Volume triggered Muffled Speakers - 2016 MBP 15” Fault (w/ Video Demonstration)

2017 15" macbook pro with touch bar. Started experiencing this issue about 6 months ago (I have two posts in this thread already about it).

I finally took the laptop into the Apple store for repair, and they replaced the top case assembly, as others have reported, plus the logic board itself. By my understanding, this means they replaced everything on the computer except for the chassis and the display. If I hadn't purchased the extended AppleCare when I bought the laptop, it would not be worth the expense to repair.

Hello everyone!

I'm here because I had the same problem with my 2017 MB Pro 15" with TouchBar

The computer is almost brand new (bought in September 2018), but some weeks ago it started to do strange things with the left speaker (the volume and the quality were not so high, and after reaching 70/80% the sound from the left was very poor, and distorted/muffled). Since I was still in the first year of warranty I took it to the nearest R-Store.

They repaired it for free because was recognized as a "Repair Program" for this particular Mac.

In particular, they also recognized problems with the keyboard and with the depolarized display (and the display was almost perfect when I brought at the Store). Also the keyboard was fine.

At the end they made me wait almost 3 weeks, because at the Store they hadn't the parts. They replaced me the entire display, the upper case (not just the internal, but the ENTIRE case) including keyboard, new speakers and new battery. So they left me just the original motherboard, including processor, gpu, ram, and ssd (without wiping anything, I just left them the password to test the pc after the repair). I actually feel very lucky that I didn't pay a single Euro for that. I guess, if they replaced this without warranty, I would have paid almost 1k... and at that point it would have been very frustrating to pay for a product that hasn't neither a year of life.

Hope my experience could be good for others with same problem!

I sent mine in for warranty repair and they replaced the main board and both speaker controls(? - Something on each side that connects to the speakers.) The tech wrote that some keys weren't working on my keyboard so they would replace the mainboard. If he hadn't done that, they would have just replaced the speakers. The muffled sound has not returned. I do not believe it is software related. I tried every software fix I could think of. Old OS, New OS, Beta OS, 3rd party apps and controllers, different settings. etc... I think there was a bad batch of hardware that Apple won't acknowledge and error with.

It took two Genius Bar appts at Apple Store for them to figure out what needs to be done to fix the speaker muffled sound issue. The first time, folks at Apple just ran full diagnostics and couldn't find anything wrong although I told him exactly what it was doing. Next appt, I did factory restore on it right before bringing it to Apple store and played one of Apple videos on Youtube and in a few seconds, the sound became muffled. They recognized that and came back with a $450 estimate for entire upper case replacement - a bummer. Like what they did before for retina screen coating peeling issue I had on my old Retina Macbook Pro, I hope Apple will stand behind their products and fix this at no charge! Other than this issue, the Macbook Pro works great but I cannot always use my Airpods for audio.

I've also had this exact problem on my MacBook Pro 15" 2016. The service technician I talked to about it said that he had replaced the "top case assembly" on a few machines and that it had resolved the issue.

I've also had problems with my (internal) keyboard repeating letters when typing, which I also mentioned, and then the same technician told me that Apple has a service program that allows for a free repair (or replacement) within four years after purchase, of the keyboard, which essentially is the full top case assembly.

If my machine should be eligible for a replacement. Which it was.

So now I'm waiting to get my top case replaced for free, and hopefully not only the repeating key issue will be gone, but also the annoying muffled sound. Crossing fingers.

Hi everyone.

I have MacBook Pro 15 inch 2016 - with same issue muffled speakers that trigged by volume control.

Just came back from apple store appointment - the guy went through test of my Mac and confirmed that the issue is speakers it self and will need the whole bottom housing replaced which includes new keyboard, new battery and etc.

Over all he said it’ll cost me £408 just because my Mac is out warranty !!! That’s ridiculous I have paid over £2k just Two years ago and my Mac is in very good condition and by no means this issue is caused by regular use ! I’ve got a 8 year old thinkpad that still works 100 %

Apple needs to address this issue and offer free repair - we spend a lot of money on Apple tech.

Im not happy with a apple lately.

I sent my laptop into Apple for repair and it is fixed. They replaced the top case, speakers, and i/o cables.

Same problem with my mid 2017 MBP 15" with touchbar.

At some point the sound from both speakers is muffled.

Temporary fix is to enter 'sudo killall coreaudiod' in Terminal.

I think it is an issue with the audio IC(s). Restarting coreaudiod somehow restarts/re-initializes the ICs, until they crash again by too high volume. You can see those ICs here.

Guys, just to reply this issue. Unfortunately this issue is only fixed by replacing the entire MacBook Pro body (the case itself, not its inner electronic components). It appears that Apple does not consider this is issue as an issue that is supposed to make this replacement for free with the Mac having its warranty expired, but what happened to me is that I sent my Mac to check this issue, but the guys from the official Apple store told me that my battery was kind of stewed, and this was enough for Apple to replace my case for free which fixed the problem.

Same thing has happened to me as well, on my 2nd machine. Had to get the first machine replaced, out of warranty. Figured it was a one time thing because the Genius bar said that it was not a known issue at the time. Has now happened to my 2nd MBP with touchbar so it clearly must be a defect in the device.

Here's an update about some of the issues I've faced.

So I contacted Apple support about getting this thing repaired and I was instructed to take it into a store. I took it to my "local" (hr away) Apple store and all I was told was that because the entire $800 top case was replaced a year ago, I was told to contact AppleCare and wasn't even given an option to repair in store. Called AppleCare and they basically told me they can't warranty the new part. I guess as apologies for going an hour away for literally nothing, I was told the left speaker repair would be covered.

When I got my machine back, I discovered they had basically replaced every single part on it (for free) and given me a brand new 2016 MBP. This is now my 3rd 2016 MBP so we'll see if this one has issues too. If it does, I guess I'll be selling it and buying a windows computer to run Linux on...

Have anyone tried an app like 'Audio Hijack'? It can route the sound through various filters, including limiting the max db, "de click" and so on. For various reasons I can't test it right now myself.

https://imgur.com/a/Bhf9F0S

I ran into this issue on my 2016 MBP 15" with touch bar.

I reset NVRAM and SMC and this fixed the issue today. I'm hoping it stays fixed... I'll attempt to put an update on my post here after a few months to say whether it was a permanent fix for me or not.

Same computer, same problem. Similar things temporarily solve the problem.

Opening Audio MIDI setup for example and changing the hz of the output will fix the problem unless the volume moves again. (image shows headphones, because I'm currently using them, but problem is not with headphones)

Doesn't seem to be any permanent fixes for the above issues. Apple's solution is just to send them a new one or completely replace every part in the computer hoping that replacement parts don't have the same issues as the originals. The catch being, no parts have been revised.