Apple Music Volume Too Low on Mac? Fix and Boost It

Apple Music is at full volume. Your Mac is at full volume. A song you know should be loud is barely audible, while the same song elsewhere sounds louder. What's going on?

The Music app has a few settings that can lower playback volume, and they're easy to miss. Go through them in order.

1. Check the Music app's own volume slider

The Music app has its own volume slider in the playback controls at the top of the window, separate from your Mac's volume. If it's halfway down, Apple Music will be quieter than everything else. Drag it all the way up.

2. Check Sound Check

Sound Check evens out the loudness of your tracks so you don't get jumps between songs. It does this partly by turning louder tracks down, which can make everything feel quieter.

To check: open Music > Settings > Playback and look at Sound Check.

If it's on, turn it off and play the same song again. Tracks that were being turned down will play at their original level.

3. Check the Music app's sound presets

The Music app has built-in sound presets under Window > Equalizer. Some of them can make playback sound quieter.

If a preset is selected (for example "Spoken Word", "Late Night" or "Small Speakers"), switch it off and compare. "Late Night" in particular evens out loud and quiet parts, which can make music feel flatter and less loud.

4. Check Headphone Safety

If you're using headphones, look in System Settings > Sound for a Headphone Safety or "Reduce loud audio" option. If it's on, macOS limits headphone volume for everything, including Apple Music.

5. Boost Apple Music past 100%

If you've checked everything and Apple Music is still too quiet (a quiet album, a soft recording, or MacBook speakers that just aren't loud enough), a per-app boost helps.

SoundDial lets you boost one app above 100%, up to 200%. Only Apple Music gets louder: Zoom, Slack and your browser stay where they are.

It also works the other way round. If Apple Music is too loud next to a call, lower Apple Music to 25% and leave the call app at 100%. Each app gets its own slider in the menu bar, and you can mute one app with a click. During calls, SoundDial can also do this for you: auto-ducking (on by default) lowers other apps to 30% of their level while a call app such as Zoom or FaceTime uses the microphone, and restores them when the call ends. You can change the level or turn it off in Settings.

SoundDial, a per-app volume mixer for Mac, is €14.99 one-time purchase on the Mac App Store, no subscription, and needs macOS 14.2 or later. Get SoundDial on the Mac App Store.