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Why are Mac laptop built-in speakers not that great?

princealfie

princealfie

macrumors 68030
Original poster
Mar 7, 2006
2,517
1
Salt Lake City UT
I love my Powerbooks, iBooks, and Macbook but I noted that the built-in speakers of Apple laptops (except the Pismo which is awesome) have rather weak and not-quite audiophile quality on their speakers.

I was wondering why Apple doesn't improve upon the quality and volume of their laptop speakers. (I tend to use external speakers or headphones for my Apple laptops)?:apple: :apple: :apple:
 
Macs in general have crap speakers. I use external speakers all the time for my MacBook.
 
Here are the reasons I can come up with.

1. Apple puts a premium on style over substance. They do not want speaker vents to be seen, so Mac laptop speakers, basically, shoot the sound in the opposite direction of where the user would be.

2. Cheap/small speakers. Apple wants their computers to be as thin as possible. As such, they put very small speakers in their computers. I tend to put the emphasis on cheap, in this example, because I have had cell phones with smaller speakers than my Macbook that output stronger sound.

3. They don't care. They think that most people will be using headphones on a portable any way.

Sound quality in Apple laptops has always been a problem, and it seems to be getting worse. My iBook had much better sound output than my current Macbook. I hope the next generation of Apple laptops produces stronger sound than the current models, heck I'm not even asking for high quality sound. I just want to be able to hear it.
 
if you want "audiophile quality" sound, you should be using external speakers or headphones like are you. a laptop's main purpose is to be a portable computer not a portable jukebox.
 
My 6 year old T-23 IBM has a better and louder sound than my macbook. You can buy a Hp with Harmon speakers that kick tail. I guess they just do it to save money. Lame. I guess your best bet is to buy some over priced speakers at the apple store and carry them around with you in your apple bag.
 
I don't know about the older laptops and the MacBooks but the speakers on my MBP are very good imo.
 
siurpeeman said:
if you want "audiophile quality" sound, you should be using external speakers or headphones like are you. a laptop's main purpose is to be a portable computer not a portable jukebox.
Click to expand...

I agree with that. apple built a computer not a stereo. Use headphones or external speakers. I have mine hooked up to my home stereo and it is loud as h***. Besides, if the speakers were top quality there would be some turd at starbucks or school blasting is hippidy hop and who wants that.:apple:
 
Whatever, I shouldn't be straining to watch a movie or listen to music on my PB... Apple are you listening???


siurpeeman said:
if you want "audiophile quality" sound, you should be using external speakers or headphones like are you. a laptop's main purpose is to be a portable computer not a portable jukebox.
Click to expand...
 
it isn't rocket science to get good sound out of a small space. Apple really outta do something. Steve? Steve? can you hear us? No, he's using an MBP and doesn't have his headphones on...
 
I was disappointed with my MacBook speakers when I first got it as well, but I found this iTunes plug-in called Volume Logic that really puts a lot more 'umph' in my speakers. I know the point is "Why should I have to buy something extra for something my Mac should already have?", but the plug-in works very well. It's $20, but there's a coupon code TUNE54G that'll knock $5 off the price. There's also a month of free trial.

:eek: That sounds like one big ad. Oh well, hope it helps. :eek: :)
 
spork183 said:
it isn't rocket science to get good sound out of a small space. ...
Click to expand...

Speaking of "science"... :p

Did you know:

The laws of physics dictate that compact speakers with small cones are inefficient and struggle to reproduce bass notes at a high sound pressure level.The problem is that a small cone just can’t vibrate with sufficient amplitude to generate adequate sound pressure.The result is a limited frequency range and shallow sound. [1]
Click to expand...

In simple terms: Tiny little 1 inch speakers stuffed into a laptop will always sound like crapola, compared to "real" speakers.

Go out to a club and listen to real musicians play, and make note of how they're not using a couple of 1-inch speakers for their PA. Small speakers = crapola. ;)
 
localoid said:
Speaking of "science"... :p

Did you know:

In simple terms: Tiny little 1 inch speakers stuffed into a laptop will always sound like crapola, compared to "real" speakers.
Click to expand...

Shhhh. Don't tell Bose.

Go out to a club and listen to real musicians play, and make note of how they're not using a couple of 1-inch speakers for their PA. Small speakers = crapola. ;)
Click to expand...

Yea, I get that club sound outta my home stereo speakers alot. People always tell me it sounds just like the club.

The point is that Apple's speakers suck. No one said they could get club quality out of a laptop, but hearing the sound shouldn't be out of the realm of the possible. I'll be mounting those club speakers on my laptop post haste.
 
It's not just the speakers, it's also the built-in amp. I find it can barely drive my Bose tri-port headphones even with volume at max.

I connect the MacBook to my Apple iPod Hi-Fi through an optical cable and it sounds fine.
 
dadsgravy said:
I agree with that. apple built a computer not a stereo. Use headphones or external speakers. I have mine hooked up to my home stereo and it is loud as h***. Besides, if the speakers were top quality there would be some turd at starbucks or school blasting is hippidy hop and who wants that.:apple:
Click to expand...

Da same hardcore gangsta's dat put dem 24's on their rides, and think my '67 Shelby GT500 is crap :) .
 
I agree that apple laptops have crappy speakers, but if your on a train or in a cafe, or anywhere you should actually be using a laptop, have some decency and put headphones in. I don't want to here your hippidy hop, or your action movie, or what ever the h*** your listening to (or is it too?)! When your at home just hook it up to some external speakers. Problem Solved :D .
 
The 17" MBP has 4 speakers - it's very full sounding, especially considering the space restrictions. It's noticeably better than the 15". I imagine the MacBook that much less [than the 15"]. But - it's hard to compare to most external speaker systems (though, I think they're better than my iPod IM3 Altec Lansing)

The MBP (and even back to Aluminum PB's) have improved GREATLY over the titanium PB's. My 17" PB was OK, but the MBP 17" is noticeably better - no comparison to the original G4's. Just pointing out they haven't entirely ignored the speakers.

They really aren't intended to be room-filling...

edit: they actually had designed a bass-port system back in 1997 for the 3400c and original PowerBook G3 (Kanga). Of course, it was 7.5 lbs, and 2.4" thick (for a 12.1" display) http://www.stratos.com/HTML/work/apple-powerbook-ee.shtml
 
use vlc and overdrive the volume at 400%. it usually makes it sound better and louder.
 
localoid said:
Speaking of "science"... :p

Did you know:



In simple terms: Tiny little 1 inch speakers stuffed into a laptop will always sound like crapola, compared to "real" speakers.

Go out to a club and listen to real musicians play, and make note of how they're not using a couple of 1-inch speakers for their PA. Small speakers = crapola. ;)
Click to expand...

spork183 said:
Shhhh. Don't tell Bose.
Click to expand...

Nicely done!

But to everyone saying "use headphones" or "laptops aren't stereos," I think Princealfie's complaint is that Apple laptop speakers fall short even when only compared to other laptops (including, as he said, even older Powerbooks). My 15" Aluminum Powerbook speakers were definitely inferior to my girlfriend's entry-level 15" Toshiba laptop; a budget laptop featuring a Celeron and Intel Extreme Graphics 2 shouldn't come equipped with better speakers than a laptop from Apple's flagship line. Apple really needs to step it up here.
 
Sound quality aside, the amp for the MB/MBP speakers is somewhat weak. If I want quality I'll hook up my FW audio interface, but for on the go, I just need to be able to hear what I am playing.

I guess we can partially blame audio editors for over-compressing everything.
 
faintember said:
Sound quality aside, the amp for the MB/MBP speakers is somewhat weak. If I want quality I'll hook up my FW audio interface, but for on the go, I just need to be able to hear what I am playing.

I guess we can partially blame audio editors for over-compressing everything.
Click to expand...

you mean blaming poor mastering engineers... but thats another discussion for another time...

but seriously. a nice pair of headphones will make you forget that you even have speakers on the computer...

but if you are referring to the output volume of the speakers, i agree. i don't need thumpin' bass, because obviously that isn't going to happen. but i want to turn up the volume to a level where i could hear and decipher speech... i think the speakers fall short in this area. anything more than standard room noise can drown these things out.
 
Well I have to say that Apple is just not investing into this. But then there are many devices now with tiny speakers but has excellent sound quality, the PSP for example. Maybe Apple should begin to look into this.
 
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