Fix: HDMI Sound Not Working Mac

Many iFolks are having a problem while attaching a TV via HDMI cable to their MacBook Pro. The connection shows up a perfect picture. However, the sound does not go through the TV speakers. Instead, it goes through the MacBook speakers. When users are trying to adjust the settings (in Preferences > Sound > Output), there is no option to select the HDMI output, just the internal speakers. This problem happens on various TVs (Samsung, Panasonic, Vizio, Element, Sony).

Note: If you are using MacBook Pro which is older than the mid-2010 model, keep in mind that it does not support passing audio through the Mini Display Port.

Fix #1: Select Your TV as a Sound Output Device

1. Press and hold the Option key on the keyboard and click on the speaker icon in the Mac menu bar (in the top right corner of your screen).
2. From the drop-down menu choose your HDMI–connected TV.

Now, test if this solved your problem. If it didn’t, check the following method.

Fix #2: Adjust System Preferences

1. Click the Apple icon on your Mac menu bar, and choose System Preferences.
2. Now click the Sound icon.
3. From the 3 tabs available (Sound Effects, Output, and Input), choose Sound Effects.
4. Somewhere in the middle of the window in the “Play sound effects through” section, click the drop–down, and choose your TV.
   
5. Next, select the middle tab – Output.
6. Select your TV in the section “Select a device for sound output.”
   
7. Now, use either Finder or Launchpad to navigate to Applications > Utilities > Audio MIDI Setup, and double-click on it to open.
   
8. On the left side of the window, you should now see HDMI. Somewhere in the middle of the window, in the Output tab, where you see “Source:” choose your TV from the drop-down list.
9. If you cannot see a speaker icon next to HDMI in the list on the left, do the following:
   1. Select the wheel icon with a down-pointing triangle in the bottom left window.
   2. Make sure sound output is selected, and you can see the speaker icon next to HDMI in the list of devices.
      
10. If you still cannot hear sound from your TV, log out of your account on your MacBook Pro, and then log back in. You should now have audio coming out of your TV from your MacBook.
    

Fix #3: Set Format to 41000.00Hz

1. Navigate to Applications (Go > Applications).
2. Open Utilities and double–click on MIDI Setup.
3. Select the HDMI device on the left panel, and change the “Format” values to 00Hz.

Note: You may have to do some or all of the above steps to get sound coming out of your TV when connected using a DisplayPort-to-HDMI cable to your MacBook Pro.

Now make sure you let us know which method worked for you in the comment section below. It would be a great help to our readers.

Fix #4: Power Cycling both Devices

If none of the methods work, then we can attempt at power cycling our devices. There are numerous instances where either of the device involved could be in an error configuration which might be glitching the HDMI sound. Power cycling would force both devices to reset their configurations and in most cases, solve the problem.

1. Shut down each of your devices completely by powering them down completely.
2. Now, plug out their power supply and press and hold the power button for 3-5 seconds.
3. Plug everything back in and check if the issue is resolved for good.

Fix #5: Turning off Monitor

Another workaround that worked for a number of people was simply turning off the monitor and then turning it back on. This is a quick workaround but seemed to work for a number of people. Here, users reported that simply turning off the monitor while the MacBook was working solved the problem for them. Make sure that you keep the HDMI cable connected throughout.