Apple killed the iconic Mac startup chime sound when it refreshed its MacBook Pro lineup in 2016. The move made sense since newer MacBooks tend to automatically boot up when their lid is opened. Since then though, all new Macs barring the 2017 MacBook Air don’t have the startup chime. If you miss the classic Mac startup chime, you can enable it by following the steps in this guide.
When Apple got rid of the startup chime from its Mac lineup, many people believed that the company had deleted the sound from the system entirely as well and that there was no easy way of turning it back on. A method to enable the chime was discovered later on but it quickly stopped working a few months later.
The startup chime has been around since 1984 and many people are quite attached to it. You must watch the video interview below of the original creator of the Mac startup chime, where he talks about its demise & more.
The good news is that the startup chime is still there and one can enable it on your new Macs in just a couple of easy steps.
How to Enable the Startup Chime on MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, iMac, iMac Pro
Follow these steps to enable the iconic startup chime on your Mac.
Step 1: Open the Terminal app on your Mac.
Step 2: Now, simply copy-paste the below command and press the Return key after that:
sudo nvram StartupMute=%00
You will have to enter your Mac’s password for verification purposes. After this, you can reboot your Mac and listen to the startup chime.
In case you decide you want to disable the startup chime, open Terminal and run the below command:
sudo nvram StartupMute=%01
The next time you boot your Mac, the startup chime will be gone.
One interesting thing to note about the startup chime as reported by Mr Macintosh is that it is a bit different on newer MacBook Pro models featuring a T2 chip.
Did you miss the iconic startup chime on your Mac? Are you glad that it can now be enabled once again? Drop a comment and let us know!
