Can't hear through earpiece in iPhone 5

i have the same problem but im in egypt and we havent apple store in egypt what can i do any help ?????

Similar issue on Verizopn I5. Could hear speaker but not through ear hole (whatever that is called). I plugged in my head phones and could hear through them. Unplugged them and everything worked.

Still will report it to the store but for now its fixed. Maybe a little booger in the headphone jack.

I have the same problem as Zoso67TX with a month-old (40-days) iPhone5 on T-Mobile. Squeezing the phone to the right of the earpiece will bring back the audio loud and clear. I waited longer than 30 days to bring it in thinking it was a reception issue. Bad mistake. Now apple not replace my phone, but will only replace the earpiece.

I am a bit upset that there is was not outright replacement. If I have to make another appointment with Genius and have to drive back into an Apple store -- I will not be a happy customer.

My Genius move was to tell the Apple rep squeezing the phone brought the sound back. She was about to give me a whole new phone, now I just have a replaced earpiece. 😠

I have had the exact same problem and I have had the phone replaced twice and now it still happens on my third one. I've set up the phone from new so I know it's wasn't a corrupt software file. The guy at the Genius Bar said it must be due to my carrier but I've had the sim replaced and why would it have anything to do with my carrier that when I ring someone I hear nothing so I look at the screen and the seconds are going by. It has rang without me hearing it and my friend has answered my call but I cannot hear them so I turn the speakerphone on and off then I can hear them. It happens 1 out of 5 calls I make. It's so annoying. And the Genius Bar guy said they won't replace it again.

Try inserting the headphone jack and removing it. And you tellt hat guy at the genius bar that he needs to fix it. Its clearly a hardware problem.

It does exactly the same if I'm using the headphones as a hands free device. Also sometimes the person on the other end sounds like a robot. Why would this happen to three different iPhones it surely can't be coincidence and surely it should be happening to more iPhones than just mine.

I just solved my earspeaker defect: seems the port for earplugs can be jammed with some dirt. I first took a match and carefully removed some dirt, and next blew some compressed ais in the port. Worked within 10 seconds. I do not know if this might harm the iphone 5 interior however.. So far no problems.

Your best shot is to fixit with the following part: http://www.ifixit.com/iPhone-Parts/iPhone-5-Earpiece-Speaker/IF118-009

They also provide the guide for you to do it. (You will need the tools too).

Are you using teh same SIM card on the 3 iphones?

SIM Card could be the problem.

For the iPhones that are not covered under warranty anymore, you can fix the Earpiece by either replacing it or doing a good clean up.

For the replacement this is the part: http://www.ifixit.com/iPhone-Parts/iPhone-5-Earpiece-Speaker/IF118-009 (you need to get the tools too)

Tear down guide: http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Installing+Earpiece+Speaker/10592/1 (usable also to make a good clean up of the existing Earpiece)

Cheers!

L.

It seems to be a hardware problem. I pressed down directly next to the ear piece and the sounds comes in just fine. When I releasesd it the problem came back. I gave it a little knock on the same spot and it seemed to correct it without me pressing down....we'll see how long that lasts.

i too am facing the same problem here.plus i can hear some clicking sound when i shake my phone.

My experience with this issue: ear piece did not work at any time. My iPhone 5 became a speaker phone or Bluetooth only phone.

- Tried resetting the phone via holding Power and Home buttons.

- Was fully updated to the latest OS.

- No lint in the headphone jack - had tried plugging in a headset multiple times.

- Had no interest in pressing on the front or back of the phone to improve the internal connections! That would mask a manufacturing defect.

- My original December 2012 phone had been replaced by Genius Bar with a new one (this one) 3 months ago due to the original phone screen being broken so this was a very new phone.

Scheduled a Genius Bar visit. They confirmed the problem existed and told me to come back in 30 minutes while they replaced the "Receiver" (Apple-speak for the ear speaker module). I'll admit I was disappointed they were opening up my precious iPhone rather than replacing it. BTW, from the paperwork, if you replaced the ear speaker module out of warranty the cost @ Apple would be $60, installed.

Came back and they advised me the part replacement went fine, was not deeply invasive (no reheating adhesive, etc...), they claimed they made 3 test calls, 'sorry for your hassles, good bye'.

Walked out of the store and proceeded to test it by first listening to a voice mail via the ear speaker. No sound. Worked fine on speaker phone mode. Tried a phone call. Same problem, no ear speaker sound!

Walked back in the store, advised them their fix did not work, and waited in line for another 20 minutes. After confirming the phone was not fixed they advised me, sorry, 'sometimes replacing the receiver does not fix the problem'.

So they then replaced my phone with a new one. Problem (finally) solved!

PS: when you get a new replacement phone from the Genius Bar, first take the clear protector sheet off the front! I did not realize it covered both the ear speaker and mouth microphone. The resulting not-surprising lack of sound worried me the issue was in my head! ;-)

Hi Paul this happens to me in exactly the same way and Apple have already replaced my iPhone 5 once. I have to activate the speakerphone in the same way and then switch it off so that I can then hear through the earpiece. I shall bookmark this thread to show them (prove to them) that this problem exists. They make out that "this is very strange" but I KNOW this is common and it's extremely annoying! 😠