No sound output Macbook Pro

I believe I accidentally uninstalled the Apple sound driver on my computer and I cannot figure out how to get it back. There are no sound output options at all, and no input options other than my iphone either.

Luke’s MacBook Pro

Posted on Jul 26, 2023 05:18 PM

Reply
4 replies

Jun 21, 2024 12:52 AM in response to Johnb-one

I have the same problem on a MacBook Pro 2010 / High Sierra.

The audio port do not work if I plug earphones, active speakers, RCA audio connector or digital cable...

If something is connected to the audio port, in the Preferences > Sound I read "Name: Digital Out, Kind: Digital Optical Out". Only the internal speakers work.

I tried every "solution" found in hundreds of messages in Apple forums:

  • Reset PRAM/NVRAM
  • Reinstall High Sierra (+ install Sierra, without any third part software, on an external HD)
  • Change settings in the Audio Midi setup
  • blow air in the audio port
  • Plug in and out the earphones jack, changing earphones (Apple, Sony and others)


Jul 26, 2023 05:58 PM in response to lspinelli19

Hooo---boy !! you seem to have a problem with sound/audio output and maybe input....

Okay, Luke, or lspinelli19, if you'd rather be called that, let's start with the basics, shall we?

Do you have an Intel Mac or one of the newer ones (Apple Silicon/M1/M2)? you can find out that info by going to the large Apple icon at the top left of your screen, and going to "About this Mac"..... If you have an Intel Mac, I can help you, sure, but for an Apple Silicon/M1/M2 Mac, not so much.... could you go to system prefences> Sound/audio> Alerts/Effects, then pick an Alert/ Effect, then choose Audio Out/Play Through, and built in speaker should be listed, or Line out, depending on what's connected to your MacBook Pro.... try it....If you have nothing, then try this: reset smc/PMU followed by 3-4 pram zaps on startup.... Please note: this only works on Intel Macs, as Apple Silicon doesn't have pram that's zappable.... anyways, here's the link for that: https://www.macworld.com/article/224955/how-to-reset-a-macs-nvram-pram-and-smc.html...you may also have to poke around in Audio MIDI setup which should be in your Utilities folder, as some audio output might have gotten confused/mixed up, or set to a frequency that your MacBook pro doesn't really support, so try the default of 44 kHz, 16 bit 2 channel for everything, then try testing your speakers, then try going back to system preferences> Audio/Sound>Alerts/Effects and give it one more try..... as far as I know there is no such thing as a separate Apple sound driver, as it's always been part of the MacOS, of course, if you're using something else that needs a sound driver that works on Macs, well, there you are.....

anyways, good luck to you, hope this helps you (somewhat)

if you need to reinstall the MacOS on your MacBook Pro, give us a shout.....

John B

Jul 26, 2023 06:14 PM in response to lspinelli19

lspinelli19 Said:

"No sound output Macbook Pro: I believe I accidentally uninstalled the Apple sound driver on my computer and I cannot figure out how to get it back. There are no sound output options at all, and no input options other than my iphone either."

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Troubleshooting Internal Speakers:

I. Is there a Speaker Even Seen?:

To Find Out:

  1. Go to: Apple menu
  2. Select: About this Mac
  3. Click: System Report... button
  4. View: Hardware on left-column
  5. Click: Audio
  6. Verify: MacBook Pro Speakers is seen


II. Visit These Apple Support Links:




III. How to Get this Back Up and Running:

You need to get the drivers back, so reinstall the macOS, backing up first. All will then be installed.

Reinstall the macOS:

Nothing would be deleted. It's just that items that have become corrupted or deleted, would be replaced or reinstalled back to where they should be. Go Here: How to reinstall macOS from macOS Recovery - Apple Support.Important: Be certain to create a backup of your Mac prior to performing the reinstall. That way, you can have something to restore from the Mac from, should anything go wrong with the reinstall. Once reinstalled, try this once more, seeing if you still get this error.

Jun 22, 2024 02:07 AM in response to Johnb-one

Johnb-one wrote:
you may also have to poke around in Audio MIDI setup which should be in your Utilities folder, as some audio output might have gotten confused/mixed up, or set to a frequency that your MacBook pro doesn't really support, so try the default of 44 kHz, 16 bit 2 channel for everything, then try testing your speakers, then try going back to system preferences> Audio/Sound>Alerts/Effects and give it one more try.....

This morning I tried this very way again, after trying other times in the past few days, but this time... something happened! Audio MIDI setup crashed with an error message after I changed many times from 44 kHz to 48 to 96. Then, when I reopened Audio MIDI setup, I was able to hear the music played by VOX in my stereo equipement through the optical cable. Using both the new settings and also the standard Audio Out.


I will NOT try again to connect headphones or earphones, so as not to risk something getting stuck again, I will keep the old MacBook Pro 13" connected to the stereo system and use it as a music player.


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No sound output Macbook Pro

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