Any one notices the cracking/popping sound of new 16 inch MBP?

[mikethebigo]

Here's the popping noise my MacBook makes when I'm doing anything audio related, I set up a playlist of videos:

MacBook Pro Audio Issues

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Actually.. I think mine is worse than yours! I opened up a similar YouTube clip and did the scrubbing like you did. I get the characteristic pop from the sound itself when scrubbing. But if you listen, there's the other sound I get that I haven't heard on your videos. Basically it's like, high pitched snap, and then a moment later the pop with the sound starting. The earlier high pitched snap is the thing getting me fussed, and it's the sound I hear all the time. Video attached, do you happen to hear what I'm talking about? It's that first awful high pitched thing that I can't stand.

 

[mac.ross]

Actually.. I think mine is worse than yours! I opened up a similar YouTube clip and did the scrubbing like you did. I get the characteristic pop from the sound itself when scrubbing. But if you listen, there's the other sound I get that I haven't heard on your videos. Basically it's like, high pitched snap, and then a moment later the pop with the sound starting. The earlier high pitched snap is the thing getting me fussed, and it's the sound I hear all the time. Video attached, do you happen to hear what I'm talking about? It's that first awful high pitched thing that I can't stand.

View attachment 1673776

Yeah, mines makes that noise too - you just can't hear it in the videos because I'm playing over and over again but holy hell do you notice it at night when things are quiet and you're just trying to browse the web.

It's super bad if I run things in default 44100Hz audio but 48000Hz which I have it on now isn't *as* bad.

You can hear it a bit on this video at 0:08/0:09 and 0:58 but it was mainly the louder pop I was trying to record because it's the most noticeable.

Either way, just not acceptable in such an expensive machine imo.

 

[mikethebigo]

Yeah, mines makes that noise too - you just can't hear it in the videos because I'm playing over and over again but holy hell do you notice it at night when things are quiet and you're just trying to browse the web.

It's super bad if I run things in default 44100Hz audio but 48000Hz which I have it on now isn't *as* bad.

You can hear it a bit on this video at 0:08/0:09 and 0:58 but it was mainly the louder pop I was trying to record because it's the most noticeable.

Either way, just not acceptable in such an expensive machine imo.

Yep you're right, so you do have that too. So so far, they've replaced your speaker system and your audio card and it's made no difference? Have you had your motherboard replaced yet? And are you getting any additional info from your talks with senior advisors?

Might go switch to a M1 Mac if I can't make this sound go away.

 

[mac.ross]

Yep you're right, so you do have that too. So so far, they've replaced your speaker system and your audio card and it's made no difference? Have you had your motherboard replaced yet? And are you getting any additional info from your talks with senior advisors?

Might go switch to a M1 Mac if I can't make this sound go away.

First time I sent it away they replaced the Audio Board which made no difference and they replaced the whole top case when I visited the Apple Store (which includes speaker assembly and battery) which again made no difference.

The Senior Advisor from Apple Support that is dealing personally with my case seems like a good guy and has escalated the issue to their engineering team along with all the videos I recorded to see what they have to say and has floated the idea of either getting a replacement MacBook 16" or a refund since I've already been through multiple repairs.

Honestly though, I'm just sort of sick of it at this point so I'm likely going to look to get a refund if it comes to it, from how widespread the issue seems to be with the 16" Pro I'm worried that if I do get another one then it will have exactly the same issues then I'll have to go through everything again which I just don't want to deal with.

If I do get a refund I'll likely look at getting an M1 Air and upgrading to a 14"/16" MacBook Pro next year once I'm able to get some hands-on testing with one in the store and can confirm that the issue is resolved.

When I'm trying to study and get work done I find the popping super distracting to the point where I just straight up avoid using it because it just makes me angry and that's not really fair with such an expensive product.

 

[Viamusic10000]

I find this really odd because before there was no unit variance on this issue but now there seems to be unit variance? God f*** the T2

 

[mikethebigo]

First time I sent it away they replaced the Audio Board which made no difference and they replaced the whole top case when I visited the Apple Store (which includes speaker assembly and battery) which again made no difference.

The Senior Advisor from Apple Support that is dealing personally with my case seems like a good guy and has escalated the issue to their engineering team along with all the videos I recorded to see what they have to say and has floated the idea of either getting a replacement MacBook 16" or a refund since I've already been through multiple repairs.

Honestly though, I'm just sort of sick of it at this point so I'm likely going to look to get a refund if it comes to it, from how widespread the issue seems to be with the 16" Pro I'm worried that if I do get another one then it will have exactly the same issues then I'll have to go through everything again which I just don't want to deal with.

If I do get a refund I'll likely look at getting an M1 Air and upgrading to a 14"/16" MacBook Pro next year once I'm able to get some hands-on testing with one in the store and can confirm that the issue is resolved.

When I'm trying to study and get work done I find the popping super distracting to the point where I just straight up avoid using it because it just makes me angry and that's not really fair with such an expensive product.

Yeah, and the last guy that was really active in this thread didn't have his issue resolved until he bought a new 13" Pro instead. This just seems like a fatal issue of the machine TBH. I cracked this morning after I kept getting iMessages that made the crack/pop each time and ordered a M1 MBA. Apple is giving me $1530 trade in value for this thing so it's basically a free swap. Life's too short to fuss over this, and the M1 will be fun to play with lol.

 

[batting1000]

Got an M1 Air today and I'm hearing a pop out of the right speaker. It sounds like one of the keys is being tapped once lightly.

 

[mikethebigo]

Got an M1 Air today and I'm hearing a pop out of the right speaker. It sounds like one of the keys is being tapped once lightly.

I'm so sorry. I would say do a return if you can and exchange. I picked up an M1 Air today too and thank god, no cracking.

 

[mac.ross]

I had another call with the senior advisor that is handling my case and the Apple engineers are pretty interested in the issue so I had to run a diagnostic tool and send off a good 300MB of logs as well as another video of me replicating the issue whilst on call with the advisor.

Their 'gigafiles' system they use for uploading files to is so irritating, must have taken me 10 attempts to successfully upload the file to their system because it kept hanging or the transfer kept failing at ~70%!

Although I'm hoping to get a refund at this point because I'm just sick of all the issues (and worried that a replacement will have similar problems), I am hoping the engineers can get something useful out of the diagnostics so anyone else that's exhibiting the same problems can get the support that they need and a Service Program or something if we're lucky.

 

[GumaRodak]

Does this pop exist with external soundcard or earpods connected etc?

 

[mac.ross]

Does this pop exist with external soundcard or earpods connected etc?

For me it happens with the internal speakers as well as with a pair of good quality Bluetooth earbuds.

I also tested it months ago with an external audio interface (Focusrite Scarlett 2i4) and it was much quieter but I've just tested it a minute ago and now it appears to pop no differently than it does through the internal speakers or Bluetooth earbuds which is a bit weird (though I've had multiple components replaced since that point so it may have something to do with that).

It honestly drives me crazy, especially trying to do any fine cutting with audio/video and it pop pop popping away any time you try to scrub and it pop pop popping away any time you try to move through a YouTube video, if I don't get a refund or at least a replacement for this device I'm going to have to seriously reconsider buying any Apple hardware in the future because it's pretty unacceptable even if they decided that it's normal for this model.

I've personally tested other MacBook Pro 16" models and I know for a fact that it's not an issue that every device has so for them to rinse their hands of it and play the 'working as normal' card would really make me reconsider buying any of their devices in the future.

 

[batting1000]

I have an appointment for Sunday to try to get my M1 Air exchanged, so we'll see how that goes.

 

[mac.ross]

I have an appointment for Sunday to try to get my M1 Air exchanged, so we'll see how that goes.

Good luck, it's a brand new device so you shouldn't have any issues within the return period.

I stupidly didn't raise this issue immediately as Apple had announced that they were aware of the issue and would be resolving it with a software update (back at the start of the year) and I gave them the benefit of the doubt that it would be properly resolved with an update.

With Big Sur landing and the issue still occurring I think it's becoming increasingly clear that it's unfortunately not going to be fixed for me and a replacement/refund is the only option I can see.

 

[batting1000]

Good luck, it's a brand new device so you shouldn't have any issues within the return period.

I stupidly didn't raise this issue immediately as Apple had announced that they were aware of the issue and would be resolving it with a software update (back at the start of the year) and I gave them the benefit of the doubt that it would be properly resolved with an update.

With Big Sur landing and the issue still occurring I think it's becoming increasingly clear that it's unfortunately not going to be fixed for me and a replacement/refund is the only option I can see.

I was reading that it was supposed to be fixed, and some people even said it was. Seems pretty weird. Hopefully they can accommodate you somehow. Sucks to be hearing a noise like that from a brand new computer that’s touted as being silent.

 

[Tarek S. Abdelhamed]

I know at least two people with exist same issue, It's so sad we have paid almost 3k$ and Apple is refusing to admit this is an issue even. At this point I gave up completely I'm just waiting for 16 inch M1 and I'll purchase it right away.

 

[GumaRodak]

What about bootcamp? If its not doing in bootcamp then it should be software based imo

 

[mac.ross]

What about bootcamp? If its not doing in bootcamp then it should be software based imo

Unfortunately it occurs whether it's macOS or Windows 10 through Bootcamp.

Examples I have recorded can be seen here:

 

[mikethebigo]

I have an appointment for Sunday to try to get my M1 Air exchanged, so we'll see how that goes.

You're within the return period, so either exchange or just return and buy another one. You're totally in your rights to do that whether they agree there's a problem or not.

 

[GumaRodak]

Unfortunately it occurs whether it's macOS or Windows

Ou,

 

[GumaRodak]

i have found that the issue depends on the sound you are paying...i have tried clicking sounds in the sound-effects.
some samples are nicely playing even if u fast clicking on it and some are doing this pops.
It could be related to the sound wave itself...i remember from the times i was editing music when i was young, that if a sample sound wave was not ending or starting directly at -infinity db (directly on the x axis), it was causing pops when played.
This could be the source as maybe its not handling these waves properly

 

[seadragon]

Seriously, this is happening on the newest M1 machines? I have one on order and will be using it for music production among other things. If this is still and issue, I will cancel. No way I’ll put up with this crap.

 

[batting1000]

Seriously, this is happening on the newest M1 machines? I have one on order and will be using it for music production among other things. If this is still and issue, I will cancel. No way I’ll put up with this crap.

I believe it to be happening on my M1 Air and the workarounds that people suggested for the 16 inch Pro (the QuickTime audio recording trick, etc) seemed to work to fix it temporarily. Got an appointment to do an exchange tomorrow assuming they have some in stock, so we’ll see.

 

[batting1000]

You're within the return period, so either exchange or just return and buy another one. You're totally in your rights to do that whether they agree there's a problem or not.

Just completed the exchange without any issues at the store. The employee just asked if I was updated to the latest software, 11.0.1, and I told him I was.

A few preliminary tests at playing some audio seem to be good so far, we’ll see how it goes.

 

[mikethebigo]

Just completed the exchange without any issues at the store. The employee just asked if I was updated to the latest software, 11.0.1, and I told him I was.

A few preliminary tests at playing some audio seem to be good so far, we’ll see how it goes.

Good to hear! Hope you don't notice any new dealbreakers on yours.

I exchanged to this M1 MBA because of speaker cracking. And now, the bottom panel of this MBA... cracks with movement lol. Mildly, but enough to notice, and it did not resolve by removing and reseating the bottom plate.

So it seems like, it might be time for me to just get used to some noise from my electronics every now and then lol.

 

[batting1000]

Good to hear! Hope you don't notice any new dealbreakers on yours.

I exchanged to this M1 MBA because of speaker cracking. And now, the bottom panel of this MBA... cracks with movement lol. Mildly, but enough to notice, and it did not resolve by removing and reseating the bottom plate.

So it seems like, it might be time for me to just get used to some noise from my electronics every now and then lol.

for me, all three Mac laptops I’ve had... a 2015 Air, 2019 Pro, and the 2020 M1 Air now... they’ve all creaked to some degree, whether it’s opening the lid, etc. I’ve come to accept it at this point lol