MacBook Pro 2018 - Speakers Crackling

[Abumuslim]

Just another piece of info that I haven't seen shared here before that might be helpful. When the issue occurs on my 2018 MBP (the crackling / skipping audio) I can see that one of my cores maxes out, and stays maxed even when there is no load being put on the computer. I'm using the CPU monitor built into Logic Pro X to see this. I do not have the hissing or background noise issue, just the crackling / skipping audio that requires a reset to fix.

That is very helpful to sort this issue out, now it’s obviously a software issue and definitely apple working on fixing it.

 

[WalterEon]

Also when it appears, the Core Audio deamon in activitymonitor goes sometimes to a CPU usage of above 20%. Also weird. On my dad's Mac I can't even find that thing in the activitymonitor when playing sound.

 

[jafico1]

So, I went to my local AASP eventually (now that my summer job is finished) to see what they could do. They took the laptop in on Monday and took a look at it, but essentially they said there's nothing they could do as they lacked the necessary equipment for the 2018 MBPs. They gave me two options: return to Apple's repair center, or see if I could get a refund or a replacement as they believed this would be possible (despite it being a month or so since I bought the machine).

I called Apple today and I managed to get myself a return number for the system. Can I just take the laptop to the Apple store and just get a new one, as it says I can return it to the Apple store for a refund? In addition, would my AppleCare transfer over? It might not fix the speaker issue but I've had a whole host of other issues too.

 

[tehStickMan]

AppleCare does transfer over to the replacement system.

I'm also thinking wholly software issue, buoyed by the following:
- USB DAC has same problem
- Audio stream popping issue identified in 2011 MBA

But I'm also not hopeful for a timely fix, considering 2011 model exhibits similar issues, and these exact issues have appeared since 2016 touchbars.

As for the speaker hiss, my 2017 had it.

Overall, my hopes are slim for ANY fixes.
[doublepost=1534376387][/doublepost]Update from Apple:

Engineers report back, they acknowledge my evidence of hissing/crackling/popping. Issued stop to any replacements for this issue on 2018 line, as they say it's software problem.

Support dude (probably my best experience with Apple support so far tbh) didn't get provided with an ETA for software fix, mentioning that Mojave is coming out.

So, let us keep trying the betas and hoping that final release of Mojave addresses these problems.

 

[AdamA9]

So, I went to my local AASP eventually (now that my summer job is finished) to see what they could do. They took the laptop in on Monday and took a look at it, but essentially they said there's nothing they could do as they lacked the necessary equipment for the 2018 MBPs. They gave me two options: return to Apple's repair center, or see if I could get a refund or a replacement as they believed this would be possible (despite it being a month or so since I bought the machine).

I called Apple today and I managed to get myself a return number for the system. Can I just take the laptop to the Apple store and just get a new one, as it says I can return it to the Apple store for a refund? In addition, would my AppleCare transfer over? It might not fix the speaker issue but I've had a whole host of other issues too.

I think this really depends on how you bought the laptop.

Here in the UK, if you bought it online, it'll be up to the discretion of the store manager to accept the laptop and give you a replacement as they only offer returns up to 14 days from purchase. Whereas online is 30 days. If you want to return an online order you have to do a collection/drop off with UPS or whoever.

That at least is my experience. There's an Apple Store in my town but they wouldn't take it back in store, so I had to have Apple collect it from my house, at their expense. Strange, but that's how they operate.
[doublepost=1534402572][/doublepost]

Update from Apple:

Engineers report back, they acknowledge my evidence of hissing/crackling/popping. Issued stop to any replacements for this issue on 2018 line, as they say it's software problem.

Support dude (probably my best experience with Apple support so far tbh) didn't get provided with an ETA for software fix, mentioning that Mojave is coming out.

So, let us keep trying the betas and hoping that final release of Mojave addresses these problems.

No chance I'm keeping mine in a hope that Apple come out with a fix. I'll go through as many as I can until I find one without this defect, as they must exist otherwise everyone would be shouting about the issue.

 

[kirky1234]

Has anyone had this issue with an external audio interface as well or only with the built in speakers or headphone output? I work with audio programs and have the same issue in mu audio workstations when connected to my motu interface. Can’t say if the issue persists when using the headphone output or speakers, as I didn’t have enough time to test that. I have a week left to return my macbook, and in that time I have to find out if the problem is with the current macbook lineup or with motus audio driver under high sierra...

 

[dan9700]

I have a big update
[doublepost=1534432307][/doublepost]Spoke with apple and they said an update is gonna be made this week hopefully I said was it gonna be next months Mojave and they said hopefully it will be a high Sierra update as they have fixed the issue

 

[CreeptoLoser]

Same thing happened when MBP 2016 came out. It had graphics glitches. Forums full of hysteria. People saying GPU is broken. People saying they are exchanging machine until they find a good one.

The experienced users on forums said 'It's a driver bug not rendering alpha channels correctly'. The noobs didn't want to listen. Cognitive dissonance is a very strong force. Everyone thinks they know better than experts these days.

 

[Abumuslim]

I have a big update
[doublepost=1534432307][/doublepost]Spoke with apple and they said an update is gonna be made this week hopefully I said was it gonna be next months Mojave and they said hopefully it will be a high Sierra update as they have fixed the issue

This is a great news for all, many thanks for informing us.

 

[jafico1]

I think this really depends on how you bought the laptop.

Here in the UK, if you bought it online, it'll be up to the discretion of the store manager to accept the laptop and give you a replacement as they only offer returns up to 14 days from purchase. Whereas online is 30 days. If you want to return an online order you have to do a collection/drop off with UPS or whoever.

That at least is my experience. There's an Apple Store in my town but they wouldn't take it back in store, so I had to have Apple collect it from my house, at their expense. Strange, but that's how they operate.
[doublepost=1534402572][/doublepost]

No chance I'm keeping mine in a hope that Apple come out with a fix. I'll go through as many as I can until I find one without this defect, as they must exist otherwise everyone would be shouting about the issue.

I have a big update
[doublepost=1534432307][/doublepost]Spoke with apple and they said an update is gonna be made this week hopefully I said was it gonna be next months Mojave and they said hopefully it will be a high Sierra update as they have fixed the issue

Noticed Apple have closed the bug report about the speaker issue - definitely a good sign for a fix! Got my laptop back from the AASP and still gonna look at getting an exchange as I have a couple of other problems too (getting kernel panics with bridgeOS and some of my keys are a little weird feeling). I am at least finally excited to listen to music and play games crackle-free (hopefully) .

 

[MD7200]

I have a big update
[doublepost=1534432307][/doublepost]Spoke with apple and they said an update is gonna be made this week hopefully I said was it gonna be next months Mojave and they said hopefully it will be a high Sierra update as they have fixed the issue

I hope that the errors will be fixed in BootCamp and not only under MacOS ...

 

[Tusskan]

Macbook arrived today and here what i've noticed, before hitting the supplemental update for hs to fix the throttle issues, I didn't have skipping in itunes. after update it happened twice. thankfully till now there is no crackling or hissing, unless i'm deaf and I can't hear it.

 

[motomotomoto]

I have a big update
[doublepost=1534432307][/doublepost]Spoke with apple and they said an update is gonna be made this week hopefully I said was it gonna be next months Mojave and they said hopefully it will be a high Sierra update as they have fixed the issue

Assuming this is a software issue, I still can't understand why there are plenty of people using the same model of 2018 MBP as I am with the same applications (Logic Pro X, Safari) without any issues. Wouldn't everyone have the same issue if that was the case? Was the issue they said would it would fix the cracking / skipping audio one?

I have a replacement coming today, and now I'm not sure what to do with that. Should I leave it in box, wait for this update and see what happens? Not excited to spend a day reinstalling all software / plugins etc...

 

[JayJay1990]

Noticed Apple have closed the bug report about the speaker issue - definitely a good sign for a fix! Got my laptop back from the AASP and still gonna look at getting an exchange as I have a couple of other problems too (getting kernel panics with bridgeOS and some of my keys are a little weird feeling). I am at least finally excited to listen to music and play games crackle-free (hopefully) .

How could I see that a bug is closed at Apple? I have the same issue.

Thanks.

 

[4254126]

May also be important to hear that not everyone has this problem: Mine is fine!

 

[smallnshort247]

It doesn't happen super often for me but it's usually when I'm watching Netflix or watching YouTube. After I close out the browser and reopen it, it usually seems to go away.

 

[tehStickMan]

I’m gonna go ahead and still believe that 100% of machines are affected, since it’s software.

Considering too, 2011 model has some problems and no one is up in arms for 7 years over that.

2017 model had issue and I didn’t find a single mention on internet.

It’s like a stick pixel on 4K panel. 99% of people won’t see it.

 

[idark77]

So Apple said that an update is coming and I think that they will release a firmware update. But I hope that after the update all 2018 MBP will be bug free because if it is an hardware issue and the update is just a workaround then a small percentage of MBP could be affected by this issue.
Just my opinion because I am waiting a new MBP bug free, till now i remain with my 2015 15.

 

[motomotomoto]

I’m gonna go ahead and still believe that 100% of machines are affected, since it’s software.

Considering too, 2011 model has some problems and no one is up in arms for 7 years over that.

2017 model had issue and I didn’t find a single mention on internet.

It’s like a stick pixel on 4K panel. 99% of people won’t see it.

There is absolutely 0% chance people would not hear the issue I am experiencing. Audio starts skipping, popping, crackling, in a very obvious and obnoxious way. I almost think there may be two separate issues reading the responses on this forum. I hear people talking about a quiet hiss, or slight pop at front or back of notification sounds (which frankly I have not heard), and then those that have the issue I have.

 

[tehStickMan]

But I hope that after the update all 2018 MBP will be bug free because if it is an hardware issue and the update is just a workaround then a small percentage of MBP could be affected by this issue.

I have a note on file - Apple can make exceptions for the 14 day return/replace period. If an update earmarked to fix my issues doesn't fix them, I can use the return/replace.

There is absolutely 0% chance people would not hear the issue I am experiencing.

My belief is that the 'issue' is popping/crackling/hissing/etc, however the symptoms for whatever reason are not always the same intensity. Or, yes, like you said, two separate issues that seem similar, but then it would be less likely that both would be software ....

 

[zhy3213]

Yeah, a 32-sample buffer in Logic while pushing the CPU with other apps is very likely to cause breakup. This isn’t the same as the noise being discussed.

Well I can say it's totally different crackling. And since there are only one audio track, even an out-dated MacBook Air would playback without problem under this setting.
[doublepost=1534478321][/doublepost]

Is this a MBP problem or a Logic Pro X problem though? Searching for "Logic Pro speakers crackling" I come across the following on Sound Radix Support ...

"If you're experiencing higher than usual CPU usage and hearing crackles in Logic Pro X, please increase your I/O Buffer Size to 256 samples or higher and more importantly, set your Process Buffer Range to Small in the Audio Preferences settings (Logic Pro X> Preferences> Audio)."

Isn't setting buffer size to 32 just defeating a fix to a known issue?

Actually no. This two kind of crackling sounds totally different, the 2018 model's crackling is much louder. And setting buffer size to 32 may cause CPU overload, but for there are only one audio track, even an out-dated MacBook Air would playback without problem under this setting.
[doublepost=1534478685][/doublepost]

Actually you're incorrect, not all 2018 models share this issue.

Mine does not exhibit such behavior.

This is really a good news for me. I've been testing around about 5 machines and they all share this problem so I consider all 2018 models share this issue statistically... But have you been using your internal speakers under heat for a period of time? That's the situation usually triggers the crackling for most of us.

 

[fokmik]

I’m gonna go ahead and still believe that 100% of machines are affected, since it’s software.

Of course they are...the easiest and 100% working way to find out...is to play itunes Radio and while listening Mute/unmute a few times..and the pop up sound it will be heard

 

[Einkoro]

I didn't notice it for the first two weeks being in noisy places but when I'm in a virtually silent environment the speakers hiss and crackle when the system is under heavy load when no audio is playing at all. The hissing seems to fluctuate and stop/start as the load goes up and down. I thought it was coil whine at first but it definitely seems to be coming from both speakers and sounds closer to white noise.

 

[Premal212]

Currently own a 2018 15" 32gb i7 512

On my 2016 13" i5 16b 250 I used Bluetooth Explorer to force use of ACC as opposed to SBC - used with my Sony MDR1000mx2.

With the 15" I get the issues described above with both ACC and SBC codecs. It's primarily when scrubbing fast on the volume slider and when a notification pops up. Doesn't look like a bluetooth problem, but this device is going back for a replacement anyway, it arrived with damaged keys.

I must say, with the ACC codec, the stuttering when playing music is less. This may just be down to the codec? YouTube is a lot worse than Spotify though.

Reset the SMC with no hope, but all is well, if everyone has the issue, it will either lead to a recall in the future or a solid software update. The problems are when just one man has a thread stating his touchbar is flickering.

Let's see what this new update brings, nonetheless, this keyboard is beautiful, runs a little hot, but nothing a Macs Fan Control cant solve, set to 3000 and be on your way.
[doublepost=1534530911][/doublepost]

I tested: cheap USB DAC (USB to headphone/mic, audio technica ATR2USB).... and the hissing is present there too.

Just saw this now, see my previous post, experiencing these problems with my BT Headphones at both SBC and ACC codecs

 

[CreeptoLoser]

Of course they are...the easiest and 100% working way to find out...is to play itunes Radio and while listening Mute/unmute a few times..and the pop up sound it will be heard

Or just kill coreaudiod.

If it was ever a hardware problem then restarting the daemon would make no difference.