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iPhone 4, I can't hear the person I'm calling!!

Hi Guys,

I'm hoping someone can save me, I have a new iPhone 4 not even a week old. When I have a call I cannot hear the other person unless I switch the phone to 'Speaker'. I have tried rebooting and restoring the phone to default factory settings and it has not helped 😟 anyone got any thoughts.

Cheers 🙂

MacBook Pro 17 Inch 2.8Ghz, Mac OS X (10.6.4), N/A

Posted on Jul 20, 2010 4:16 PM

Reply
126 replies

Jul 21, 2010 1:18 AM in response to hip_chatterbug

Interesting because on the first iphone 4 I had, that happened to me one time. When it first happened, I thought I lost the sound completely.

I looked at the phone and though maybe mute had done it so I tapped it and tried again. Of course, still nothing. Tapped it again, taking mute off, and then I noticed I could here the other person, but so faint I could miss it.

Next I tapped the speaker phone and all was fine. Turned off the speaker and everything still worked.

At the time I reported it and other things, it was one of several incidents I wasn't sure if it was a phone problem, ATT problem, or the other person's phone, though the change when I pressed speaker tended to make me think it was my phone. I think your experience may help confirm that.

They gave me a new phone, though maybe not just because of this.

Jul 21, 2010 4:07 AM in response to hip_chatterbug

hip_chatterbug wrote:
I took the front screen protector off, even though it had a hole for the ear speaker and I still can't hear the people I'm calling. I have an appointment with Apple Thursday hopefully they can fix it as I brought it from o2.


Mine developed the same problem three weeks in. I tried reboot, even a full restore. No joy. Probably needs to be swapped out.

Aug 2, 2010 6:01 PM in response to hip_chatterbug

I too am having this problem. I decided to call Apple support today and the first suggestion was to switch over to speakerphone (as Chatterbug suggested). I haven't tried this but was hoping for a better solution. She then told me she hasn't heard of this problem before and this worries because the device isn't worth keeping if I can't make calls.

She also said I should try to restore the phone and start from scratch and slowly add the apps back to find one that may be causing the problem. If that doesn't work, she suggested I take it to an Apple store to have it looked at.

I certainly hope I can find a troubled app becuase this is my second iPhone 4 and the first one did the same thing (it's one of the reasons I returned it). Issues like these are why I went to Apple products 😟

I wish I had a better response for you Chatterbug and if I find one I'll repost. Please do the same.

Jan 1, 2011 1:13 AM in response to BigDunks

I just bought an iPhone 4 yesterday and am having the same problem. Can't hear a caller unless it's on speakerphone or earphones (and yes I took the plastic cover off). *+What the **** happened to QUALITY CONTROL!?? IT'S A PHONE!!!!!!!+* Other than being useless for phone calls, it works great.

I'm VERY disappointed in Apple. I finally ditched my Droid in favor of something that would work consistently. Don't tell me Apple is going cheap on us now too. I was avoiding the iPhone because of being forced into AT&T, but finally gave in for the sake of the iPhone's (assumed) quality and now this.

I'm taking it in tomorrow and better get an immediate replacement or it's back to Droid for me. Computing-wise, I exclusively use Apple products, so this is a huge let down.

Jan 1, 2011 6:45 AM in response to hip_chatterbug

I have same issue too. I can not hear the other person. When I activate speakerphone or use external earbud there is no any problem. I could not find any solution for my problem.

I have purchased my iPhone in Xanadu Apple Store (Madrid/Spain). I am living in Turkey and I am using my iPhone 4 in Turkey. İnternational warranty of Apple is not available in Turkey for iPhones. I sent a message to the Xanadu Apple Store. They said If I take it to their apple store they can repair or replace my iPhone. But I won't visit to Spain in near future. And they know it.

Now on this forum I am seeing a lot of speaker problems on iPhone 4. Is there anyone who had solved this problem?

Jan 28, 2011 6:08 PM in response to Gayle631

My iphone 4 is three months old. I've not had any problems with it, even dropped calls. Today I listened to an audio book for two hours walking and when I returned home when I tried to make a call I couldn't hear it ringing. Then it dropped the call. The same thing happens if someone calls me. It rings, I answer and the call drops off.
I tried turning it off completely and on several times.
Called Apple and was told they'd send me an article (I don't have apple care) but they never did.
Even speaker phone doesn't work.
Everything else on my phone seems to work fine, including messaging.

Anyone else experience this and is there an answer? The closest Apple Store is 3 hours drive away, so please, I need to fix this myself.

iPhone 4, I can't hear the person I'm calling!!

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