Apple put an end to the classic Mac startup chime in 2016. Now a simple line of code in Terminal appears to bring this sound back. We show you how.
This is how you can turn on the classic Mac startup sound
If you’ve recently switched to a new iMac or MacBook, you will immediately notice something when you press the power button. The classic sound effect that you hear when you start up a Mac is a thing of the past since 2016. Apple had been using the sound since 1998, so there were a lot of people at the time who thought it was a shame that the company had made this choice.
Apple said it had a good reason: when you open a MacBook from 2016 or newer, it starts up automatically. Older Macs will only wake up from sleep mode when you do this. In principle, this means that you no longer have to press the power button on these newer Macs, but this is at the expense of the startup sound.
Fortunately, a new way has now been found to bring this sound back. The great thing about this is that you don’t have to download anything or install external apps. All you need is a line of code that you paste into the Terminal. This works as follows.
Turn the classic Mac startup sound back on
- Open the Terminal app on your Mac;
- Enter the following line of code and hit enter: sudo nvram StartupMute =% 00;
- Enter your password to make the change;
- Close the Terminal app and restart your Mac.
To hear the sound, your Mac must not have the volume muted. Do you want to turn off the sound after a while? Then you can go through the same steps above but paste the following line of code into Terminal: sudo nvram StartupMute =% 01.
More MacBook tips
Curious about more useful tips & tricks for your MacBook? On iPhone you regularly read practical tips. For example, we explain what to do if your MacBook gets too hot. Have you recently purchased a new MacBook? Read everything you need to know in our Mac beginner’s guide.