iPhone volume is too low

The PLASTIC ISSUE.

Everybody has removed their plastic. If you haven't you probably would think to do so before worrying about the volume. That Apple didn't put a slot in the plastic for the earpiece and the home button so you don't need to buy a screen protector....uhm... whatever. If you didn't remove it and you worry about the volume just take it off, but seriously. It's not that plastic.

Let's take a little lesson from history here.

MacBook : 'MacBook may run warm because rear vent is blocked'. http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=303848

Not saying it happens, but how much quality can be tested when the whole device is locked? Who's to say that the fix isn't fishing a piece of plastic out of the ear slot.

Even if that's not the issue, all kinds of little manufacturing issues occur in any mass produced product. I just hope they fix this before a) China executes somebody like Zheng Xiaoyu (food and drug) or b) Somebody commits suicide because of a defect like Zhang Shuhong (lead in units just below 1 million). On the radio today I heard 'Made in China is becoming a warning label'. I'm all for designed in California. I noticed the made in china part isn't as prominent on some labeling (new iMac keyboard), but that isn't going to solve the problem. There's a quality control issue. For the love of gadgets and money (or whatever people put faith in) remember:"If you want something done right, do it yourself". The way I see it somebody designed the iPhone (you think maybe Jonathan Ive ?) and with the issues going on it seems time somebody takes a 'paid vacation' to China (go johnny go). Before somebody says it, yeah I would go myself.

So there were all these iPhones tested before release. Yeah, because we saw so many people HOLDING IT UP TO THEIR EARS IN PUBLIC before release? I didn't even see it hidden in socks or cases or whatever excuse comes up. Ever notice the sound is fine on the headphones and on a bluetooth headset? How else are you going to slyly hide the phone and test it?

I'd almost rather have voice dialing and call management (stereo audio as well) improved or added on the phone that raising the speaker volume because you know that's mostly a firmware/software issue and in reality nobody outside Apple knows what's going on with the speaker volume. If it doesn't work correctly return it. Don't wait for the mythical firmware. If it's out there don't you think maybe somebody from Apple would have stated something based on the volume of complaints and the prominence the iPhone plays in the media now? You would HOPE that with your customer service rating deteriorating (American Customer Satisfaction Index) when you have one of the most widely covered products in the press now might just be a good time to get back to some good old hands on testing and quality control.

Call AT&T, Call Apple, visit a store, and if you can't get it working take it back. If the display models are louder definitely get it exchanged on the spot.

I hope everybody has this issue remedied to their satisfaction as soon as possible.

Good Luck,
-j

I agree, the vloume is too low and there is another thread on this topic, where people are suggesting that there is a plastic covering. No one could have missed that protective covering, or could they have? It was very obvious as it was wrapped around the entire phone!! Apple has to do something about this, as the phone isn't worth it if one cannot hear..... The speaker phone also needs a fix, I can barely hear it.

I put in a call to applecare and they said it is a hardware issue. Call and send it in for repair. They charge you $30 for a temporary phone while yours is out, the shipping is free though. I hope this helps.

if you call them and give them your credit card they will send a new phone in advance and then let you send yours back in. they wont charge your credit card unless you dont return the one that is broken. This way you do not need to rent a phone from them. I know you can do this because they are doing this exact thing for me.

Andy

Are you sending yours in for repair?

I called Apple and they gave me a case number and told me that they submitted this to engineering and that I would get a call back in a few days, but the Apple-call rep did not offer to take mine in for a overhaul.

I can only use the phone in a very, very quite room if I am on the receiver(speaker that goes up to your ear on the top portion of the phone), and so I hope they will be able to get this fixed.

I am having the same problem with volume on the speaker. When talking on the phone I can only hear the other person if I hold the iPhone directly to my ear and then it's really hard to hear them and this is in a quiet room only. If I use the earphones then I can hear the other person a little better but sound is still very low. I turned up the volume on the phone but it doesn't help.

I guess I'll call Apple and see what they tell me.

Just when I thought everyone knew about the plastic. I guess that you have missed the many posts about this being a real issue.

If it is the plastic I will eat mine, but I am willing to bet it is a very real design (problem) issue that gets fixed somewhere along the way.

I really would like to known how your receiver volume (this is the top internal speaker on the phone) is? Are you happy with it just as it is, or are you waiting like the rest of us for the upgrade to see if it gets fixed?

One person on this forum recently said that Apple Support told him this was the most reported problem with the iPhone.

Please read some of the posts here from the majority that have already removed the plastic and still have the Low Volume problem. I am sure this might discourage you from minimizing what is otherwise a serious problem for a lot of us.

Just my 2 cents.

I tried two phones that came out the first day, and the volumne was terrible! I ended up returning them, but tried the one I ordered directly through AT&T (and couldn't stop from shipping,) and it is a night and day difference. I would highly recommend trying to replace any problem phones with new ones!

Yes, please call Apple and let them know this is a problem for you.

Apple has a very good support team and have most always respond to reasonable problems from my experiences with them.

I know that Steve would not be happy with my iPhone and I can see him now announce at the next Macworld - iPhone Keynote that the volume has been fixed and the crowd will stand and applaud, and well as for us pioneers, yes face it we are pioneers on this one, will have to hope that a fix is forthcoming for us sooner than that, else me and my earbuds are going to have to learn to like each other a lot more than we do now.

Oh, and the plastic police will be run out of town on a rail 🙂

I agree completely. I love my iPhone. It's fantastic. But the volume is way too low. I hope Apple is reading these comments, because this has to be fixed.
I find myself pushing the phone against my ear to hear better. I have never had this problem on any phone I have ever bought. I hope this can be fixed with a software update immediately. It's a real concern.
We all have different levels of hearing and what we are most comfortable with. The iPhone has to accommodate a person's preference for a louder ring and louder volume. Apple, you are to be congratulated for a fantastic new product. But please please please address this volume issue as soon as possible. Thanks.

I find that the vibrate function is a lifesaver. I feel it before I hear the ring. But the real problem I have is the speakerphone volume and the quality of it for the
calling party...

The phone volume to my ear is fine.

But if apple could further tweek the volume , raise it a little that would be great

Definitely if someone didn't take the (extremely obvious) plastic off the phone then that might be part of the problem but that is not what people are talking about here. The iPhone speaker (both of them) are calibrated much too low.

I'm wondering if people who are exchanging phones are really hearing a difference or not. I would guess that all of these phones came off the line in the same batch so the odds that you have a phone with a different component are slim - since you would think that Apple would have "fixed" them all if they knew about the problem beforehand.

My guess is that the repair involves either recalibration (at the hardware level) or exchanging a component on the board itself.

My volume is definitely low and if I have to send it in then I have to send it in but that's a bit of a bummer. Sometimes things can only be fixed via hardware.

There is a plastic sheet covering the screen when it ships. You may be tempted to leave this on to protect the screen, but trust me... the instant you remove it the sound level will increase dramatically. That plastic does a great job of cutting down the sound coming out of the earpiece.

This is so lame to try and pass off a real serious problem with the plastic answer.

Can you point me to say 10 of the 500 or so - poor volume - posts here in the forums that was resolved by taking off the plastic.

If you forgot to take off the plastic, please inclued yourself in that 10.

I don't mean to sound off to anyone about this, but please do not minimize what are real problems for so many of us as such a simple answer, or maybe I'm just all wrong about the entire issue.

Thanks in advance....

I'm now on my second iPhone. I returned my first one and replaced it with my new one. The volume on the new phone is better than the old one I returned, but not by much. However, it was still worth swapping them out.

When the iPhone is placed up to Max volume, it should be so loud that most people would never use it. However, maxing it out makes it just barely usable.

Part of the problem lies with the ridiculous ringtones they put on it. Items such as "Timba" and "Blues" are barely heard on loud. I'd recommend for the time being to play with the diffrent ringers and not pick the one you like to listen to the best, but instead pick the loudest one. I now have mine set to "Trill" which makes quite a difference.

Apple needs to let its users create their own ringtones and/or download alternatives. My previous ringtone was the Imperial March from Star Wars. I chose it because it was powerful and loud which meant I could leave it on the table upstairs, be outside downstairs and still hear it ring. With the iPhone, I had it sitting on my desk at work and couldn't even hear it ring right in front of me on Max volume!!! Thus, providing the users with different ring tones might make a huge difference as well.

I honestly don't know how they can expect the volume to be sufficient when in the Apple store today, there is no way anyone could have heard an iPhone ring. There were at least 100-200 people in the store and with the talking, there is no way anyone could have heard an iPhone ring unless it was on vibrate or they were holding it right next to their ear. Completely unacceptable. What good is a phone if you can't even hear it ring? It's like having a Ferrari, but no gas to put in it.

As one other piece of info (for those who may be unaware), when listening to your voicemails, if they sound really, really low, try hitting the "Speaker" button on the upper right hand side of that screen. You can hear the VM message faintly without hitting the speaker button, so many might think that they are being played back on the speaker since you can hear something.

All in the all, the iPhone is great. However, the volume issue needs to be addressed and Apple needs to take care of the customers who have already been dealing with this issue.

Cheers.