Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
built-in speaker of Mac Studio
- Thread starter whwang
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Edit: you probably want to use an integrated mic of a camera I assume - so the internal speakers are fine, if the studio is not stashed away and therefore sound is muffled.
Last edited:
It works but is pretty awful. Have you considered a pair of Airpods? They work well with the Studio.
I tried watching a random conference video online and switched over to the Mac Studio speakers to test and honestly, it worked for that purpose. I wouldn't mind using it for Zoom calls if I didn't have speakers, but I definitely wouldn't want to listen to music on it though.
I have a studio sitting in front of me on the desk at work - just anecdotically: if people in video conferences move away from THEIR microphone (if they are using e.g. a camera) it might be difficult to understand what they saying - particularly when they speak some accent 🙃 - but in my office the speakers are fine… having written that, I still use almost always headphones with an integrated mic and in the rare occasions I don‘t, yes, in comparision, the sound of the Mac Studio speakers is "awful"… but it works "fine"
The speaker faces the bottom of the Mac Studio as shown in this teardown photo from iFixit:
Consequently, I assume the sound emits mainly from the bottom of the computer…where the cooling air also enters.
Many Mac Studio users on here use and recommend some sort of filtering stand or solution:
You'll have to do your own research to determine if you want to protect the computer from dust and if the protection you decide on will affect the sound of the built-in speaker to a degree that will make it unacceptable for video conferencing.
Consequently, I assume the sound emits mainly from the bottom of the computer…where the cooling air also enters.
Many Mac Studio users on here use and recommend some sort of filtering stand or solution:
You'll have to do your own research to determine if you want to protect the computer from dust and if the protection you decide on will affect the sound of the built-in speaker to a degree that will make it unacceptable for video conferencing.
Just finished a video call where I was able to switch between desk speakers and M4 studio under my desk. I could hear everything, but it was better when I moved it on top of my desk, I could hear more clearly. Whether under or on top of desk, the desk speakers sounded better than the mac studio. But I could indeed complete a call and there were zero problems hearing and understanding the other party using the studio's speaker.
Thanks to everyone. Looks like it can work. I will postpone the purchase of an external speaker and try without it. Later if I feel Studio's internal speaker is not sufficient, I will get one. (Usually this is what I would do, even without asking. But I have a budget that will expire by the end of this month. That's why I am asking now, even though my Mac Studio will come much later. If people here generally think that the internal speaker of Studio sucks even for video conference, then I will use this budget to buy a better speaker.)
On that basis, I’d say that the Mac Studio internal speaker is better than it has any right to be, all things considered. I use it for video conf/YouTube when I can’t be bothered to get up and turn on my decent speakers.
Perfectly adequate for alert sounds and human voice - unless you’re in a noisy environment, in which case you’d probably want to use headphones anyway, or are mounting it under a desk.
You should certainly give it a go before buying speakers.
Also, a lot of displays have built-in speakers that will “just work’” over DisplayPort/HDMI/USB-C - but in my limited experience, the Studio built-in speaker is as good/better.