Microphones · 1 minute

Do the microphones actually pick you up?

Record a few seconds at normal speaking distance and listen back. Muffled audio is usually debris in the port rather than a dead microphone — worth knowing, because one is free to fix and the other is part of the top case.

Input level

Not listening

Speak normally. The bar should move clearly without you leaning in — if it barely registers at arm's length, something is wrong.

Record and listen back

3 seconds, played straight back. This is the check that finds muffling and hiss, which no meter will show you.

How did the playback sound?

Worth buying alongside it

The bits and pieces most second-hand Macs turn up without

Back Market — Refurbished MacBooksA marketplace for second-hand Macs that have been through a refurbisher, if the one in front of you turns out to be a dud.View ›Refurbed — Refurbished MacBooksMuch the same idea, mostly European stock. Worth comparing against the others before you commit.View ›Samsung T7 Shield Portable SSDStorage on an Apple Silicon Mac is soldered down, so a 256GB machine stays a 256GB machine. An external drive is the way around it.View ›

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