How to bypass a broken headphone jack on 2012 imac

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jack2000UK Author

Level 1

1 points

How to bypass a broken headphone jack on 2012 imac

So I have had this IMac for nearly 2 years and noticed immediately the poor build quality of the headphone out port. However one day when pulling out my headphones the port broke. Now I cannot change volume on my mac as it is on a locked volume. Fixing the port is an expensive option so I was wondering if there was a way to bypass the port all together as I didn't use it ofteThe startup sound plays so it is not a problem with the speakers and it can be played over a bluetooh speaker

iMac, OS X Yosemite (10.10.3), 2012 model.

Posted on Jul 4, 2015 5:05 AM

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Answer 1

Ralph9430

Level 7

21,998 points

Jul 4, 2015 7:43 AM in response to jack2000UK

How expensive is the repair? Make an appointment at an Apple Store to have your device examined by a technician. Or contact Apple Support. Be sure to back up your device before taking or sending it to Apple.

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Answer 2

lkrupp

Level 7

22,651 points

Jul 4, 2015 7:46 AM in response to jack2000UK

From what you are presenting here it appears the broken port has a short in it. There is no software way around it. The port must be repaired to clear the issue. There are USB adapters that offer both audio-in and audio-out ports. You could try one of those but I think the issue will remain with the volume being locked.

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Answer 3

den.thed

Level 10

91,660 points

Jul 4, 2015 7:57 AM in response to jack2000UK

It is hard to fully explain, but I will try.

Basically it is because the Audio output is controlled by both a hardware (the switch in the output port) and the audio software.

With that in mind, what happens is:

1. At startup, you hear chime thru the internal speakers because the audio software has not yet loaded.

2. Then after startup the audio software loads and it automatically switches the audio to wherever the hardware tells it to go.

3. The problem is, that if the micro switch in output port is stuck or damaged, then the audio software thinks that something is plugged in and sends the audio to the out port.

Sorry for lack of a better explanation or a way to fix the problem without fixing the hardware problem.

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