Q: iPhone 4s, echo when using apple headset during a call

I'd just like to say that I'm in Australia on the Telstra network and this problem is also happening to me.

Spoke to Apple Genius today and he had never heard of this issue. He ordered in a brand new black 64GB to replace mine but I'm beginning to suspect it's a software issue also.

It's very annoying as I was on a telephone interview for a great new job this morning, and had to call back three times due to the unbearable distortion. Not very professional.

Yeah, the restore as new solution isn't final. An earlier post stated that switching the phone and making sure that it works while being in the store solved its problem. I would think that by this time Apple should have realized of this issue and posted something. So, I'm gonna setup an appointment with the Genuis and switch my phone as many times until I get a good one. Well, probably 10 maximum, if problem remains then I will settle down and wait for some update from Apple.

My serial is DNPGG12NDT8+. Just for the record.

I have the same problem. With headset connected the sound on my side goes loud suddenly and the other person hears his/her own echo. During a 30 min call I had to disconnect and redial atleast 4-5 times. Later found this thread and learnt a better workaround of switching on/off the speaker. I have booked an appointment with Geniusbar, so will see what they come up with.

My iPhone's Serial# is DNTGH5YEDTC0 and I'm with Vodafone UK.

I have the same issue. Wired headphone w/ mic brand doesn't matter when connected to my 4s/32G/AT&T

Did you put your phone in DFU (Device Firmware Update) mode before you restored as a new iPhone?  I did a couple of resores that didn't solve the problem.  Once I put the phone in DFU mode then restored as a new iPhone, it fixed the problem.

Ocbitzlaw,

I have a few questions.

Did you set up as a new phone completely after restore/reinstall iOS 5 in DFU mode? Or did you restore from a backup after installing iOS 5 afresh from DFU mode?

Does this fix still last for you?

I have the same issue !

I'll try to put the phone in DFU mode and restore...

I set it up as a new phone (which is a bit of a pain but worth it).  I have two 4S.  One had this problem and one did not.  After the restore from DFU as a new phone they both work perfectly.  It's been about 5 days of heavy use with no problems on the phone that was not working properly before the restore.

Thanks Ocbizlaw for the information. I have two 4S two, but my wife is not as a heavy talker as I am, especially on the headset so, I don't know if hers is good.

Just like everyone else, my experience is the problem happens ~20% of the time and usually 10-15 minutes down a call when it happens. Have you done long (>30minutes) calls over these days after your fix?

So, at the risk of being redundant, it's DFU mode -> reinstall iOS 5 -> set up as new phone -> ...and then load all the apps and data afresh without using any of my backups?

I'm willing to bet it's a software issue, not hardware.

Hardware malfunctions tend to be persistent, predictable.

This issue occurs at random during some calls and not during others, meaning there is some sort of software failure which is responsible for the conversation quality suddenly going bad.

Could be a switch from one antenna to the other is not handled properly by the software, thus needing user intervention through using the "speaker on-off" trick.

My phone seems to be rather sensitive whenever I plug in the headset. I can tap the cable or the microphone attachment and have that tap amplified back to me in the headphones. Never happened with my 3GS and it was the first thing I noticed when I purchased the 4S. I instantly thought "whoa! This is not right".

Anyway, as I was saying, there must be some sort of noise canceling software on the phone not controlling things from its end.

In a curious 'by the way', whenever I have been listening to music and pause the song using the headset, then go do something else like write an email, the keypad clicking sound is very loud. Turning it DOWN actually makes it louder and turning it UP makes it softer, but it's still very loud until I close the music player from running in the background.

Not sure if this is related but next time I experience an echo during a call, I'll shut down the music player and see if that helps.

Well, I am not the only one then. Thanks Richard for sharing. This is so annoying. After playing with Siri for couple of minutes, the keyboard click sound is VERY VERY Loud. After 4-5 seconds it comes back to normal. It must be some sort of volume level handling bug with the Software besides the major ECHO bug.

I have just done a DFU restore as a new phone and within 6 minutes of my first call using the hands free the echo / noise reoccurred. ;-( So it doesn't seem to be a fix for all

Pressing the Speakerphone button cleared the call for about another 5 minutes before it occurred again at which point I removed the hands free and continued the conversation without issue.

I have also the exact same problem.

I talked to a friend who also have an iPhone 4S, we both used the included headset. All of a sudden I heard his voice very lound, too lound to be able to hear him clearly. He also had problem hearing me. When I disconnected my headset (he still had his connected), the problem went away for both of us. When reconnected it again it all started, disconnected gone, reconnect start etc etc.

This is very very annoying since you can't call using the headset anymore.

Please Apple get to the bottom of this issue and fix it. It's quite amazing that this passed the QA process at Apple, I always thought they had a skilled test process to avoid major issues to occur.

Send this to the feedback email Apple provides. Also post this on blogs.

DFU restore does not work in my case! The echo now appears in the first 2 minutes compare to 5-10 minutes before restoring