How to restore the classic Mac startup chime to Apple's new 2016 MacBook Pros

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  • Reply 21 of 44
    eyekey said:
    Whenever I have to reboot and my girlfriend is already sleeping, the chime wakes her up. So I leave the room for rebooting. I do not give one f that the sound is gone. And the "Happy Face"? Come on. It is super ugly.

    "my girlfriend," "happy face," and "super ugly" shouldn't go together in one post.
  • Reply 22 of 44

    Great it can be restored - big fuss about nothing.

    I personally need the chime, because WALL-E :)

    lighteningkid
  • Reply 23 of 44
    mac_128mac_128 Posts: 3,454member
    spheric said:
    Donvermo said:
    I wonder why they chose to remove it. It is not like people reboot their MacBooks constantly throughout the day that it would be a problem. Granted it takes up space while it isn't being used often. Software real estate is the cheapest one we have and keeping an old but nostalgic reference to the machine's origins seems like just that small dot on the I that adds the emotional attachment to the machine many of us share. It will certainly be missed.
    Because of auto-boot on lid-open or being connected to power. The books no longer have a power switch. You really, really, don't want to open your 'book in a meeting or a seminar, only to have it BOOOOONG at everyone. 

    I'm going to miss it, though it's nice to know that the sound is still there in the ROM. 
    Agreed. But I still have to wonder ... Where's the "courage" in disabling it, only to leave the sound file behind? ;-)
  • Reply 24 of 44
    Doesn't work. Sorry.

    I have a brand new MBP 13" (the one without touch bar) in front of me, and sadly, that Terminal command does absolutely nothing. Yes, I've checked that the volume is actually turned up. :-)
  • Reply 25 of 44
    knowitallknowitall Posts: 1,648member
    This is something from prehistoric times, so I'm glad this relic is gone, keep it so.
    Plus, notebooks never reboot, even my 2009 iMac is always on.
  • Reply 26 of 44
    I couldn't be happier that this is gone. I always seem to need to boot my computer when silence is preferred. I turned the chime off permanently on my MacMini but my work laptop (MBP) is only ever booted into Win 10. I'm not my password would even work in the Mac partition. :/ 

    I'll try holding Mute down. Glad to hear that's an option.
  • Reply 27 of 44
    dewmedewme Posts: 5,328member
    First they do away with the 3.5mm headphone jack on iPhone and now this! I think I'm going back to my Commodore 64 and B&W television. 
  • Reply 28 of 44
    The startup sound has existed on every Mac since the very first model in 1984. The exact sound/note has varied over the years, but it's always existed. Amazed how many stories about its removal in new MBPs get this wrong.
  • Reply 29 of 44
    spheric said:
    Donvermo said:
    I wonder why they chose to remove it. It is not like people reboot their MacBooks constantly throughout the day that it would be a problem. Granted it takes up space while it isn't being used often. Software real estate is the cheapest one we have and keeping an old but nostalgic reference to the machine's origins seems like just that small dot on the I that adds the emotional attachment to the machine many of us share. It will certainly be missed.
    Because of auto-boot on lid-open or being connected to power. The books no longer have a power switch.
    If the power switch is gone, how do you turn it on once you disable autoboot?

    edit: There is, in fact, a power switch; it's integrated with the Touch ID sensor. https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201150
    edited October 2016
  • Reply 30 of 44
    zeus423zeus423 Posts: 230member
    eyekey said:
    Whenever I have to reboot and my girlfriend is already sleeping, the chime wakes her up. So I leave the room for rebooting. I do not give one f that the sound is gone. And the "Happy Face"? Come on. It is super ugly.
    He forgot a word: my "imaginary" girlfriend
  • Reply 31 of 44
    jeffdmjeffdm Posts: 12,951member
    wiggin said:
    Luckily it can all be reversed, but it should be a preference in the System Preference UI, not terminal commands. If I want my computer to boot I'll tell it to boot, and it won't always be when I open the lid or plug in the power.
    I get what you're saying but I think what they did makes sense too. Why would you do either without planning to turn on the computer, assuming the computer is off?
  • Reply 32 of 44
    sphericspheric Posts: 2,544member
    dshanah said:
    The startup sound has existed on every Mac since the very first model in 1984. The exact sound/note has varied over the years, but it's always existed. Amazed how many stories about its removal in new MBPs get this wrong.
    The F-sharp major startup tone has been in use since 1999. It is a pitched version of the early 90s Quadra 840 (IIRC) startup chime, which was created in C major.
  • Reply 33 of 44
    I laughed so much when Wall-e's solar panels had completely charged and that iconic sound chimed in. :-)
  • Reply 34 of 44
    Titanium Software's excellent OnyX.app has for some time offered the capacity to switch the startup sound off/ on on any Mac.  I'm sure the app is simply toggling a parameter in your NVRAM.  The app also allows for manipulation of startup screen message.  Smiley face, I'm afraid, is long gone.  Cheers.
  • Reply 35 of 44
    anomeanome Posts: 1,533member
    spheric said:
    dshanah said:
    The startup sound has existed on every Mac since the very first model in 1984. The exact sound/note has varied over the years, but it's always existed. Amazed how many stories about its removal in new MBPs get this wrong.
    The F-sharp major startup tone has been in use since 1999. It is a pitched version of the early 90s Quadra 840 (IIRC) startup chime, which was created in C major.


    I thought it was C major. Hadn't realised they pitch-shifted it, certainly not that far back. I had a 660AV (the same vintage as the 840), and thought it was still C major then. Oddly enough, I haven't checked the tuning of my Mac start up sounds on a regular basis.

    Not sure how I feel about it going. It's a nicer version of the "Beep" most systems give to indicate a successful POST, and also indicates that it's actually starting. I find with iOS (which doesn't have it), the lag between rebooting and having the Apple logo come up can be misleading. (And yes, I do reboot it quite frequently, as I'm currently trying to troubleshoot an issue with my iPad.)

  • Reply 36 of 44
    sphericspheric Posts: 2,544member
    There is a subtle irony here: the developer who created the C major chime did it because the mathematically perfect Macintosh II chime was full of tritones, i.e. the most disharmonious interval. In 1999, they shift the chime exactly a tritone away from his original pitch. Unproblematic, of course, but it still made me smile.
  • Reply 37 of 44
    mtbnutmtbnut Posts: 199member
    Jobs would have kept the startup chime. Just sayin'.
    edited November 2016
  • Reply 38 of 44
    jpcgjpcg Posts: 114member
    Now I know what to do once I get my new Mac. I am old fashioned that way... Somehow I still don't use Lauchpad (Spotlight FTW), and occasionally I still catch myself 4 finger swiping right for the dashboard :neutral: 
  • Reply 39 of 44
    I remember at some Apple convention, John Sculley once showed a film showing a 'computer book' conception.  When the actor in the film opened the computer book (I think they were sitting on a park bench), it gave the familiar Mac chime even though it seemed nothing like a Mac and everyone in the audience cheered/laughed because it had the same effect as if the Mac chime was hear on a Star Trek computer. 


    Wall-E. Maurizio
  • Reply 40 of 44
    AxelloAxello Posts: 1unconfirmed, member
    To me it feels like Tim, the manager, has the need to leave his marks. Like a dog. On a 32 year old Mac tradition. By killing it. Like he is basically killing the Pro Mac line as well. And boy, is editing this comment an ugly experience on an iPad.
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