microphone does not work on iphone 12 pro

The theory that led me to this successful workaround is that it appeared to my A/V Expert friend that the microphone was battling with other apps to have control during FaceTime. Therefore access to the microphone for ALL apps must be off when using FaceTime so that there is no battle for control. Once FaceTime session is done those other apps access to the microphone can be turned back on. (A pain in the *** for sure, but it's a workaround not a solution.) At the very least it would be appreciated if you would give this a try, with access turned off for all apps, to see if it works for your situation.

Also, I keep the microphone off for all requesting apps and I am able to use speaker phone for calls. It does not appear to be related to these on/off settings.

How to turn the microphone OFF for all the apps currently requesting access to it:

• Go to Settings => Privacy => Microphone
• Turn all of these OFF and leave them OFF during FaceTime.

I have the same problem too. It doesnt seem to be a mic problem as far as I can tell. I recorded via voice memo, front camera and back camera and the recording is just fine. I assume it may be a software issue but this is all just speculation.

One quick question, does anyone have a apple watch paired to your phone? I unpaired mine and repaired it and everything seems fine for now

krishnateja24 wrote:

Oh looks like this is a common problem in all phones, I have the same issue and wasn't resolved yet.

If it was a common problem in all phones there would be thousands of posts about it. I know personally of over a dozen iPhone 12’s that do not have any problem with the microphone. The most likely cause is either a case that obscures either the primary mic at the bottom of the phone or the noise cancellation mic on the back of the phone near the camera. At least a few cases are caused by holding the phone with a finger on the bottom that covers the primary mic. And some cases might actually be a hardware problem. And there are other possibilities also. But it is not a common problem; it is an unusual problem.

Unpairing and pairing my iWatch series 5 seemed to resolve this issue. After I got my iPhone 12 pro, the iWatch had delays getting my text messages. If I opened a text message on my iPhone, I would still get the text message on my iWatch after a couple of minutes. The issues with the microphone and iWatch seemed to be resolved.

Greg. My phone was experiencing the exact same issues as you described. I brought my phone to apple yesterday and they diagnosed it as a hardware failure. They are repairing or replacing it and will be mailing it back to me in a few days. Unfortunately I don't believe there are any other solutions than bringing it to Apple.

We have one each 12pro and 12pro Max with the exact same random audio issue.

I have tried all of the detailed troubleshooting steps you have listed with the same results, except one.

I have found that using as set of wired iPhone 10 headphones works without issue for me. That is the only workaround I have found. Not to say it will be the same for everyone. But it does bypass the built in microphone.

Apple you have a major issue here!

I did performed a factory reset, set it up as a new phone and the issue was still there. The only app I did downloaded was the Phone Diagnostic app to perform tests on the device. Of course the bottom mic failed when I ran the tests. Glad it worked for you though.

Same problems with choppy audio on an iphone 12 pro. Tried all the tricks in this thread. Finally used a pair of apple earbuds from an old iphone 6. They worked and everyone can now hear me OK. Not an acceptable long term solution, but a good work around for now.

Thank you for confirming that my Pinky is indeed covering the mic

Read above; you're most likely covering the sensitive mic w your pinky finger.

Do you have a case on your phone? Try removing your case on phone see if it ok. When I remove mine it’s not choppy anymore. I don’t know why yet still trying to figure that part out.

I have the same issues. Regular calls, messenger calls and voice memo did t work. Siri wouldn’t even work. So I tried turning off WiFi calling and now it worked. Try turning your WiFi calling off

I was able to visit the Apple Store yesterday and did a bit of troubleshooting on my end. Come to find out for me it was a SIM card issue where the registered chip was experiencing horrible connectivity problems. Once switched out and activated with the proper SIM card everything else seem to work perfectly fine.

Ahmedmk wrote:

I bought an iphone 12 pro max and, I have done all kind off troubleshooting you can think off, starting from noise cancellation toggle, up to restoring iPhone, and I am still having the issue, is it an ios issue or hardware issue, can any one help

Have you updated to iOS 14.2.1, which was released specifically for microphone issues? Have you tried with the phone out of a case?

I have been working with apple for over a week on this issue. For a lot of people, restoring your phone will work if it takes you all the way back to the hello screen and you reset everything up. For me it worked for a few hours then stopped working again. So try the restore, make SURE that it takes you all the way back to the setup screen and you DO NOT restore from a back up, set up all new and then sign into icloud. You may have to redownload some apps but your contacts, texts, etc. will still be there. But for me that did not work so I am working on getting it set up to get a replacement. And keep in mind that if you want a replacement sent to you BEFORE you send the phone back so you are not without a phone, they have to put a $1000 hold on your credit card until they get the phone back.