Microphone and Camera failure since IOS 14.9

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bee61 Author

Level 1

11 points

Microphone and Camera failure since IOS 14.9

HELP! ;)

Right up front, yes, I've tried everything in: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT203792.

I removed the case.
Cleaned all openings with a cotton qtip and alcohol, then dried with unwanted qtip.
The Voice Memos app is unable to record.
When I try recording video, using either side of the phone, the video self-terminates after about 8 seconds with a "beep... boo-beep" and the video is not saved.
While not recording, in the Camera app, the camera preview keeps dropping out, leaving a tan screen instead. Sometimes, switching to pano, square, video or switching back and forth between front and back camera will briefly show the scene, but will eventually fail within a few seconds, returning to the tan picture preview.
All apps, from Messaging to Facebook Messenger, Siri, etc... can not pick up any microphone inp
All incoming calls fail when I pick them up. They can get to voicemail.
Outgoing calls do not show iPhone as a device option. Only speaker and microphone options are available. If I select Speaker, there is no audio and the other person can't hear anything.
I CAN answer calls on my Apple Watch or Mac that are linked to the phone just fine.

I was on IOS 14.9. I did the following with no apparent improvement:

I rebuilt, going back to the most recent cloud backup. Nope.
I rebuilt again, going back to a September 25 backup (the oldest on cloud). Nope.
I rebuilt again without restoring, building this up as a new iPhone. Nope.

I've been thinking it's a hardware failure, most likely on some controller for audio/video, but doing searches here shows that other users are having similar problems, especially related to the mic, so I'm wondering if there is a physical-layer or driver problem.

Please note that I am IT literate with over 30 years programming experience, so I can speak tech and answers like "Did you turn the power off and back on?" are probably not necessary ;)

iPhone 7

Posted on Sep 29, 2021 1:53 PM

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Answer 1

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bee61 Author

Level 1

11 points

Sep 30, 2021 10:17 AM in response to bee61

<bows> Thank you @deggie! Found this buried in another thread and, sure enough, what is suggested below solved the problem (though I expect it is only a temporary solution, I will need to fix or replace my phone):

But if you have tried a forced restart and a restore from backup and the speaker option still is greyed out try lightly slapping it into your palm or squeeze the right side of the screen about 2/3 of the way up. If the mics/speakers temporarily work then you have a broken connection(s) on your Audio IC. You can seek out a 3rd party shop that can do board level soldering and see how much they will charge or to recall the four suspect connection points. If you go this route Apple may refer future service on your phone (like that is a big deal at this point). Or you can make a Genius Bar appointment and pay to do an out-of-warranty replacement of the iPhone, click on the Get Support link at the top right of this page to start that process. I would also go to Settings > Battery > Health and check your battery. If it is at 80% or below you will need to replace it.

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Answer 2

bee61 Author

Level 1

11 points

Sep 29, 2021 7:07 PM in response to bee61

Ah, another symptom!:

Voicemail playback audio is only a series of clicks and beeps, very much like the sound of a data stream or morse code ;)
But..., the text translation is working, so at least I can read a pidgin version of my voicemails. Maybe I will start forwarding my calls to my wife... her 6s seems to be fine...

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Answer 3

bee61 Author

Level 1

11 points

Sep 30, 2021 9:57 AM in response to bee61

Interesting. I can play music through the phone's built-in speakers. When I use bluetooth headphones, everything works well. Seems like either there is an i/o controller dead or something wrong with a driver.

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Microphone and Camera failure since IOS 14.9

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