iPhone 15 bad sound quality

I had the same when transferring from my iPhone 13 to iPhone 15 pro. I checked all settings including (i) headphone safety off and (ii) sound check off. This didn’t help. Somehow it seemed my installation was corrupted, because putting headphone safety one and off did not change much. The overall lower volume level had big impact on dynamics. Wiping clear and reinstalling did not work. I than tried only resetting the general settings. Bingo, that worked for me. Full volume and dynamics back again. I did notice that the sound signature is a bit different from my iPhone 13 still, a bit “brighter” and maybe a bit more detailed sound. I guess this has to do with a different sound chip in the iPhone 15 pro.

Hello iiTs_Dee,

Did you have the chance to check the headphone settings? You're able to now adjust the volume that goes through to attached headsets to prevent ear damage, and that can also impact other wired connections. It's described at Adjust the volume on iPhone - Apple Support

1. Go to Settings  > Sounds & Haptics > Headphone Safety.

2. Turn on Reduce Loud Sounds, then drag the slider to specify the maximum volume.

Thanks for using Apple Support Communities!

I found the fix just make sure you have mono audio Turned OFF in the audio settings

iiTs_Dee Said:

"iPhone 15 bad sound quality: I had a iPhone XS for four years and plugged it into my car via an AUX cable and the sound was great. Recently I upgraded to an iPhone 15 Pro and now all of a sudden my sound is significantly softer and worse quality through the same AUX cable.[...]"

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To the OP and ALL Participants:

This seems to be catch on, so report this to Apple.

Reporting this to Apple:

Do your Part: Provide Apple with feedback on this, letting them know about this issue.  Apple may not get back to you directly, but the more feedback they receive on this, the more they will know what is occurring, and what bug fixes to include in updates to come. Apple will know nothing of this, if you don't report it to them.

1. Go Here: Feedback - iPhone - Apple
2. Select: "Bug Report" for the "Feedback Type"
3. Comment: that this needs to be fixed. Include the URL of this thread
4. Proceed from there as necessary

iiTs_Dee Said:

"iPhone 15 bad sound quality: I figured it out for CarPlay. Here is a step by step. 1. Settings 2. Music 3. Audio 4. Make sure Sound Check is OFF My CarPlay got significantly louder and much more clear"

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What is the source of this solution you have?

iphone recognizes anything that isint connected through bluetooth as a pair of headphones and when it does it turns the mono audio option off go into settings accesibility down to hearing and turn mono audio on!,speakers arent always setup like headphones for a number of reasons this helped me.

Friends,

If you're still having trouble with the audio, try adjusting the Headphone Accommodations.

Go to Settings > Accessibility > Audio & Visual > Headphone Accommodations. You can fine-tune the audio from there.

Hi there. I had the same problem as you had. All you have to do is go to settings>Music and disable sound check. And voila!! Problem solved

I figured it out for CarPlay. Here is a step by step.

1. Settings
2. Music
3. Audio
4. Make sure Sound Check is OFF

My CarPlay got significantly louder and much more clear. Let me know if this helps!

Just connect it via Bluetooth or Apple Car Play. It will be better.

I tried the OEM Apple USB-C adapter for my new iPhone 15 Pro with my amazing Bose Headphones and the same issue is there that you're having. The audio quality is also poor with Apple CarPlay and from the phone speaker itself. I think their audio drivers or audio settings need to be changed via a Software update. I don't think there's anything we can do as a customer at this point. I have tried tweaking every variable possible and the issue persists on all 4 brand new iPhone 15 Pros in my household. Apple - please fix this issue ASAP otherwise I will be returning all 4 new phones and going back to my iPhone 13 which works perfectly.

Is this still an issue? Ios 17.4 is out now and maybe fixed this?

Hi, I have the same audio quality issues on headphones.

I have recently bought Iphone 15 Plus and there is a marked difference in audio quality between this phone and my previous phones, and even when compared to an old ipad Air 2. The audio on this iphone sounds dull and lacks richness even though it is loud, similar to when you hear it through cheap headphones .

I have tried Settings  > Sounds & Haptics > Headphone Safety and increased it to all the way to one less than max. This does not seem to make much of a difference.

Such a disappointment on getting the latest iphone with this issue. Hope this is just the software and apple fixes it through updates.

iPhone 14 was the same. Brighter, thinner, harsher sound. I’ve returned multiple iPhones. Always have to return to my iPhone X which sounds so great on AirPods and my car. More bass, more richer and warmer sound. And whoever says all iPhones should sound the same over Bluetooth is just wrong. I can easily tell a difference between these newer phones and my X through my AirPods and in the car. It’s super frustrating cause music is paramount for me and this X is getting a bit old. Still the best iPhone though.

Yes my SE 2020 used to sound so fabulous with a wired connection to my 2017 Corolla but all of a sudden around April 2024 it got bad. My cars sound system screen now keeps on saying connection issue and the sound actually hurts my ears. But when I disconnect my wired connection and use bluetooth it sounds fabulous again. C'mon Apple, this needs to be repaired.