iPhone 4 hearing aid compatible?

I would like to know too, Rodef. Been waiting for a couple of years for Apple to show respect for this market, the hearing impaired and cochlear implant. Beyond me why they don't tap in on it. Baby boomer etc. I own lots of apple products due to my career. This lack of respect for a simple device installed within the iphone is very demeaning. I do know that we can wear a neck loop. By why? Such a hassle. Want to be able to pick up the phone like every one else. TTY. Don't even suggest. Those that mentioned that don't even know what it is. I hope apple got this straightened out. A loophole in the law is a stupid excuse. Guess the best way to know is to wait a few weeks and go down to the ATT store and try it.

I too would love to have this phone. I called the 1-800 number for tech support on the new Iphone 4 and they directly told me that it is not hearing aid compliant. They did not offer up any reason why they chose not to make it compliant. All he could do was say he was sorry and keep our fingers crossed for the next version.

Thanks for checking ribrownrib. That is really unfortunate. I still love Apple's stuff but their lack of respect really rubs the wrong way. Still give it a try when the hoopla dies down. If it doesn't, will have to check out those HTC everybody also seems to like, which does have a good Tcoil rating. But I really wanted to have my whole system insync.

I had a chance to play with an iPhone4 today at work.

Without telecoil, there was of course feedback and conversation was impossible. With telecoil there was some electronic noise, but not so much that I could not have a phone conversation. Previous iPhones have been very noisy but this one is definitely an improvement. The volume in my ear was not all that loud, but that may be fixable if I get my aid reprogrammed. The teardown on iFixit looks like it shows a coil at the receiver, but that's probably just the receiver coil and not a dedicated telecoil.

I'm going to play some more when they are more available--you should probably do the same.

Thanks for pointing out the update to Apple's webpage. It appears the iPhone is hearing aid compatible with a M4/T4 rating when on a 3G network. That's great! I'm so glad Apple finally got around to offering a HAC device.

The Apple site now says:

Rating for Hearing Aids
3G network - 850/1900MHz: M4, T4
2G network - 850MHz: M3, T3
2G network - 1900MHz: M2, T3

The reason for the difference in T numbers is that the various network technologies use different frequencies, powers, and modulation schemes. This affects the nature of the interference from the radios and how much is picked up by the telecoil during transmission (this is in addition to the noise caused by the CPU and other electronics). My experience with the RAZR is that 2G is much worse than 3G, so these numbers make sense.

The M numbers seem to reflect the same pattern of interference, but must be measured without feedback present, because, for me at least, audio feedback kills everything else and gives it an M0 rating.

Has anyone successfully used any phone with their mic?

There is a legal requirement for phone manufacturers to offer HAC phones that kicks in when they have a certain number of models, so the timing of the support may be more thanks to the regulatory people than Apple.

From my brief play with the phone yesterday I did not get the impression that iPhone4 telecoil experience was on a par with the incredible quality and attention to detail present on the other features of the phone.

The Retina Display is amazing; what we need now is for the hearing aid support to be so good that Steve Jobs to stands up on stage and touts the "Cochlea Audio" of the device.

Under FCC regulations, Apple is not currently required to provide HAC devices. The requirement kicks in only if Apple sold three or more models of phones. They only offer two: the iPhone 4 and the 3GS. Accordingly, they did not do this because of a legal requirement.

That's great news Rodef. Like you I have waited 3 years as well. Look forward to trying it soon once the excitement dies down a bit. Thanks for sharing the news and hope your experience will be the same for everyone.

I currently have a 3GS iphone. Stopped by the Apple store and try out the iphone 4 in the noisy environment. Clicked on my telecoil I was very surprised of the clarity and loudness of the sound. There was some static ( clicking noise but not that loud). So hopefully in few years I can upgrade my iphone.