Symptom
After installing Mac OS X 10.1.2 through 10.1.5, you may encounter a sound delay with these characteristics:
- Sounds are produced several seconds later than they should be. The delays average three to four seconds.
- During that delay, the pointer appears as a spinning disc.
- If you immediately reactivate the sound, there is no delay.
- If no sounds are produced for 30 seconds, the delay reoccurs.
This may affect, for example, an alert sound, or the sound that is played when the application Mail receives new email.
Solution
In order to increase battery life, Mac OS X versions 10.1.2 through 10.1.5 turn off your computer's sound hardware when it is not used for 30 seconds. The delay in hearing sounds is the time it takes for the sound hardware to go from its low power mode to sound production.
One way to avoid this issue is by using external USB speakers.
With Mac OS X 10.2 or later, you can set Energy Saver preferences' "Optimize Energy Settings:" for battery to Highest Performance.