ABSjazz
Level 1 (0 points)

Q: Light ticking or crackling from iPhone 4S earpiece when on a call

Hello all,

 

 

Received my white 4S on launch day and absolutely love it!  However, I've noticed a faint ticking/crackling type of noise coming from the earpiece when I'm on a call. It's not distortion as it stays at the same level regardless of volume.  It seems to happen when the screen is turned off by the proximity sensor.  Almost sounds like an interference of sorts.  I tried turning off wifi on both the phone and my router at home but that didn't solve the problem.  Any ideas what this could be? It does go away at times and it seems to be more pronounced when I hold the phone to my left ear oddly enough. 

 

I'll probably just end up bringing it to the Genius Bar when I have the chance but just wanted to see if anyone else has experienced this. 

 

Thanks in advance.

Posted on Oct 17, 2011 7:48 PM

by ABSjazz,Solvedanswer
ABSjazz ABSjazz
Level 1 (0 points)
A:

Hello again every,

 

It's been a good month since checking on this thread, so all the responses were quite a surprise. 

 

I ended up swapping my phone at the Genius bar this past weekend.  The new unit still has a very slight ticking or crackling noise, but it's NOTICABLY better than my initial phone.  Not sure if it's just a manufacturing variance or my first unit really was that defective.  Bottom line is that its actually pretty difficult to detect the noise in my new one (and downright impossible if there's any other ambient noise).  In other words, I'll be keeping this one.

 

Good luck to everyone else!

Posted on Dec 14, 2011 9:23 PM

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Q: Light ticking or crackling from iPhone 4S earpiece when on a call

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  • by molando,

    molando molando Oct 20, 2011 1:09 PM in response to ABSjazz
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 20, 2011 1:09 PM in response to ABSjazz

    Same problem here.  It's almost like I'm hearing an electrical current (intermittent buzz) just behind the earpiece.  I also hear my own voice in the earpiece sometimes.  Very distracting and unsettling that this is happening on a brand new device.  I am hoping the firmware update will fix this widespread problem.  Anyone else having battery drainage issues as well?

  • by NapoleonSolo,

    NapoleonSolo NapoleonSolo Oct 20, 2011 1:16 PM in response to molando
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 20, 2011 1:16 PM in response to molando

    Yeah, battery is pretty weak compared to my iPhone 4. Hope fix will come soon because i'm beginning to miss my iPhone 4 ...

  • by Dogrob,

    Dogrob Dogrob Oct 20, 2011 1:16 PM in response to molando
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 20, 2011 1:16 PM in response to molando

    Yeah the first phone I had was worse than the one I have now although this one isn't good at all. The battery definitely doesn't last as long as my previous iPhone 4 :-(

     

    Hope this gets sorted as getting refunds on mobiles seems almost impossible!

  • by Dogrob,

    Dogrob Dogrob Oct 20, 2011 1:18 PM in response to NapoleonSolo
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 20, 2011 1:18 PM in response to NapoleonSolo

    Beginning to miss my iPhone 4 as well :-(

  • by benvolio1979,

    benvolio1979 benvolio1979 Oct 20, 2011 5:22 PM in response to molando
    Level 1 (4 points)
    iPhone
    Oct 20, 2011 5:22 PM in response to molando

    Yes! I was very disappointed when my battery was at 94 percent after 1 hour of standby, where my iPhone 4, which was a replacement by the way with less battery life than my original iPhone 4, would usually be at 99 or 100 percent after that time.

  • by ABSjazz,

    ABSjazz ABSjazz Oct 20, 2011 8:08 PM in response to ABSjazz
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 20, 2011 8:08 PM in response to ABSjazz

    Sorry I haven't been able to past on this since my original message. I've been quite busy with assignments and exams up until now.

     

    Thanks to everyone who has chimed in on this. Makes me feel a bit better that I'm not the only one with this issue. Not too keen on swapping mine out right now given all the replacement units exhibiting the same symptoms. Here's to hoping Apple can tweak some firmware/baseband/antenna calibrations to remedy this. I really have no idea what's causing it but I hope its not another antenna design flaw.

     

    Regarding the battery concerns some have: I too am experiencing rather rapid battery drain especially when compared to my iPhone 4 on iOS 4.x.x. However, let's keep the battery discussions in their own threads so as not to dilute the information about our earpiece interference issue. Thanks again!

  • by Paulshaqz,

    Paulshaqz Paulshaqz Oct 20, 2011 11:00 PM in response to ABSjazz
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 20, 2011 11:00 PM in response to ABSjazz

    i also have this ticking crackling sound in the earpiece it doesn't really seem that bad but i'm just gonna wait it out for a bit hopefully a softwear update will bring it to normal also i'm worried about the yellow screen and battery issues everyone talking about that'w why i'm waiting it out.

  • by Shawn83,

    Shawn83 Shawn83 Oct 21, 2011 7:30 AM in response to Paulshaqz
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 21, 2011 7:30 AM in response to Paulshaqz

    Same problem here. I returned my first phone to apple store (couldn't reproduce it at apple store but they exchanged anyways) my second unit has same issue. Can't hear it at apple store, but I hear it at work and at home. Could be environmental too, but there is definitely a problem with the phones design. It can only be heard in ear piece. Don't exchange your phone because they all have the issue, its just most people can't hear it.

  • by FuzzySham,

    FuzzySham FuzzySham Oct 21, 2011 10:36 AM in response to ABSjazz
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 21, 2011 10:36 AM in response to ABSjazz

    Same problem here. I don't use the phone very much but it is highly annoying hearing the static in the background. I sure hope this isn't a hardware issue.

  • by Matthijst,

    Matthijst Matthijst Oct 21, 2011 10:45 AM in response to ABSjazz
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Oct 21, 2011 10:45 AM in response to ABSjazz

    Have the same issue; sometimes there's noise, sometimes there isn't.

    Will wait it out a bit, as all 4S iPhones are sold out now anyway.

     

    Could be environmental, as I hear it all the time when I'm at home, and only sometimes when I'm at work.

    But whatever the cause: this shouldn't happen on a brand new $750 phone. Hopefully Apple can fix it in baseband firmware.

  • by M.A,

    M.A M.A Oct 21, 2011 12:14 PM in response to Matthijst
    Level 2 (260 points)
    Oct 21, 2011 12:14 PM in response to Matthijst

    I just googled this issue minutes ago after I was on a call and started noticing a crackling buzzing sound in the earpiece, like a short circuit sound.

     

    My 4S also makes the sound when not on a call. If I turn the screen on and place the earpiece to my ear I can hear the same noise, Siri on or off makes no difference.

     

    Very disturbing sound, I can't believe this! Otherwise this phone has been awesome until now.

     

    I am on AT&T in North Carolina.

     

    Back it goes!!!

  • by M.A,

    M.A M.A Oct 21, 2011 12:15 PM in response to Shawn83
    Level 2 (260 points)
    Oct 21, 2011 12:15 PM in response to Shawn83

    Too noisy in an Apple store to hear this issue. I'm in my home office and can hear it loud and clear.

  • by glhughes,

    glhughes glhughes Oct 21, 2011 7:32 PM in response to ABSjazz
    Level 1 (4 points)
    iPhone
    Oct 21, 2011 7:32 PM in response to ABSjazz

    I have had this same issue with 2 phones now.  First one was worse and sounded a bit like CPU whine and would even pop fairly loudly every once in a while.  The replacement seems to have the same problem but it's been much quieter so far and sounds more like static and only occurrs occasionally.  The replacement has several other problems as well (earpiece works maybe 50% of time, sounds very distorted sometimes, and the glass in one of the corners seems to be separating from the body of the phone) so I am going to see about exchanging it tonight.

  • by belly415,

    belly415 belly415 Oct 22, 2011 12:02 AM in response to ABSjazz
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 22, 2011 12:02 AM in response to ABSjazz

    i feel better knowing that i'm not the only one having this issue. 

     

    i brought my 4s 32gb to the store tonight, and the guy agreed that it was faint, and replaced it.  but he made me feel like i was taking advantage of apple by saying soemthing like, "normally, this isn't a problem that would warrant a new device, but i'll help you out..."  um, gee, thanks?

     

    so i took the enw phone home and set it up.  SAME static/crackle noise.  and what's worse, i think that it's even worse on this 2nd phone -- as when i use headphones and listen to music.    i am so sensitive to sounds, so it totally drives me nuts.

     

    is it possible that this problem could be fixed for all of us by a software update? 

  • by johnnyoffline,

    johnnyoffline johnnyoffline Oct 23, 2011 7:35 PM in response to ABSjazz
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 23, 2011 7:35 PM in response to ABSjazz

    As it stands now, I believe that the crackling stopped for me when I disabled Siri

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