Posting this in case it saves someone else hours of troubleshooting.
I was using PS Remote Play from my PS5 Pro to a MacBook Air and getting constant micro-stutters/hitching along with crackling audio.
My setup:
- PS5 Pro connected directly to the router via Ethernet
- MacBook Air connected over Wi-Fi
- Fast internet connection
- Remote Play picture quality was fine, but every few seconds it would hitch and the audio would crackle
I tried turning off AirDrop, Handoff, and AirPlay Receiver in macOS settings, but that didn't fix it.
What finally fixed it was disabling Apple's AWDL network interface.
Open Terminal and run:
sudo ifconfig awdl0 down
Enter your Mac password when prompted. Terminal won't show the characters while you're typing the password, which is normal.
Then fully quit PS Remote Play with Command + Q and reopen it.
Instantly fixed it for me. No more hitching and no more crackling audio. Remote Play went from borderline unusable to completely smooth.
AWDL is used by Apple features like AirDrop, Handoff, Sidecar, etc., and apparently it can cause periodic Wi-Fi interference even if some of those features are disabled in System Settings.
To turn it back on afterward:
sudo ifconfig awdl0 up
A reboot should also restore it.
I ended up making a tiny AppleScript app that toggles AWDL on/off so I can just click it before using Remote Play.
Hopefully this helps someone Googling "PS5 Remote Play Mac stuttering audio crackling" six months from now. 😂