DISQUS

I Bought a Mac: My MacBook Speakers Stopped Working

  • Matt · 2 years ago
    Yeah the same thing happend to me, you can see the optical glow coming out of the port when nothing is plugged in. Alas the wiggly solution doesn't work for me, I guess mine are a little too bent, but I'm glad all is well for you!
  • shawn · 2 months ago
    The wiggly method just worked for me :DDD
  • Brent · 2 years ago
    Sorry to hear that. Keep us posted on your progress so we can add it here for others. Thanks!
  • lil john · 4 months ago
    well i have the same problem! but i have no idea where all this stuff is located at so i can wiggle it!! i need help asap!
  • skater4shreder · 4 months ago
    hey where is this stuff loacated?
  • skater4shreder · 4 months ago
    hey idk where to wiggle? where am i supposed to wiggle?
  • Thomas · 2 years ago
    Mine just stopped working today. Works fine over the stereo but internal speakers are gone when I unplug. I don't see any red light so I guess it's not the same problem.
  • Colleen · 2 years ago
    Man, I'm sorry to hear your speakers stopped working, it's so frustrating, I know. The red light only flashed for me for a brief period and turned off, also I was working in the dark and was able to notice it. That's when I tried plugging my headphones and it did work, but when they were unplugged, no sound. I found that forum and MacGyvered it from there. Good luck, and let us know how it turned out. Thanks!
  • jennifer · 2 years ago
    Same thing just happened to me. I was listening to music last night with my external speakers as I always do every day...and then got to work with my macbook and went to listen to something online and now the internal speakers are not working and the red light in the plug hole is on.

    ARGH.

    I swear this Macbook is the most annoying computer I have ever bought. One thing after another. It isn't even 6 mos old.
  • Brent · 2 years ago
    I'm sorry Jennifer,

    Have you tried taking it in to the store and having them look at it? (I know that's probably not what you were wanting to hear.)
  • susie · 2 years ago
    i was having the same problem and this cured my computer! i have been using my headphones all week and the first time i tried to listen to something through the internal speakers nothing! i wiggled my headphones around a little after i plugged it in and it after a few tries my speakers worked just fine.
  • Brent · 2 years ago
    That's great to hear! Glad we were able to help
  • donald · 1 year ago
    You all just saved my life!!!
  • Bren · 2 years ago
    Yay! I love you. Stupid red light, no sound. Wiggle... wiggle... sound!

    Thanks muchly.
  • bayla · 2 years ago
    Same thing happened to me, except I wasn't using headphones. It just stopped working.

    Wiggle wiggle, it works. Brilliant. Yeah, Macs are a huuuuge step above PCs. Right.
  • Kevin · 2 years ago
    Right On! After the initial alarm of seeing my laptop emitting an ominous red glow, I came across this site. So like everyone else I too tried some persistent wiggling and voila!, it's fixed. Thanks for the thread - Peace
  • Tasha · 2 years ago
    Same thing happened here, expect i came across this forum before calling apple..and the wiggling didnt work for me..i spent over an hour on the phone doing everything this man made me do..still didnt work. now hes making me send it out for repairs. can anyone tell me who has a macbook when u look into the headphone jack how many little tab things do u see? on the right i see 2 stickin out a little but on the left i can only see one closer to the front of the hole, i am sure i am having the same problem, i just cant seem to solve it by wiggling. can u tell me if maybe im missing a tab? or if its pushed in? i would rather not have to send my computer out, and have to back up all my files..that is just a pain =[ ugh.
  • Andréanne · 2 years ago
    Ya, wiggling totally worked for me too - weird... This is a feature they should really rethink
  • Edgar · 2 years ago
    everything s fine in my macbook except when i put my external speakers.. only the left side of the external speaker works. the right external speaker doesnt work... i've tried other speakers on my computer and the same thing happens.. I connect my Mp3 player to the external speakers and the L and R speakers seem to work!! what could it be???
  • Brent · 2 years ago
    Only thing I can think of is that you might actually have a wire disconnected on your motherboard. The wiggle trick probably won't work and you will need to either take or send it in for repair. Sorry...
  • Edgar · 2 years ago
    one more Question... it's not about speakers though... when i put a cd in my Computer it's sometimes gets stuck... i have the APPLECARE PLAN so They should be able to fix it, but if it's left like that would it cause any permanenent damage to my computer????
  • Jake · 2 years ago
    wiggling it... nothin. I'm tryin this solution for my girlfriend's computer, but to no avail. I'm extremely persistent, so whenever I'm over here, and I see that red light, I'll start jigglin ad wigglin again. thanks for the posts so I cnan get an idea of how to fix this.
  • Yos · 1 year ago
    Use a toothpick and move it an anti-clockwise direction. you're trying to push between 6 and 7 o'clock position. It happened to me before and it worked. Don't push it too hard, you don't wanna break the toothpick. Good luck.
  • Heather · 2 years ago
    Nope. This problem has happened on my I-Mac... red light on. No sound on external speakers. I've wiggled for ages... nothing. Red light remains on. Speakers remain silent. Driving me insane! Especially because lugging a large-screen I-Mac back to the store is a huge pain in the *** - especially so they can fix something as small and seemingly insignificant as a faulty jack... and especially since there are always long lines at the store at the repairs dept. and I have a neverending stream of deadlines....!!
    And they'll probaby tell me to leave it with them and come back in a week!
  • greg · 11 months ago
    wigle it works!!! thank u all!!!
  • Tasha · 2 years ago
    I hear ya.. Mine is glowing as I type and i have been very persistent about wiggling, and i called someone to ask for help and they sent me a box for my macbook and want me to ship is out. Nooooo waaaayyyy. i cant have it gone for that long...
  • tom · 1 year ago
    the wiggle wasnt working for me. try a paper clip and just press down in random places youll find the spot the problem is comming from eventually. Thank you so much to who posted this to begin with!!!!!!!!!!!! i cant tell you how gratful i am for not having to send it off.
  • Hai · 1 year ago
    toothpick worked for mine... get the red light on so went it works the light will turn off... Thanks for the tips to start with.
  • Humber · 2 years ago
    Use a toothpick to reset the port. Insert the toothpick gently and try to press some kind of little button inside.
    It worked for me.
    Be carefully not to break the toothpick inside.
  • Tasha · 2 years ago
    hey humber is the small button youre talking about straight back?
  • ben · 2 years ago
    yea i have had the same exact problem but my macbook i have through school and i tryed the wiggle thing and it didnt work if i get it sent in i wont have it for a long time its starting to piss me off nothing is working and all i want is my internal speakers to work..
  • Tasha · 2 years ago
    Ben,

    I had the same problem, and I use my computer for school too so I didn't want to send it in and I delt with the speakers not working for 4 months or so, when it first happned i tried the wiggle thing with the headphones and that didnt work then i tried the hair pin and that didnt work. and then 4 months later there was a bobby pin laying next to my computer so just for the heck of it i wiggled it like crazy and nothing happened and i just had it in there an was wiggling it and wiggling it, and i finaly was just like I GIVE UP and i pulled the thing out and a song started playing. so if you really dont want to send it in, (completely understand) just try the hair pin thing, after i tried and it didnt work i thought for sure i must be having a different problem but dont give up on it, just wiggle it like crazy and then stop if your getting frustrated and try the next day.

    best of luck!
    hope it works for you eventually!
  • Richard · 2 years ago
    Hey, just did the toothpick trick and it worked beautifully. I just wiggled against one of the bumps on the inside of the jack VERY gently. If you try, make sure to turn on a tune so you can tell it worked. Thanks guys!
  • Brent · 2 years ago
    That's great! I'm so glad it worked for you.

    - Brent
  • jenny · 2 years ago
    i'm sort of having the opposite problem...?
    my internal speakers work fine, but something seems to be wrong with my headphone jack. i suddenly can't get sound to headphones or external speakers with a 3mm audio cord. i always use external speakers to listen to music, so this is very frustrating. my 2 month old white macbook (not pro) does recognize that there are headphones though, because the internal speakers shut off when they are plugged in. i do get a little bit of static through to the headphones though. does anybody have suggestions or know what could be wrong?
  • tom · 1 year ago
    maybe you need new headphones?
  • David · 2 years ago
    Wiggling worked! Has anyone had this recur? Or is this a long term fix?
  • gabe · 2 years ago
    WOW! Great advice. Sound just stopped suddenly after i listened to music using my iphone headset. perhaps i should not use that anymore on the macbook.;)
    red light came on. i googled and got here. a wiggling persistently solved the problem, for now, at least.
  • Dardan · 2 years ago
    i did toothpick trick and it worked now. thank you guys.
  • Rachel · 2 years ago
    I seem to be having the same problem as everyone else. both my internal and external speakers aren't working and the headphone jack is always lit up red. the only thing is, this all started when i accidentally spilled some water near the speakers. i tried wiggling and the toothpick but nothing seems to work. do you think my spilling water might have caused permanent damage?
  • Adrian Lee · 2 years ago
    Y'all, this is insanity - the WIGGLE WOO worked for me also!
    Craziness! I can't believe it, especially after the "I'm a Dell and You're a Mac" commercials where we're like haha the p.c. isn't very sophisticated!
    Apple should put the wiggle trick in their help menu!
    My speakers are working again! Woo-woo!
    Thanks!
  • Lookas · 2 years ago
    Worked fine for me, i plug my earphone plug for 1/3 of its lenght and I turn it around quite fast and it worked perfect!
  • alina · 2 years ago
    OK SO i totally just had the same issue my outbound stopped working and only when external speakers were plugged in it worked..apple couldnt help for shit..enough though i heart them..heres what u do..take your ipod headset plug it in and out a few times and it should make ur outbound the same again :)
  • Renee · 2 years ago
    Hi everyone, how frustrating is this!!?!??

    I have EXACTLY the same problem with the red light and have tried toothpicks, needles, safetypins, bobyypins, headphones etc to no avail.

    It would really help is someone could tell me how hard I should be wiggling? And how many times - ie a few times, what does this mean?

    And if I try the headphone method, should I spin it around the entire jack?

    Thanks for your help!
  • R · 2 years ago
    Thanks a lot! Damn was I pissed when this happened to me. Thank god I have the entire mac-community armed with toothpicks and hairpins right behind me. Haha.
  • darrin · 2 years ago
    It worked!! I read this and all I had to do was blow really hard into the head phone jack and BINGO! It's kind of lame that I had to look on the internet for hours to fix a problem for a brand new computer.
  • M · 2 years ago
    i had the same problem. no sound and red light comming out of the jack stick. tried wiggel, pull it out plug it in over and over again. restart and use diskutillty repair. then i triede to restart in Windows. and restart in mac workede for a coupel of minutes but then the musik startede to, fall out and in, if i look in system pref. evertime it falls out the internel speaker disapers. looks like a bad wirering. hops it is going to last...........

    it comes and goes at the moment, i will see how it goes over the weekend, and if it keeps falling out i have to send it to repair, or is there any other way, would prefer to not give away my mac for a month

    my mac is about 4-5 months old macbook 13.3 black.
  • Claton · 2 years ago
    ok, thanks for the posts people. i'm in San Jose kickin it for biz, and my speakers just stopped working on the plane over. I didn't bring any headphones, and was getting a little antsy because i wanted to listen to music in my room on the macbook. Soooo... i just took the little string from one of my Puma track pants and shoved it in the laptop. BINGO!!!

    Take that Macgyver!!
  • David Ballantyne · 2 years ago
    OH MY GOODNESS
    IT WORKS!
    It took me ages! BUT IT WORKED
  • garrett · 2 years ago
    Just had the same problem occur. wiggling the headphone plug fixed it. i was about to start getting annoyed until i found this page.

    thanks for the tips.
  • skater4shreder · 4 months ago
    how did u do this?? and just the regular headphone input slot?
  • Dci521 · 1 year ago
    Same thing happened to me when i was at the airport and had my headphones plugged in. the next thing i know the internal speakers dont work. I read the post that said to put the headphone jack in 1/3 way in and wiggle around a little why playing a song and it just came right on, even after wiggling for a while with the jack farther in.
  • lurch · 1 year ago
    I tried the toothpick trick and it worked immediately...
  • Elena · 1 year ago
    Same thing happened to me after using the iphone headset on my sony vayo..it seems that the iphone headsets have some wired effect when used with any pc..very strange
  • elena · 1 year ago
    same thing with me, wiggling worked after having found out what that is (i am not a native english speaker...) THANKS
  • Kate · 1 year ago
    Thank you! The toothpick worked after an hour or two of panic! I had to wiggle it in a specific spot in order to hear the sound on the internal speakers. It is now working perfectly. If only the flaw didn't exist to begin with. Thanks for the help.
  • Roux. · 1 year ago
    Woow. It worked. Saw someone's posting about the blowing method, I tried, and voila!!! It worked. Amazing, can you imagine people were solving these kind of problems when there wasn't the internet?!?!

    Thanks. R.
  • Dr. Awkward · 1 year ago
    Thank the LORD! It worked! I was getting frustrated because it happened at just the worst moment (trying to show my friend a funny video, then we have to wait, fix it, then it's not funny, ect) anyways! You are my hero. I was getting seriously cheezed off.
  • tatin · 1 year ago
    OMG i was about to give up, the wiggling DOES work haha!!just dont give up! put the heaphone jack half way and keep wiggling it!
  • Andrew · 1 year ago
    I found something else that worked! The same issue happened on a customers' MacBook. The Sound control panel only allowed the option to choose Digital Audio, the internal speakers did not show up as an option, and the prohibit sign (circle with a line through it) showed up when pressing the sound up, sound down keys.

    As suggested, I tried plugging and unplugging a set of external headphones into the headphone jack and wiggling them, but no luck after several tries. I wasn't ready to try the toothpick suggestion yet.

    However, I decided to turn my attention to the audio-in jack, so I plugged the same headphones into the that jack (next to the headphone jack), removed them, and voila - all was back to normal.

    Hope this helps some of you out there. --Andrew
  • Dan · 11 months ago
    I was having the same trouble. Plugging and unplugging as well as wiggling did not work. However, when I plugged 1/2 way into the audio-in port and wiggled a bit, voila, it started working again. Thanks Andrew!
  • skater4shreder · 4 months ago
    how?
  • Paul · 1 year ago
    Just tried blowing into the headphone jack after two Leopard re-installs and hours of research to fix missing internal speakers that started immediately after the first Leopard install (for 3 total).

    It worked!

    I don't know whether I should be happy it's working or sad that that was all it needed the whole time..
  • Michael Henn · 1 year ago
    Wiggle did not work, toothpick also did not work.

    But a can of compressed air did the trick. Just give a few short blasts into the headphone jack and all that dust that is making your switch stick comes right out. I recommend everyone with this problem try the compressed air first! Much safer and more effective!
  • Jon · 1 year ago
    I don't know if anyone can help me out here - owing to an unlucky stumble, I have the tip of a half a (snapped) headphone plug stuck in my MacBook's headphone socket. It's just come back from the Apple shop and they can't do anything about it. So before I investing in a set of jewellers drills, does anyone know if there's a software override for this? It's very frustrating - it makes the Mac sound on boot, but is otherwise mute.
  • Princeley · 1 year ago
    Same prob out here, solved it though.... Kinda simple jus follow the steps below:

    1. Play some music
    2. Take a earphone and plug it in halfway down the earphone port..
    3. Gently push the headphone to the left, this will make sure the the earphone plug will come in contact wit a tiny button(on the right side) inside the port.
    4. Shake the earphone a bit n voila ur macbook will start playing again.....
  • lak · 1 year ago
    Thank You SO Much! My parents bought me my mac as a bday/christmas present. and my speakers have not been working for about 4 days. and i was way to scared to tell them. ha, but the wiggle thing worked for me also!

    do you know if it is a permanent fix??
  • Brent · 1 year ago
    For me it was permanent (so far anyway). I only had the issue once and never since. (fingers crossed) :)
  • steve · 1 year ago
    good job with the wiggle whoever came up with the "original wiggle" i just wiggled it a bit back and forth with iTunes playing and sound came back out of speakers within 2 seconds
  • Philip · 1 year ago
    Thanks for the help, the wigglin didn't work for me. I was ready to scream, but the toothpick did. If I wanted stupid problems like this I would have gotten a pc.
  • Frustrated · 1 year ago
    I hate my mac. I hate apple. My mac is always giving ALL sort of problems the most recent thing is this infuriating red light. I managed to repair with the wigglin but the very next day it came back. I wiggled for hours and then i tried the toothpick thing for another hour or so. I got so frustrated that i was about to smash the da** macbook into the floor so i hit it gently 3 times near the jack and it worked.
  • peter honeyman · 1 year ago
    wiggling and inspecting a few times until the red light went off worked for me -- thanks! (next time i'll try compressed air.)
  • wendy · 1 year ago
    PROBLEM IN REVERSE
  • wendy · 1 year ago
    Same problem, but in reverse- my internal speakers work, but the jack does not. no red light. I saw someone else wrote about this, but no one responded. Can anyone suggest anything?
  • Luke G · 1 year ago
    It seems like everyone is missing an important step:

    1. More yourself a tall drink, a cold beer, or a glass of wine. And be sure there's more where that came from.
    2. Frack with the headphone jack for anywhere between 60 seconds and 3 hours. I have best luck with a headphone plug itself...
    3. Enjoy the sound while it lasts. If not, sorry.
  • Etienne · 1 year ago
    Wiggled jack : nothing... I thought I was doomed and started to weep...But with a toothpick : perfect. gentle little nudges inside the hole did the trick!

    Thanks guys!
  • sumeet · 1 year ago
    hey it worked for me as well. thanks =) i just kept poking it in and out real fast (the headphone plug) and the red light went off.. i guess i confused it? hah =x
  • Jack · 1 year ago
    After several days later I bought my Macbook a little bug seemed to have got into the machine through the holes where the cooling air comes out (beneath the monitor). I'm not sure if it really got into it or it's just my mistake, but since then, when I tried to change the volume of the internal speaker, occasionally it keeps switching between 'internal speaker' and 'external speaker' and wouldn't change the volume. When that happens, there is clicking sound coming out from the internal speaker.
    If I reboot Macbook then it works fine again. The clicking sound and malfunctioning happens spontaneously so I can't really take it to Apple store.
    But wiggling seemed to work, too. Strange.
    My brother's Macbook, exactly the same model, has no such problem.
  • junior · 1 year ago
    just take a head phone jack, push it in half way and ring it round and round till you hear sound. note: make sure you have music playing
  • Vanessa · 1 year ago
    Has the same problem as everyone else here; the internal speakers suddenly stopped working.
    After reading a few posts, I went for the 'hair bobby pin' solution (I didn't have a toothpick nearby). It worked beautifully. It took about 10 min of gentle wriggling and patience, but alas, I was relieved to hear the music suddenly start playing!

    I just gently pressed the round-ended bobby pin of each of the little tabs you can see if you carefully inside your headphone jack. Press each one gently and hopefully your internal speakers will suddenly start playing for you too!

    The last thing anyone wants to do is send their Mac in for repairs, unless its absolutely crucial.
  • jenny · 1 year ago
    I had the same problem with the little red light and having no sound coming from my internal speakers and the headphone thing didn't work for me. However I put a pin carefully into the speaker jack and lightly pressed down and it fixed the problem. Thanks!
  • Dunsh · 1 year ago
    WIGGLING WORKS!!!!!!!!!! But i wiggled the toothpick inside. I tried inserting the headphones but it didn't work so i tried the toothpick trick and VOILA!!..MUSIC!!! woohoo! thanks to whoever discovered the toothpick trick.
  • ian · 1 year ago
    wiggling works! thanks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
  • esh kosh ka · 1 year ago
    OK....so i tried to mess with my dj lite and I found out my built in speakers weren't working. So I googled n came across this thread. I tried the wiggle but that didn't work. Then I tried the toothpick n that wasn't working. I gave up for a bit n went back at it with the toothpick.

    Here's how I fixed the problem. It looks like there are a few jack buttons in there so I poked at each one. When I started poking at the furthest one the red light began to flicker on n off. So I held the toothpick on that last button for three seconds(light off for 3 seconds) and voila built in speakers startd working...problem fixed. Thanks for the thread guys...saves me from calling the geeksquad =P
  • Red Avo · 1 year ago
    OMG. This trick actually worked for me too! I was growing more and more frustrated about the entire thing. I first used the headphone plug and wiggled it to no avail, but then I used a paperclip and gently pressed on the last tab in the back of the jack and music started playing from my computer. So strange that those things are so sensitive to moment via the headphone plug..
  • samara · 1 year ago
    Soooo frustrating! TSA dropped my computer at the airport the other day. Bastards! I turned it on and everything worked fine, so no harm no foul. Then on the plane, I plugged in my headphones and watched a movie. When I pulled them out, the internal speakers wouldn't turn on and the "red light of silence" poured from the jack. I had no toothpicks, so I cut the fuzzy end off a q-tip and poked around with the stem until the light went out. Bowie is now playing through my speakers! Of course, the internal speakers still kinda blow, but that's another problem! Thanks again!
  • REd5 · 1 year ago
    O
    M
    G
    That totally worked!!
    For those who haven't had it work, you just gotta keep trying, it's a royal B*tch, but here's my process (just like everyone else, lawl)
    1. thumbtack (no avail)
    2. plastic fork "tong" (no avail)
    3. wire hanger cut off and inserted straight into the jack, wiggled around a bit (if your looking at the comp as if it were on your lap it would be the inside of the jack most towards you.. however if you were looking at the jack itself it would be the right side, poke around there a bit. I was about to quit when i pulled it out one last time with a mighty force (omg O.o macrotica) and it just started working
  • Brian · 1 year ago
    Haha...yes!! I was getting so frustrated too! I kept thinking... "Man, my computer must a have a different problem than all of these people because it is not f-ing working! But.....


    IT DID! FINALLY. I spent about 10 minutes with a toothpick to no avail. Finally, I took my headphone plug and RAPIDLY stuck it in and out about 10-15 times....and suddenly my MUSIC STARTED WORKING AGAIN on my internal speakers. YAY!

    KEEP TRYING FRUSTRATED MAC USERS!

    :-)
  • Betsy · 1 year ago
    I had given up hope and just was almost in tears. I need my speakers and as a college student, can't part with my computer for too long, but just keep trying! the wiggling works eventually! I don't think I've EVER been so happy to hear sound coming from my computer! :D
  • Briana · 1 year ago
    I literally just blew into it and the sound came back on, i recommend people try this way first before the wiggling and toothpick idea because that didnt work for me
  • tom · 1 year ago
    YAY!!!!!!!!!!



    <3333
  • BEN Steiger · 1 year ago
    yesssssssss it worked 4 me .lol. im so stoked now i dont need those god damn hed phones any more. thanx guys for the hot tip.

    at firs i thought it wouldnt work because i was wiggleing alot but i got pissed and wiggled hard and BAMMMMM!!!!!!!!! MUSICAAAHAAAAAAAAAA
  • Heather · 1 year ago
    THANK YOU!
    I've had to use headphones/speakers via headphone jack for a few weeks now because of this.

    I tried just inserting and reinnserting the jack several times then went with a matchstick, a Q-tip (cut in half - the smooth side, not the fuzzy side) and finally back to the jack again - but this time i *very* gently wiggled it around. While doing this, I had itunes playing so that, as i wiggled the jack, i was hearing the crackle and the music - once i heard the sweet music coming from my mac- i stopped jiggling the jack and all is well (for now).

    How silly.

    Thanks for posting the solution!
  • Drew · 1 year ago
    Ive spent about 2 hrs straight trying to fix this to no avail. I tried blowing in it, tried spraying pressurized air, tried wiggling a headphone jack, and tried a paper clip.
    Looks like Im gonna have to try throwing my laptop down a flight of stairs next.
  • Samuel · 1 year ago
    My girlfriend's MacBook's right speaker just dropped out while watching a show during dinner, and 3 minutes later after Googling and finding this site and plugging in and removing headphones, everything is back to normal. I have no idea what happened or why, but it did the trick. Thanks for making this post!
  • Ami · 1 year ago
    speakers on macbook white cut out,
    yes after reading these solution,
    put in headphone jack 1/3 inch,
    twist slightly upwards and round,
    got it unstuck from digital out mode!
    straight away!!!
    thanks
  • colin · 1 year ago
    i had to wiggle quite a bit - but then it worked !!!!

    WIGGLE WIGGLE
  • jamie · 1 year ago
    the wiggle worked!!!! i was so happy, thank you!!!
  • sandro · 1 year ago
    wiggle!!!! thanks everybody!!!
  • Tulkas · 1 year ago
    Always look on the wiggle side of life!

    Cherio
  • Anton · 1 year ago
    Wiggling works! What fun! Too bad wiggling doesn't solve more of life's problems...
  • mitch · 1 year ago
    it works!! but i have to keep on wiggling it everytime though. but its better than what i had before
  • beatnik · 1 year ago
    My macbook has had some problems but Apple always took care of it, even several months after the warranty was up. This just happened to me and I did the wiggly thing. Small circles as I gently tugged I thought I could feel something and then the sound came back through the speakers. I really didn't doubt Apple would fix it, I just dread having to go on the business weekend... Problem solved, thanks to all of the info on this list.
  • Tara · 1 year ago
    Mine stopped working like 20 minutes ago... i just put the headphones back in and wiggled it gently, pulled them back off and it works now. Thanks!
  • awei · 12 months ago
    Been trying the wiggle/toothpick/air moethod for about an hour no luck, however i seem to found a temporary fix, if your headphone is pluged at the right location (about 2/3 of the way), speakers come back, but if i remove the headphone then red light comes back on. Still gonna keep trying.
  • Janith · 11 months ago
    I have been getting a static sound from the speakers, and the volume of music playback is very soft, even at full volume. The wiggle trick isn't helping the volume or static, but does cause the sound to cut in and out.

    Any ideas?
  • brentspore · 11 months ago
    That sounds to me like a loose connection on your motherboard. Might need a trip to the genius bar for that one. Does it do the same thing (sound the same) when you plug in headphones?
  • Radical Missus · 11 months ago
    I LOVE YOU!!!
    The sound has been broken for weeks after I leant it to a friend, and i was about to send it away tomorrow, despite major coursework deadlines, and i tried this, and it worked! YAY!
  • Mac Lover · 10 months ago
    OMG! It does really worked. wiggling it....
    thank you so much. but the problem persist everytime i plug and unplug my earphones.
  • Erin · 10 months ago
    Yet another in favor of wiggling. There was no red light coming from the port, but the wiggle fixed it.
  • skater4shreder · 4 months ago
    hi where do u wiggle?
  • Dale from Wales · 10 months ago
    YES!! I was fearing another long trip to the Apple Store when my speakers wouldn't come on (previously it wouldn't boot up), but I stuck it in the little hole, jiggled it about a bit and everyone (me) was happy. And that's an innuendo it there ever was one.
  • Soe · 10 months ago
    Great Tip!

    Glad that I saw red light, saying something is wrong there and could see clearly what happening inside,

    For someone whose toothpick is not working, because there are TWO clicks to be bounced back to normal.

    After that, the red light will went off and WALA, sound is back
  • Bananalegs! · 10 months ago
    Thank-Youuuuuuuuuuu! It works! What I did was put the toothpick all the way in and just keep turning it in an anti-clockwise direction. Go slow and listen to it,'cuz mine made a click noise and then I actually had to do it a couple of times, but Success!!! Don't give up, just take a deep breathe and keep at it! Good luck!
  • TINYDANCER6513 · 9 months ago
    The other day i was playing music through a cable in my car and the sound was working fine. But just now i turn on my computer (macbook) and the sound wont work!! there is a little circle with a line through it whenever i try to turn up or down the volume. And nothing comes out of the internal speakers. HELP! and how do i fix it?
  • Irina · 8 months ago
    Ok I called Apple support and this worked for my Mac Book Pro :
    Insert the Speaker cord or headphone cord into your Mac Book Or Mac Book Pro repeatedly 5 times while the computer is on. Then Go into System Preferences > Sound> Click on OutPut and make sure the Internal Speakers are Selected . IT should work! Good Luck!
  • Danielle · 8 months ago
    Thanks for the wiggle technique. I was doubtful that it would work for me, but after doing it for a few minutes it worked! Thanks, I appreciate it.

    wiggle, wiggle
  • Andy · 8 months ago
    Wooo... I pushed in a pen middle (the thin bit with the ink in when you unscrew a pen) and it's all working now. :)
  • Frank · 8 months ago
    omg.... Thank u for the information, it work just like you said it. who knew a little "wiggle, wiggle" would work.
  • Stencil · 8 months ago
    Thank you :] I just used some headphones to plug in and wiggle around a bit, messed with the port till the glow was gone, and my internal speakers are back. Weirdest thing ever.. something's bent in the external port so the internal speakers won't work? Doesn't even make sense :]
  • Star · 8 months ago
    So I went into System Preferences - Sound and un-muted the Output!
    I am not sure why it was muted in the first place! :) Good luck!!!!
  • Liese Birdie · 7 months ago
    And then, there was no sound.. I found this post and yeah, it is the same problem and teh same solution.. but weird.. I heard it never before and my Macbook is the late 2008 alu? And here are dozens of people with the same problem. Mij speakers stopped after listen to music via headphonejack. Sometimes he could find the internal speakers and then they where gone and my mac was 'ticking' searching for the intern speakers. After putting the jack in my mac again and out, the problem was solved (as far as I can see for now..) Thanx!
  • Marcus · 7 months ago
    Paper Clip @ 6/7pm worked perfectly for me.
  • Joey · 7 months ago
    WOW thank you so much. i just heard a pop and all of the sudden my left internal speaker stopped working. I typed in "speaker blow out macbook" and the first post was yours. I grabbed the nearest earphones, stuck them in, heard another pop and now it works perfectly. You saved me a trip to the mac store. Thank you
  • Mike · 7 months ago
    I have a slightly different problem. My speakers aren't working, and my headphones aren't working. They just gave out yesterday, not really sure why. I didn't really do anything to them. There is NO red light in the headphone jack.

    Wiggle trick and toothpick trick don't seem to work. I've reset the nvram with the command + option + p +r, I've rebooted, I've shut down and restart. Might be a lost cause I dunno.

    Anyone have any tips at all?
  • rina · 7 months ago
    Wiggling worked for me!! yeay!!
  • robert · 6 months ago
    Wiggle Wiggle Chicken Dinner. Cha-Ching.
  • Jessie · 6 months ago
    hahaha princley! you saved my life and my lappy :) did the push half way through method and push it to the left.. it worked :)
    (you only have to press gently...

    thanks!!!! funny though the song "do you believe in magic" came on :P ohh thee irony :D
  • Yiscah · 6 months ago
    YaYYY! Thanks so much for posting this. Went to skype w/ my Mum and no sound would come out. After finding this, I looked in the lil hole where my headset plugs in and found a red light on. Jiggled the pointy end bit of my earrings in it lol, cause I couldn't find my headset and the light went off, sound came on :)
  • john C. Ortega · 6 months ago
    ok I did use the paper clip and put it into the jack almost all the way in but not quite and rotated pin in a circle while playing a song and it came right on
  • lauren · 6 months ago
    I have a similar problem except the end of my speakers came off in the jack. The speakers still work if you plug the other half in, but the internal speakers do not work. Ive tried wiggling a toothpick and it didnt work because i think the end of the speaker needs to come out of the jack. Does anyone know what i could do?
  • Lauren Selig · 5 months ago
    THANK YOU!!!! I was seriously freaking out. You are an absolute lifesaver!
  • Nickblaqk · 5 months ago
    HOly crap!
    The headphones thing worked IMMEDIATELY
    I was surprised, I thought it was B.s.!

    THANKS!
  • Jimmy · 5 months ago
    Thanks guys!
    The exact same thing happened to me: the speakers stopped working on my Macbook pro, a red light was on in the headphone plug. I Googled it and found this trick: I wiggled and after a few tries IT WORKED!!!!!! awesome! Thanks!
  • William Mazurek · 4 months ago
    Thanks so much guys!
    My speakers were out for almost 2 months and it was really annoying because I had to have head phones with me whenever i wanted to do anything. The wiggling didn't work at first for me, but then i tried it with the headphones almost all the way in with just enough space to move the end of the jack around, it worked! Thanks so much, my warranty is expired and I just saved some dough!
  • Eve Double · 4 months ago
    Hooray for the wiggle! Thanks so much!!!
  • Miguel · 4 months ago
    taking the risk to be like everyone else ... it worked thanks.

    still i think it is COMPLETELLY stupid comming from this kind of product - i mean ... wiggling! ... seriously? u pay thousands for such a stupid "bug". pfff... whatever.

    well anyway - it worked for me - thanks a lot anyway :)
  • lil john · 4 months ago
    hey can someone tell me how im supposed to find this cord that i have to wiggle!!!!!!!!????????
  • skater4shreder · 4 months ago
    can someone tell me where this wiglin takes place!
  • Celeste · 3 months ago
    You guys are awesome!! The wiggle thing worked for me, too. Thanks a bunch. I was def. getting a bit irritated. :P
  • Name · 3 months ago
    Oddly enough, the toothpick and a gentle probing at the back of the jack worked for me. It's eerie.
  • Alain · 3 months ago
    YESSSSSSSSSSSS !!!
    thx :)))
    my speakers are siging again lol
    the wiggling thing worked I was using an ipod headphones,
    I just pulled it off very gentelly and wiggled until I heard them back so I turned the volume up and it's working now
    thx again :)
    Alain
  • skaupert · 3 months ago
    And wiggling worked. But only in the audio-in jack. Not in the headphone jack.
  • dave284 · 2 months ago
    Same symptoms for my Macbook also.
    Tried the audio file delete and reboot.
    Tried the cotton bud.
    Tried the paper clip.
    Tried the rapid insert/withdraw.
    Tried the tooth pick method using a wooden kebab scewer>>>
    YEEEHAAA!
    Worked for me poking it in at 3 o'clock position about 1/3 in.
    My life is better now I have found the t-spot.
  • Name · 2 months ago
    hoo-ray for wiggling toothpicks! thanks!
  • Name · 2 months ago
    When I plugged in my earphones, I heard static and crackling, and it stopped period. Now my speakers don't work, and neither do my earphones :/
    I've tried to plug my earphones in a couple times, and there will be a quick sound of music then it'll stop.
    I've tried wiggling and whatnot, and I read this, and noticed that people talked about a "red light" I don't see a red light.
    Am I in a situation where I need to send it out for help? :/
  • brentspore · 2 months ago
    Yeah, that sounds like a loose wire or connection. Something different than what the above stuff is. Time for a call to the Genius Bar? :)
  • Name · 2 months ago
    Ah, what a bummer :/
    Oh well, I'll get that checked out tomorrow, thanks though (:
  • Gillian · 1 week ago
    someone help me!! i can't even try the wiggle option because i can't even plug anything in to the jack. it looks like there is a piece of metal inside. i can only get the headphones about half way in.
    there isn't a red light either.
  • brentspore · 1 week ago