Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
MacBook Pro 2018 - Speakers Crackling
- Thread starter jaack
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Had this happen twice now on a machine thats 3 days old. Hoping its a software issue and not hardware related... I did reset the PRAM and SMC and it temporarily solved the cracking but it eventually came back. As a side note it’s not consistent, but once it does start it’s identical to to the YouTube video above. I feel like this MacBook isn’t gonna last as long as my 2012 did 
I also noticed it started both times when I was gaming. hmm...
Last edited:
Yes for me it happens within 10 minutes after I start gaming. I installed new drivers from Bootcampdrivers.com which also replaced the sound drivers it seems, but it's still the same, no difference. Just hope it's a software issue and nothing more. That it happens both on MacOs and Bootcamp is not a good sign though is it?
Unfortunately I don't play any games, and I usually hear it when there is some music playing in the background while I browse the internet, but that happens quite rarely.
It would be great if we could find a reliable method to reproduce it. Then we would know if it is machine specific or a widespread issue. I neither like the idea of trying my luck with another machine, nor waiting for the next model.
Now with that the throttling issues are somewhat addressed, other than the speaker crackling I am quite happy with the machine. I waited more than 2 years for it...
But if I were in sound production, then this bug would render the machine useless.
It would be great if we could find a reliable method to reproduce it. Then we would know if it is machine specific or a widespread issue. I neither like the idea of trying my luck with another machine, nor waiting for the next model.
Now with that the throttling issues are somewhat addressed, other than the speaker crackling I am quite happy with the machine. I waited more than 2 years for it...
But if I were in sound production, then this bug would render the machine useless.
Surely we’d have had way more posts complaining of this if it was an inherent problem with the MBP?
Its not your usecase, but for me it's a very reliable way that creates the noise every time; If you have Bootcamp, download Fortnite and play for 5 minutes. Like I said it happens every time. Apart from that on the MacOS side I've had it while doing some relatively intensive work and playing music through Spotify or Youtube
I opened a ticket with Apple's "engineers" through tech support. Is there a way to reproduce this under macOS? So far I've only had it happen in Windows where it is clear it's a DPC/driver issue.
I have another call scheduled with them tomorrow, so if anyone can help me reproduce the issue under macOS I'd appreciate it. Under Windows it happens within 5-7 minutes of playing audio while doing a demanding task (like gaming), but I haven't really done anything to cause it to happen under macOS.
I installed Civ VI under macOS and was able to play for quite a while and never noticed a problem.
Yes I did have that. I got mine replaced but the new one whenever I play a video, for example, the video pauses, the the video continues without audio for a few seconds. On any website.
There's an easy way to reproduce an aspect of it, which I mention here: https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...cbook-pro-check-if-yours-is-affected.2129691/
Just play a youtube video, hold shift, and adjust the volume using the touch bar buttons or an external keyboard. The volume adjustment sound will delay and fail to play, and then the audio will start popping and crackling.
Last edited:
If anyone exchanges their machine and no longer experiences this please update us in this thread! I just finally finished the process of migrating everything from the old machine and REALLY don’t want to go through the process of exchanging but might have to if it continues
Yep, I was able to reproduce it but you really have to hit the volume slider fast...
So here has been my ****** experience:
I purchased the new 2018 MacBook Pro 15 days ago today. I noticed this crackling issue while I was watching a video on Youtube. I received an iMessage notification while the video was playing and it made like a 1-2 second crackle. I thought I was hearing things, but it happened again when I received another message while the video was still playing. I told my friend to continue sending me messages to see if this kept happening, but it didn't. During a scene for the Shazam trailer I was watching there was some music playing with heavy bass and I hit the back button on my browser and I heard it again. I thought the speakers were acting up, but was putting off having to go through the process of exchanging it (purchased AppleCare so I wasn't worried).
Days later I opened the lid and tried to watch a youtube video, but there was no sound. The video was not muted nor was the computer. I quit my browser and tried again. Nothing. No audio whatsoever coming from the computer. I had to restart the system and got it working again.
Another thing thats happened a few times, you know the swooshing sound that plays when you send a message? Well I would send a message and that sound would play continuously. I tried quitting the Messages app and it would keep playing. Id close the lid and it would STILL keep playing. I had to shut down the system to get it to stop.
Well today I got sick and tired of this considering I paid over 3k with AppleCare for this system only to have all these issues occur. They tried resetting the SMC, nothing. Factory reset the computer and it did not work either (for the crackling). So they issued me a new computer. I come home and set up my new computer and went through the whole process of setting it up again and IT STILL CRACKLES. At this point I'm at a loss. It can't be a hardware issue because this is happening on the new system. I can't possibly have gotten two defective ones right after another, so I'm hoping this is a software issue and a future update will fix this.
As far as the repeated "swooshing" sound when sending a message, it hasn't occurred. Nor the "no audio" issue either ...yet. As of right now the 1-2 second crackling issue still persists. I know to some it might seem like I'm being nit picky about this, but considering I paid over $3,000 for the computer, this should not be happening. I know sh*t happens and I'm okay with that. Im just hoping apple fixes this issue.
I purchased the new 2018 MacBook Pro 15 days ago today. I noticed this crackling issue while I was watching a video on Youtube. I received an iMessage notification while the video was playing and it made like a 1-2 second crackle. I thought I was hearing things, but it happened again when I received another message while the video was still playing. I told my friend to continue sending me messages to see if this kept happening, but it didn't. During a scene for the Shazam trailer I was watching there was some music playing with heavy bass and I hit the back button on my browser and I heard it again. I thought the speakers were acting up, but was putting off having to go through the process of exchanging it (purchased AppleCare so I wasn't worried).
Days later I opened the lid and tried to watch a youtube video, but there was no sound. The video was not muted nor was the computer. I quit my browser and tried again. Nothing. No audio whatsoever coming from the computer. I had to restart the system and got it working again.
Another thing thats happened a few times, you know the swooshing sound that plays when you send a message? Well I would send a message and that sound would play continuously. I tried quitting the Messages app and it would keep playing. Id close the lid and it would STILL keep playing. I had to shut down the system to get it to stop.
Well today I got sick and tired of this considering I paid over 3k with AppleCare for this system only to have all these issues occur. They tried resetting the SMC, nothing. Factory reset the computer and it did not work either (for the crackling). So they issued me a new computer. I come home and set up my new computer and went through the whole process of setting it up again and IT STILL CRACKLES. At this point I'm at a loss. It can't be a hardware issue because this is happening on the new system. I can't possibly have gotten two defective ones right after another, so I'm hoping this is a software issue and a future update will fix this.
As far as the repeated "swooshing" sound when sending a message, it hasn't occurred. Nor the "no audio" issue either ...yet. As of right now the 1-2 second crackling issue still persists. I know to some it might seem like I'm being nit picky about this, but considering I paid over $3,000 for the computer, this should not be happening. I know sh*t happens and I'm okay with that. Im just hoping apple fixes this issue.
What a disaster. I haven’t had the swoosh sound error however a few times when doing airdrop the sound it makes was completely distorted and sounded terrible. I do have the issue with the crackling audio when running intensive apps, it tends to make the sounds every 5-10 seconds. Hoping Apple recognizes and fixes this as it’s unacceptable on a $3-$4,000 machine! Also the fact that it’s happened to you on 2 machines leads me to believe it’s a software issue vs a hardware one... here’s to hoping that’s the case
I forgot to mention, as I was with the genius a random guy approached me asking if I was having issues with my new MacBook Pro. I told him what was going on with my old machine and he proceeded to me that he was also there because he was having major display issues with his 2018 MacBook Pro and his screen would randomly go blue ...this has been a complete sh*tshow of a release.
Something tells me these 2018 models aren’t going to last as long as my 2012 MBP has. That thing still chugs along issue free while my 2018 model is having issues within 3 days.
I was getting the same strange noise on my Macbook Pro 2018.eveey 10 section nos while playing itunes music or playing video games.
I just resetted the PRAM and it seems to help, I did not heard it since (2 hours ago). But it may come back.
I believe this is a firmware problem, probably related to the T2 chip.
I hesitate to go to the genius bar and get it replaced since the new one will probably have the same defect.
Experiencing this exact thing when running any resource intensive application and playing audio
In Windows or in macOS?
What triggered the audio problem?
I still have not been able to reliably reproduce the problem in macOS.