How to Turn on the Mac Startup Sound - Krazy Ken's Tech Talk

Apple brought back the Mac startup sound, but it sounds… different? Today, we'll take a listen, and show you how to re-enable the sound on your Mac! Check below for the Terminal command and more…

UPDATE: in macOS 11 Big Sur, Apple has officially implemented an option to turn the startup sound on or off.

Krazy Ken's Tech Talk - How to Turn on the Mac Startup Sound

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Terminal Command: sudo nvram StartupMute=%00
NOTE: This command did not work in our macOS Mojave test. You'll likely need the latest macOS 10.15.x (Catalina) update for this to work!

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#KrazyKen #ComputerClan

[totallyFad]

I made the tweet that popularized the command. Totally didn't expect the response it had.

[cnugent]

I don't get why everyone started disabling the startup sound, it always felt nice hitting the power button and hearing the startup sound. for some reason it's disabled by default on Windows 10 as well

[sternkrieger]

The chime sound has always stayed the same since the Macintosh Centris in 1993 (with few exceptions), but gotten progressively lower in pitch. Not a surprised to hear the new chime even lower. Soon it will just sound like a demon growling, hah!

[dosdude]

The reason for the different sounding chime on the 2018 models (and later) is actually not intentional by design. It is actually a side effect of the (extremely poorly executed) implementation of the useless T2 "security" chip. It actually handles part of the audio circuitry for some reason (poor implementation, as I said), and is what causes that different sound. Because the sound plays so early in the boot process (and Apple never really intended these machines to have a boot chime in the first place), the T2 is in some weird state causing the audio to become distorted.

[notleks]

Just tried this on my 2019 iMac.


I actually just shed a tear. It’s so nice hearing that again.

[annjrue]

I use an 09 MacBook everyday, so I haven't missed it. Glad it's back, though!

[ikea_human]

I have a MacBook Pro 13 inch model 2019 and this is my first MacBook and I’m so happy that Im finally able to listen to a slightly modified start up chime! Edit: Well hello many likes!

[stinkertonsden]

Just did this on my 13" 2019 MBP. I'm so happy the ROM hum is back, but it's really quiet on mine.

[PromotingTheBeat]

I've never lost the sound on my iMac 23in 2013.

I personally would like to have the sounds from MacOS 9 to be honest. All the meep and dings, all that stuff.

[albamoreiraformiga]

I love the chime, for me is like the computer equivalent of a Lion’s roar

[TheSpiritingPoet]

Ken, you are God now. This has universally improved Mac user morale by 400%.

[doublecontralto]

The old school 68k Macs had the chime in C Major, then throughout the PPC era it moved from A Flat to G and finally to G Flat, earlier Intel Macs we're usually in F Major, and now we're in E. Soon it's going to come full circle and we'll be back to the original C Major chime again.

[_C_FL]

This made me so happy. Thanks for sharing! Now we just need code to make the logo light up again 😉

[ColaCannon]

I can't count how many times I watched this video and thought about how good the new sound is

[silentsiIver]

Great video, Ken! It’s amazing how Apple would allow this feature.

[liminalsunset]

The difference in startup chime is probably due to the T2 chip doing DSP.
Most Mac computers with built in speakers have some form of digital signal processing going on, with multiple stages of equalizers and compressors to get better sound out of small speakers and to protect the speakers from being overdriven. In the past this seems to have been done as a part of the AppleHDA kext (there is a directory of "pathmaps" for each Mac model that defines the audio processing) but it wouldn't be surprising if they made this part of the T2 chip audio handling in hardware to save CPU cycles from having to do it in the OS. Of course, the T2 starts up before the Intel processor, so the startup chime gets DSP'ed instead of coming through raw.

[steelsofliquid]

One of the last things I enjoyed on my MacBook Air M1 before I gave it to my older sister.

[ColaCannon]

Alright so I'm not so sure if this works with every older Mac but I'll say it anyway because it worked for me:
If you switch the storage device on an older Mac to a newer SSD and install a newer version of macOS onto it (e.g. Catalina, Big Sur, Monterey), you get the new startup sound.

[MaxOakland]

I’m glad they brought back the bong. I’ve enabled it on my MacBook Pro

I like the way it sounds now. Bassier and deeper

[flatbourd]

Me: grabs MacBook Pro 2017 and running downstairs trying it
Me: now has bong sound