Q: Static in Iphone 4s

I treked to London this weekend and got my third 4S,(or second replacement), so far there has been no buzzing/crackling, (though Siri can't tell the time or date). Tbh I'm very surprised but pleasantly so, lets hope it stays that way. Otherwise the 'genius' said that it's likely to be a network problem rather than phone.

Just wanted to reassure people, that there is some hope of getting a fully working 4S, so don't despair.

Best wishes!

Glad yours is better, but to reiterate - it's /not/ a network problem. It happens on thousands of iPhone 4S' exclusively and on all 3 carriers 3G networks (2 CDMA & 1 GSM) here in the US (as well as all around the world on several other GSM networks). I've had my SIM replaced, my network re-provisioned, et al. Nothing helps this. It's a problem they can only fix with better, fixed issue handsets or a software update that changes the way the 3G accesses data while you're on a call. And even then it's not going to be 100% because I can hear this frigging buzzing even when my phone is just loading Safari.

It almost seems like Apple was trying to remedy the iPhone 4 antenna issues and borked something in the process.

I am on my 5th iPhone 4s 4th replacement and this latest phone stared off  static free as well. I was very excited but did not post anything rt away. Which as it turned out was a good idea cause sure enough the static returned within 2 weeks. I don't want to rain on anybody's parade as they might have a better experience than I. But all my experiences point towards get used to it and hope that apple cares enough to fix it before the next generation iPhone. if anybody thinks apple is not aware of the static issue is deep in denial. i mean they did take in 42 billion last quarter. So anyone with half a brain would tell you "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." why recall all your 4s if not everybody hears the static. I firmly believe that every phone has static but not everybody hears it. or doesn't care enough to be bothered by it.

hey, sorry to hear about your experience. Yes I don't believe that it's a network problem either, and didn't mean to suggest that it was...just saying what they told me. I have argued with them over the sim and network point but I think Apple is just trying to stick to their story and denying any problems with their handsets...

I have already decided that if this phone (3rd) starts crackling, or indeed any other issues then I'm getting a straight refund, as personally I think it would be utterly futile and waste of time (for me) to get any more replacements.

Best wishes to everyone and hope that Apple doesn't disappoint everyone like this again.

I think it is clear that everyone on this thread, 'can' hear it and 'is' bothered by it.

So, have you kept your 5th one and are you used to the static now? I was wondering if it gradually gets louder or does it stay at a constant level? Also do you (or anyone else) hear that static when listening to music?

No need to apologize. It's my fault as a consumer for allowing the return period to expire. Henze why I have stared to except Apples terrible customer service over this issue. If i was within my period to return the product knowing what I know now the iPhone would have been replaced for a droid in a heart beat. I am a apple computer user not a iPhone user. This is my fist iPhone and prob my last. I mean there are some cool features and design things i like but I have had much better experiences with the droid. As i switched over form an evo. Apples computer products have always been solid for. But not so much their phone products.

Hey fellas, I am having the same issue and perhaps I am going crazy, but I think that its happening more often then at the beginning. Gotta a question, should I exchange, or wait and hope that 5.1 fixes this absurdity. By reading the horror stories of people with 5 replacements and an intermittent issue I am not much keen on doing it for the time being,Btw, I bought the phone from an apple store in the US, but I am using it in Europe. Is it true that the only way to exchange is to send it to the States and wait for them to send me the replacement in Europe ( no apple store in my home country)..

Hey!

Got this problem to. It´s more obvious on certain calls but it´s always there. I really hope Apple solve this beacause the phone is great otherwise. I´m from Sweden by the way

People people people, how long will it take you to understand that it's a hardware issue and Apple is not going to fix it until iphone5 comes out.  There is not software fix, there is no patch, or update.  There are not going to redesign the phone.  Their sales are still through the roof and most people dont hear the noise or don't care.  So just do what I did: return the **** phone if you can and get an Android.  If you can't, sell it on ebay and be done with it.  You can exchange 5, 10 or 25 phones and they all will have the same issue.  The only way to get Apple to listen is to have access to media like cnn and have the story blown up. Until then nothing is going to happen.

I know man, I totally agree with you! The only reason I haven't done it already is that my iphone 4 is locked beyond unlocking, and returning this one would be very difficult - bought from the states FU but being used in Europe. The only reason I am holding on for the moment is that I saw a user claim that the 5.1 beta seemed to have fixed the static issues he was having. I know it's a longshot but.. you never know. Probably his hearing is getting impaired by now

I e-mailed my operator 3 in sweden. They told me to send my phone to service. It´s gonna take 14 days. What exactly are they gonna fix on that service? No way I´m gonna send away my phone for two weeks to get the same noise as before...

Hello everyone,

I'm living in France and I experience the same static issue. Software or hardware, that is the question!

Apparently, return the phone to Apple is useless cause every phone have this bug...

I don't know what to do, because the phone works perfectly fine except that problem. It's very dissapointing... Apple products are very expensive, and we can't expect high quality... Of course this noise isn't loud, but it exists...

I hope this is a software issue, but I more and more convince that is not.

I have the same promblem with my iphone 4s 16gig, its a static sound and it ****** me off. Eny good news on that sound issu from Apple ??

I have the same problem with my white 4s.  I got a replacement and it had the same annoying static issue.  I got a second replacement and it has the same static issue.  I am going in to Apple again to get a third replacement.  If it has the same static issue then I guess I will just have to live with this extremely annoying problem.  If I wanted a phone that had problems like this then I would have bought a cheaper phone.  Get it together Apple - figure out the problem and fix it.  If it is a hardware issue then Apple should recall the phones.  Very disappointed.

I'm coming back to this thread as I'm on my 5th iPhone 4s. I was quite happy at first as the static sound was only on about 10% of my calls and less loud than in all my previous iPhones 4s. Unfortunately it didn't last. I'm back at 90% percent with static now. What really annoys me its that Apple don't acknowledge the problem. I called support 2 days ago and after insisting on the phone and saying that I refuse to continue exchanging my phone over and over until I have a confirmation of Apple that they are aware of the problem and that they have fixed it. The lady on the phone told me she will check with the engineers and let me know. It's been 2 days and still no news. So now I've decided to contact the tv of my country (Switzerland) I'm really sick of this. Apple just doesn't care of its customers. I hope the tv reporters will be able to have an answer from Apple.