iPhones 6S Plus Earpiece Crackling When on Call

Hello again,

Well what I thought was fixed was not fixed. iPhone 6 plus continued to make a crackling broken earpiece speaker sound when using any bluetooth headset including the new AirPods during phone calls. This noise was intermittent but occurred mostly on longer calls.

I happened to be speaking to an Apple Tech the other day and mentioned it and he asked if I was using ATT for cellular and I said yes. He stated that he had the same issue and that I should turn off WIFI calling because it worked for him.

I have spoken to at least 5 other Apple Tech support people including at the Apple Store and none had a clue. They mostly said I had a defective 6 plus and should buy the 8 or even the new X model.

Well I turned off WIFI calling and guess what?? I haven't had any of that speaker rattling static in my ear when using any bluetooth headset since. It seems the last tech I spoke to was correct. The problem was WIFI calling and yes I am on ATT cellular so my problem appears fixed for whatever the reason. Had I been more aware of the timing of when I first turned on WIFI calling and when the static rattling in my ear began on phone calls I am sure it occurred at that time.

Thanks to the Apple Tech I last spoke too.. Yay.. finally someone who had an answer besides my phone being defective or in need of replacement for "older circuitry" which is what I had been told by one tech.

Good luck to all. If you are an ATT customer with this issue try turning off WIFI calling and enjoy the clarity.

I've had some seriously annoying issues on my 6s plus (2nd one now) and my first hop is to the uk mod and cant find any other hops in my cellular network routing software And even with dev resets being done and phone whipped clean and set up new i end up with throttled bandwith, uncomprehendsble audio output. Seriously ****** that 3 hrs of screen sharing with apple and no answer just more arising issues i.e the support calls were dropping the visual but connection to audio remaining. I just want to move past this dud of a phone (forgot also i touch unrecognizable but i wouldn't use it anyways due to vulnerabilities) text shadows behind lots of titles or headers etc just b s

I have exactly the same problem with my 6S Plus earpiece, just detected it today 😢. I'm pretty sure it's a hardware problem. The sound is mostly ok, but with some sounds I can hear a little noise, as if something vibrates (other than the membrane of course). It's especially noticeable for me when calling some number and then listening to the ringback sound, seems that's exactly the frequency that triggers this in my phone.

I'm currently debating with myself if it bothers me enough to try to exchange the phone. However, the device is otherwise perfect, no dust under the glass screen, no dead pixels, no uneven lighting of the screen, no strange rattling noises from the vibrator, no loose power button... all issues I had with my various iPhones in the past. I'm afraid I might just trade one (really small) 'issue' here for another, more serious one. And on top of that I really don't want to go through all the hassle of such an exchange... On the other hand, we have paid SO much money, we can expect a perfect phone for that.

I am having the exact same problem. Actually, i am on my second 6S plus after the first one did it and now the second one is also doing it. Apple has not been able to help me other than order a new phone. My third one is on the way but i am hoping i do not have to go that route.

Well, I guess that settles it for me, seems it doesn't make too much sense to exchange the phone right now since chances are high I will get another one with just the same problem (and maybe even additional ones I currently don't have). I will probably do what dsc888 suggested and live with it or try to let Apple repair it if it gets worse. Crossing fingers that won't be necessary...

This issue exists since IOS 8.3 was released. I have this problem with my iPhone 6 for a few months now. I have tried at least 10 different iPhones (6 and 6 plus) and all of them had the same issue.

I have been in contact with the Apple support and they have been asking me if I would be willing to send in my iPhone to be inspected by their engineers.

The issue also exists with voice over IP apps. For sure it's a software and not a hardware issue. However, it's really poor that Apple hasn't fixed this bug.

If you wanna read more about the problem just google for "Bad call quality after iOS 8.3 upgrade"

Same problem here on my 2nd 6s Plus. I returned the first one for the same issue. Surely its an hardware problem. Maybe the connections between metal pieces are too weak and they just vibrate during strong soundwaves ? Hard to say .. It is pretty annoying for me.. if genus bar can't solve it i think i will return the product and have my money back.. the most expensive phone of the market is supposed to work without any problem..

HI, i have exactly the same problem with my iphone 6S Plus I have tried to restore as a new phone from itunes and the issue does still exist, i was obliged to turn on the hearing aid this is helping me but the sound of the earpiece is little bit low, i hope it is a software issue and not a hardware one, I hope that Apple can solve that issue very soon.

i don't think this can be a software issue. at least the carckling i hear is pretty physical..

As already mentioned in my previous post, the problem exists since IOS 8.3. The iPhone 6 and 6+ were already affected when IOS 8.3 was released.

HI, I have exactly the same problem. The sound quality from the earspeaker is horrible when making phone calls. I have now already 4th Iphone 6S Plus and they all have had exactly the same issue. First one was tried to be fixed at Apple service. They even changed the earspeaker but no change in the sound quality. I have changed a new SIM card from the same operator, no change. I have tried a SIM card from other operator, no change. It seems to be the problem is not in the earspeaker itself as the voice recorder plays flawless sound via earspeaker. The problem has to be somewhere in the phone functionality - either software or hardware. Both Iphone 5S and 5C do not have any problem with the same SIM card and they have a perfect sound quality.

When I have called Apple support they said they have not heard earlier anything about this problem. It sounds really strange as the sound quality in all of these 4 phones have been identical and below any standard.