External microphone audio recording on MacBook Pro Mid-2015

I'm trying to use a RØDE smartLav+ Lavalier microphone with my MacBook Pro.

The MBP is a Retina Mid-2015 (running macOS 10.14.6) and has a single port for both audio output (headphones) and input (microphone).

The microphone has a TRRS connector (audio jack) identical to the iPhone's headphones with microphone.

If I plug the iPhone's headphones into the mac it recognizes a microphone is present; I can see that in System Preferences > Sound: sound input is "External Microphone".

If I plug the RØDE microphone it is not detected: sound input remains "Integrated Microphone"

Interesting enought if plug the RØDE microphone into an iPhone it does record audio.

Finally this microphone is detected by Mid-2012 MacBook Pro (by plugging it in the headphones port, not the microphone port; the 2012 has both)

Is there anything I can do to let my Mid-2015 MPB recognize the RØDE microphone and let me record from it?

Solution 1:

I got in touch with RØDE support that replied

SmartLav+ is not compatible with the newer (2015 - onwards) models of the Macbook as it has a different threshold for it's input recognition compared to a smartphone or tablet device

Actually compatibility with MacBook Pro (or laptops) is not mentioned in their product's specification sheet, it's designed for smarphones and tablets.

It turns out that the MacBook Pro 2015 audio port is not compatible with many microphones despite the TRRS audio jack.

For anyone that experience this issue I suggest doing the recording with a iPhone (put it in Airplane Mode during the session) then sending the audio file to the mac via iCloud drive.