iPhone 7 Microphone not working after iOS 15.7.6 Update

Promising news: I just updated my iPhone 7 to iOS 15.8.2 and my microphone now works again, which means I can answer phone calls directly without having to scramble to put my AirPods on. I can also now use Voice Memos again. It took 10 months for a fix to arrive but I'm happy that it finally arrived.

Went to the local Apple Store and was given much fuller information. Apparently recent updates, including the 15.7.6 update, are creating a problem (in older phones like the iPhone 7) whereby instructions are not being sent correctly to the microphone (firmware issue?). In other words, there's no problem with the actually microphone from a hardware standpoint - it's still functional - but instructions are no longer sent correctly to the microphone, hence it's being greyed out. What's incredible to me is that Apple is 1) fully aware of the problem at this point but 2) apparently (I hope they prove me wrong) not going to do anything about the situation, even though they had sufficient time to test out recent updates on all iPhone models and should have known that this problem would arise. I am a long-time Apple user (more than 30 years!) and not a cynical person but this situation could easily lead to one becoming cynical -- it reinforces the idea that companies like Apple do, indeed, practice "forced obsolescence". I hope Apple proves me wrong because otherwise this will render a lot of perfectly functional older iPhones inoperable / difficult to use and will also create a lot of unnecessary waste.

Dear Sean_B1,

You replied early on to my post about the microphone problem cited above.

Unfortunately, the problem that we many of us are experiencing is NOT a hardware issue or a problem of debris covering the microphone. When I went to a Genius Bar, they hooked my phone up to their diagnostic software and told me that from a hardware standpoint, my microphone was fully functional; instead, the problem had to do with how recent iOS updates were sending instructions to the microphone.

The bottom line is, this is a known issue within Apple. All of us trusted Apple when it rolled out recent iOS updates. We moved forward in good faith with updating our iPhones when the updates became available, as Apple recommends. Unfortunately, the updates led to our microphones no longer functioning, despite the hardware being perfectly functional.

By contacting you, the Community Specialist who responded initially to my post, it is my hope that you can help us all understand what is being done to correct the issue. The lack of any tangible effort to fix the problem will unfortunately lead many of your customers to believe this problem was either intentional (a case of "forced obsolescence") or a case of benign neglect.

I have enjoyed Apple computers and products for more than 35 years and this is the first time that I have had a major complaint, one which raises not only customer service issues but also important ethical and legal questions related to software updates. I think I can speak for many of the other customers who have chimed in on this post when I say, and this after many months of waiting, that we all expected Apple to mobilise resources more quickly to tackle the problem. At this point, it appears that Apple intends to do nothing about the issue and that is simply unacceptable to us given, again, that the problem we are experiencing was triggered by Apple (by releasing a defective update for certain iPhones).

Thank you in advance, Sean_B1, for helping us get some clear answers from Apple about what will be done to correct the issue.

It looks like this same issue was being brought up in February (see here: After the ios 15.7.3 update the mic of my… - Apple Community), but was misdiagnosed. As I was told at the Apple Store, the issue with my phone (and perhaps all of yours) is NOT a hardware issue - the microphone on my iPhone 7 is fully functional and passed the diagnostic tests at the Apple Store. What's happening is this: the wrong software instructions are being given to the microphone, hence it not working.

Again, Apple, you have known about this issue, which occurs as your (unfortunately faulty) updates, for at least 5 months, and in support groups, your support people tend to blame the issue on debris or a hardware issue instead of addressing this known software issue. Please tell us what you have in store for rectifying this situation.

Yes, the battery was replaced at an Apple Store with a genuine iPhone battery...

I appreciate your thinking about the battery but I think you're missing the point here: I was told verbatim in an Apple Store, where I brought my iPhone 7, that the microphone problem that I have described in this thread is a known issue for Apple: I was told that recent updates, including 15.7.6 but also some previous updates, are causing this microphone issue in older iPhones (they specifically said iPhone 7 and 6), and that the issue is not the microphone hardware (which they tested at the Apple Store by running a diagnostic test on the phone) but instead the (software or firmware) instructions being given to the hardware following the update.

My point here is that Apple 1) has known for some time that their recent updates are causing this microphone issue (confirmed in an Apple Store), 2) is not taking accountability and addressing the problem head-on (ex: recent updates don't resolve the problem), and 3) is not informing their support staff of this specific issue, meaning they continue to give "bad advice" about the origins of the problem ("it's a hardware issue", "you need to clean debris from the microphone area," etc.).

Does Apple have the knowledge and means to solve this? Of course. Is Apple's current policy for addressing this situation -- taking no accountability, proposing no solution -- what you would expect from one of the most loved, innovative (and profitable) technology leaders in the world? No.

If you look at the previous links I posted about the issue, check out the numbers of people who have clicked "Me Too"...we are definitely not alone.