iPhones 6S Plus Earpiece Crackling When on Call

Hello,

I have exactly the same problem as dsc888 described it, " It's almost as though the metal grill inform of the the earpiece is vibrating from excess sound coming through or that it's loose." Yesterday I went to Apple store, explained everything, they "fixed it" but nothing changed. I really hope they find a solution to this problem very soon. Don't know if it will make any difference, but I tryed informing Apple about this problem via apple feedback page.

From my last Post until now, I had three other iPhones 6s I could test.

And all of them had the same Problem.

I am very sorry to hear that grasi 4950. Im wondering, considering what you've said, how come more people aren't experiencing the same problem with 6 and 6s? Also can you guys check if your phone rattles when tapped, as shown in video below. Thanks

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6SU_c4LJWw

Hi Theramod,

I belive, that the noise comes from the camera lens. On every 6s I had in my hands you only had to shake the pone softly and you could hear

the noise.

Some other people confirmed, that the autofocus of the lens is mounted very loose and that's the issue.

By the way, I testet a couple of iPhone 6 too, and no one had this problem.

On the iPhone 6 you have to shake the phone very strong to here this sound.

Maybe there is a problem with the power button, but not with the lens.

OMG ! Thank god i am not the only one having this problem. I just bought my Iphone 6s plus two days ago, then i noticed this aluminum foil sound when am in a call! I could not believe it. And it's driving me crazy how annoying this. I cant take my mind off of it. Hey apple , please fix your phones.

I just bought a 6s Plus at my local Apple Store on Jan 29, 2016. It is the 64gb AT&T version that is unlocked. I spent 45 minutes chatting with Apple Tech support and got nowhere. I have tried everything including changing SIM cards to a totally different carrier, changing locations that would put me on a different tower on both carriers (AT&T and T-Mobile), changing settings on the phone like resetting network settings, hearing aid, noise cancellation...you name it. Nothing works.

Live voice calls are TERRIBLE with tons of crackle or static attached to every spoken word that my party is speaking. Recorded Voice Memo calls played back through the earpiece speaker are clear.

This appears to be a network software issue inside the iPhone 6s Plus. I feel if the earpiece speaker itself was defective or poorly designed that all sounds played back through it would have crackle and static.

I have had the same issue since buying my iPhone 6s. I was trying for ages to figure out what the problem was. My wife's new phone does the same. It's not network related. It happens with very loud welcome messages or if someone has a particularly loud voice. Then you hear this annoying buzz type sound in the background.. It's hugely frustrating as my iPhone 6s is the best phone to date by Apple but this problem which Apple don't seem to address has taken away some of the pleasure. It appears that it is due to the camera which vibrates. The genius people don't know how to fix the problem or are just playing dumb. I think other people with the same new phones are generally unaware or think it is network related I.e a bad line. I have half a mind to go to the press. Maybe Apple will bring out a software update which may help!

Hi Baracouda,

I just can't see how earpiece vibrations can be abrupt enough to actually rattle the OIS sensor in the camera module. If I turn my earpiece volume way way down to a whisper I can still hear the static and at that low of a volume setting there is no way it is rattling the camera module.

I speculate that it is software related inside the iPhone and has something to do with the hearing aid features. I say this because if I turn the hearing aid feature on, the static completely stops. However....the tone is more muted, muffled or bass like with the hearing aid feature turned on. Here are my current settings:

Hearing Aid: On

Phone Noise Cancellation: Off

Earpiece Volume: Max

Cellular Data: Enable LTE...Data Only. Voice & Data is unchecked, not using VoLTE. (I am on AT&T)

Hey MA,

Selecting the hearing aid function doesn't do anything for me. The noise is still there. The same applies to turning noise cancellation on or off. The reason I mention the issue is because the genius people state this is what it may be as have others on this forum. The reason I believe it may be this is because if you tap the receiver port with your finger on your phone you'll hear the same sound. Now this sound only arises for me when someone has a loud voice or a recording or welcome message by a company is particularly loud. This somehow causes the lens to vibrate or rattle. And turning the volume down as you say makes no difference. The Genius Bar people say that the camera focus lens is loose and this is normal. I have had my speaker changed and any loose components checked by the Apple Store but everything was said to be working normal despite the noice continuing. Perhaps a software update will correct sound levels when on a call but I wouldn't hold my breath on this problem being sorted after speaking with the support line and people in store who all have failed to sort it out.

Hey grasi4950, little update.

I just had a phone call on my apple headphones and I hear same freaking "metallic" sound as I hear coming out of earpiece. How is this possible? Can anyone else test this? So annoying..

I have also had problems with crackling in the earpiece during live calls and I am now on my third new 6s plus phones now. It does seem to depend upon the caller and how loudly they are speaking. I would also say that using the speaker or the use of headphones does not result in any crackling or distortion at all.

In view of the number of users who have had several phones all with similar issues, I am somewhat reluctant try any further new phones. Also I am not enthusiastic about having the phone opened up with the potential for other issues or possible dust particles entering the phone and particularly since there will be no guarantee of the phone being fixed.

I can only say that I find it strange that the issue seems to have persisted for so long. If it was a mechanical / hardware issue would so many new phones be shipped, but if it was a software issue, why has this not been resolved?

Overall I consider the 6s plus phone to be one of the best available, however the cackling earpiece is more than a little annoying and would surely not be expected on such a product.

There is indeed a light crackling which is not always easy to hear. It is also not always there, but only with specific frequency.It mostly occurs with automatic messages, like voice mail, welcome message from certain companies, ... Then something in the phone vibrates making..such a pity my first new iPhone an now this. Thank for the help here and know i won't be able to solve this issue for now...

Sounds exactly like a problem I am having. I really doubt Apple will ever fix this simply because not enough people is experiencing this problem, but still hoping for a miracle. Anyone with this problem tried 9.3 beta?

I found this thread and read through the entire thing. I have literally the exact same thing happening and have noticed the same characteristics of the problem. However a big difference is that I have a Nexus 5x phone on Verizon. I notice the problem only in my earpiece and not on speakerphone. It also is way worse when hearing recorded voice messages or certain frequency ranges or something...as others here have mentioned. For me, the problem completely goes away if I disable "Enhanced 4g mode" in my cellular settings...which disables volte on my phone. From what I understand, on the iPhone this would be the same thing as turning off the "voice and Data" check box in your iPhone cellular settings. On Verizon I believe I can remove "HD voice" from my Verizon features in my account to also disable this feature, but obviously just unchecking a box in my phone is easier. Without this volte option on, my calls are completely normal and this issue is completely repeatable on my Nexus. The only downside is that i then cant do voice and data at the same time unless im on wifi. Maybe it is the same thing on all your iPhones as well?

The reply from ekloot is interesting as it would imply a signal or possible software issue which would correspond to one of the earlier postings, however I have just tried turning the "voice and data" check box off as suggested and I have found no improvement in the calls. Please note that I also changed the mobile network setting to 2g to ensure there were no issues with the signal quality.

If anyone has any success with changing the setting as suggested by ekloot, I would be very interested to hear.

Just in the way of an update since my earlier comment on the 28th Feb, I have tried a second SIM card as suggested by my local Apple Store, however the performance of the phone (i.e. slight cracking in the earpiece) remains exactly the same. Note that at the time of my last visit to the Apple Store on the 4th March, it was also suggested that the phones software is expected to be fully updated shortly and this may provide a solution. (I am not convinced of this at all.)

In the meantime, I remain uncertain as to the best option in terms of returning my phone and requesting a full refund or just accepting the issue as a minor irritation.