Dictation not working after installing Sonoma 14.7

My customers have been running into this also. While I will admit that I don't have a clear reason why, we seem to have figured a work around. Try following these steps:

1: Go into System Settings > Keyboard and disable Dictation. Slide the slider to the left.

2: Reboot the Mac

3: After the reboot, go to an app that you want to dictate to. I commonly have users use something simple like TextEdit or Messages.

4: Press the F5 key (if you have a keyboard with the microphone icon on it) or hit the Fn key twice (if you have a Touch Bar) to trigger Dictation. You should see this window:

5: Press OK which should prompt for:

6: Press Enable.

This process appears to be working to get Dictation running again. We've seen this across a wide variety of devices, users, and customers. Again, not 100% sure of the cause but I suspect a Transparency, Consent, and Control (TCC) setting change happened in 14.7. Can't prove it. Just suspect it.

Hope this works for you.

Hi,

I am experiencing the exact same behavior after updating to Sonoma 14.7

Have spent, since then, several hours with 5 different Apple Senior Advisors on the phone, following their instructions to try to fix this. I really appreciate the dedication of Apple employees in offering support, but at a certain point I think they should just admit there is nothing to do left, but escalate this to the development team :)).

I have also opened a ticket in Feedback Assistant, and I'm just waiting for a public release that will fix this.

HOWEVER, the silver lining to this bug is that okclem came up with this brilliant workaround by suggesting using the mic on my headphones. So, with my Apple EarPods, the Dictation is finally back!! Thanks a lot, okclem!

Take care, everyone!

[Edited by Moderator]

just updated today and started experiencing symptoms and issues similar to those others have reported, including Siri not launching when I click on the icon. I spent several hours with a Senior Advisor, trying various Siri and Dictation settings, but nothing worked. Initially, she thought the issue was with Siri not functioning properly, which in turn affected Dictation. However, when I first set up my MacBook Air in 2018, I skipped the "Hey Siri" setup and have been able to use Dictation without issues ever since.

The problem only started after upgrading to Sonoma 14.7.1. Before ending the call, I remembered seeing something about adding EarPods, though I only have standard earpieces. I connected them to my Mac, double-clicked the keyboard shortcut that I've set up for Dictation, and it started working again. I noticed that you don’t have to speak directly into the microphone—just plug it into your Mac, leave it on the table, and Dictation will transcribe as you speak.

After checking comments from other users, I saw a few mentioned using this same technique. It worked for them too. Thanks okclem and alexcosmix.

As of 6th December 2024, my understanding is that Apple is not planning to fix this issue in Sonoma. Out of all the many helpful suggestions and work-arounds, the only one that has worked for me, and for many others, is to buy a cheap, external, wired microphone if you haven't already got one, and plug it into the headphone socket whenever you need to dictate.

I'd prefer a systematic fix to a work-around, but for me this has brought back the dictation feature to my MacBook Air for the price of a decent cup of coffee. Many thanks to the people who discovered this solution and shared it here.

Today's update to Sonoma 14.7.2 (17th December 2024) has restored the dictation feature for me, without the need for an external microphone. Many thanks to everyone contributing to this welcome development!

Thank you @okclem. I've now bought a very basic little clip-on external microphone, intended for karaoke, for £4 online! Plugged it into the headphone socket, changed input in the settings from internal to external, and bingo, the dictation feature works again at long last. I agree that a few Mac users sharing a clumsy workaround like this among ourselves isn't really a solution, but I'm relieved to once again have something that at least works.

I confirm that dictation can work in 14.7.2. however, only after you change microphone source from "automatic computer audio input" to "MacBook Pro microphone". I had not tried this with 14.7.1, so I cannot verify that it fails with that version. MacBook Pro M3 Pro.

Hi Ryan, the work-around that many of us are using is to plug any kind of external microphone into the headphone socket and use that instead of the internal one. Bizarrely this seems to work when all the other suggestions have failed. I've let Apple Accessibility know, and they have passed the message on to the appropriate engineers. Still hoping for a proper solution!

I just got off Apple Support with the same problem. Try System Settings > Keyboard > Dictation > Shortcut > Press Control Key Twice — that's what you must do to dictate. Apple is becoming more and more like Windows. We have to remember all these Keyboard Commands. Thankfully, on the iPhone Dictation remains the default setting.

The WORKAROUND of a cheap external headset with microphone plugged into the headphone jack of my MacBook Air works for me as a solution to this Dictation problem. But I would prefer having the built-in mic working properly. Less is more.

Good news indeed: the 14.7.2 update fixed the Dictation issue! Most pleased.

As I wrote in my reply today, the update to Sonoma 14.7.2 came with a fix for the Dictation issue.

Cheers!

Try restarting your computer and ensuring that your microphone is working properly. If that doesn't help, try disabling and re-enabling dictation in the settings, or check for any pending system updates that might fix the issue.

Yes, mine was also fixed today after updating to Sonoma 14.7.2. Finally, all our efforts and posts have reached their attention. Hopefully, no further issues arise with future updates—they should ensure that all necessary applications work properly with older versions. I see many people who rely heavily on the Dictation program, and when it doesn't work for them, it becomes a significant problem. I feel sorry for them and hope they see this update post and that Sonoma 14.7.2 works for them as well.

Hey guys,

I'm happy to share with you all that the Dictation issue is now fixed, after updating to Sonoma 14.7.2 :)

Thanks a lot Apple for fixing the issue!

Take care everyone, and be kind :)