iPhone 4S Noises?
On the back of the iPhone 4S near the camera, noises are heard. When I put the device on the table, these noises can be heard also. When Iphone 4 was not so. Might be damaged mechanically something?
iPhone 4, iOS 5
On the back of the iPhone 4S near the camera, noises are heard. When I put the device on the table, these noises can be heard also. When Iphone 4 was not so. Might be damaged mechanically something?
iPhone 4, iOS 5
My 4S has a rattle when laying it down. It seems to be the on/off switch. Hold the phone by the bottoom end, then lightly tap the top end against the butt of your hand. That's when I hear it too.
I upgraded from a 3GS and had never noticed it. Then I did the same test as above with the 3GS and sure enough it had a slight rattle from the on/off switch too. Rattle was just not as pronounced as on the 4S.
The slight rattle you hear is the camera autofocus assembly. It's a free floating mechanism when not in use so it tends to move when your set the phone down etc. the 3GS and 4 did this too so there's nothing to worry about.
I have the same issue - bought mine from an Apple store in the UK and noticed it when first setting it down. When checking the iPhone 4 if you tap the back near the camera you can hear it a bit but it's more pronounced on the 4S - hopefully sticking a case on the phone will dumb it down a bit!
Same issue.
Just holding the phone and shaking it, I can hear a rattle. This was true of my 3GS, too -- just not as pronounced.
For me, the rattle is really obvious when the phone vibrates. I took mine back to the AT&T store, and they told me that many people had the same issue, but they told me it wasn't an issue, and couldn't/wouldn't exchange the phone.
Not sure if it's true or not, but the rep told me that it appeared to be somehow related to the SIM card. He applied a little pressure to the SIM card panel on the casing, and it seemed to help the rattling noise but it didn't eliminate the sound.
But now the more I'm reading about this, and like it's mentioned here, it's related to the camera stuff.
I'm sure I'll get used to it, but it is a bit frustrating.
Yeah, I feel the same way. It can be a little frustrating. I have the same issue when tapping the corner near the camera on the back. But I feel better knowing others have the same issue and it's not my imagination.
I'll just have to get use to it.
I jumped from a 3G to a 4GS (amazing speed jump!) and I too have this rattle. It's pretty loud when lightly tapping or putting the phone on a desk. Anyway, after much research, I can confirm mine is the camera autofocus. A good way to test is this:
1) Open the camera app and focus on something in the distance.
2) Tap the back of the phone near the camera - rattles, right?
3) Hold the phone up pretty close to something and let it focus.
4) Tap the phone again - the rattle is gone/quieter?
That's the case for me anyway. I'd be keen to hear other peoples results from doing the above. If yours is different, it seems loose buttons can also cause a rattle.
The rattle doesn't sounds great, but it seems like it's normal. Some people don't have/can't hear the rattle - they're either not as OCD as me, or their autofocus is slightly tighter fitting. I guess it's all to do with manufacturing tolerances.
You can try your luck and try and get a replacement, but seems like it's 50/50 as to whether the phone will rattle. Plus, I'm sure us OCD folk will always find a problem - dead pixels, tinting, loose buttons.
Hope this helps anyway.
PS - I also took mine to the apple store at first, and was told it was the vibrate motor. I'm surprised how many people get told this. Seems that Apple could do the above test and reassure customers. Perhaps the vibrate motor is easier for people to understand. Also hear a lot of "it's the accelerometer/gyro/compass". This is nonsense, as these are solid state (microscopic) devices.
PPS - This also strikes me as something that could be solved by a firmware update. If you have it so the camera autofocus is set to maximum (as if it's focused on something close) while not in use, it wouldn't rattle. I guess it'd use more battery powering the autofocus (peizoelectric) constantly. Might be worth it to avoid thousands of people worrying about their rattling phones. Must cost Apple a fair bit in manpower and phone swaps though.
Confirmed. With your test, my iPhone 4S rattles pretty badly on distant focus and not at all on close-up. Shame it doesn't stay locked to the last AF setting when you quit Camera.app. 🙂
But yeah, the rattling is 100% the lenses and must be 100% endemic, since it's clearly a side-effect of the camera working properly.
J
I guess we can look at things being relative. iPhone 4s users might or might not have a slight rattling noise to complain about, RIM users complain their phones don't even work for several days due to a massive outage. 😉
Yep mine has the annoying rattle too I'm affraid and yes I'm not happy or impressed at all. Paying £700 for a phone and it has this rattle.
Not only is this a shockingly poor show for apple. But is damm right annoying too.
I also don't think that replacing the phone is going to resolve the issue at all.
This is a basic quality testing apple and should have not even had to come to this at all.
Not happy customer at all and very disapointed completely as yes Im constant listening for it now.
Apple what or how u going to fix this?
I can totally understand where you are coming from darren.
I wanted my device to be 'perfect', as far as I could tell anyway. The noise is something that I will always notice because of this...
Its a bit of a user experience let down. Would really love if the noise was not there.
Yep i totally agree,
The noise shouldnt be there and Apple should have resolved this,
Im just worried that it will cause damage to the camera eventually and then apple refuses to support it when out of warranty?
I will then not be happy or impressed
Interesting development. I spent about two hours last night shooting video and photos with my 4S last night at a swim meet.
Get up this morning and the rattle is gone. So something in that session seems to have self corrected the rattle.
We'll see if it lasts..
Please update with this. Would be awesome if this could fix/adjust the problem.
How long did you video for?
Professional video cameras have the same rattle caused by the autofocus mechanism. Sounds like something is broken inside the camera. Nothing is broken, it is a part of the autofocus mechanism. it is normal.
Update, I videoed about an hour, but the rattle came back the next day. Oh well, thought it was gone, but not so lucky..
iPhone 4S Noises?