FaceTime audio cutting out

The mic canceling background noise! You may be on the right track. My mom (in CA, i’m in NJ) went again to the apple store with the brand new verizon sim card installed and was told the phone was perfect, then she facetimed me from the store and the communication couldn’t be any perfect. The she told me that she didn’t have the Otter heavy duty case on. The she facetimed me back from her condo with the case on and we had the same problem again. I ordered some new cases and will try again once they arrive (she tends to drop phones so we don’t dare to use it without a case).

Yes, I do have issues with the AirPod Pros at times but it’s only with one person, and everyone I FaceTime (obviously) has an iPhone. So therefore I narrowed it down to the noise cancellation being the issue. I read, after posting this, another comment about the case being too tight around the edges of the phone. Well, Low and behold, as soon as he took his case off and went back to watching TikTok‘s while FaceTiming me, I could hear him clearer than ever before. You see; anytime audio is being omitted from the speakers while they are talking, the mic cancels all noise, and you can’t hear them. But, this only happens when there is a certain amount of blockage (like a case, or standing the phone up right on a surface that covers the speakers and mic) and makes it impossible to decipher even one word out of a sentence.

in short: try taking off the other persons case, and have them hold their phone normally (not in their lap surrounded by blankets, or stood up on a table) and see if you still have the issue. For us, it was the case causing the mic to trigger ambient noise cancellation.

I agree. I’ve seen others post about getting replacement devices and the problem persisting. Mine’s been terrible (the last two days especially) but I tried something I’d read here - using earbuds - and had no issues. So apparently that’s the band-aid, to just use earbuds on FaceTime calls. I never use headphones on my calls but I thought I’d give it a try to see if it worked like it has for others and it did. It’s a bit of a hassle but I guess that’s the only way to rectify it for now.

So, my mom (in CA, I’m in NJ) went to the apple store, she is 70 yrs old and I don’t like the idea of her going to the mall in person, Apple: if something covid-19 related happen to her is on you!

Anyhow, they looked at her iphone 11 pro max and couldn’t find anything wrong with it, then after more than 1 hour of troubleshooting they may have found the problem: They say that the sim card she has is for her old iphone 6, her phone needs a NEW SIM CARD Designed for iPhone 11. So they gave her a free sim card (verizon), now she has to expose her self to e crowds again and go to a verizon store to program the new sim card.

Hopefully that will be the solution, I’ll keep you posted.

Bests, JC

So did some more testing. If I mute my end, the audio that was cut off suddenly sounds perfect, no drops of audio at all. It’s definitely related to some noise cancellation. Next test will be to try the same with one case removed, then both cases removed.

I have this same issue on my iPhone 11 Pro Max. Apple has replaced my phone twice and all phones have had the same issue. I have reset my phone and set up as a new phone, without signing in to my Apple ID - so I have nothing on my phone at all - and still have the issues on FaceTime and calls. So it’s nothing with my data. Other people say that I cut out all the time. Doesn’t matter whether I’m on WiFi with my Sprint service off or service on. I currently have a case open with Apple and engineering is looking into it. But not getting anywhere. It’s extremely annoying. Especially when I’m trying to talk on work calls and people think I just stop talking and start to talk over me. This has got to be an Apple issue. I’d recommend reaching out to Apple support to make them aware of their issue, because they are saying they have never heard of this before...

I wouldn’t think so since I’m having no issues with hearing whomever I am speaking with, be it FaceTime video, FaceTime audio, or basic calls. The issue is that they can’t hear me on FaceTime video calls. I sound choppy or I drop out completely in parts. No video issues on either end. No Wifi issues either. I’d be completely clueless that there’s a problem if I wasn’t told by whoever I talk to repeatedly how they can’t hear me. When on a call earlier, the person I was talking to said it was worse than ever, so it hit me to try the earbuds as I’d read here and the problem cleared up. That could’ve been dumb luck since the issue is sporadic, so I’ll try it again when the issue recurs. My microphones have passed the tests recommended on Apple’s site and through these forums (like recording voice memos as well as two videos, one with the front-facing camera and one with the forward-facing). No issues. There was no issue in store either when I went to have the first phone examined (I bought it on 9/24). They had me make two FaceTime calls but there wasn’t anything they could do since there is no indication of a problem on my end. Both my fiancé and my Mom pointed out the choppy parts to let them know when it was cutting out in these test calls. So they told me to set my phone up as a new phone and see if it still happened. If not, restore my backup and see if it returned. If it did return, then it was an issue with the backup, perhaps corrupt. But if it still did it before I restored my backup and was using it as a new phone, then it was a device issue. I spent over a week talking to Apple support online and through text, including an acquaintance who works at the Apple Store, and they all said it was a device issue after going through various diagnostics and procedures. I told them I had read here that someone had been through 2-3 new devices to get it fixed but still had the issue. The first guy I worked with in the store was quick to just erase my stuff and start over, but the other was thorough and set me up with the new phone, agreeing it was a device issue. I guess it isn’t since it’s still going, but I’ve noticed it being a them for 11 and 11 Pro users online. Mine did this when set up as a new phone and with my backup restored, so it wasn’t a corrupt backup issue.

most of us believe it’s your iPhone case. Try taking it off and see if the problem goes away. Might need to get a different brand of case.

My gfs iPhone 11’s speaker and microphone on calls has been messing up and when she has airpods connected the sound gets intermittently choppy for a 15 to 30 second period where it goes in and out over and over again every second or half second. When you take the AirPods out it goes away and when you put them back in it comes back. The sound issue happens on both sides of the FaceTime or regular phone call. It doesn’t seem to be an issue with the microphone as you can use the voice recorder just fine. It seems to be the FaceTime portion of the IOS software and how it interacts with the microphone and how it interacts with Bluetooth devices. Now he microphone I think she has a faulty unit because she keeps getting a liquid detected issue when trying to use official charging cords sometimes and she has had other issues with one of her brand new AirPods ( she just had them replaced by Apple) has the microphone not even pick up sound.

I’d suggest trying Bluetooth cycling but also reach out to a senior support agent. Get it reported!

I spoke with technical support and was told that they weren’t aware of this issue. I mentioned the many posts here on the forum and they said the forum wasn’t official. I was then told I’d need to go for a repair and that it should be covered since I have Apple Care and it doesn’t appear to be related to accidental damage. Uh, it most certainly isn’t damaged. It can’t be coincidence that there are SO MANY posts from 11 and 11 Pro users about this. I bought mine on 9/24 and now get to take it back on 10/15 to get it “repaired.”

I’ve had a FaceTime and regular phone call issue with my iPhone SE 2020 and my gf’s iPhone 11. I’m in NJ and she’s in FL. They need to overhaul FaceTime servers or something. I’ve had my wireless cellular service troubleshooting done my home internet troubleshooting done. Replaced everything including my phone for a new handset of the phone. It has to be Apple servers and or FaceTime software on the phones

Yes. It’s the background noise and the microphone being overly sensitive to it for me too. The mute thing works but it’s terrible.

First they do not monitor these users portion of the website actively. Second mine only seems to happen when both parties are using Bluetooth devices with a normal call or FaceTime. Like AirPods for instance. For about 15 to thirty seconds the sounds goes in and out every half a second to one second and the microphone has the same issue. I have had the issue since my new iPhone SE 2020 at the beginning of April. My gf and I are in different states and the issue had been happening, then went mostly away and since I updated to IOS 14 it happened five times in thirty minutes. I’ve had Apple look in to it and they claim it is my wireless service. Wireless service said if it happens on WiFi calls and on other devices (happens with my iPad as well) then it is not an issue with their service. Just another issue to chalk up to Apple not wanting to admit so they have to fix