iPhone 15 bad sound quality

I have a sound quality problem with an iPhone SE 3rd gen. As soon as I got it I was dismayed that the sound quality is tinny and harsh, compared to my iPod touch and iPhone 6 that I accidentally broke. Both of those previous devices just sounded ‘right’ (more rich and smooth) and I never even gave a second thought to sound quality as they were good.

After months of trying different lightning to 3.5 mm adapters for the SE I’m convinced that Apple has done something that fundamentally worsens the audio quality of recent iPhones. I’m sure they’d deny it and give a bunch of workarounds that do nothing. I’m to the point that I don’t want to listen to music on this $500 new phone. I’m going back to my iPod touch for music, and will now have to carry two devices which is ridiculous. Such a shame that Apple, which used to be a company for music lovers, has degraded the music experience so much on their phones.

Hey do you turn the sound check on or off?

The sound using Apple wired EarPods for phone/FaceTime is tinny, hissy, irritating (or sometimes there's no sound at all when answering with EarPods). The EarPod phone sound with my previous iPhone XR was clear as a bell. (I have Sound Check turned off; music through EarPods sounds fine, as does Apple Car Play.) This phone also often fails to ring for incoming calls or chime for text messages. And it NEVER auto-updates the iOS. My wife has the same phone, same problems. These expensive new 15 Pros are substandard. Unless these issues are fixed, they're our last iPhones.

Still bad tho, basically sounds lik it has no bass and missing the lower tones. Previous iphones sounds better. This Iphone 15 pro when connected to airpod sounds bad, and sounds worse when connected to car speaker.

This didn't fix the issue for me. I think there is something more complex involved that Apple needs to address.

We shouldn't have to do all these aftermarket tweaks on our apps and phones to get the sound to be half way decent. As $1000 premium devices these phones should sound perfect out the box. This is the first time I've ever had an audio issue with an iPhone since 2009. Apple - please fix this ASAP.

This is unacceptable.

I'm extremely disappointed in the iPhone 15 Pro Max, I was using my previous iPhone XR and had beautiful sound quality using my Rode 2 mic system. I cannot get the same quality from this new phone and the only reason I invested in it was the supposed recording quality as I use it for my business.

I have to use my old phone for my recordings now and would never have purchased this if I had known.

Thank you for sharing your experience as it seems to be a problem with this model.

I have an iPhone 15 like many others when phone connected to car via Bluetooth all the person on other end gets is garbled rubbish but I can hear them clearly. It’s definitely an iPhone problem not Bluetooth. Stop the bull **** and get sorted

Sound quality on headphones is awful. I have to use my phone from work to workout. Not sure why its so bad with apple usbC headset. Ok in bose bluetooth headphone or bluetooth. I just bought my iphone 15 plus and it might be better to return it.

I'm curious if anyone has found a solution to the poor music sound-quality for wired headphones, in more recent iphones. I got a new Iphone SE 3rd gen, which cost $500, and I'm disappointed in the music audio quality with my $60 sennheiser wired earbuds. The earbuds sounded great on my old iphone 6 and still sound good on my old ipod touch. But now the audio sounds tinny and harsh with the SE, and I've tried multiple different adapters. The best adapter I've been able to find is Ugreen lightning to 3.5mm. Even with that though the music still sounds tinny and harsh, and I have to EQ my Spotify and listen at lower volume just to have the audio semi enjoyable. It's unacceptable that a new $500 phone has such poor music quality. I'll likely leave Apple over this, but would like some workarounds to use my new phone at least for a year or two til I can't stand this problem anymore and probably bite the bullet to get an Asus phone. Or Apple could start caring about music again, but it seems they care more about Tik Tok influencers now

My XR has awesome sound quality - I was sold on the improved sound of the13 & 14 and both are poor - I see the reviews of the 15 - thank GOD

now what do I do as a hearinv impaired person !! I love my XR and need to get a phone for a

sound - wasnt that the essence of phones - to speak & hear

I have the same problem my sound quality in CarPlay is woeful and yet my Pixel phone using Apple Music is unbelievable better. Only since I got iPhone 15 pro

Can we fix this please it is really annoying seeing as I work in my car and music is my life

Where do you go to do that?

Let me know if this worked please!