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

MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Early 2015)

It's been just 3 weeks since I got my logic board replaced and now this speaker issue. So my right speaker gets muffled and none of the tricks worked except in MIDI I reduced the Master stream number 2 to 50%. So that doesn't mean anything is fixed, I am probably just reducing the right speaker's effect. I just shifted to a new college and the nearest Apple centre is 6 hours away. To say that I want to throw this machine is an understatement but didn't I just foolishly spent a fortune on the logic board replacement?

Is there anything we can do other than be frustrated?

MBP 2017, 2.9MHz, same issue with both speakers. I hope this will get more attention from apple and they come up with a fix. I'm pretty sure this is not a hardware issue, because it can be temporarily fixed by software means.

I have this problem too. I bought macbook pro 2016 w touchbar in march 2018.

Speakers sounds normal in <50% volume or if i listen music without bass(only violin for example).

For reset to normal sound i change frequency in the midi dialog but volume should be less than 50%.

Maybe its overload protection?

Same issue here. Tried all of the above except the hardware fix which doesn't really seem to fix it. MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2016) with touch bar.

Apple does not care about customer service anymore...I will NOT buy an Apple laptop again. I am also going to recommend to our IT department that they notify Apple...we have a lot of MacBooks in circulation where I work.

For me the MIDI app is instantly fixing this issue.

On that topic, does anyone know of a way to change the rate 44k/48k hz through the command line or so? So that I don't need to open the app time.

When video calling, there is often a lot of mic interference and this is driving me insane at the moment.

I’m mad beyond belief I spent a year worth of savings into a MBP 2016 i7 w/TouchBar out of the box it had a backlit problem, took me months until being able to take it to the Apple Store, once fixed I got a blue tint on the very same spot, now Iran out of warranty and feels like they are going to fix it for free, and now I got the speaker problem, holy molly these MacBooks are crappy.

Same problem here with the MBP 15" 2017 with Touchbar. Had this problem with High Sierra, upgraded to Mojave and it still has the same problem. All software solutions listed work only temporarily. Very frustrating for such a high priced machine.

Same issue with MBP with touch bar from 2016. We bought 14 MBP's for our company and already 5 machines are having this issue. The service of Apple on this issue is extremely poor, as this is certainly a design error so it should be treated the same as staingate for example, with a repair program.

I have the exact same issue. MBP 2016 Touch Bar.

Apple certified tech replaced top assembly about 5 months ago - now it's back.

I don't think this is a hardware issue - why would sound come back just fine after a reboot if it were?

I have this issue too. And sound does make a LITTLE better when i reboot, or change audio frequency in MIDI player.

BUT the sound not the same in speakers. Left speaker more muffled than the right. I think its hardware issue.

My Macbook Pro stands on the table all the time and i do nothing to make speakers blow out.

Before this Mac i have MacBook Pro 17" 2009. And speakers NEVER get muffled, when i turned them loud.

I think it's must be a repair program!

I have exactly the same issue. Have to keep the volume less than 80% and sometimes even lower (I think it gets worse on songs with more bass).Can't believe a laptop worth +£2000 has two annoying issues (Keyboard and audio).

When is Apple gonna do a recall for this?

Even I've got the same issue on my MacBook Pro 2016. This is the 4th time, it's happening with my MacBook in last 45 days. First 2 times, got the top case replaced, 3rd time, the motherboard was replaced and yet again for 4th time I've got the exact same issue. I'm really surprised to see Apple not doing anything despite these many complaints

Tech replaced logic board - no luck. Now the will replace top case for a second time....this will probably cure the issue for a few months (did the trick last time)....but there is a serious glitch somewhere in this model...

Same thing happened with mine, got it fixed by apple under warranty 6 months ago and today it happened again, except I am no longer under warranty... paid around 4500$ for this Macbook, I am very disappointed

Well, the experience I have with Apple is that MacBook Pros and MacBook Airs that get repaired under warranty or whatever free exchange programs last a few month and one is back to square one, this as the underlying problems are not fixed.

I have a Macbook Pro Mid 2012. The GPU went and the logic board had to be replaced. The first time I got it for free. It lasted about 6 month and the GPU went again. The 2nd time round they wanted 900 Euro for a new logic board. As the batteries where done, I had to replace these too. Batteries + keyboard (yes, they come as a pack) cost another 500+ Euro. So I said, forget it and I bought the 2017 touch bar MacBook Pro. It lasted not even a day. Once the initial battery charge was gone the MacBook Pro was dead (no recharge). I got a complete new one. After 6 month I started to enjoy the speaker problem.

Macbook Air...my sons Macbook Air's GPU went exactly after the the 2 year European guaranty period. So I called Apple Greece and told them that I'm pretty frustrated about the issues I experienced. After some debate I got a new logic board for free. The six month are not up yet. So I'm waiting for the logic board to go soon.

So far one could say that Apple customer care is not too bad. But the final straw for which reason I will not go to Apple for the muffled speaker problem is the following:

My old Mid 2012 MacBook Pro actually does work. All that was needed was to disable the discrete GPU. Instructions can be found on Youtube. Now the MacBook Pro runs perfectly well on the Intel GPU only. OK, no external monitor, but considering that this is a top spec'ed MacBook (Core i7, 16 GB RAM, 256 GB SDD), this is a limitation I can very well live with. As a nice side effect, the battery status (1014 cycles) is back to normal (from replace soon). Seems the less hungry Intel GPU tells the OS or whatever measures the battery status that all is OK. In matter of fact after 1024 cycles and an age of 6+ years, the batteries last still over 3 hours.

But this is not the end of it. If my internet research is correct, all that is needed to get the discrete GPU working is to change a capacitor that apparently gives up after some period of apparently getting too hot. Well, I will find out soon.

So should a I get my muffled speakers repaired. Don't think so!