iPhone 4 mic only not working in phone app!

Same problem for me, got a replacement phone, or should I say a repair in November 11. Two days before the 3 month repair warranty expired got the mic problem and miraculously downgraded my iPhone to an iPod Touch.

Unfortunately I was on holiday so never got to see a "Genius" (of consumer law and metaphors rather than faulty phones that is) until 3 weeks outside the warranty. Apple refused to accept this was a quality issue and want another £120 ($150) to give me another repair (or should I say a completely different and possibly reconditioned phone, in my case of a much lesser quality and with a vastly inferior warranty than they would afford a new phone!!!!!!!).

As much as I love my iPhone I'm not going to throw good money after bad and out of principle I'm going to give Apple a miss from now on! If you find yourself in the same situation and need a repair I suggest you either buy a new iPhone or move elsewhere, my experience of the repair was not good and the inferior warranty says to me the reliabilty of replacements is questionable.

Would love to see the reliablity stats of replacements/repairs vs. new phones!

I see this problem a lot with ATT iPhone 4. All these with a mic problem that does not work during calls may be a hardware problem, but before narrowing it down to what part you want to try all of the resets and stuff like that. Here is what you can try:

-Take the sim card out and put it back in.

-go to settings>general>reset>reset network settings (this should work for many people that do not have hardware problem).

-try a hard reset
-try to restore from back up. If this does not work, try to restore as a new phone with no back up (I'd say a 25-30% chance this will fix the issue).

if you mic does not work at all (during calls, in voice memo, or any other app), replace the data port.

As other people have said, there are two mics on the phone, the main one on the bottom, and the one on the top next to the headphone jack. the one next to the headphone jack is a noise cancelling mic, so if that mic is not working, the main mic may think everything is excessive noise so it mutes. This may be the second hardware change you may try after all the other ones I have listed before. This part is called the proximity sensor flex cable.

I have had this problem with a lot of iPhone 4 ATT that I have worked on and these are the main solutions to this mic problem. If all these do not work, the mic IC may need to be changed on the motherboard which is located close to the processor so it is a job for a professional.

These are the only solutions I know of, so i hope this helps. If I find any new working solutions I will update my post.

Wow! I didnt realise this issue was so common! I am in Australia and I am having the same problem. I am about ready to trade it in for a different smart phone!

I have the lastest software upgrade and have had a local iPhone 'guru' look at it and he couldnt fault my phone. In the end he replaced the mic out of desperation, still to no avail.

The worst part is this all came about 2 weeks after the warranty expired. Very disappointing Apple!

Exact same thing happened to me. About 1.4 years ago the mic stopped working, Apple replaced the phone (most likely refurb). On Monday the mic stopped working brought it to the store and was told I could buy a new one for $150 or if it was time for an upgrade I could get a 4S. And if I didn't want to do that I could use a Bluetooth. I'm not due for an upgrade and the thought of walking around with a Bluetooth is not really palatable. I'm not happy with Apple.

Add me to the list;

Mic works for voice memos

Doesn't work for calls or video recordings.

Tried with numerous earphones / with mic (tested and working) issue persists so it's not the built in microphone.

Apple are saying that we have to buy replacement handsets, which most likely will have the same problem since they don't know what the problem is so haven't fixed it.

I think there's enough people with this problem that we can start approaching the press is Apple continues to ignore it.

Yep, I'm from Singapore and I am experiencing the same problem with my iPhone 4.

It's warranty ended and I don't know what to do with my broken phone. -_-

As an update, the 'genius' told me to use a Bluetooth device, guess what that doesn't work either. I'm thinking it's some kind of software issue.

Let be start by saying my wife's iphone4 is now working :o)

.. not from Apple but from a noddy fix on the Internet!

I had visited the Apple Genius twice (Bluewater, UK), each time they looked at the phone and saying it is out of warranty but they will have a look.

Apple diagnostic looks okay, clean the 'mic' at the top, but no go. Suggest I reset to phone as new, update to latest OS, etc. etc.

As I have done that already, all they can do is suggest I paid £120 for a service call and they can replace the phone.

I explained there are loads of people with the problem, even on the Apple forum.

His comment was, if it were a problem, you would have people queuing in the store!

.. my comment to him was I'm not paying £120 for an Apple design/manufacturing fault and not for a phone £500 phone just over a year old!

Anyway, from the Internet, I have found there could be multiple problems with the mic (phone app) not working

1) mic at the top

clean out with a pin - Apple Genius is aware of this

2) mic failure, required replacing of component - engineer is required

3) intermittent and/or crackly on phone call .. this is mine

pressure to a part of the phone will fix this

to do this, you need to,

- un-screw the bottom 2 screws (mine is a Philip PH00 - cost me £1 )

- slide the back cover open

- place a 'L' shape (eg. business card), if too thick you will not be able to close the back cover

(to test, whilst back is open, call from another phone and press around the 'L' shape area, you should be able to hear when the correct bit is pressed!)

- slide the back cover back

test again before replacing the screws

The genius is this guys,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZmSVt8bMMo

this is the clearest video,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0jhWxYTVxe4&feature=related

Good luck.

PS. I will think twice before buying from Apple in future!!!

Hi Guys,

I sent my phone to an authorized reseller for repairs. So what the service centre did was replace the Ringer Speaker (top of iphone).

So it worked fine and I was super happy about it. Few days later the same old problem came back.

I decided to send it back and asked the service centre to do a more through check.

So they troubleshooted for a couple of days and concluded that the Data Port Connector with Flex Cable was faulty and replaced that.

It's been a few days now all is well. But somehow I just have that feeling that this problem will come back to bite me again.

Very disappointed with Apple. Premium products my ***. Made me spend an extra of $180 just to fix it.

To sum it all, its a hardware issue. Hope that helps!

Thank you for posting this. I had to purchase a $12 screwdriver but compared to a $150 it was worth it. Popped the back off, cut a small piece of plastic to the appropriate shape and voila, the phone works like new.

Still not happy with Apple but quite happy with this group.

Thanks

I thought I had found the answer but mine was a temporary fix. I have tried this fix and, fingers crossed, my phone has worked perfectly on the phone calls since (1 week now). This is easy to do and appears to work. APPLE get you *** in gear and admit this is a problem and not leave it to us to find fixes. Just to re-iterate I've attached the youtube links again.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZmSVt8bMMo

This is the clearest video,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0jhWxYTVxe4&feature=related

Thanks ChowS

Try the fix by ChowS posted on 31st March 2012, it worked for me

Hello all,

I have the same issue. Noone can hear any sound from my phone.

The other apps which rely on receiving sound work fine - viber, skype, shazaam! It's just the phone itself doesn't work.

I need my phone!! Someone please help, I've tried resetting and rebooting. It's obviously a software issue as the actual mic works, just not for the phone.

Anyone have any other ideas?

Thanks in advance, and I'll definately think twice about apple phones in the future. The ipod touch and ipad are the only products (if that) I think I'll purchase in future if this isn't resolved.

I did the L-shape piece of paper fix. The phone worked fine for a day or 2 but now it works 20% of the time. I broke down and ordered a Samsung A887 (semi-smart phone). I think I've got 8 months until an upgrade and it probably won't be an apple product.

For anyone in Australia - there is hope, as long as you got your iPhone after 1 January 2011.

I have just sent back my iPhone under 'Statutory Warranty' as laid out by the ACCC. Check out this website for more info but it seems to be a winner in getting some action from Apple/Phone Carriers. I'll be asking for a replacement, at least until my contract expires!

http://www.accc.gov.au/content/index.phtml/itemId/1030166