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Comment by fabioborellini | Hacker News Reader

Apple can't perform well with audio on Apple Silicon, either. In 2025 macos is the only OS with audio cracking appearing with CPU load. Even Linux is better

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Yeah, this is a regression since macOS Tahoe. Amazing that it still exists after several patch releases, is audio working not a basic test case for Apple?

I’ve found it to be worst when using Xcode / simulator and having headphones on for music.

sudo killall coreaudiod seems to fix it for a while.

> sudo killall coreaudiod seems to fix it for a while

For me this fixes it for about 30 minutes then I have to do it again… and again… and again…

I wonder why some folks need to do it more than others

It's ludicrous. I remember when Apple took pride in the audio never stopping. Once a very long time ago my entire Mac froze, even the Force Touch trackpad was unresponsive, but the music kept playing. Now, press Volume Up and the audio stutters. Or AirPods randomly get choppy and then stop playing until you reconnect them. The heck?

To add insult to injury, I recently connected my headphones to my Windows gaming PC.

Sounded absolutely amazing, no skipping or crackling no matter what I was doing on the PC, nor how heavy I was cranking it. Quality was better than on macOS as well.,

My M1 sounded like an AM radio when driving the same headphones using the same software (Spotify lossless).

I've had it since the first macOS that shipped with my M1 Pro MacBook!

I don't think it's CPU-based, but I've always had an issue with my AirPods Max on my iPhone with audio cracking (my AirPods Pro work fine, and the Max works fine with my Mac)

I only have it when iphone simulator is running and using the same audio output.

Personally not experienced this. However, continuity camera seems to have gotten more unstable over the past months for me.

That drives me nuts. It happens more in my AirPod pros and gen 4 AirPods.

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