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

Sad to report that even my replacement 4s (AT&T, 4 bars) continues to have the same garbled issue after 5-10 minutes on a call when using Apple iPhone headset.  And this is a factory defauts 4s, not a restore from backup.  Work around when it happens (if you realize it happens) is to turn speakerphone on and off.  Then it is clear again for a few minutes until it happens again.  I was presenting on a customer call, so didn't know there was an issue until a co-worker IM'd me saying they're hearing static & garbled.  Otherwise I would have kept right on talking garbled to them.

i've got the same problem with my 4s and the original headset...

the only way to improve the situation is to activate and deactivate "speaker"...

But that's no option for an iPhone -.-

after replacing the phone and garbled call after 5 minutes problem continues, now apple support wants to put a hold on my credit card so they can send me another headset.  I'm dubious that the headset is the culprit.

i have just got off the phone from Apple. they suck.  EVERY time i talk to someone on the phone or anyone staff member in the apple store they ALWAYS tell me that they have never heard of the issue.  i am on my 4th iPhone 4s (64GB). i was told that there was a courier coming to pickup my old phone, no one came and no one called.  the echo even happened whilst on the call to apple but yet they still maintain they haven't never heard of it. *interesting side note - every one at apple that has never heard of this issue, they don't use an iPhone 4s ... WHY?" it's kind of important to at least "touch" the product you are supporting*    I was told that an engineer would reply to the problem and the senior tech i am dealing with would call me back, engineering haven't responded and no one called. I have just been told to wait another week for a reply, not a fix or any ETA of an update just a note from engineering to that will most likely say "never heard of that issue". another week with a phone that does not work.

screw that. i am going to the shops now to look at another phone, i am thinking windows 7 mobile but i don't want to give microsoft any money so i guess i will have to look at something samsung - i'm open to suggestions.

i believe apple have just lost me as a customer. i will not buy an ipad, i will not buy a mac, i will never buy another iPhone.

Hello,

i had the same problem. sometimes the quality of the phone call went bad and my partner on the other side hear his voice in ECHO.

TO SOLVE THIS PROBLEM UNTIL APPLE HAS A FIX.

" when the problem "echo" starts , activate Iphone speakers and deactivate them.

For me then the call is clean.

i hope this helps some of you!

kind regards

klaus

if someone before told you this ..... i dont want to read all

bye

Two patterns here contradict each other:

1. This thread is relatively small with 21 pages compared to 267 about the battery problem. Even a thread about factory unlocking has twice as many pages as this one.
2. Yet, most of us with the Echo issue have experienced the same issue with the replacement phones.

Statistically, there's something very wrong here. A small percentage of customers are reporting this issue, yet almost all of those that do get replacement phones with the exact same problem.

In other words, if this particular hardware/software issue is so wide-spread that most replacement phones also have the same problem, then this should be a much bigger problem amongst customers! ... this thread would have been 5-10 times longer.

I'll admit not all customers use their wired headphones extensively but surely 30-40% would have noticed by now. It's also easy to imagine that support staff are told not to admit the scale of an issue to customers, but what if this really isn't such a common complaint?

The only environmental constant seems to be the headphones themselves. However, I've experienced the issue myself even when using an 2 year old pair that's never given any problems on my 3GS for two years.

Maybe we have faulty headphones that are actually damaging the headsets on first use. It would explain why the replacement handsets have the same issue ... because the headphones aren't replaced at the same time. Once the handset is damaged, the problem also occurs with other headphones.

Has any of you been given a replacement handset that DOESN'T have this issue ... even when using the original headphones supplied with the faulty handset?

Sorry to burst your balloon 'OnYourBike' but anyone I call gets the echo. I never use the headset and have never used it. I suspect the noise suppression system is at fault on some phones.

Any re-occuring fault the makes the phone useless is serious, the iPhone is sold as a premium product but QC is lacking.

Fair enough Unrealsimon ... most people only experience the issue while using the headphones, hence the title of this thread. Your issue is rare. Having said that, I admit it is hard to imagine any headphone damaging a handset.

The fact remains, the pattern around the replacement handsets still doesn't add up. I'd still like to know ...

Has any of you been given a replacement handset that DOESN'T have this exact same issue?

and I will remind all readers of this thread that the problem is not exclusive to 4S models. My iPhone 4 exhibits the same behaviour, with a bluetooth headset, with the Apple wired headset, and, to a lesser extent (as I recall) with the phone itself.  I believe it MUST be a software issue.

  Tim

OnYourBike - digging a bit deeper, I realize there's actually a dozen or so separate threads re this issue.  They have a variety of titles but if you read the details, they all look to be the same 1 issue.

This other one for example "Static in iPhone 4s" for exampe has 17K views and 325 replies.

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3393647?start=315&tstart=0

btw, as of Nov 10th apple 2nd level support and my local genius bar were still saying they'd never heard of the issue.

jspee, have you had the opportunity to file an "official" complaint by filling out the form http://www.apple.com/feedback/iphone.html ?

It's all good that we talk about it here in the thread etc.. but I think if all of us fill out the form, it may get prioritized..

I'm on my 3rd iphone and all 3 of them had the same problem.. I'm not going to get the 4th one only to find out I just wasted my time getting yet another faulty phone...

What I'm hoping is that ALL of us who are having this problem, file the apple form so that we can get Apple's attention on this matter!

I have the same problem. Apple HELP US

Well 5.01 was just released.... No mention of the echo problem in the limited amount of notes I was looking at. 

fyi - google "iphone 4s echo bug" is now up to 448,000 results and 24 news articles

filled out the form, suggest all do the same and couldn't hurt to paste this thread's link into it either http://www.apple.com/feedback/iphone.html

Just updated to iOS 5.01. It does not seem that the echo is fixed. At least ambient sound is still fed from the headset mic directly to the ear piece, during voice calls (skype and VoIP apps are OK as before).