Level 1

92 points

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

Hello all,

I’m having an unusual problem with my Late 2016 Macbook Pro 15” with Touchbar (model shipping 17th December 2016).

Whenever playing audio that reaches a certain volume the internal speakers would become muffled. When lowering the volume the sound continues to be muffled. The only way to get clear sound is to either:

Restart my Macbook
Plug in headphones and pull them out again
Type ‘midi’ into spotlight to enter ‘Audio MIDI Setup’ and change the audio frequency (Hz) of the Internal Speakers output.
Killing the ‘coreaudiod’ process within terminal or activity monitor and restarting it.

Increasing the volume again will result in the audio becoming muffled again.

In this video I demonstrate the problem in detail.

I find this problem unusual as I’ve searched extensively for a resolution and cannot find anyone else with the same problem. I realise there was a problem around launch with bootcamp audio drivers breaking the speakers. However I had never used bootcamp and this problem started in the past week.

Here are the things I’ve tried

I’ve reset the NVRAM/PRAM (on multiple occasions) [Via. boot keypresses & terminal]
I’ve reset SMC (on multiple occasions, however as there is no confirmation I’m unsure if it really processed)
I’ve formatted & reinstalled OSX Sierra (version 10.12.5)
I’ve formatted & Internet Recovered OSX Sierra (version 10.12.5)
I’ve downloaded an older version of OSX Sierra (version 10.12.2) and installed it.

Yet, the problem remains.

I decided to install Windows 10 via. Bootcamp and the problem no longer occurred. However after some use it started occurring. I believe it is harder to trigger the muffled sound as Windows 10’s maximum volume on the MBP 2016 is lower.

Apple Diagnostics report reference code ADP000 ‘No issues found’.

I’m tech savvy, however am stumped at what is causing this.

Hopefully some of you have some ideas?

At first I thought it was a software issue however after trying everything outlined above I no longer think this is the case. Do you think I should take my mac in for warranty? This is a last resort as I’d hate to be without my mac for a week.

See the full demonstration on YouTube here!

Keywords to help others search for this problem.

Poor Quality Sound, Low Quality Audio, Sounding Distant, Sounding Hollow, Sounding Underwater, Low Pitched, Distorted, Deep

MacBook Pro (15-inch, Late 2016), macOS Sierra (10.12.5)

Posted on Jul 16, 2017 5:09 AM

Top-ranking reply

freezeyjn

Level 1

9 points

Posted on Oct 9, 2019 6:39 PM

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.

View in context

134 replies

Jun 15, 2019 7:47 AM in response to seungho300

...however the problem in my MacBook Pro seems to be recurrent and the Audio Devices setup doesn't seem to fix it for more than few mins...

asrytis

Level 1

4 points

Jul 12, 2019 6:42 AM in response to matt_90

Same problem on my 2016 15" mbpro. What an awful machine. Worst keyboard on the market and now the speakers have stopped working properly.

Jul 17, 2019 10:47 AM in response to freezeyjn

My speaker issue returned today. Resetting the NVRAM and SMC on my macbook definitely did not provide a permanent resolution.

Jul 30, 2019 7:54 PM in response to matt_90

I am also having the same issue only with the right speaker with a 2017 MacBook Pro. Trying to see if I will have to pay for the fix because the warranty expired. Simply bizarre.

asentner

Level 1

4 points

Oct 15, 2019 8:28 AM in response to khemsurov

That sounds promising. I'll upgrade tonight and report back! Would you mind keeping us updated on yours?

asrytis

Level 1

4 points

Oct 15, 2019 9:32 AM in response to khemsurov

Just upgraded and the issue is still there

Jan 5, 2018 5:18 PM in response to matt_90

Same problem 5 times... bought my refurbished 2016 MBP 15" last June, speaker broke twice, repaired twice. When the speaker broke the third time, they replaced me with a 2017 MBP 15". A month ago the speaker broke again, so I sent it in for repair. A week ago, it broke again, so I guess I have to send it in for repair again...

Interesting patterns:

1. The speaker breaks after an obnoxious and scary zapping, electric sound comes from one side of the speaker. The following video demonstrated this: MacBook Pro Late 2016 Speaker Issue - YouTube

2. Only 1 side of the speaker breaks at a time. Happens to the left or right speaker.

Not really sure what's causing it, but this is very annoying since this happened 5 times in 7 months of MBP purchase, and every time I sent it in, it takes 1-2 weeks to repair.

Jan 7, 2018 7:51 PM in response to matt_90

I took it today to the apple store for diagnostic, no tool detected anything wrong, and the technician suggested a clean reinstall which I'll do tonight, before the visit to the apple store the volume wouldn't go to high, after the diagnosis the volume goes high but it's still muffled

Oct 11, 2018 11:39 AM in response to Rasmus Schwenger

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!

JKKiang

Level 1

10 points

Feb 1, 2019 10:35 PM in response to flexier

MacBook Pro 2011 - 2013 (GPU failure, Apple replaced with next gen MacBook Pro)

MacBook Pro 2013 - 2017 (Staingate, still using it)

MacBook Pro 2017 - 2018 Touch Bar (Speaker failure/muffled, sent in for warranty)

The GPU failed me 3 times and eventually got upgraded to next gen MacBook Pro. Go figure.

Staingate happened 2 times. Go figure.

Speaker muffled happened this week. Sending in for warranty asap.

I wonder is there a permanent fix to the above or is just a band-aid remedy?

Yes, I am an avid Apple user but my patience is wearing thin. Those who are considering to try out MacBook Pro, my advice is to be mentally prepared for any potential defects.

JKKiang

Level 1

10 points

Feb 23, 2019 7:47 AM in response to JKKiang

MacBook Pro 2017 - 2018 Touch Bar (Speaker failure/muffled, sent in for warranty)

Update: Sent me laptop to Apple Authorised Service Provider and the entire topcase is replaced as it is under warranty. Took them 13 days (inclusive of weekends and public holidays) to replace. I am using the laptop for work, so its a bit annoying having to use my 10-yo Windows 7 Acer laptop (still working tho, haha!).

Oct 17, 2019 6:58 AM in response to matt_90

Also with a similar problem on my 2017 MacBook Pro.

The problem is not exactly the same but very similar.

The sound does not become muffed, instead, on the same conditions, the speaker makes a pop sound as I increase the volume and after that the quality of that speaker is drastically worse even if I decrease the volume.

It kind of sounds like the speaker lost the base.

Had the problem earlier this year and got it repaired. They replaced the entire top-case of the computer.

Today the same problem occurred again (computer out of warranty by now)

Apple should really acknowledge this problem and find a solution quickly!

We paid a lot for this computer.

Should also refer that the first time I had this problem, both speakers suffered from this.

This time only the left speaker has this problem.

Dec 23, 2017 7:02 AM in response to dogsonic22

That’s insane. This isn’t User inflicted damage, and a restart of core audio fixes it temporarily.

I would escalate this to the store manager.

Still hoping for a software fix here.

Aug 9, 2018 1:11 AM in response to Kai V. Ahlefeld

Yes, repaired mine under warranty (but was less than 1y old). Took 5 days and they replaced the entire top case and logic board if I am not mistaken.

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