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MacBook Pro 2018 - Speakers Crackling

acangiano

acangiano

macrumors newbie
Jul 31, 2018
8
9
Armstrong, BC
I noticed that my brand new MacBook Pro 2018 13's speakers occasionally start crackling or making some kind of interference noise. I was finally able to capture it on camera. This is what it sounds like.


This is Apple, it's a brand new laptop, and I have Apple care, so I'm not worried. I'm sure they'll make it right. But did you experience the same problem as well with the new MacBook Pros? I wonder how common this is and if it's more than just bad QA.
 
acangiano

acangiano

macrumors newbie
Jul 31, 2018
8
9
Armstrong, BC
Tapiture said:
Take it to Apple, definitely an under-warranty repair.
Click to expand...

I don't have an Apple Store nearby. I'm in touch with them on Twitter via DM, so we'll see whether I'll take it in next time I'm in a big city or some other arrangement. But yeah, I definitely want them to fix the issue or replace the laptop if it comes to that.
 
Tapiture

Tapiture

macrumors 65816
Oct 1, 2016
1,118
1,683
acangiano said:
I don't have an Apple Store nearby. I'm in touch with them on Twitter via DM, so we'll see whether I'll take it in next time I'm in a big city or some other arrangement. But yeah, I definitely want them to fix the issue or replace the laptop if it comes to that.
Click to expand...
Yeah, they may allow you to do an “express repair” where they ship you a new one and put a hold on your card until you ship them yours.
 
D

DankeDante

macrumors newbie
Jul 18, 2018
17
6
Had HEAVY crackling and distortion when I first booted up my MacBook 15” 2018, but after using the terminal to kill coreaudio, it hasn’t happened since.

Command: sudo killall coreaudiod
 
I

Ideanj

macrumors regular
Apr 30, 2013
109
60
I ended up returning my MacBook for an unrelated issue (forgot to take advantage of the Education special and support won't just refund the difference :mad:) so I should be getting my new device by next week at the latest. It will be interesting to see if the issue pops up again (or any other issues for that matter........) :confused:
 
felixroqu3

felixroqu3

macrumors 6502a
Mar 5, 2012
648
674
New York, NY
DankeDante said:
Had HEAVY crackling and distortion when I first booted up my MacBook 15” 2018, but after using the terminal to kill coreaudio, it hasn’t happened since.

Command: sudo killall coreaudiod
Click to expand...
What does killing the core audio do exactly? Does this further mess up audio for the computer?
 
N

NachoSH

macrumors member
Jul 18, 2012
47
20
Spain
felixroqu3 said:
Oh. How do I do this? I tried "sudo killall coreaudiod" and it was asking for a password, but I couldn't enter anything.
Click to expand...

Just enter your password. You won't see it but it's there. Press return and the sound will restart.
Not sure if this fixes the issue though.
 
davidec

davidec

macrumors 6502
Jan 31, 2008
429
456
acangiano said:
Same issue here. Recorded a video of it for proof.

Click to expand...

Same here and I think this is what we are all getting. I'm an audio professional and this is no doubt 100% happening in the Digital to Audio conversion stage. Some sample rate conflict most likely to do with the T2 chip and how it interacts with the DAC.

No point returning your MBP's. They will get this in a software update now that Apple staff will have their MPB farting back at them.
 
tehStickMan

tehStickMan

macrumors 6502
Jul 19, 2018
341
157
Australia
The speaker hiss:-

Spoke to a guy on Macadmins Slack who claimed to be a service tech. Said it’s pretty common, 2016 onwards, usually 15in models and usually left speaker. Solution is top case replacement.

I already have a full replacement on the way. I’ll keep exchanging until I don’t get a hiss. Sucks because BTO is week out every time...

The crackling - I also believe that’s fixable in software.
 
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T

tjway2hot

Suspended
Jul 29, 2018
12
8
tcador said:
That was strange. I opened a video in safari and held SHIFT + slid the volume slider left to right rapidly and everything was fine, or so I thought. Closed safari and then it was on an endless sound loop that wouldn't go away until I rebooted. But no crackling noises. Not too worried about it, just thought it was strange behavior.
Click to expand...
On the 2018 MacBooks yes, there is no true sound driver / ktext it relies on the 2017 legacy. 2018 is worthless till September when apple starts optimizing for it
[doublepost=1533105650][/doublepost]
davidec said:
Same here and I think this is what we are all getting. I'm an audio professional and this is no doubt 100% happening in the Digital to Audio conversion stage. Some sample rate conflict most likely to do with the T2 chip and how it interacts with the DAC.

No point returning your MBP's. They will get this in a software update now that Apple staff will have their MPB farting back at them.
Click to expand...
yes its due to no ktexts or drivers available for the 2018 MacBooks. When 2 audio sources are trying to use the t2. THE SOUND you are hearing CAN and WILL damage your Cone and surround even at low volume.
 
davidec

davidec

macrumors 6502
Jan 31, 2008
429
456
tjway2hot said:
On the 2018 MacBooks yes, there is no true sound driver / ktext it relies on the 2017 legacy. 2018 is worthless till September when apple starts optimizing for it
[doublepost=1533105650][/doublepost]
yes its due to no ktexts or drivers available for the 2018 MacBooks. When 2 audio sources are trying to use the t2. THE SOUND you are hearing CAN and WILL damage your Cone and surround even at low volume.
Click to expand...

That's a very good point, we should be careful about our speakers whilst this is occurring. I'm going to use an external sound card and avoid audio through it. Not sure if it will damage the speakers and there is some kind of limiting / protection going on and it's more a garble than a low frequency transient but who actually knows.
 
U

UnexpectedHuman

macrumors member
Jul 5, 2009
35
25
Europe
Ideanj said:
I'm pretty confident its a software issue as restarting the audio driver solves it temporarily. Here's to hoping.
Click to expand...

It might be software, but there is also a chance that it is a hardware problem.

CoreAudio uses a ring-buffer model to talk to the hardware, with periodic hardware interrupts used to maintain timing synchronisation between the software and the hardware. If interrupts are missed or not delivered, the ring buffer skips - which is exactly what you hear when the audio starts to break up.

I think that this is most likely a power management problem with the IO subsystem. Apple puts as much hardware in to a low power state as possible, and it sometimes takes too long to wake up in response to hardware events. However this iw just speculation (and an observation that anything which seems to stop the lowest power IO states being entered appears to prevent the problem).
 
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T

tjway2hot

Suspended
Jul 29, 2018
12
8
davidec said:
That's a very good point, we should be careful about our speakers whilst this is occurring. I'm going to use an external sound card and avoid audio through it. Not sure if it will damage the speakers and there is some kind of limiting / protection going on and it's more a garble than a low frequency transient but who actually knows.
Click to expand...
No there is no protection, that is why many people have damaged speakers after the distortion. The speakers over power even at lower volume and crack the surround and the cone. aka screwed and apple requires a complete top case cover to replace speakers. They do not just replace speakers.
[doublepost=1533113372][/doublepost]
felixroqu3 said:
What does killing the core audio do exactly? Does this further mess up audio for the computer?
Click to expand...
Killing the core basically just restarts it, as the core was made for 2017 with integrated sound via intel. While the 2018 is sound via t2 chip so its basically routing it. September will release new software
 
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AdamA9

AdamA9

macrumors 65816
Feb 2, 2010
1,232
355
What's the big deal with September? What's happening? Or is this Mojave?
 
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