USB-C mics not recognized as audio input after iOS 26 update

USB C EXTERNAL MICROPHONE NOT CONNECTING

After updating to iOS 26, external USB-C microphones are powered and detected as USB accessories, but they are no longer recognized as audio input devices.

They DO NOT work in Camera or Voice Memos and iOS continues to use the built-in microphone instead.

This affects multiple external microphones and is not device-specific.

The same microphones work correctly on macOS and Android.

This microphones worked flawless before iOS 26 but now I have the same issue on multiple Iphones - it's not a hardware issue.

Is this a known issue or an intentional change in how iOS handles external USB-C audio input?

iPhone 17 Pro, iOS 26

Posted on Jan 15, 2026 9:36 AM

Top-ranking reply

Amandadofuturo

Level 1

18 points

Posted on Mar 20, 2026 9:45 AM

Solution found for iOS 26 + wired external microphone (Lightning)

If your external microphone stopped being recognized after updating to iOS 26, there is a new setting that fixes it.

Go to Settings > Haptics & Sound > Input (note: I’m using iOS in Portuguese, so the menu name may differ slightly in English) — but make sure your external microphone is already plugged in before opening this screen. With the accessory connected, it will appear as an option in the list and you can select it manually. Without the accessory plugged in first, only “iPhone Microphone” appears.

This works for wired microphones via Lightning on iPhone 15 Pro Max, iOS 26.3.1. The issue is that iOS 26 no longer selects external audio input automatically — you have to set it manually each time you switch microphones.

Hope this helps!

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USB-C mics not recognized as audio input after iOS 26 update

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