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This is becoming a horror story for me to replace the Macbook Pro 13inch 2018 / customized with 16Gb RAM that starting with the same sound crackling issue while gaming on Mac OS or listening to Apple Music. Currently in Canada and waiting for Apple to send the same configuration to a local Apple Store.

Here is a video of my crackling audio issue, very similar to the ones I saw previously on this thread.


I could live with that until a software fix but then I experienced other crashes that I suspect are related to a more serious hardware issue :
  1. Screen remained black at startup and would light up only when asking something to Siri, for a few seconds during Siri answers, then the screen would become black again. Issue occurred 2 times at startup, temp. fixed after PRAM and SMC reset.

  2. The mac completely froze when watching a music video from iTunes, even the touchpad haptics would not work. After a hard reboot, now all videos from Apple Music videos play with audio only with no video at all, only a black window. Reinstalling iTunes from Apple package did not fix the issue.

  3. Still on iTunes, when watching a trailer of a Movie, or a purchased movie, the video either does not show at all or it is very choppy and the whole mac becomes unresponsive (cursor included) for around 0.5 seconds every 5 seconds or so.
Did any of you experience one of those issues besides the crackling sound issue, on the new MBP 2018 ?
That sadly looks like a joke to me and a product that is either faulty or product that has NOT been tested by Apple, prior to release, at all.
 
Has anyone here installed the Mojave beta? Im pretty sure once its officially released this crackling issue will no longer be a thing.
 
Has anyone here installed the Mojave beta? Im pretty sure once its officially released this crackling issue will no longer be a thing.

Yes. I did an extreme stress test for 8 hours. It is improved but you should expect a proper update shortly after Apple get enough feedback. They have three operating system (HS, Mojave and Windows) drivers to update and that doesn’t happen in one day.

Boot Camp drivers and system firmware is usually updated whenever they release a new OS. Mojave is about 6-8 weeks away so this time it will probably be sooner.
 
Been having this issue every day or so now, a simple reboot or "sudo killall coreaudiod" in terminal usually fixes it.

Just upgraded to Mojave yesterday and had the issue in less than 2 hours of use, I connected to my Airpods and it stopped. At least, spamming mute button doesn't do crackling sound anymore.

I changed midi audio option from 44k to 48k now, let's see if it helps. I have 10 days left to return this macbook, hopefully they fix it by then. I'm really liking my first experience with MacOS, except this part haha.
 
Yep, I sure do, very happy not to have this stress.

I’ll just consider these machines again after Mojave is out or more likely a good month after the next refresh.


Thank you!! I have so much TIME and ACCESSORIES into setting up a dev machine in this thing - you can't build a dev machine overnight - the stress is equally weighted between rebuilding one again in future or buying a terrible machine. These 2016 to 2018 MBP's form factors are really not that great are they? The 2015 year form factor would have given Apple the proper ventilation I think - I wonder when they will dump the Touch Bar and build yet another form factor?
 
Is this crackling issue more of a software problem(Since people keep on exchanging theirs and are having the same issue) I will be purchasing a 2018 macbook pro 13 inch soon so want to know if this is something to worry about or its going to be corrected(Most likely with mojave update)
 
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The 2015 year form factor would have given Apple the proper ventilation I think - I wonder when they will dump the Touch Bar and build yet another form factor?

2013-2015 form factor would be easier to cool but in an industry that is always coming out with slimmer form factors it wouldn’t be competitive.

One overlooked issue is that Intel’s roadmap has been a mess and hit stumbleblock’s several times. We were supposed to have 10nm by now. Instead they changed their tick-tock strategy and the tock-tock part has become longer. It has made it difficult for system designers. They plan their supply chain two years ahead. Very easy to criticise if you’re on the outside and aren’t involved in the planning headache.

There’s nothing wrong with the Touch Bar. In deejay and media apps it is really good, but it should have been an option.

But looking forward we will one day see the whole keyboard become adaptive touch based interface. It won’t happen for a while because they need to combine touch with haptics and adaptive surfaces (raised bumps which change depending on the app).
 
Bump to remind people to look out for the speaker hiss issue as well. I'm waiting on my replacement and will video my unboxing if Apple decides to question my immediate return.
 
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Bump to remind people to look out for the speaker hiss issue as well. I'm waiting on my replacement and will video my unboxing if Apple decides to question my immediate return.

When did it hiss? Could you replicate it? Trying to test my mbp since I have only three days left to ask for a replacement.
 
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When did it hiss? Could you replicate it? Trying to test my mbp since I have only three days left to ask for a replacement.

It hisses on any audio stream playing. Gotta listen carefully.

You can replicate it by enabling "play feedback sounds when volume changed" (which coincidentally was bugged and inverted for me), dragging volume down, then pressing volume down. Obviously no sound should come out, but an audio stream is playing and there will be a hiss for the duration of the "bloop" sound.

Or, just play any sound and drag volume down. Then close whatever app is playing it, hissing will stop.
 
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I’ve had these issues with my new 15” MBP since purchasing about 3 weeks ago. Sadly they make it fairly useless for its intended use case of audio production. FWIW this is not a particularly well known issue inside Apple as I have been working with Apple care for the past 3 weeks and doing all sorts of troubleshooting and no one I have spoken with is familiar with this issue yet. I am currently getting a replacement, which I am cautiously optimistic will fix the issue. I know some people say it’s effecting all of them, but I have read people who use them for pro audio giving them good reviews which would NOT be happening if this was effecting all of them. In any case one thing I noticed which is interesting, is that when I’m using the CPU meters in Logic I can see that when the glitches occur a single core will just max out, and then will not drop down in usage even when the load on the computer is removed. The core will stay maxed or will drop down again after 20-30 sec in some cases. I don’t know what that means but could be useful for some of you that are more knowledgeable.
 
Fingers crossed. Only experienced the crackling issue (quite loud and on the right side) once and that was during the setup process for Siri. However, there is crackling when I'm using headphones and playing Youtube videos. Spotify and iTunes are working fine for now.

Anyone else experiencing slightly lower volume on one side of your speakers? The right side of my speakers appear to be slightly lower (around ~5 decibel or so) compared with the left side. Nothing appears to be out of the ordinary. Sound balanced is centered and channels 1 & 2 in Audio MIDI Setup have the same volume set up.
 
It hisses on any audio stream playing. Gotta listen carefully.

You can replicate it by enabling "play feedback sounds when volume changed" (which coincidentally was bugged and inverted for me), dragging volume down, then pressing volume down. Obviously no sound should come out, but an audio stream is playing and there will be a hiss for the duration of the "bloop" sound.

Or, just play any sound and drag volume down. Then close whatever app is playing it, hissing will stop.
Good advice, I'll try this out immediately once I receive this year's mbp.
 
Getting my MBP 13inch with 16GB RAM replaced will take a week or more since it's a customized configuration. I received a communication saying the replacement MBP is on its way to a local Apple Store. I guess it will take as long as shipping a new one, so 10+ days in my case.
I hope the replacement MBP won't have the same audio defect.
 
I’ve had these issues with my new 15” MBP since purchasing about 3 weeks ago. Sadly they make it fairly useless for its intended use case of audio production. FWIW this is not a particularly well known issue inside Apple as I have been working with Apple care for the past 3 weeks and doing all sorts of troubleshooting and no one I have spoken with is familiar with this issue yet. I am currently getting a replacement, which I am cautiously optimistic will fix the issue. I know some people say it’s effecting all of them, but I have read people who use them for pro audio giving them good reviews which would NOT be happening if this was effecting all of them. In any case one thing I noticed which is interesting, is that when I’m using the CPU meters in Logic I can see that when the glitches occur a single core will just max out, and then will not drop down in usage even when the load on the computer is removed. The core will stay maxed or will drop down again after 20-30 sec in some cases. I don’t know what that means but could be useful for some of you that are more knowledgeable.

I’m on the 13” and it works absolutely fine with my UAD Apollo, but I get the issue with both onboard outputs. I’ve heard it on all three of the 2018’s I’ve used, so I think anyone exchanging for it will end up disappointed. Hopefully Mojave will fix it, otherwise the only possible solution would presumably be a recall.

What good reviews have you read from pro audio users, and how do you know they’re not using an external interface?
 
I read some stuff on some music blogs, can’t remember where exactly but what you say makes sense. No reason they wouldn’t be using an audio interface.

I’m on the 13” and it works absolutely fine with my UAD Apollo, but I get the issue with both onboard outputs. I’ve heard it on all three of the 2018’s I’ve used, so I think anyone exchanging for it will end up disappointed. Hopefully Mojave will fix it, otherwise the only possible solution would presumably be a recall.

What good reviews have you read from pro audio users, and how do you know they’re not using an external interface?
 
Having the same issue here as many of you... 15" MBP wTB, 1TB, 16GB RAM

Its happening when I'm using Ableton Live and I thought that it was an application issue but when I close down Live and then play audio via preview the issue still remains.

I use Serato DJ Pro too and I'm nervous that the same issue will occur then whilst DJing :(

Not yet reported it to Apple but keeping any eye on developments here.... disappointing from Apple :(
 
I also have the problems, especially under BootCamp. I have sent my back, something you can not just tolerate !!!

 
Having the same issue here as many of you... 15" MBP wTB, 1TB, 16GB RAM

Its happening when I'm using Ableton Live and I thought that it was an application issue but when I close down Live and then play audio via preview the issue still remains.

I use Serato DJ Pro too and I'm nervous that the same issue will occur then whilst DJing :(

Not yet reported it to Apple but keeping any eye on developments here.... disappointing from Apple :(

Oh, it'll definitely happen while DJing – you really need to use an external audio interface for now. You can reset the driver, though, using 'sudo killall coreaudiod' in Terminal. That fixes it for a while.
 
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But the REAL question is: why isn't this around the Apple/Tech news?
Tried to google it just now with 0 results.
 
Oh, it'll definitely happen while DJing – you really need to use an external audio interface for now. You can reset the driver, though, using 'sudo killall coreaudiod' in Terminal. That fixes it for a while.

I have a Scarlett 2i2 so assuming I can use that? I never thought of using an external interface.
 
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Just had another chat with Apple and this time they want me to wipe my MacBook and test as a new account. I refused to do this, it's too much of a pain.

They're going to call back this evening and try a few more things. I've already done the typical SMC/VRAM resets and reinstalled macOS.

Not sure what we're doing tonight, think they want to create a new admin account and run more tests. I'm doubtful any of this will be anything more than a waste of my time. However, I'll let them try nonetheless.
 
I have a Scarlett 2i2 so assuming I can use that? I never thought of using an external interface.

I'd imagine so, yeah. My Apollo Twin seems to work perfectly.
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Just had another chat with Apple and this time they want me to wipe my MacBook and test as a new account. I refused to do this, it's too much of a pain.

They're going to call back this evening and try a few more things. I've already done the typical SMC/VRAM resets and reinstalled macOS.

Not sure what we're doing tonight, think they want to create a new admin account and run more tests. I'm doubtful any of this will be anything more than a waste of my time. However, I'll let them try nonetheless.

A total waste of time, without doubt. They're just walking you through the usual pointless flow chart. This is obviously a systemic issue that no one's going to be able to fix but Apple themselves.
 
Not sure what we're doing tonight, think they want to create a new admin account and run more tests. I'm doubtful any of this will be anything more than a waste of my time. However, I'll let them try nonetheless.

They can try whatever they want, it's not gonna help. It's clearly a bigger problem, probably with the firmware. We can only hope Apple's engineers can find the time to fix this. No other person can do that I think.

I called Apple support this morning and the only thing they were willing to do was taking it in for inspection. I would be willing to do that if that would fix the problem, but we all know at this point that they won't be able to pull off anything better than replacing the MacBook with one with the same problem.

I have never been more annoyed with a Mac.
 
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