My MacBook Pro 2018 version speakers are crackling.

Except it doesn’t perform fine when it’s ‘under no pressure’. Most people have reported experiencing this simply when using iTunes or YouTube, hardly a high load. I’m leaning towards it being a software issue, since the fixes are all related to changing/resetting software settings.

I wonder if everyone who has had a problem has run at least at some point some kind of audio program or bootcamp? Could this be the common thread?

it would certainly be nice if Apple were a bit more transparent about the progress (if any) on a potential update. It’s pretty pathetic of them to be claiming to not have heard of the issue, even though there’s been news articles about it out for weeks now.

I couldn't agree more.

Yo , so i was on a 40 minute conversation with a senior apple advisor this morning and basically he has personally attached himself to my case. He is escalating my problems to the apple engineers and we data captured my computer and i will hear back from him soon.

I think everyone should contact apple and ask to speak to a senior adviser and express how annoyed they are. This clearly is an issue effecting many people.

Let me know if anybody has dealt with things differently where it has actually worked. By the sounds of things Apple aren't onto this yet.

Even so waiting for Mojave or installing the beta won't fix the issue. Even if it fixes it partially, by stopping the sound crackling on the OSX side of things it will still be present when it comes to using bootcamp so an update to the system as a whole would need to be done as the issue will still be present when running windows which is where the sound crackling is a lot worse. Just like the supplemental update for the throttling issue it had only been applied in OSX and not bootcamp where the issue is still there. In addition to this, if its a hardware issue apple should recall these devices its as simple as that.

Its causing a lot of issues that they haven't done anything yet, because what happens if the speakers get damaged from the crackling sounds will they be willing to replace them? When the quality of the speakers degrade then what?

I have the same problem! In macOS everything is ok even when I play games. It only happens when use Win10 via BootCamp. In about 10 mins of gaming - the crackling sound appears! I talked to apple people and since its ok in macOS, they are referring to Microsoft support to solve the problem. Apple whats going on?! Its apple's driver which does not work right. I tried to reset smc & nvram - NOTHING.

It might be a hardware issue, but it proved to me that it is solved via resetting through re-installing MacOS. So it does rely on something software does (or perhaps doesn't do once it crosses a line). However, it might be a serious hardware flaw that might cripple the system use once it is corrected: the system might be neutered to allow for problem to be subjugated.

I am running 10.13.6 on a 2.9 GHz i9 with 32GB RAM.

Same issue, about half hour into routine use but variable. First time it occurred is one month after purchase.

I thought it was the song at first but it's across platforms. Re-booting or closing the app solves the issue, but oddly enough I am able to exacerbate it by gently rubbing my palm down the speakers. Even subtle pressure augments the sound.

I went through 3 13" MacBook Pros w/TB i5, and they had horrible issue when I ran Logic Pro X. The whole system went wild with stuttering and crackling and it got worse and worse. Nearly 2 weeks ago I changed it for an i7 13" and the problem will still come around with Logic Pro X... but--it barely happens, if quick, and it vanishes when Logic Pro X is closed up. So n o need to reboot or play games to get the system to behave after using Logic Pro X.

I did put in a complaint, to mark it in case of return or repair, but it is fairly acceptable with the i7.

Is it the i7 that helps? Is it just this laptop? No idea, but that's my experience.

Apple being typical Apple never officially publicly acknowledged it was even an issue as far as I'm aware. Some Apple store reps and service providers told certain individuals they were aware of it and working on a fix, while others claimed to be oblivious of the issue despite numerous news reports about it and many pages-deep forum threads like this. Several people deduced that the crackling was caused by sample rate drifting, and then a software update solved the issue. You are the first person since the update to complain about it (the two posts above you are talking about different issues, as they didn't read the thread properly before posting). Myself and others no longer have the problem.

Apple customer service is a dirty world of misinformation, confusion and flat out dishonesty. Several years later they are yet to acknowledge that iCloud music is a broken mess. Take anything they tell you with a grain of salt.

https://www.macrumors.com/2018/08/29/macos-high-sierra-supplemental-update-2-det ails/

Same issue here. Somebody said it might be a software problem with the priority of the audio drivers, i.e. when the machine is under load the audio drivers will not get enough priority to provide a constant stream auf audio. On my machine (2018 MBP 15" w/ 32GB RAM) the distortion is so bad that you can no longer recognize the sound at all.

This is happening to me but I think it's CPU related - when the CPU is working.

I have a pair of Bose speakers plugged in and when a web page is loading or now I have an update going on my iPhone (through iTunes) where the CPU is working hard, I hear some almost white noise happening (small crackling or distortion). It seems pretty tied into what the laptop is doing.

Maybe this info helps, I'm not sure but I thought I'd explain what I observe.

I just recently bought a new 2018 model only 2 weeks ago, and it is having the same problem. Happens only once every couple minutes, but it sounds almost like a quick bout of interference in a walkie talkie or baby monitor. I've noticed it doesn't happen when using my Bluetooth headphones, and only occurs when I use the built in laptop speakers. Restarting the browser (I'm usually watching YouTube or TV online) or the computer doesn't do anything to fix it either. It just delays it from restarting. Are there no fixes for this?

I am having the same issues using Audirvana, VLC. All is well for maybe an hour, then crackes begin and become more frequent. VLC will crackle and also suffer dropouts. Temporary remedy in all cases is to quit and restart app. Then you get another 1-2 hours until it starts again. With Audirvana, no change with various converters, Apple Core or not. Hope this gets fixed. os 10.13

I have also turned off all Siri features and that seems to help. I also am testing Mac OS Sierra and that seems to be addressing the sound issues better.

Same issue.

My speakers start to crackle randomly after a certain time. Restarting the browser or spotify fix the issue, but then the problem comes back. It is pretty annoying.

Does this happens only through speakers/headphones or anyone has tested if it happens through usb dacs or audio interfaces?