2018 MBP already needed SMC reset

[mikethebigo]

So I have a new 13" MBP, and while using it today, the iMessage ding started repeating over and over. I rebooted the system, and then the sound icon up top was grayed out. I couldn't get internal speakers to work. Nothing was plugged in. Eventually after finagling and multiple reboots without success, I decided to reset PRAM and SMC. After the SMC reset, the audio was suddenly working again.

It seems to be very early on in the life of this Mac to need something like an SMC reset. Could it be indicative of any kind of faulty hardware?

Thanks!

 

[Brookzy]

Looking through the forums there seems to be quite a lot of reports of strange behaviour of basic system-level features like sound, and I would wager that is related to the T2 chip, which now controls all low-level stuff on the new MacBook Pros including audio. Hopefully software updates will improve things.

 

[mikethebigo]

Looking through the forums there seems to be quite a lot of reports of strange behaviour of basic system-level features like sound, and I would wager that is related to the T2 chip, which now controls all low-level stuff on the new MacBook Pros including audio. Hopefully software updates will improve things.

Interesting, I suppose it actually could be a T2 issue. That gives me hope it's more a firmware problem than hardware problem, considering my TouchBar and everything else has been flawless so far.

 

[DougFNJ]

If you did a migration from an older MacBook, it could also be something coming over from there? So far the only issue I have had was I could not inherit my backups in Time Machine from my Time Capsule from my last MacBook Pro.

 

[mikethebigo]

Nah, set up totally as new. I was streaming to the HomePod at the time, don't know if that/iTunes could have anything to do with it. After it stopped working I noticed my system was making a ton of crash logs and beach balling a lot until I fixed it.

 

[DeepIn2U]

So I have a new 13" MBP, and while using it today, the iMessage ding started repeating over and over. I rebooted the system, and then the sound icon up top was grayed out. I couldn't get internal speakers to work. Nothing was plugged in. Eventually after finagling and multiple reboots without success, I decided to reset PRAM and SMC. After the SMC reset, the audio was suddenly working again.

It seems to be very early on in the life of this Mac to need something like an SMC reset. Could it be indicative of any kind of faulty hardware?

Thanks!

How did you reset the SMC AND PRAM? I presume it’s the same as the 2011 MBA/P yet unsure of the major changes from OSX to the renaming macOS (this alone is stupid and works me because the foundation of the core architecture has NOT been rewritten; Jobs stayed in 2001 that OSX was to setup apple for 20yrs and it’s almost completed that now)

 

[mikethebigo]

How did you reset the SMC AND PRAM? I presume it’s the same as the 2011 MBA/P yet unsure of the major changes from OSX to the renaming macOS (this alone is stupid and works me because the foundation of the core architecture has NOT been rewritten; Jobs stayed in 2001 that OSX was to setup apple for 20yrs and it’s almost completed that now)

SMC: turn laptop off, then shift+option+control+power and I held it for about 20 seconds.
PRAM: turn laptop off, then power, along with command+option+p+r until the computer boots a second time

It actually took me a little while to realize that Touch ID button was an actual power button... I'm not a bright man.

 

[DeanL]

SMC: turn laptop off, then shift+option+control+power and I held it for about 20 seconds.
PRAM: turn laptop off, then power, along with command+option+p+r until the computer boots a second time

It actually took me a little while to realize that Touch ID button was an actual power button... I'm not a bright man.

Then you didn't reset the SMC...
Here are the instructions from Apple to reset the SMC on 2018 MacBooks: https://support.apple.com/HT201295#t2

 

[DeepIn2U]

SMC: turn laptop off, then shift+option+control+power and I held it for about 20 seconds.
PRAM: turn laptop off, then power, along with command+option+p+r until the computer boots a second time

It actually took me a little while to realize that Touch ID button was an actual power button... I'm not a bright man.

Thank you much appreciated. You’ve chosen Mac so you ARe a bright man

 

[mikethebigo]

Then you didn't reset the SMC...
Here are the instructions from Apple to reset the SMC on 2018 MacBooks: https://support.apple.com/HT201295#t2

Huh. Well regardless of pressing the other keys, I still held the power button for over 8 seconds, so it probably still did?

 

[Funsize93]

Huh. Well regardless of pressing the other keys, I still held the power button for over 8 seconds, so it probably still did?

As per the article https://support.apple.com/en-au/HT201295#t2. Mac notebooks with the T2 chip has a different method to reset the SMC. I honestly think the NVRAM reset is what resolved your issue as it would have reset your sound settings.

 

[mikethebigo]

As per the article https://support.apple.com/en-au/HT201295#t2. Mac notebooks with the T2 chip has a different method to reset the SMC. I honestly think the NVRAM reset is what resolved your issue as it would have reset your sound settings.

Per the article, the process is shut down MacBook -> press and hold power button for 8 seconds -> turn on MacBook.

So not sure why that wouldn't be activated by what I did, which also involved shutting down the computer and then holding down the power button (along with the other buttons I held as well).

I didn't reset each individually, I did the NVRAM/PRAM first, no resolution, then the SMC, and then it was finally fixed.

I know that's strange though, considering the SMC isn't supposed to regulate any audio systems.