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Model A1419 / EMC 3070 / Mid 2017 / 3.4, 3.5 or 3.8 GHz Core i5 or 4.2 GHz Core i7 Kaby Lake Processor (ID iMac18,3) / Retina 5K display. Refer to the older iMac Intel 27" Retina 5K Display (Late 2014 & 2015) guides as the system is very similar.

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2017 27" iMac Not Recognizing built in speakers

UPDATE: I disconnected the headphone flex from the logic board and now my built-in speakers work. See thread below for my theory.

I have a 2017 27" iMac. It does not play sound through the speakers. It does play sound through the headphone jack.

The sound preferences only show Headphone as an available output - no built-in speaker option to select. This leads me to believe that the headphone jack might be "stuck" and fooling the computer into thinking something is plugged in.

If I connect headphones they go in normally and play sound normally. When I remove the headphones it does not bring back the built-in speaker. I've tried aggressively plugging and unplugging the headphones in case that might dislodge or correct the problem if it is a mechanical issue.

I've tried resetting the PRAM and that did result in a startup chime booming from the built-in speakers at startup. However, upon booting the issue was not resolved - headphones is the only output available.

I'm in the process of updating the software but am not confident this will fix it.

Does anyone have any tips or things to check?

Answer this question I have this problem too

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Try starting in Safe Mode by holding down the Shift Key on start up. This will tell you if an extension is causing this.

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I'm not sure what the "normal" behavior should be but here's what I am seeing after fully updating to the latest macOS Ventura 13.4.1c, zapping the PRAM, and resetting the SMC:

1. Boot Chime plays through built-in speakers upon initial power on.

2. Once logged in, Headphone icon appears in menu bar (with or without headphones installed).

3. In Sound Preferences - The only output device listed is "Headphones" and Input Device only lists "External Microphone".

4. When Safe Booted, Sound Preferences shows "No audio output devices found", same with Inputs.

My plan is to pull the screen off again (had this apart for an unrelated issue already) and disconnect the headphone jack entirely. If the built-in speakers and mics start to work then I think that the headphone jack is confirmed bad. It may be that we just leave it like that as I doubt the headphone jack will ever be used. Bluetooth headphones more likely.

Stay tuned...

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I think you nailed it as a bad headphone socket. Within the socket is a set of switches which when resetting normally send the signal to the speakers, but when you push in a headphone plug it causes the switches to disable the speaker and give the headphone the signal.

The only other possibility is the sockets ribbon cable got damaged. Review this guides Step 52 where you can see the cable in question iMac 27" 2017 Blade SSD Replacement, sorry we don’t have a better guide for this.

Update (07/19/23)

Here’s what is going on within the socket!

Block Image

Hopefully this helps you see the issue is within the socket.

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As noted in my reply to @mayer, my plan is to try disconnecting the headphone jack from the logic board. If the built-in speakers work then I think we can conclude the jack is the culprit. If the speakers still don't work then maybe it's board related. I have recently had a startup crash issue repaired by someone who does microsoldering so not going to rule out that he might have affected part of the audio circuit somehow.

Stay tuned.

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@larry767 - Well… I wish it was so simple😩😖

If you disconnect the socket the speakers loose there connection too!

Reference Step 52 in this guide iMac 27" 2017 Blade SSD Replacement sorry we don’t have a guide for the headphone jack. I would just get the part iMac 27" Headphone Socket and Cable first, then carefully disconnect the systems cable and plug in the spare that way to can easily tell the jack is good or bad, as the temp use of the replacement forwards the signal to the speakers.

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@danj "If you disconnect the socket the speakers loose there connection too!" This is NOT TRUE.

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@larry767 - Think it like a hall light switch where you have a switch at the top and bottom of the stairs.

Now if you switch is failing on at the top stair landing disconnecting it would still allow the down stairs switch to continue to work lighting the light? That’s the rub here as well! A three-way switch carries load for the other switch too! I’ll look for the diagram I have on what happens within the jack socket as then you can see these same switches doing the same thing just a lot smaller!

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@danj I disconnected the headphone flex and now the built-in speakers are enabled again. So, my theory is that there has been a mechanical (or electrical) failure of the circuit that detects when headphones are inserted. In this case, the machine thinks there are always headphones inserted and (correctly) disables the built in speakers.

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Yes the jack socket is the failure! The switch is no longer shorting out so the logic is telling you the internal speakers are working, but are they really? I don’t think the analog signal is getting to them.

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I just experienced similar to this on my imac 2017 where I was replacing the psu.. the headphones were constantly showing on macos..now with the screen off I unplugged the headphone jack and voila, speakers are working fine again, output works and all..

so, if you have a broken headphone jack and don't want to replace it, just unplug it and your speakers should still work

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Larry Jorgenson will be eternally grateful.
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