You can make a difference in the Apple Support Community!

When you sign up with your Apple Account, you can provide valuable feedback to other community members by upvoting helpful replies and User Tips.

Looks like no one’s replied in a while. To start the conversation again, simply ask a new question.

User profile for user: Church7777
Church7777 Author
User level: Level 1
10 points

Macbook Air M1 dropped sound through HDMI

M1 Macbook Air 8gb Ram, 256Gb SSD with usb-c hub for keyboard, mouse and HDMI for external monitor.

Every 5 minutes or so, the audio through my usb-c hub will drop for a second, come back, then drop again. It's intermittent with no patterns.

I have unplugged all other connections to the hub with just the HDMI, and it still occurs.

I have tried both on battery power, and charging, same thing.

I have tried using the hub to power the macbook, and direct power in the usb c port on the mac itself. Same issue.

I am getting extremely frustrated here, and cannot seem to find a solution online.

Also, all other connections work perfectly fine 100% of the time. It is just the audio aspect of the HDMI that drops, video doesn't.

Posted on Feb 15, 2021 9:49 AM

Reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply
User profile for user: Eric--F
Eric--F
User level: Community Specialist

Posted on Feb 17, 2021 11:49 AM

Thank you for posting here in Apple Support Communities, Church7777.


We understand that you're experiencing intermittent sound issues when using an HDMI cable with your MacBook Air, and that you've already done some excellent troubleshooting. Since none of those troubleshooting steps has helped, we'd be happy to get you going in the right direction for a resolution. To start, we ask that you go into System Preferences, then click Sound. In the Output pane, deselect HDMI. Once done, let's go ahead and restart your MacBook Air.


After you've restarted your MacBook Air, go back into System Preference > Sound and select the HDMI option: Connect to HDMI from your Mac


If that does not help, we ask that you reboot your MacBook Air into safe mode to see if the occurs while it's in safe mode: Start up your Mac in safe mode


Keep us posted on the results.


Cheers!

View in context

Similar questions

3 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply
User profile for user: Eric--F
Eric--F
User level: Community Specialist

Feb 17, 2021 11:49 AM in response to Church7777

Thank you for posting here in Apple Support Communities, Church7777.


We understand that you're experiencing intermittent sound issues when using an HDMI cable with your MacBook Air, and that you've already done some excellent troubleshooting. Since none of those troubleshooting steps has helped, we'd be happy to get you going in the right direction for a resolution. To start, we ask that you go into System Preferences, then click Sound. In the Output pane, deselect HDMI. Once done, let's go ahead and restart your MacBook Air.


After you've restarted your MacBook Air, go back into System Preference > Sound and select the HDMI option: Connect to HDMI from your Mac


If that does not help, we ask that you reboot your MacBook Air into safe mode to see if the occurs while it's in safe mode: Start up your Mac in safe mode


Keep us posted on the results.


Cheers!

Reply
User profile for user: Church7777
Church7777 Author
User level: Level 1
10 points

Feb 17, 2021 12:17 PM in response to Eric--F

Good day.


As stated in the OP, the sound is intermittent. Meaning sound comes through the HDMI perfectly fine for a few minutes, then drops for a split second, then comes back. There is no pattern to it dropping. Sometimes it happens numerous times within a few minuted timeframe, sometimes it doesn't happen for at least 30min.


All connections are set correctly, and I have tried it it with two monitors, and two cables. Same issue.

Reply

Macbook Air M1 dropped sound through HDMI

Welcome to Apple Support Community
A forum where Apple customers help each other with their products. Get started with your Apple Account.
Learn more Sign up