I got my M1 Macbook Air right at release in 2020, and over the past year or two I’ve noticed that the sound quality on it has gotten progressively worse and worse.
I long suspected it was because of dust/dirt/debris in the tiny little speaker holes, but I long dreaded taking the machine apart to try to clean them out.
Finally fed up with hardly any sound coming out of the right side, and deteriorating sound quality/loudness from the left side, I Googled and found many people suggested using a new toothbrush to clean out debris.
I spent about 10 minutes and used the light from my phone to see which holes looked blocked. After getting as much dirt out as I can, I booted it back up and started playing some music and — WOW.
I had no idea the speakers could get this loud or be this undistorted. Should have done this ages ago. Will hold on to this cleaning toothbrush for future cleanings.