How to Enable the Classic Startup Chime on Newer Macs

[lllusion]

Works on my MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2018) ?

 

[justperry]

Great, but still not good to reset the PRAM with Option Command P R, since after the first chime, the setting is reset and no second chime is heard! Is there any way to fix that with the new Macs?

Because that chime settings are stored in NVRAM. Option Command P R basically wiping entire NVRAM contents and it’s explained why it’s gone.

I also want to confirm this tricks works on my employer 2018 MacBook Pro 15, albeit being muddy compared with native chime in my Mac Pro.

Make an entry in com.apple.boot.plist, survives a restart. (AFAIK)

Edit: The Easy Way To Edit com.apple.Boot.plist

 

[smirking]

Nice work @BigMcGuire!

 

[myrtlebee]

now we just need the glowing Apple Logo and the sleep pulse light back and we're good!

I forgot about the sleep pulse light. I miss it ? I have a 2014 MacBook Air currently, so I still have Magsafe, but when I upgrade I'm really going to miss that, too.

 

[BigMcGuire]

Nice work @BigMcGuire!

Absolutely love this noise. Sadly, I have my Mac in silent mode most of the time and I almost never reboot my MBP. Now I definitely have a reason to reboot more often.

I forgot about the sleep pulse light. I miss it ? I have a 2014 MacBook Air currently, so I still have Magsafe, but when I upgrade I'm really going to miss that, too.

Same... Instead of the "hold up to ear" and listen for fans to spin down to make sure it's actually sleeping before you put it in a sleeve and your backpack - would be nice to have an external indicator that says hey I'm sleeping! Loved my 2015 MBA.

 

[SnarkyBear]

OMG Apple, let go of the frickin' control issues and let users decide how they want to use their computers!
I preferred not to have the start up chime, and I remember being able to turn it off back when the iMacs were white plastic. After a few years, Apple did away with that and for a while forced us to listen to the chime regardless of preference. Then Apple decided they were done with it and forced everyone to live without the chime.
Apple has some serious control issues.

 

[justperry]

I do not have a recent Mac, so I do have Magsafe, pulsating sleep light, startup sound, glowing Apple Logo, hell, even a DVD slot amongst lots of ports....

 

[Unity451]

Ahh yes, the sleep pulse light. How I miss nights with it’s deceptively bright pulsating glow, lighting up the room every 10 seconds or so!

These sentences have a nice poetic rhythm to them.
Way to go! You're a poet and didn't even know it.

 

[Bustycat]

It’s not gone; it’s just too thin to hear.

 

[ApfelKuchen]

Why would they remove it anyway?

At one time just about all PCs provided some sort of sound to indicate that the POST (power-on self-test) had successfully finished. On DOS and Windows PCs, that was a simple beep. Apple took it a bit further.

POST had to finish before a startup key combination (like Command + R to boot to Recovery) would be recognized by the system. So if you needed to do something of that sort it was, "Wait for it, wait for it... Press the keys." You then had a narrow window before the OS started to boot and the key combinations would (again) not be recognized.

In more recent PCs the POST finishes so quickly (followed soon after by the OS boot) that there's no "wait for it" any more. Between the speed of todays CPUs and the speed of SSD/Flash storage (for the OS boot), if you wait at all, the OS starts booting and you miss your chance to enter that key combination.

Currently, the Mac procedure for entering those startup key combinations is: Press the Power button, then immediately press the key combination.

Basically, the sound was removed because it no longer has a functional purpose. Near-instant startup is today's design goal - slowing startup so that the sound still has a function is counterproductive. At this point, continuing the sound would be completely ornamental/sentimental.

I do get a warm, nostalgic feeling when I hear that sound. Anyone who wants to turn it back on is welcome to it. They just have to understand that they have to press their key combinations immediately after pressing the Power button, rather than wait for the sound.

 

[ian87w]

Apple disabled the startup sound on new Macs in 2016, and while a couple of tricks have worked in the past to get the chime back, updates to macOS appear to have stopped them working.

I didn't know this. I wonder why. Is it interfering with their failed butterfly keyboard?

 

[cult hero]

I don’t miss the chime itself per se, but when doing any sort of diagnostic work or trying to use target disk mode, the lack of a power light or chime or anything is rather annoying.

I realize this doesn’t really matter most of the time to most users. But like lights on an Ethernet adapter, when you need them...

 

[cBraunDesign]

Confirmed to work on my 16" MBP, so I would guess it works on just about anything currently available.
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Make an entry in com.apple.boot.plist, survives a restart. (AFAIK)

Edit: The Easy Way To Edit com.apple.Boot.plist

Just curious... Do you know what you actually change in this plist if you want to make this permanent?

 

[AnonMac50]

Confirmed to work on my 16" MBP, so I would guess it works on just about anything currently available.
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Just curious... Do you know what you actually change in this plist if you want to make this permanent?

I am going to try putting “StartupMute=%00” inside kernel flags.

 

[H2SO4]

Yeah, there might have been an option by muting the sound before you shutdown your Mac. Something like that, but I do remember it was annoying the hell out of me!

Admittedly it did catch me out back in the day, I've since reduced the decibels.

 

[justperry]

Confirmed to work on my 16" MBP, so I would guess it works on just about anything currently available.



Just curious... Do you know what you actually change in this plist if you want to make this permanent?

This, most likely, it has been a long time since I edited the boot.plist.
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I am going to try putting “StartupMute=%00” inside kernel flags.

I have my doubts it works like down in the screenshot.
Been too long...

 

[alexe]

Why on earth would you want that back?! Smh

 

[justperry]

Why on earth would you want that back?! Smh

How many times do you restart your Mac...I for one almost never so it wouldn't be a big deal, I actually love the startup sound.

 

[Sharewaredemon]

I can’t remember there being an option to turn it off, without using terminal!

Pretty sure you can, but there is no explicit option for it.
I'll have to experiment but I'm sure I achieved it by adjusting the sound effects part of sys prefs. Playing system sounds through internal and setting volumes down - something like that.

If the system volume is at zero a Mac that chimes will not chime when it turns on.

 

[AnonMac50]

This, most likely, it has been a long time since I edited the boot.plist.
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I have my doubts it works like down in the screenshot.
Been too long...
View attachment 896059

Yeah, it doesn't work, at least on my iMac Pro.
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I have missed this chime on my iMac Pro! Makes rebooting into Boot Camp my easier!

While we’re at it, Apple, can we get the sleep indicator light and the battery indicates lights back please?

 

[H2SO4]

If the system volume is at zero a Mac that chimes will not chime when it turns on.

I thought the control was a little finer than that.
In fact I know it is. The system volume doesn’t have to be zero. At least not on a Mac Pro 1,1 or 5,1. A Mini 8,1 or a MacBook Pro 11,4.

 

[Sharewaredemon]

I thought the control was a little finer than that.
In fact I know it is. The system volume doesn’t have to be zero. At least not on a Mac Pro 1,1 or 5,1. A Mini 8,1 or a MacBook Pro 11,4.

I have never seen a toggle in sys prefs for disabling the chime, I have heard of scripts that do it, but the only way I have been able to stop it is with volume all the way down.
Edit: I just did some tests.
With volume set to 1 and 2 and my Mac doesn't chime.
At 3 and it chimes.

 

[H2SO4]

I have never seen a toggle in sys prefs for disabling the chime, I have heard of scripts that do it, but the only way I have been able to stop it is with volume all the way down.

Sorry no. I was not clear. There is no toggle. But I’m dead sure it can be made to do it without.

 

[H2SO4]

Sorry no. I was not clear. There is no toggle. But I’m dead sure it can be made to do it without.

I have never seen a toggle in sys prefs for disabling the chime, I have heard of scripts that do it, but the only way I have been able to stop it is with volume all the way down.
Edit: I just did some tests.
With volume set to 1 and 2 and my Mac doesn't chime.
At 3 and it chimes.

Ah. That must be what I did then. I couldn’t remember exactly how but I know I did it without scripts.

 

[justperry]

Yeah, it doesn't work, at least on my iMac Pro.
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I have missed this chime on my iMac Pro! Makes rebooting into Boot Camp my easier!

While we’re at it, Apple, can we get the sleep indicator light and the battery indicates lights back please?

The "code" has to be correct for it to work.

I think you have to set the NVRAM to StartupMute=%00

As I said before, it's been a while since I edited the boot.plist file.

I would love to try this out myself...but, I do not have a recent Mac and have other things to do.
It probably works on my Mac as well if I set it to be silent...like "StartupMute=%01"