iphone 17 pro speaker phone volume increases dramatically on call with some background noise

Returned from Genius bar. Latest phone tests resulted in yet another bottom speaker failure. They decided to open an engineering case at this point as it is no longer a random coincidence and it is very easy to reproduce.

i was given another phone, and have to return today to re run the tests. I have no doubt this one failed as well as the speaker volume spikes when there is some background noise (oven fan on nearby, faucet turned on for example). They had advised that someone from Apple will contact me next week and the devices will be shipped for analysis.

my theory is that SW causing audio levels to increase beyond speaker tolerances when compensating for background noise as the call control settings are now only available when on an active call (ios 26). Some dev neglected to set a max threshold, resulting in gain beyond speaker tolerances. if correct, assuming similar speakers used in other devices, then any phone with similar speaker specs and ios 26 would result in speaker malfunction.

clarification: speakers still work, they just sound distorted and tinny.

According to Genius bar they opened an engineering case and sent the two devices over. I displayed the step by step on reproducing on the second device. I suspect the new IOS 26 method of managing voice settings now pet call has caused sudden this. Our voice frequency is registered and when we set the feature to attenuate surrounding frequencies, some developer also set the frequency range associated with our registered voice to be amplified without identifying a max amplification Db…these new smaller speakers have a lower efficient range…i recommend you have the phone audio evaluated. It will likely identify bottom speaker failure

I am going back to Genius bar today with my 4th device. This one seems worse than the last 3. Their audio tests detect speaker failure. This is usually followed by « you are the first person to experience such an issue »

I am curious as to whether iphone 17 users experience the same issue, or others with older devices upgraded to the latest IOS. I am convinced it is the IOS new sound management tools that are causing this and not the iphone model itself