Sound input/output options disappearing on M1 Macbook Air

Question

Level 1

9 points

Sound input/output options disappearing on M1 Macbook Air

I have to restart my M1 Mac every day before I can have a Zoom call because it's the only way to get audio input/output devices to appear in the app and in system preferences.

It seems that after my Mac sleeps for some amount of time, all audio options disappear; A restart restores things to normal, but the next day, it's the same thing again.

I've found threads like this one on this problem with recommendations to reset SMC and PRAM/NVRAM, but that advice only seems to apply to Intel macs.

I can't figure this out — Any advice is welcome.

MacBook Air (2020 or later)

Posted on Jul 7, 2021 4:38 AM

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Answer 1

PRP_53

Level 10

91,777 points

Jul 8, 2021 10:06 AM in response to kb152

Have your attempted Test while starting in Safe Mode. It will perform a Disk Repair, clear cache files and only load Apple Software, extensions and fonts. Therefore, it will load slowly - Normal. TEST is the issue is presented or Not.

If it does not present in Safe mode one of two things may have been happening - some third party software installed is interfering the the normal operation of the computer OR there is a User Account issue

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Answer 2

PRP_53

Level 10

91,777 points

Jul 9, 2021 4:39 AM in response to kb152

Welcome :-)

The fact the sound option are available in Safe Mode is conclusive enough. All this third party software, extensions and fonts are not loaded in this mode ( Safe ).

To determine if this issue is User Account - need to create a test account >> boot into the test account via normal boot up and Test if the Sound Input / Output issue presents. If not presented in the test account - that would define things more clearly

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Answer 3

kb152 Author

Level 1

9 points

Jul 9, 2021 4:25 AM in response to PRP_53

I booted into safe mode and the audio options are all available. However, restarting my computer usually resolves the issue for the day, so I'm not sure how conclusive the test is… I will see if the issue recurs tomorrow and report back. Thanks for your suggestions!

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