Apple Updates Boot Camp Drivers to Fix Major Issue Causing Blown Speakers on New MacBook Pros [Updated]

sw1tcher said:
I think Apple is trying to tell those of us who need to use Windows to just go out and buy a Windows laptop so we can:

- avoid blowing speakers
- not be limited to max of 16GB RAM
- have user replaceable/upgradeable parts
- not have to deal with dongles
- get lower prices
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At this rate I am starting to price parts to build a computer. I wonder what problems will be discovered in the next year...
 
dannys1 said:
Well I deploy about 6 Bootcamp systems on a daily basis, so yes, I understand it's functionality inside out probably more so than the Apple engineers do.

Realtek make the drivers, they even released the updated ones on their own site - and it just shows the problems with the whole "driver" thing in Windows - if there's a driver probably it can actually damage your hardware, even heard of a Unix/Linux Kext doing that? Nope.
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yes actually.

and There's a reason why Windows has driver signing now. And yes, I have accidentally destroyed hardware in linux with bad drivers too :p

it's possible. it all depends on who tests, signs and deploys. If you only ever use Microsoft's signed drivers, you are fine. using 3rd party drivers is a thing really from win 7 and earlier days.

its very similar to the way Apple does it.

the fact Apple included this driver in their own signed drivers package is on Apple. Not on realtek (though they're not innocent of making crappy drivers) and it sure as hell isn't on microsoft
 
dannys1 said:
You're all mocking Apple, but its Realtek who makes the Windows drivers - and only in Windows could a faulty driver cause your speakers to receive speaker blowing spikes.,.
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You make no sense. There's countless items inside any Apple computer that were not made by Apple. So if anything goes wrong with them you claim its not Apples fault?!?

I know you like to bend over backwards to defend apple on just about everything, but this is getting ridiculous.
 
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LordVic said:
If you only ever use Microsoft's signed drivers, you are fine.
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Nope, for a long time the Atheros AR9485 driver that Windows 10 automatically installed stopped it from working properly. You needed to roll back to OEM drivers and disable Windows from auto installing drivers.

The Intel Wireless 2230 also bricked when updating from Windows 8.1 to Windows 10.

Those are just a couple off the top of my head.
 
dannys1 said:
Well I deploy about 6 Bootcamp systems on a daily basis, so yes, I understand it's functionality inside out probably more so than the Apple engineers do.

Realtek make the drivers, they even released the updated ones on their own site - and it just shows the problems with the whole "driver" thing in Windows - if there's a driver probably it can actually damage your hardware, even heard of a Unix/Linux Kext doing that? Nope.
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Well, Apple packages the drivers for Boot Camp.
And as Apple has packaged it, you might think Apple has tested these drivers. I's not that the richest company in the world is not able to test 3rd party drivers on their own hardware, even in Windows.
 
keysofanxiety said:
Like that Snow Leopard bug which wiped all your user data if you had a Guest account enabled?
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Yeah, people act like this is something new for Apple. It's not. It just gets more visibility because the user base is larger than it was in the Snow Leopard (and earlier) days. Not excusing these bugs and issues at all, it's just that people always seem to have rose-tinted glasses when looking back.
 
Nik said:
Look around! Its not subjective but perfectly measurable!

Watch this:

And this:
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Still subjective. I only need my laptop to have about 5 hours for what I use it for. All the other times I have it plugged into a monitor and a power source. Is it worse then the last model, yes, but still enough for what I need.
 
LordVic said:
If it were a simple fix, i'd agree, But this is something that is physically damaging devices. And regularly enough that Apple has responded fast to it.

this should have been something caught in testing. The drivers causing this issue should never have been released in Bootcamp in the first place. Now, there are users with brand new machines that already have broken hardware.

That is really bad optics. And it makes me wonder what other things in the new laptops that haven't been properly or fully tested by Apple before launch.
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While I agree with everything you're saying, that Apple did drop the ball initially, some other factors should be considered. Most people don't even have these machines yet, so a very small portion of the population could have even had this happen to them. Out of that small population, an even smaller amount even run BootCamp. Out of that even smaller population would have had their speakers at a high enough volume that could irreversibly damage the speakers. This is a lot less like a software update bricking or removing cellular functionality various iPhone models that are in the hands of tens or hundreds of millions.

And even in that case, Apple acknowledging this issue means that damage is covered under warranty.
 
Dwalls90 said:
While I agree with everything you're saying, that Apple did drop the ball initially, some other factors should be considered. Most people don't even have these machines yet, so a very small portion of the population could have even had this happen to them. Out of that small population, an even smaller amount even run BootCamp. Out of that even smaller population would have had their speakers at a high enough volume that could irreversibly damage the speakers. This is a lot less like a software update bricking or removing cellular functionality various iPhone models that are in the hands of tens or hundreds of millions.

And even in that case, Apple acknowledging this issue means that damage is covered under warranty.
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Nothing wrong with Apple's response to the issue. They're handling it well and quick and yes, it won't cost anything to the user.

But still sucks that something this potentially catastrophic made it through QA
 
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Oh Apple.....this is getting quite comical.
 
Stratus Fear said:
Yeah, people act like this is something new for Apple. It's not. It just gets more visibility because the user base is larger than it was in the Snow Leopard (and earlier) days. Not excusing these bugs and issues at all, it's just that people always seem to have rose-tinted glasses when looking back.
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Couldn't have said it better. Plus MR is becoming more and more divided. It seems you're either in the hater camp or the apologist camp. There's a big grey area where you can rightly criticise mistakes but also really like the products and the good bits. Wouldn't that be perfect.

Unfortunately a lot of anti-Apple arguments are based on emotion and nostalgia. It gets tiresome to read, yet time spent refuting these statements just brands you further as an apologist.
 
Sorry folks, this is a hardware problem - design flaw in the speakers. At this scale (small size, power) there should be no possible condition where the speakers are physically damaged due to any audio signal, even if the tiny little amplifiers are driven into 100% distortion. The "updated driver" is nothing more than a work-around. Time for another repair program Apple.
 
dannys1 said:
Well I deploy about 6 Bootcamp systems on a daily basis, so yes, I understand it's functionality inside out probably more so than the Apple engineers do.

Realtek make the drivers, they even released the updated ones on their own site - and it just shows the problems with the whole "driver" thing in Windows - if there's a driver probably it can actually damage your hardware, even heard of a Unix/Linux Kext doing that? Nope.
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On Linux and BSD they're called kernel modules. On Mach kernel they're called kexts. They are drivers. I would have thought somebody who knows so much would have known that. I can't imagine how bad Apple engineers must be if you rate them below you.
 
Dwalls90 said:
While I agree with everything you're saying, that Apple did drop the ball initially, some other factors should be considered. Most people don't even have these machines yet, so a very small portion of the population could have even had this happen to them. Out of that small population, an even smaller amount even run BootCamp. Out of that even smaller population would have had their speakers at a high enough volume that could irreversibly damage the speakers.

And even in that case, Apple acknowledging this issue means that damage is covered under warranty.
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QFT. Folks here like to get in a frenzy. Blown speakers is obviously a major issue but the fact that the problem isn't yet too wide-spread and Apple has acted relatively quickly to get it fixed should be commended. I work for one of Apple's competitors and I know for sure we wouldn't have handled this even at Apple's level. Then again, you wouldn't even hear this much about the issue if we had it, because we're not Apple.
 
mytdave said:
Sorry folks, this is a hardware problem - design flaw in the speakers.
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It's an Apple problem. It's irrelevant to people whether it's a software or hardware problem, and that sort of thing just sounds like one vendor blaming another vendor. Who wrote the specification for and tested the speakers? Apple.
 
melendezest said:
It's fixed now, so stop whining.

/s
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Funny how people don't get your /s.

What I am wondering is how they let people know. Not everybody reads Apple specific websites.

So, the procedure is to use the MBP in windoof mode, wait and wonder why things crack, go to an Apple store and they will tell you to wait for a new MBP?

Class action suit, here we come!
 
I am curious as to how many Mac users actuallly install / use Bootcamp regularly . Users on forums and discussion groups are a fringe, so polling places like here wouldn't be a valid sample.

I am just happy they still develop / support Bootcamp and offer fixes like this!
 
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