For paranoid, security-conscious reasons, I’d like to completely disable the internal microphone in MacOS. All of the resources I’ve found on the web have led me to reduce the input volume of the microphone to 0, which doesn’t actually stop the computer from receiving audio. Could there be a script or command line prompt I can use?
One thing you could do is run Audio MIDI Setup from the Utilities folder, select the Built-in Microphone and check Mute.
What might work is 3.5mm TTRS connector plugged into the headphone jack. Maybe.
Doesn’t have any effect. My goal is for the microphone not to send any information to the rest of MacOS. I can mute the input from Audio MIDI Setup but the microphone is still active and allows me for instance, to control my computer through Siri or use dictation.
Unless you have a Mac with a Line Input or a USB interface with a Line Input I don't think there's anything you can do short of physically disconnecting the mic. Which is a bad idea.
How can I completely disable the microphone in MacOS?
