Studio Display Audio Issues
Audio recording from my Apple Studio Display microphone is still fundamentally broken in every app. Latest OS and display firmware versions.
And for what it’s worth, I filed this back in May as FB10017937. No response from Apple yet.
For the last month or so, the speakers on my Studio Display have been broken. Whenever I start playing music (or any other audio), it works for a few seconds and then cuts out.
I have one of the new Apple Studio displays.
Recently, it started being weird: webcam and sound would only work sometimes…
Friendly reminder to restart your Studio Display 🤦♂️
Indeed, this worked for me. I had restarted and shut down my Mac, but I’d forgotten about restarting the display.
YOU HAVE TO RESTART your studio display on occasion, especially if you run into issues with the3 camera, microphone or speakers. The studio display runs its own internal version of IOS that operates the camera, speakers and microphone. Much like ANY other device that runs its own operating system, you can’t run it indefinitely without ever restarting it. You will eventually run into issues and your device does funny stuff. I got my studio display on march 18th and yesterday the camera started acting up, then the microphone etc. After hours with Apple support and trying all kind of things to isolate the issue, it occurred to me that we did EVERYTHING except restart/reboot the display itself. because it has no power button and no software control to restart it, the only way to do it is to unplug it from the power source, wait at least 1 full minute and plug it back in. Of course it immediately solved all the issues.
We spent so long asking for a basic 5K Retina display but never thought to specify that it should have a power button and a decent camera.
I have to restart both my Apple Studio Displays. Otherwise, audio gets choppy and eventually just cuts out completely. Rebooting the Mac doesn’t help. You literally have to power cycle the entire Studio Display(s). Happens about every 5-6 weeks for me it seems.
I rarely use the display’s speakers, so it’s quite possible that my display also had this problem before but that it was temporarily cured by restarting after the firmware update in May.
Previously:
- Studio Display Firmware 15.5
- Studio Display Software Update Failures
- Upgrading to a 14-inch MacBook Pro With a Studio Display
- Studio Display
Update (2022-08-02): See also: 9to5Mac, MacRumors, iMore.
Just make a display. Sometimes it feels like Apple just can’t do stuff without making it weird. Can’t just ship multiple windows on iPadOS without “re-imagining multitasking”. Can’t make a good display without putting shoving old iPhone inside of it.
Update (2022-08-04): Gus Mueller:
My Studio Display’s microphone was fucked up, so of course I had to reboot it to make it work again. Which of course meant I had to unplug it. Has anyone figured out how to remote ssh into this guy so we can just reboot it from the terminal?
Previously:
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I have several Sleep Aid customers with Studio Displays; who've been reporting 100s of coreaudiod assertions being released on every darkwake. In comparison, a TBD may release 1 or 2 occasionally during a darkwake.
Put one of those remote controlled power plugs in the socket that the display is connected to.
Write a clever script that turns the plug off when the computer is put to sleep or switched off, then reverses when the computer is turned on.
Write bloggpost about it.
Get your 15 minutes of fame.
"Put one of those remote controlled power plugs in the socket that the display is connected to."
Or just use one of these PC power strips that turn off their secondary outlets when the computer is turned off, and plug the screens into the secondary outlets.
As elegant as that solution is, I don't think it would get many upvotes on Reddit.
😉
I don't think this has anything to do with the monitors iOS build.
macOS has had terrible issues with USB audio going back to Big Sur at least. This is after the also terrible issues plaguing the T2 Macs which I suspect they never fully resolved.
I experience the same symptoms using a USB DAC connected to my Thunderbolt Hub. Only solution is to either reboot the Mac or disconnect the hub.
@John The difference here is that rebooting the Mac doesn’t help. That’s how we know it’s an issue with the display.
The audio on my Studio Display fails intermittently. The only way I can get it to work again is to unplug the display overnight. That resets the display and resolves the problem temporarily. Until the next time. This is simply unacceptable for a $1600 monitor and Apple should be ashamed of the poor quality control.
[…] last several months, but reports have become more frequent in recent weeks. Michael Tsai this week chronicled some testimonies from customers facing issues, with one customer […]
[…] users experiencing the problem say that audio plays for a time, then cuts out. Some of them report ‘choppy’ audio […]
[…] week @mjtsai started collating reports of users experiencing the issues. “Audio recording from my Apple […]
Yup, I too have had problems. For weeks it worked fine, the when attempting to play audio, sound works for for 5+ seconds, and then it stops. Closing the app, and trying again results in the same behavior. It is not app dependent - when the behaviors shows up, all apps appear to have the same issue. Rebooting the MBP doesn't fix it. Unplugging the Studio Display for 30+ seconds to "reboot" the display "fixes" the problem for me.
I haven't had any issues with audio because I use external speakers..But I do have problems with the USB hub when I connect anything to it that transmit data. After a few hours it will freeze up and I have to power cycle the monitor, to get it to work again. When its in it "frozen state" I can no longer switch to the studio speakers, activate my webcam or open the display icon in the control panel. I believe its all related to the USB bus on the ASD.
[…] dropout is the most current problem to come to light, as shown by specialists like Michael Tsai, who gathered data to bring to […]
one of my mom's studio displays had no audio - I tried swapping cables and a few other things before I remembered someone else on a podcast remarking how ridiculous it was to have to crawl under the desk to unplug and replug in their studio display to resolve some problem they were having with it - so I dutifully crawled under her desk, unplugged it, plugged it back in and lo and behold everything was working!
All for want of a stupid power button. Which reminds me - I need to find her a power strip with a remote on/off button. It's been decades since I've had to think about such a beast - good on Apple for reviving the need for them.
I had the same “For the last month or so, the speakers on my Studio Display have been broken. Whenever I start playing music (or any other audio), it works for a few seconds and then cuts out.” issue. Restarting the display did not resolve it. Powering the display off for a minute did not resolve it. To resolve it, I had to shut the display down, remove the power, and leave it for an extended period of time (I left it off overnight). It has been fine since then though I expect it will reappear at some point.