PSA: Adobe Premiere Pro CC Bug Can Permanently Damage MacBook Speakers
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An apparent software issue in recent versions of Adobe Premiere Pro may result in blown MacBook Pro speakers, according to several user reports.
The bug in the video editing software was first brought to light by multiple users on the Adobe support forums. Those reports have since been corroborated by various media outlets and Twitter users.
According to those reports, Adobe Premiere Pro will suddenly cause a loud, distorted sound to play through a MacBook Pro’s speakers. That sound, besides being incredibly surprising and frightening, can apparently cause permanent damage to the speakers.
Several users reported that their speakers appeared blown or unusually quiet after the bug. At least one user wrote that their MacBook Pro speakers were “unusable.”
Although it isn’t clear what exactly is causing the issue, it appears that the bug occurred when users were the editing audio settings of a video clip. The bug is seemingly present in both versions 13.0.1 and 13.0.2 of Premiere Pro CC for Mac.
Presently, the issue doesn’t appear to be incredibly widespread. The Adobe support forum post contains about a dozen reports stretching from November 2018 to January.
But if you’re an Adobe Premiere user, you may want to exercise caution until there’s a fix for the bug.
As far as preventative measures, you can simply avoid attempting to edit audio settings until the issue is resolved. That’s a bit inconvenient, of course.
Apparently, an Adobe representative advised users to make sure that their microphone was off when using said audio tools. That can be done by navigating to Preferences > Audio Hardware > Default Input and setting the option to No Input.
That advice is aimed at preventing a feedback loop. But the fact that 2018 15-inch MacBook Pro models are primarily affected may be evidence that a feedback loop is not the issue.
Worse still, the damage to a machine is pretty expensive to fix. A MacRumors tipster told the outlet that a Genius Bar representative gave him a $600 repair quote to fix the blown speakers. The price is high because the repairs require that a MacBook Pro’s entire top case assembly to be swapped for a new one.
