new iMac: how can I get the internal mic to turn off?

forum member Dibbler suggested going to the Audio MIDI Setup app in the Utilities folder, and clicking mute next to the mic levels. It works.

Unfortunately, once I quit the MIDI setup program, the mic turns back on. It appears that Apple has actually designed these machines to listen reagardless of the owner's wishes.

Interested parties may want to know...

I went to the Apple Store two weeks ago for a replacement Airport Express. While I was waiting for it, I struck up a conversation with one of the store staff, and brought up the mic issue. We spent a good ten minutes going through the few ways of securing the mic, and we determined that every iMac made has the ability to continue listening evne though dictation is shut off. Unlike old Macs, you can't disable the mic in the Sound prefs. You can't turn off listening in the Dictation prefs - even though turning off "dictation" means the dictation part of the OS stops listening. The only way to definintely shut off the "listening" part is to keep the Audio Devices panel open, select Built-in Microphone, and make sure the master mute button is checked. Also, you have to leave the Dictation & Speech pane open in Preferences to watch the mic display.

Even so, going to any other preference panel and then back to Dictation & Speech means that the master mute will uncheck itelf and the mic goes back to listening mode.

The staff member was quite frustrated by this and said it appears the only way to stop the iMac from listening with any certainty would be to block the mic, just like millions of users block the Facetime camera with a piece of tape.

I suppose I should admit defeat at this point, and maybe I should have long ago recognized that no matter what the system tells us, we shouldn't trust it. Simply clicking on a radio button to disable what in all actuality is really a room bug shouldn't have us letting out a sigh of relief and saying "Wow I'm glad I was able to stop that security issue by trusting the machine to let me know when it was listening."

In another year my Apple Care will run out. Then I'm going to take this iMac to my local authorized service center to have a hybrid drive installed and the internal memory maxed out. While they're in there, I'll have the mic physically removed.

I did mention it up at the top post:

"I always have Facetime cameras and internal mics disabled for privacy. Cameras are easy to block, but the Sound pane doesn't allow me to disable the mic, only turn the input down to the bottom. Supposedly, its off, right?"

But I know what you're saying. Every Mac I've owned that has been equipped with an internal mic has allowed me to select Line-in, thereby disabling the internal mic. Until now. Line-in doesn't show up as an option on this iMac. Nor on the iMacs we tried in the Apple Store. All my previous mic-equipped Macbook Pros, Powerbooks, etc, allowed me to change to a (non-existant) line-in input, thereby muting the internal mic.

Truthfully though, should I even trust that? After all, its just a logic switch, not a physical one. A previous Store employee ridiculed me for taping over the camera on my Powerbook, saying that I could just shut the camera off in preferences, and there's a green light to alert me when its on anyway. So... a hacker or gov't agency could be sophisticated enough to turn on that camera without me knowing - but thankfully theres a little green light that they can't stop from turning on? He insisted there was no way to do that, but shortly thereafter, it became known that it was possible.

So, it looks like the only way to stop this thing is to put a piece of clay over the mic. I wonder what Apple does for their high security GSA contracts that don't allow cameras and mics? Its too bad that Apple doesn't offer a "non-spy" version of their computers to the public. I suppose I could have hobbled myself by getting a Mini and a non-Apple monitor (with no camera in the bezel), but even that will cease to be an option soon, as both Samsung and Sharp are working on integrating "pixel cams" into their upcoming displays.

Do you have an external mic plugged in to the rear jack on your iMac? Thats the only way to get an external mic to show up in my machine.

Realizing that, I looked for one of the extra sets of ear buds that came with my many iDevices. Plugging one of those in the back of my iMac disabled the internal mic and provided an external option in my Sound Input prefs. Curiously, I no longer have the internal mic available as an option. Its not even greyed out - its gone. Thats fine, but since these ear buds obviously include headphones, my iMac speakers are gone too. I don't have the ability to select them as an audio output. They're as gone as the internal mic.

Obviously, I have to find a mic-only dummy plug to stick in there for the time being. Cutting up a perfectly good mic, no matter how cheap it is, is painful.