Posted Monday, January 23, 2006

The Definitive, Annoying Fix for the PowerBook G4 Audio-Skipping Problem

The world's eyes may be looking ahead toward the imminent arrival of the MacBook Pro laptops, but many recent PowerBook G4 buyers are still wondering when and if Apple ever plans to fix a serious flaw in its final generation of G4 laptops.

I'm one of them.

The annoying PowerBook audio-echo problem persists. I was hoping Mac OS X 10.4.4 would address it, but it didn't.

I poked around on Apple's support discussion boards, and found some lively conversation on the topic. One user even posted a recording of what the echo sounds like.

In that discussion thread, I found what appears to be Apple's "fix" for the problem: running only one "audio application" at a time.

Great! While we're at it, where's the option to turn off MultiFinder in "the world's most advanced operating system"?

In seriousness, this "fix" does appear to eliminate the annoying echo effect, whose escalating volume came this close to blowing out my very expensive pair of Yamaha studio monitors over the weekend.

Until Apple actually issues a fix for this problem, I discourage the purchase of a PowerBook G4 for any audio applications. And I advise any potential MacBook Pro customers to wait until after the new laptops have shipped and proven themselves free of this scourge before buying.