MacBook Pro 15" 2016 Touch Bar Speakers Issue

MacBook Pro 15-inch 2016, Touch Bar, 2.7Ghz, 500GB SSD, 16GB LPDDR3, Radeon Pro 455 2GB, Mac OS Sierra / Windows 10 (BootCamp)


Sympthoms:

  • Initial symptom: Popping sounds on speakers (even in mute) when running Windows 10 on BootCamp
  • Unbalanced, distorted and low power sound both in Mac OS and Windows 10
  • Irreversible (even restarting the laptop)

Actions taken:

  • Contacted Apple Support
  • Reseted NVRAM
  • System check
  • Reseted original factory settings

Comments

Seems it is a hardware issue possibly caused by a BootCamp driver malfunction on Windows 10

Recommendation:

  • Do not use Windows on BootCamp until an official fix is released
  • Use Parallels or similar software instead BootCamp if you need to run Windows software


Please comment if you had a similar issue.

MacBook Pro (15-inch, Late 2016), iOS 10.1.1

Posted on Nov 23, 2016 8:40 PM

Reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Dec 2, 2017 9:32 AM

Sounds like the left speaker is dying or damaged. This happened to me as well before they released a fix for bootcamp, which I think was the cause of the damaged speaker. I took mines to the Genius Bar and explained to them the speaker issues I was receiving. They troubleshoot it and determined the speakers needed to be replaced. So yeah definitely take it to the genius bar and explain to them what happened. I'm sure they'll replace yours for no charge, especially if tis still under warranty.

34 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Dec 2, 2017 9:32 AM in response to sta81191

Sounds like the left speaker is dying or damaged. This happened to me as well before they released a fix for bootcamp, which I think was the cause of the damaged speaker. I took mines to the Genius Bar and explained to them the speaker issues I was receiving. They troubleshoot it and determined the speakers needed to be replaced. So yeah definitely take it to the genius bar and explain to them what happened. I'm sure they'll replace yours for no charge, especially if tis still under warranty.

Oct 23, 2017 12:25 AM in response to Lyonac

I had this issue too. My mac was on sleep mode, when I opened I heard a cracking sound, like 'pop corn' and then my speakers were blown. It happened to me on June 2017 and I have my Mac repaired by Apple Store. They changed the logic board and the top case. A few days ago the same issue happened to me (October 2017), and now I have my speakers blown.


I also made a video where you can hear the cracking sound of the speakers. I think it's an hardware issue and now I must return my Mac to the Apple Store team.

[I don't have bootcamp installed]

[MacOs Siera on MacbookPro 2016 15'' Tochbar]


([MACBOOKPRO SPEAKERS BLOWN] - MacBook Pro 15" 2016 Touch Bar Speakers Issue - YouTube)

Sep 29, 2017 3:33 AM in response to cwt016

The same for me in France on MacBook Pro 15'' Touch Bar 2016 Sierra

The right speaker start to pop when surfing on youtube, had to shutdown my mac to stop pops.

No cable or hub was connected at this time, on boot camp at all.

I previously installed VMware Fusion with Windows 10, not sure it's related.

Now the sound on right speaker is lower that the left one, no more sound if I raise the volume up to 75%.

Lower sound comes back after reboot


Tries Reset SMC, NVRAM, SOS, Diagnostic > no luck

Should I try clean install ?

Nov 30, 2017 8:51 AM in response to Lyonac

I have had a similar issue. I am not running Bootcamp and have never ran Bootcamp.


2017 Macbook Pro 15" with Touchbar, owned for about three months.

2.9 gh i7

16gb ram

Radeon Pro 560 4gb graphics


The other day I opened up my Macbook from sleep and right away it made some crackling/popping noises for a couple seconds then stopped. I got nervous, so to test the speakers I played some music in iTunes and went into system prefs > sound settings to pan the sound. As I was panning back and forth, I noticed the music was playing clearly and at regular volume through the left speaker, but it was quiet and muffled in the right speaker. It kind of sounded like the right speaker lost high end (tweeter) sound. Then a day later, again right as I opened it up from sleep mode, it crackled a few more times then stopped. I then tested the sound again and this time NO sound is coming out of the right speaker.


Any ideas?


Should I take to the genius bar? I live over an hour away from nearest Apple store, so I would like to know that they can help me before I make the drive. I do not have Apple care.

Jan 2, 2017 4:07 PM in response to Lyonac

Dear Lyonac

I have just bought my new MacBook Pro 13" 2016 with touch bar (2,9 GHz, 512 GB model, 8GB RAM).

After seeing these posts I have decided not to run BootCamp for my Windows partition and used Parallels.

Here's what happened.

  • Installed latest Parallels 11 on my Mac, running latest MacOS.
  • Installed genuine Windows 7, activated.
  • Installed Parallels Tools
  • Installed Chrome, opened YouTube, played a song and speakers started to produce static while changing the sound.
  • Speakers produce no sound distortion or low sound, they do perform completely normal as long as you do not change the sound (volume up/volume down).
  • Went back to MacOS, sound works fine, just as before.


And just because of this I do NOT recommend anyone to install Windows (7 in my case) via Parallels on new MacBooks Pros.

I am an old time Parallels user and I doubt that this is their fault.

From my research and understanding, it is something to do with sound drivers of Windows (7 as well as 10) that cause this issue.


If you have any questions: Twitter @officialimicca

Mar 12, 2017 9:34 AM in response to Lyonac

MacBook Pro 13" 2016 Touch Bar Speakers Issue

MacBook Pro 13-inch 2016, Touch Bar, 2.9Ghz, 256GB SSD, 8GB LPDDR3, Intel Iris 550, Mac OS Sierra 10.12.3


Symptoms:

  • Initial symptom: Not audio out driver. Popping sounds on speakers, even in mute. Happened while running OS X with HDMI external monitor attached in extended desk top mode (probably not relevant but may be) while using the HDMI to transmit sound as well.
  • Unbalanced, distorted and low power sound Mac OS X and no audio driver to be found.
  • Irreversible (even restarting the laptop)
  • Whole system slow down with resource bottle neck (Lag in executing commands by 5-10 seconds)

Actions taken:

  • Ran reset Audio Codec script from Apple Forum
  • Restarted into Safe Mode/Normal Restart
  • Reset NVRAM
  • Ran Diagnostic System check - OK
  • Brought to two independent Mac repair facilities. Both mentioned logic board issue.

Comments

  • Seems it is a hardware issue.
  • System corrected itself 3 hours later.

Recommendation from Apple:

"Sometimes glitches happen." No fix or comments. I can send it back to the retailer and get a full refund.

My comment

  • Do not use an HDMI external monitor in extended mode, use in mirror only with no HDMI audio passthrough. (not tested yet)
  • I will use it as a stand alone laptop until I can find someone who figured out this nagging issue.
  • It's my first Macbook Pro purchase in 10 years, and I was happy when it ran like a champ for a week. I am bummed that I may have to send it back.


Please comment if you had a similar issue.

Jan 5, 2017 6:05 AM in response to Lyonac

Similar issue happened to me and I am NOT running bootcamp.


Issue: Was running a macOS game and the speakers started to crackle followed by a loud pop. This seemed to happen independent from the speaker volume (which was at around 60%). My macbook pro crashed and I had no sound. Sound returned following a restart but there is some static on the higher volume settings (I don't know there has always been static and I am now just noticing it following the speaker pop). I have now encountered this issue 3 times.


Spec: 15" macbook pro 2016 (touch bar model); 2.7Ghz; Radeon 460.


Advice from apple: reset NVRAM & reset SMC. Monitor the issue.


My thoughts: I wonder if the problem is not limited to bootcamp but rather applications / processes that necessitate the higher end GPUs, i.e. Radeon 455 & 460?

Feb 13, 2017 4:54 AM in response to Lyonac

Thank you posting. I am experiencing speaker crackling when streaming Steam to the MBP 15 late 2016. I did load and remove windows 10 in boot camp but only heard the crackling in Steam in Home Streaming. Obviously, I will return for a refund if not resolved before the exchange period. Ideally, a software fix is happening very quickly.

Feb 25, 2017 1:17 PM in response to El_Perrino

Same happened here some minutes ago.


Put my 15inch 2016 with Radeon 460 onto the desk, plugged in power and an Dell USB Mouse using the original Apple USB-C to USB-A adapter. Some seconds later a klicky popping noise occurred. Pressed "sound off" nothing happens, pulled out USB-C adapter sound stops. Since then the left bass unit was distorted, treble was fine.


Through panning the sound from the pref pane I tried to find out what happened (total volume was at about 20-25%). After panning 2-3 times there was a short "plop" sound. no the bass unit is completely silent, treble is still working. I am not sure whats the best to do now.


ps. I don't have bootcamp installed.

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MacBook Pro 15" 2016 Touch Bar Speakers Issue

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