Skip to main content

New MacBook Pro ditches the start-up chime, but there’s a way to get it back

chrome 60 brings touch bar support apple macbook pro op ed
Image used with permission by copyright holder
Over the past few months, we’ve seen Apple remove the headphone port from the iPhone and the function keys from its new MacBook Pro. Now there’s word that the company has eliminated another longstanding component of its flagship laptop — the famous Mac start-up chime.

Macs have made a chiming noise at start-up since the 1980s, and since 1999 the sound has been a standard F-sharp major chord across all of Apple’s computers. The chime was memorably featured in Pixar’s Wall-E, serving as the start-up tone for the titular robot.

Recommended Videos

The new range of MacBook Pro systems will not use the iconic start-up chime by default, according to a report from Pingie. However, there is a good reason for the change — the laptop doesn’t initialize in the same way that its predecessors did.

Please enable Javascript to view this content

The new MacBook Pro actually turns itself on if the lid is opened while the system is switched off, as per reporting by 9to5Mac. Waking the computer from sleep mode and turning it on by opening the lid are apparently only differentiated by a few seconds of loading, making the sound effect seem a little superfluous.

As such, it’s easy to see why Apple decided that the classic chime had to go. Opening your laptop in the middle of a meeting, only to have the rest of the room hear the sound is perhaps not the best possible user experience.

Fortunately enough for any Mac traditionalists, there is a way to reactivate the start-up chime on Apple’s new hardware. Users only need to enter a relatively simple string into the Terminal app to put things back the way they were, according to a guide from Pingie.

For now, the start-up chime hasn’t been erased entirely — but it certainly seems like it’s being phased out.

Brad Jones
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Brad is an English-born writer currently splitting his time between Edinburgh and Pennsylvania. You can find him on Twitter…
It could be a long while before we get an OLED MacBook Air
The MacBook Air on a table in front of a window.

Everyone is waiting for Apple to bring OLED displays to MacBooks, and we're expecting an OLED MacBook Pro in the next couple of years. The MacBook Air, however, may remain OLED-less even in 2027, according to a new tip from Korean outlet The Elec.

Instead, it seems Apple has begun developing a different kind of screen upgrade for the 2027 Air -- an oxide thin-film transistor (TFT) liquid crystal display (LCD). The inferior screen is often people's biggest complaint about the MacBook Air series, so any improvement will likely be welcome, but it's definitely a shame that OLED still seems to be out of reach.

Read more
Sony’s flip-up XR headset costs even more than an Apple Vision Pro
Sony's SRH-S1 held in a hand at CES 2025.

Sony is one of the biggest names in VR gaming with the popular PlayStation VR2. Now it’s launching a high-end XR headset with specifications that rival the Apple Vision Pro. To be clear, this isn’t the Sony XYN headset powered by Google's new Android XR, and it won’t connect to a PlayStation 5. It’s aimed at enterprise customers that design products, and it costs even more than the ultra-premium Vision Pro.

Priced at $4,750, the Sony SRH-S1 is a powerful system with integrated hardware and software, a flip-up visor, and unique controllers optimized for manipulating virtual 3D objects. Being able to lift the visor for face-to-face conversations is convenient. The halo strap design also removes all facial pressure. A ring on one finger lets you grasp items, and a 3D stylus that looks like something from a sci-fi movie allows precise adjustments.

Read more
LG’s new Gram Pro finally looks like a serious MacBook Pro rival
An LG Gram laptop on a table.

Just ahead of CES, LG has announced a refresh to its Gram Pro lineup, as well as launched a budget-friendly Gram Book. The tweaked Gram Pro laptops are the most exciting, though, with the the LG Gram Pro 17 catching my eye.

First off, it's been thinned out a bit, dropping down to 0.62 inches thick, which is almost the same thickness as the 16-inch MacBook Pro. The LG Gram Pro 17 is also a full pound and a half lighter than the MacBook Pro, both of which are striving to be one of the best laptops you can buy.

Read more