low external mic input volume. Also, the "Use ambient noise reduction" option is available now even after plugging the headphones in.

I tried testing this in bootcamp to see if this could be a hardware or software issue however, the bootcamp audio drivers for this Macbook Air (and a couple of other macbooks) do not support external mic input. Instead they use the in-built mic even after headphones are plugged in. Thus, I am unable to confirm this.

It might be the way the 2013 Macbook detects external mics or something but I hope Apple fixes this with an update.

Let me know if this works for you, Cheers!

I forgot to mention one thing. There also happens to a downside to this workaround. The button controls on the earpiece will no longer function till you unplug and replug the earpiece again without holding down any buttons. So it's still kinda useful if you don't use the controls on the earpiece but use the ones on the keyboard instead.

Holding down one of the volume buttons on my Bose earbuds while plugging it in re-enabled mic input for me on my new 2013 13-inch MacBook Air. Thanks for discovering this, geode858!

Wow, this totally works … how did you possibly figure this out? That's crazy. Thanks!

Haha, you're welcome! I'm glad it helped you guys! 🙂

I figured this might worked and tried it out as from tinkering and like researching I did in the past, I learnt that the buttons on these earpieces share the same "connection point" that the inline mic uses to input audio into the macbook and other devices. Also, the mac identifies the type of earpiece and each button press based on different resistance values if I am not mistaken (I could be wrong). That's why if you're skypin' with someone and you happen to press one of the button, the other person will probably stop hearing your voice and probably hear a short electrical noise.

So I figured maybe playing around with the buttons might do something!

Thank you! This worked for me too.

Fantastic find! Your discovery and troubleshoot works for me as well. I utilize Bose noise canceling headsets with mic. Now let's hope that mother Apple will have a software or firmware fix forthcoming.. Something tells me they've been hovering over this chatter and have been afraid to confront the issue thinking that it may be hardware. Not that it's not a hardware problem possibly, but now it appears as if software or firmware can fix the issue at hand. don't be surprised if Apple now appears in our discussion here...😝

I tried the solution with the volume keys and it isn't working for me. I can't figure out why this doesn't work. I am use the same headphones in my iphone 5 with no issues. In my MBA, no one can hear me or it's so muffled that they can't hear me.

I really hope apple finds a solution to this soon. It sounds like a software issue if the volume hack is working for others.

I am using the Bose mie2i headphones with my 2013 mac book air, 512gb hdd and 8gb ram, i7 processor.

@aggarwal.achal - that worked! Thank you. This has to be a software issue - clearly its not the port or the headphones if there is a way to get this to work.

@geode858 - seriously genius solution, still amazed you came up with that!

I just bought a 2013 MacBook Air with 8GB memory + 256GB SSD last month. My Klipsche S4i earbud/mic headset seems to be suffering from this problem as well.

Holding a button on the headset as it is plugged in definitely works, but this is still a big problem.

Why would apple have changed this? Is there a way we can get them to do something about this defect?

I would just bring it in for a genius support request. Show them what is happening and how you've fixed it. Make sure they write it all down and report it to cupertino. I have no idea if they read these forums or not.

Thanks for the advice @hibiscus4,

Not sure when I'll have time to do this...but if I get the opportunity I will.

-WakaFlockaFliz