
I have a pair of Beats Solo2 headphones, and while this isn’t the place to review them, one nice feature is that they have a detachable cable. It’s also difficult to plug the headphones in without getting fingerprint smudges on the screen. Since the iMac is so thin and light, you’re guaranteed to shift the screen every time you do this, and I always feel like I’m going to knock it over. The problem with this design is that you have to reach behind the iMac every time you want to connect or disconnect headphones. This puzzling decision can only be chalked up to Apple’s Ive mind, which often prioritizes form over function.

It may be a bit too clean.Īs you probably know, all the iMac’s ports are in the back of the machine, including the headphone port. The problem with my iMac isn’t a broken part, but it’s a design flaw that’s even more annoying.Īn Inconvenient Port - The iMac with 5K Retina display is a work of art, with its huge, crisp screen and clean design. Thankfully, plugging in and removing headphones reset the switch each time thereafter on the MacBook Pro. The problem bit me a few more times, even with the new logic board. A few days later, I had a new logic board, and I was mostly good again.
Sound siphon alternative pro#
But my MacBook Pro was still covered under AppleCare, so I brought it in for service. Unfortunately, none of these worked for me.

Remove the plug and the switch flips the internal speakers back on. Plug in your headphones and the switch triggers, shuts off the Mac’s internal speakers, and outputs sound to your headphones.

The source of the problem, as Chris Breen once explained in Macworld, is that inside every Mac’s headphone port is a small sensor switch that detects when you insert a plug. I’ve owned dozens, maybe even hundreds, of devices with such a port, dating back to the 1980s, and have never had a problem with one, except for my two Macs: a 2011 MacBook Pro and a brand-new iMac with Retina 5K display. But they all have one common part that has given me more trouble than any other: the blasted 3.5 mm headphone port. #1671: Apple Q3 2023 earnings, new Beats headphones and earbuds, Stage Manager adoption rate, do you use Spotlight?Īpple has the most beautiful, well-designed lineup of desktop and laptop computers ever made.1672: The hidden power of Google Sheets, Launchpad usage levels, Emergency SOS via satellite in the Maui fires, do you use proxy icons?.

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