External microphone input on MBP 14. The 3.5mm jack doesn't seem to allow it.

[portreathbeach]

Hi,

I want to be able to connect an external microphone to my MBP 14 inch M1, so I purchased a 3.5mm "Tip, ring, ring, sleeve" to headphone and mic.

When I plug this in, the headphones work, but the microphone doesn't. Is the 3.5mm input jack on the MBP 14 inch capable of a microphone input? I can't find any specs about it apart from it saying that it will up the voltage for higher impedance headphones.

 

[anshuvorty]

It's for headphones only, not for microphones...

 

[DJLC]

I couldn't get it to work with mine. I was trying to do stereo input via 3.5mm, but it seemed the port could only function as an output.

Annoying. But thankfully I was able to work around it in my particular case. Had to use a USB mic instead of tidily tapping into the existing room mics. Whatever. 🤷🏻‍♂️

 

[jav6454]

I believe the MBPs 3.5mm jack is output only.

 

[portreathbeach]

Yeah. It looks that way.

 

[DeltaMac]

Use a USB audio interface for your mic input.

 

[VaruLV]

Wow, I wonder if theres any particual reason why Apple decided that 3.5mm is going to be output only?
I mean, SD card reader isnt of the faster ones, far from it.
HDMI output also is limited by the 2.0 HDMI spec.

Its odd for a machine costing that much!

Tho I still like it very much and wouldnt mind buying either 14 or 16 MBP M1 😁

 

[FreakinEurekan]

Specs indicate a “3.5mm headphone jack” on all the current Macs, except the Mac Pro. So yeah, looks like that feature is dead - the intent previously was for using a TRRS headset such as EarPods with 3.5mm plug for FaceTime, etc - but I imagine that usage has dropped off quite a lot. @DeltaMac has the right suggestion; use USB.

 

[J.Gallardo]

My 16” M1 MacBook Pro audio plug works also as mic in. I’ve tried with typical earphones/mic used with phones. The switch to pause, advance, etc. works also when playing media.
(Check “Audio MIDI setup utility” in Utilities folder to see what audio-out & audio-in are selected, when your earphones/mic is connected).

 

[Hadron]

I believe the MBPs 3.5mm jack is output only.

It works for input on my 14", and also my 2 previous MBPs.

 

[dwig]

I couldn't get it to work with mine. I was trying to do stereo input via 3.5mm, but it seemed the port could only function as an output.

Annoying. But thankfully I was able to work around it in my particular case. Had to use a USB mic instead of tidily tapping into the existing room mics. Whatever. 🤷🏻‍♂️

BTW, no Mac ever supported stereo input via the 3.5mm jack, nor any Windows device that uses a single combined mic & headphone jack.

 

[DJLC]

BTW, no Mac ever supported stereo input via the 3.5mm jack, nor any Windows device that uses a single combined mic & headphone jack.

Ah well. That explains the difference in my experience and that of the couple posters right before your post in this thread.

I find that dumb. And annoying. But thinking back, you're probably right, and I've probably had this misconception in my head for years. 🤷🏻‍♂️

 

[dwig]

Ah well. That explains the difference in my experience and that of the couple posters right before your post in this thread.

I find that dumb. And annoying. But thinking back, you're probably right, and I've probably had this misconception in my head for years. 🤷🏻‍♂️

After all, it is a 4 contact TRRS plug. You'd need 5 contacts to allow for stereo out and stereo in, and only then if the audio circuitry will allow for a common ground for all 4 signals. No four contact plug can every to stereo both ways with common audio signals.

Also, if you use one of the audio-to-USB dongles you need to be sure that it supports stereo input. The vast majority on the market don't.

 

[DJLC]

After all, it is a 4 contact TRRS plug. You'd need 5 contacts to allow for stereo out and stereo in, and only then if the audio circuitry will allow for a common ground for all 4 signals. No four contact plug can every to stereo both ways.

That makes sense to me... I had always assumed it was simply stereo (so I guess 3 contact - L, R, CG) and could therefore be configured in software as an input or output. Didn't occur to me that additional contacts would exist in the plug and muddy those waters. Seems so obvious now! Ha.

I guess what I needed in my use case was an adapter to convert into a 4-contact plug + then I could've had a mono feed of the room mics instead of having to use a separate USB mic. Next time!