It is true. The sound quality of the new late 2017 iMac is very bad! It is not clear at all! You HAVE TO buy external speakers. There is no way around it. Unless you only listen to music trough iTunes which has an equalizer which helps a little bit.
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New 2017 iMac 27" Speakers Sound Bad
- Thread starter HyQuality
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I've got two of these iMacs. The speakers are great for casual use, youtube, etc, and perfect for someone who wants to reduce clutter on their desk. They are even decent for gaming. Will it shake your room? No. They, however, are very good for integrated speakers in a monitor. I've gone through 4 brands of monitors with built in speakers, and they always pale in comparison to the iMac.
They do a great job of covering up the fan noise (if it even kicks in) when I have audio going at the same time.
They are not a replacement for good dedicated speakers. If you already have good monitor speakers or a gaming set, you shouldn't buy an iMac and expect a sound upgrade.
You should just plug in your existing speakers and move on with your work.
They do a great job of covering up the fan noise (if it even kicks in) when I have audio going at the same time.
They are not a replacement for good dedicated speakers. If you already have good monitor speakers or a gaming set, you shouldn't buy an iMac and expect a sound upgrade.
You should just plug in your existing speakers and move on with your work.
They are OK for for integrated speakers but they sound more muffled than the 2010 iMac’s speakers. The 2010 iMac had a more boxy design and thus more space, which probably helped.
However, these days I just use AirPods.
However, these days I just use AirPods.
I second this. My 2011 does sound better. The thick enclosure was much better suited for good sound.
My problem is not that my (new) 2017 iMac has inferior integrated speakers. I don't care about the integrated speakers since I prefer not to use them.
My problem is that WHEN I connect external powered speakers to them…. I experience the electrical "pop" noise when the iMac goes to sleep. Only when it goes to sleep, not upon waking up. My old iMac (late 2012) never did this.
I reported this to Apple a a glitch/bug, but have not yet received a reply.
My problem is that WHEN I connect external powered speakers to them…. I experience the electrical "pop" noise when the iMac goes to sleep. Only when it goes to sleep, not upon waking up. My old iMac (late 2012) never did this.
I reported this to Apple a a glitch/bug, but have not yet received a reply.
I've only used nice analog (audio jack) speakers like Altec Lansings, and currently use the Harmon Kardon Soundsticks (a. 2.1 subwoofer system). I doubt there are modern USB-powered speakers (with a 2.1 or 7.1 subwoofer system) that could rival those for a reasonable amount of money.
But you are probably correct…. if I were to use some USB-powered speakers, they likely would not have the electrical pop of the analog powered speakers.
The "pop" has something to do with the Sleep Mode somehow shutting off power to the (powered) speakers. But I never saw this problem with the older 2012 iMac (which I just gave away). This problem is only with powered speakers. It does not happen with nice powered headphones (I own Bose headphones and the free-via-promotion Apple Beats Solo Wireless headhpones).
No I meant a USB audio output jack. Basically it's a dongle for an analogue audio output. You would plug your existing system into that jack.
They seem to work although some may be more flaky than the built-in audio jack.
Apple just sent me a 2017 replacement for my 2014 and I was about to post saying "wow the 2017 speakers are *so much better* than the 2014 iMac". Compared to the 2014 they seem louder and more directional to me. Maybe I have poor taste.
That's what I was saying. I purchased my 27 inch iMac for 2017, when I originally purchased my 2015 a day before WWDC, not knowing that Apple would drop the 27inch 2017 iMac with fancy upgrades the next day. Knowing me and with any consumer for that matter, I took my iMac into the Apple Store and immediately exchanged for 2017, and boy this machine packs a punchy speakers that almost rock my room and my entire desk for that matter. The sound that it could produce seem even better than my Samsung TVs in the living room, but again, that TV was kind of cheep anyway. It's like I almost have my very own television with crisp 5K screen and incredible speakers that also works as my computer. Thanks Apple!
I don't expect my new 2017 iMac to sound like my hi-fi set (old though that is—from 1976—it most definitely DOES NOT need replacing, and I would need NZ$19,000 just to replace the speakers). My previous Mac was the 8-core 2.8 Mac Pro from 2008—still working just fine, thanks to SSDs—and almost anything else would sound better than that. And please note it was designed and manufactured during the reign of Steve Jobs. Even the c****y Genius speakers I used on it sounded better than its internal speaker. But then it wasn't designed for playing music; it was designed for business use. I've had my iMac only a few days (and I'm still tweaking it to my liking) but so far I'm very happy with it. However, as they say, the proof of the pudding … In this case the "proof" is will it still be running in ten years' time? In my opinion a computer should last at least that long.
I have an iMac desktop machine at home, circa 2010. The built-in sound has always been lacklustre especially at the top end. Played with Soundflower etc and never got that to work.
Recently found this solution: https://bitgapp.com/eqmac/
It gives system-wide sound eq adjustment. It's just one simple install and no configuration to do. It lives in the system toolbar for instant access to the settings or to quit it. Works very well for me. it's donationware.
Recently found this solution: https://bitgapp.com/eqmac/
It gives system-wide sound eq adjustment. It's just one simple install and no configuration to do. It lives in the system toolbar for instant access to the settings or to quit it. Works very well for me. it's donationware.
I have the same issue. The speakers on the iMac 2012 sound amazing, on the iMac 2017 they sound terrible. I am now considering buying some external speakers...pity.
I just got the 21.5" and the sound is terrible, like it's coming out of a tin can.
Mine have sounded normal since the first day. Perhaps you just got a bum device. It happens.
Hi there I just had exactly the same experience, replacing my 2012 27" iMac with a new 2019 model. The sound is terrible by comparison, muffled and cheap-sounding. Did you resolve the situation? Apple have offered to replace my new machine but there's no point if the speakers in recent models are just worse. Would be great to know how this resolved itself. Thanks
I never thought about contacting Apple about the speakers thinking they were just another symptom of Apple's decline like the 5400 RPM hard drive in this low end iMac. I'm sending the audio to my stereo or to a cheap Oontz Angle 3 bluetooth, both with a cable as the bluetooth from this computer is bad too.