iPad mini retina speakers/volume

Does any one from Apple monitor these comments, it would be great if someone from apple can give a response on this and point out any steps which are being take to address this, I sincerely hope this is a software issue.

My 32g volume is terrible on ipad mini retina

i think this defect apply to all ipad mini retina regardless the memory space.

Hi all.... I thought I'd chime in on this. I waited for the iPad mini with retina forEVER and was so excited when I got it. The sound is AWFUL. I've read a lot of people talking about sound quality vs volume, but this is a volume issue... hands down. If I put on a movie and place the iPad mini on the couch next to me on max volume, the sound is difficult to hear. If I then bring down the volume to 50% it's basically inaudible.... so I did a little test and compared it to my iPhone 5. I put on Pandora on both... iPhone clear as a bell and louder than the iPad mini. Then I turned on HBO GO, loaded the exact same episode at the exact same spot and played one and then the other and then both simultaneously.... iPhone 5 was louder and the iPad mini was very difficult to hear. (I'm not hard of hearing).

I contacted tech support numerous times. They told me to reset... didn't help. Then I did a full system restore to factory settings.... didn't help. Then I sent it to tech support where they first told me that they couldn't detect the issue that I had. I explained in detail via email what the issue was. They then claimed that they were able to duplicate the issue. So they sent me a new one.

I got the new one yesterday and guess what? SAME PROBLEM. I contacted Apple again to tell them that I was still having an issue. I must have spoken to 5 different people at Apple who ALL claimed to have never heard of such an issue. Meanwhile, there are thousands of posts online about this volume problem. Instead of sending it back and doing this whole thing over again, I will hike over to the genius bar on Friday to show them this problem live. I'm not sure if they'll have a bright idea or not, but I fear that this is an ongoing issue with the iPad mini with retina. The whole point of having this device is so I can watch movies while on the train or in bed, etc. I'll be ****** if I spent 700 bucks on this device and I can't hear it. If they can't figure this out, I guess I'll just have to return it. I am so disappointed.

Those who finally realise the volume stinks should stop taking the advice of others that a reset or a swap will work, it won't. I'm pretty **** sure it's every iPad Mini Retina device that has this issue.

Kubert, hope you get across to the Genius, but I honestly don't know what sort of connection they have with the wider Apple - someone needs to bring this to Apple's attention and have it fixed. This thread clearly isn't working. What else can be done?

Yeah mudbucket... I'm really not optimistic. Just to be clear, apple told me to do the reset and restore. I guess that's their default recommendation for any issue lol. What I don't understand is that they must have sold millions of these machines. If it is a widespread issue, how have people not noticed and complained at levels much higher than a few thousand posts online?

I just don't get it, but I'm fairly certain with this second machine that it can't just be an isolated incident. Shrug 😟

just return it if you still can. i have same problem, they gave me new one and still muffled sound. i cannot return anymore because im out of the return window. 😟

This seems like a hardware problem, but it might be a design defect of the new chassis since speaker volume depends partially on its housing. So if you place the orginal iPad mini speaker into a larger housing, could that impact the sound? Any audio engineers reading this thread?

I don't think a recall will occur, but I'm surprised by the lack of any reports in the technology or mainstream media. Do most people use earphones or a Bluetooth speaker? I doubt it but only a tiny number of buyers (this thread and a few others) seem to have noticed.

my ipad mini retina is my bedtime companion screen i dont use headphone, that is why the sound volume is apparent in a quiet room.

A lot of people just don't take notice in these things, which is pretty normal if you use headphones or use it in a quiet place. I know it took me a while to go ***!

And particularly if they don't own any other iDevice to compare, it is after all still 'working' as speakers but bad compared to EVERY other iDevice.

Well I will go to the genius bar and see what they have to say penangites. I got it for xmas and apprently the return window expired on January 7th. However, I notified them prior to that about the issue so I'm hoping they will still let me return it if need be. I can be very persuasive and I hope that works if it comes down to that lol. I really don't want to have to do this. I've been wanting the mini retina ever since the original came out with the crappy resolution. I'm so sad to have these problems and (hopefully) send it back if I have to. I don't really see any other option.... again, we'll see what they say. Wish me luck!

lets start a twitter barrage about this issue

I agree. If I hadn't a previous iPad mini non retina to compare, I wouldn't noticed the difference between the two devices. But having an old iPad mini with a VERY GOOD sound (and a Nexus 7 with a very good sound too) I can't stand to have spent 780 Euro (for a new mini retina 128gb 3G in Italy) and have a worse quality!!

Same problem for me. I still have my original mini and the comparison is terrible. Very low volume and totally lack of bass. I returned the retina (who had the retention issue too) and keep my original for the moment.

I think the lack of space inside the retina model is the cause of this issue.

I went to the genius bar at an apple store, and they checked my mini with retina and said ti was working as designed. I showed the comparision with the iphone 5 models in the apple store, but they said every device to get some benefits (size and retina etc) they have to comprmise on some aspects and they may have comprimised on the speaker aspect, although that is an unacceptable response.

It is sad no one from apple ever monitors the forums and listens to the real user grieviences or feedback.