iPhone 5 bad call voice quality

I am so happy Apple corp has admitted the sound problem on the 5, it is a cheaply made phone. I love the new add airing now where it is dubbed background noise reduction, try - Phone quality reduction.

I hope the release in may is a new iphone 6 that has this issue corrected along with the new heavier metal like the iphone 4, paint doesnt scratch off, and maybe a few new features like things the Samsung can do. type and watch movies at the same time. I will try apple one more time, to see if they can get it right. Thanks,

Apple has officially admitted to a sound problem? Highly unlikely...

Where do we get the idea that Apple is accepting fault for this? I have not seen or read it anywhere. Just because an employee in random Apple stores may have said something to this effect does not mean anything.

In the meantime, we iPhone 5 users with call quality problems are being screwed...

DYS is correct. Apple Corp. has said nothing about this publically. I'm on my way to Apple store today to possibly get my 5th iPhone 5. Probably won't be any better than the first 4.

Serious question: How often are you going to exchange your iPhone 5 (and keep on recoginzing nothing changes)?

I just seen a post where it stated that Apple confirmed this to be an issue but couldn't find any documentation on here or the internet to support the previous post. Where might I find that? If this is the case, they should be working to issue a fix for this issue or do what any other company would do, a recall!!!

In my opinion, I don't know if replacing the phone for the third, forth, or fifth time is doing much but I'm going to keep trying. Bottom line, I paid a good amount for this phone and in addition, the monthly service that I pay AT&T isn't worth it at this point. And it seems that calling AT&T or Apple isn't working much either as the blame simply keeps being pushed back and forth.

I also strongly believe that Apple is aware of the issue since they seem to be replacing them with not too many questions being asked. I have seen a few posts where people from different parts of the world are getting the same exact treatment as I experienced here in Utah.

Also seen a post where someone mentions a Class Action Law Suit and to be honest, I'm at the point where this avenue of action isn't a bad idea. I am so angry about this issue that I feel "trapped" with this phone since I am unable to return it and if I cancel service, I am going to be penalized with the early termination fee (350.00).

Any thoughts from anyone?

I totally feel your pain. While my iphone 5 suffers from very similar call quality issues, using hearing aid mode has improved it enough to make it tolerable at the moment, although there are still certain phone calls where I cannot understand the person on the other end because of how choppy and digitized it sounds.

As for class action lawsuit, I think that might be a good idea to get Apple's attention. I know they don't want to admit this problem because it will hit their stock hard (temporarily of course). Here's what I think is the way to know if the fix gets through;

Once they release iOS 6.1 and if there is no fix still then this is likely a hardware issue...in which after that, I would keep exchanging out iPhones (hopefully with a new batch or refurb) until (hopefully) the call quality problem is resolved. If after that it's not resolved, it most likely never will be...they will hurry in the iPhone 6 and try and bury the complaints with the new hype of the brand new iP6.

Anyways, to summarize I would be patient just a little longer, wait for 6.1 to come out...see if that fixes it...if not, go exchange again at store after 6.1 is released..if that still doesnt fix it...then I say we lawyer up...

I agree, I am hoping that iOS 6.1 will fix these issue's and hoping that they will release it very soon. I think the worst part of this whole ordeal along with the call issues, is the treament that I have personally been receiving from both companies. I mean, the people at AT&T are quick to send you to Apple and then I go to Apple and they are quick to say, "It's a service provider issue". I wish I could have recorded a voice memo of my Apple visit I had on New Years Eve, the Apple "Genius" stated (word for word) "I'll replace it again since I won't be losing sleep over the replacement" and then saying "If the issue persists which I am sure it will since it's service related, don't bring the device back here". Amazing right?

I also just bought a new MacBook Pro and was about to buy the extra OneOnOne service when I went in on New Years Eve but during this visit, I couldn't wait to get out of there since I was about to make a fool of myself and blow a fuse with the "Genius" that was "helping me". Now, I don't plan on going in there any more or possibly not buying any other Apple products 😟. If I do, I will just buy them at Best Buy since their customer service can't be any worse than the service I've already experienced at Apple 😟

Rraikov, the way you tested the iPhone 5 voice call is basically using an earphone to test it. You then connect this earphone cable to a laptop. So, the iPhone 5 will assume you are using an earphone for the voice call and may activate their "noise cancelling" system differently than when you are in handset mode.

This "earphone" cable you connect to the laptop has no microphone, right? So, the iPhone 5 may NOT be able to "work" with the laptop to ensure the background noise is cancelled. If you use the new Apple earphone that has its own "noise cancelling" chip in it, then it may work.

The reason your test works okay with iPhone 4 because iPhone 4 has no "noise cancelling" when you plug in an earphone.

Your test is not wrong, but it does not truly represent the normal usage - very few people connect a cable to iPhone and then talk through a laptop computer.

The real problem here is that Apple's software did not account for all the scenarios of which a voice call is made. And worse yet, they did not test them carefully to catch all the bugs. Apple did not have any experience in the telephone software prior to iPHone 5. The previous software & hardware was done by Audience.

Upgrade to 6.0.2 did nothing for me. Neither did hearing aid thing or any other solves. I took my 4th iPhone 5 back to Apple and they told me, and I agreed, that the odds of getting 4 bad phones were astronomical. They checked the phone every which way they could, showed it to managers, other technical folks, and they believe that because my problem is consistent phone to phone, it's a Verizon issue. (That doesn't mean I agree with that, how would I know, I'm not a technician.) They got me on the phone with a specialist at Verizon who is now monitoring my use. I have already had to send in 5 reports of terrible calls in less than 24 hours. I've heard Verizon can create a new line for me and transfer my old number to it. Maybe that'll solve it, but I'm not counting on it. Don't know where it will end, but here is my final theory. Either Apple is having a serious call quality problem with the iPhone 5 and is working on it now from a software perspective, or there is a problem with the iPhone 5 and all carriers because the technology of the carriers has yet to catch up to the technology in the iPhone 5. If it's a software issue, I'll hope for a fix. If the issue is hardware, I'm screwed. I doubt anyone is going to give me a new iPhone 6 when they come out (if that solves it) or a new, revised iPhone 5. If it's a problem with the carriers I'm probably screwed too. Not much else to do except apologize to everyone I talk to when they tell me that I just cut out, or they couldn't understand what I just said. I still love Apple, but this is pretty bizarre and frustrating. I assumed the iPhone 5 and Verizon would be a great move for me. Unfortunately my iPhone 2 sounded better on AT&T (and they blow). Heck, my StarTac had better sound back on Sprint. Way better. (CDMA too I believe.) Oh well. I'll wait and see.

Try this: Ask Verizon or Apple let you have an iPhone 4S and try it for a week, side by side with your iPhone 5, and see/hear the DIFFERENCE!!

You may have to activate a new line (temporarily) and cancell it later.

Or you can switch completely to iPhone 4S and see if the problems go away. That's what I did. I don't have time to fool around with this problem. Apple really lets us down this time.

What I don't understand is why is the sound quality on speach so bad for some Iphone 5 users and not for others? My colleague purchased one just two weeks ago and his is fine. My brother's is fine.

I am going back to the shop tomorrow and I hope and pray they come up with a solution because I don't have time to muck about with phones that don't work. I suppose the best thing is to downgrade to an iphone 4S and have done with it, or simply ask for my money back and go Android. This is a hopeless situation, I just don't know why Apple do not make an official statement.

I haven't read this entire thread but I'm glad I found it. I too am having this issue. Sounds just like the call recorded on iphone5callquality.com. This is my work phone. I have a personal iPhone 4s and do not have this problem. I was hoping that it was a 4G vs. 3G thing, but apparently not. So add my voice to the chorus of people who want a fix! I know this is a user-to-user forum but surely Apple do not ignore a thread 35 pages long!

Now I'm off to leave feedback....

Yup, our best bet is to make as much noise as possible...in hopes of getting Apple's attention.

With regards to why the poor sound quality ranges from user to user is obviously all the variables that are involved; service provider, reception, submodel/batch of iPhone5, settings, apps installed, and even expectations.

There is no doubt about it that there is a major issue with the iPhone 5's call quality. The question is whether or not Apple wants to take a hit to their stock temporarily by admitting it or whether they alienate a huge swatch of (mostly) loyal Apple customers that may never return to the iPhone lineup....I say the latter is a bit more important...what do you think Apple? WWSJD? What would Steve do?

In Germany the German Telekom (T-Mobile) today opened a thread in their own support forum acknowledging the quality problem (although the do not limit this to the iPhone 5...). I am really curious if they publish any news over the next days.

Here is the link - German, of course...

http://forum.telekom.de/foren/read.php?877,11101986

Yeah, pretty much got the same thing.
Got the iphone 5 in Germany from Vodafone.
Was expecting a way better overall experience than I had with my iphone 4 (which got the antenna bug).

But for now, i pretty much hate the iphone 5. I cannot understand my GF while calling at all.

Sometimes I switch back to my iphone 4 instead just to understand anything.

If ios 6.1 doesn´t solve this problem (I don´t expect that much out of it) I will kick this phone back. Together with my iphone 4, the ipad 3 and the imac i have. Not because I don´t like the products. No just because I hate the way they deal with issues like that. No statements on issues at all. From no side.

You charge me 650 € for a **** phone that doesn´t offer the function for which it is really made for??

Are you serious? I have 50 better ways of burning my money.

cya guys