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Unusual Speaker Issue

Well, I got my 3G S and activated it with no issue, but I should have known I wouldn't get away with no issues... (last two launched didn't exactly go smoothly as we all know).

The main speaker (not ear speaker) will sound as though it is blown out when it makes a sound after not making sound for a while, however any sounds that follow are played normally. Example: if I go into the Sounds menu and tap my text tone over and over, the first time it goes off will sound terrible, but then the next several times sound completely fine, just as my 3G sounded. If I stop for around 5 minutes, then repeat, the same thing happens.

Since I have no idea what could cause this, I was wondering if anyone else has any ideas or has experienced this on their 3G S?

iPhone 3G S, iPhone OS 3.0

Posted on Jun 19, 2009 4:19 PM

62 replies

Zoisite Author

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Jun 20, 2009 10:20 AM in response to Zoisite

Well I just got off the phone with Apple support. They said that they had not heard of this issue, but they wanted to swap the phone for me. So tomorrow I have to head over to the genius bar which is over an hour away from my house, but at least I get a new phone out of the deal. I am just hoping that they don't have refurbs yet and they just give me a brand new one.

Anyone else call Apple on this yet?

byronb

Level 1

5 points

Jun 20, 2009 10:38 AM in response to Zoisite

Are you having it replaced today? Be sure and let us know if your new phone has the same issue.

Also... FWIW, I wouldn't really expect anyone at apple support to claim to have heard of this issue since the phone is barely 24hrs old and it probably takes a while for common issues/bugs to become widely known among technicians. On one hand I really hope it's just a software bug and not a hardware issue (because that's going to deplete the stock even more and force a TON of people to book appointments at the genius bar) but on the other hand I hope you get some sort of resolution out of your long trip to the apple store. 😉

Message was edited by: byronb

Jun 21, 2009 8:30 AM in response to byronb

I am having the same issue. Just wondering if anyone figured it out before I head back to the AT&T store to swap it out. When I called Apple they said it could be because we restored from backup instead of setting up as a new phone.

Jun 21, 2009 10:32 AM in response to Ryan Curtis1

Must be something in the software. I did the restore and set up as a new phone and it still made that sound. Did anyone try the phones at the Apple store yet? Has anyone swapped for a new phone and its still doing it?

byronb

Level 1

5 points

Jun 21, 2009 12:08 PM in response to Ryan Curtis1

Ryan Curtis1 wrote:
Did anyone try the phones at the Apple store yet?

I played with a few at the apple store yesterday and I couldn't get any of them to do it... But I didn't put any weight in it because all the phones had the Apple Store demos running on them in addition to tons of people touch and messing around with them.... So it's not really a good test case. I have an appointment at the Genius Bar tomorrow night, I'm going to ask for a replacement and before accepting it I'm going to have them perform the same test on the new one. I'll report back with the outcome tomorrow night.

If anyone else has one replaced and it resolved the issue... please post.

Zoisite Author

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Jun 21, 2009 9:11 PM in response to Zoisite

Well, I had my phone swapped at the apple store at 8:20 on Sunday morning. Since they don't actually open until 11 on Sunday, I had a chance to play with the 3g s demo models that were on display before any other customers got to them. I found that eachof the 15 or so handsets on display had this same issue that we have all been discussing here.

I pointed this out to the genius and he didn't really have anything to say. He swapped my iPhone "just in case it is a hardware issue", but didn't have any info on the actual nature of the issue.

I guess this only leaves us with two options: either every 3g s I've seen is defective, or it is a software issue. Here is to hoping that it is software...

Jun 21, 2009 11:07 PM in response to Zoisite

Well is the one he swapped out to you doing it also?

Zoisite Author

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Jun 22, 2009 5:13 AM in response to Ryan Curtis1

Yup, my new phone is doing the exact same thing.

byronb

Level 1

5 points

Jun 22, 2009 5:29 AM in response to Zoisite

Well now I know not to bother asking for a replacement phone. I'm still going to keep my appointment though so that I can prove that the bug exists and hopefully with enough people calling/making appointments/getting replacement phones for the issue they will resolve the issue in 3.0.1.

kshusker

Level 1

35 points

Jun 22, 2009 7:20 AM in response to Zoisite

New! Re: IPhone 3G S plagued by sound issues (confirmed).
Posted: Jun 22, 2009 7:19 AM in response to: sinX
Reply Email

I hear this sound too. In addition to hearing the high-pitched whine for a few seconds after locking the phone or receiving an SMS, I also can hear it while recording a video, the result is there is a high-pitched whine in any video I record with the iPhone, at least if it is recorded in a relatively quiet place.

I am curious, for folks having the issue....what color/size if your 3 GS

I have three friends with black 32 GB phones and they all have the issue, but one with a white 32 GB phone doesn't.

byronb

Level 1

5 points

Jun 22, 2009 7:26 AM in response to kshusker

kshusker wrote:
I am curious, for folks having the issue....what color/size if your 3 GS

I have three friends with black 32 GB phones and they all have the issue, but one with a white 32 GB phone doesn't.

I have a 32GB white model and it has the distorted tri-tone bug.

surfnet

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Jun 22, 2009 9:04 AM in response to kshusker

I have a black 32Gig

Jun 22, 2009 9:16 AM in response to surfnet

16 gig white here. No high pitch frequency but I have the sms distorted sound. At least we figured out that this is a software issue and not hardware. Guess we wait for that first update, huh?

Jun 22, 2009 9:26 AM in response to Zoisite

I thought this was a figment of my imagination at first, that perhaps I'm just not used to how loud the speaker in the 3GS is. I was using the EDGE iPhone before and the speaker is notoriously quiet in that phone. I have noticed when plugging my phone into it's charger that it sounds distorted. Every time I try to replicate it by unplugging it and plugging it back in, it sounds normal. This is consistent with the reports in this thread about the speaker only sounding odd initially, and then sounding normal immediately after.

Additionally, I am also hearing the "whine" noise reported in another thread.

kshusker

Level 1

35 points

Jun 22, 2009 9:30 AM in response to Zoisite

Readers....can you please post your serial # and model number, and whether you are having the issue. Let's see if we can narrow it down to a range of serial numbers maybe...

(Find this info in Settings --> General --> About)

I will start

I am having the issue, my model is MC137LL and my serial is 86923A463NR

Unusual Speaker Issue