iPhone 7 Plus Phone Call Sound Quality

By the way there is another thread about this issue Re: iPhone 7 Microphone Cutting Out

I have the exact same problem. Called Apple Support. The tech acted like he never heard of the problem. Then he laughed at me and said his iphone 7 plus is working fine. So I hung up on him.

Just got my iPhone 7 plus from Att and was having the same issue. I tried this and it worked!!! Just don't know how not having the voice part will affect my usage part of the phone.

I told my provider to turn off WLAN call and VoLTE option in my Customer Service Center, and than I turned it off on my phone as wel. Now I can do phone calls properly again. T-Mobile says its apples fault since WLAN call and VoLTE are working fine with samsung.... typically t-mobile.... we have to wait either Apple will fix it or t-mobile

I Have also had issues with my iPhone 7 plus taking the case off solves it completely, not ideal as i need a protective case but I think it's an issue with the new speaker placement.

That is why I returned my iPhone 7 Plus. Never had any problems with cases, so this seems more an hardware issue than software. And I am not going to use one with without a case, never done this before and not going to this just as a workaround for such an expensive hardware.

Did you try with the case on, but made sure not to cover the rear mic?

I had same problem as you with Dallas case. Bad sound quality in the other end when case on, and good quality when case off.

So I went and bought another case from another brand..and same problem, so its not only the Dallas case, seems like its all cases that cover the rear mic.

So I did a lot of research today about covering a mic while talking, i found reports even back to iPhone 4s where users had this problem.

My guess is that this is software related, and unique for iPhone 7 users of iOS 10, something with rear mic and noise cancellation.

Anyway, by knowing above, I again tried my Dallas case on, but this time I made sure not to cover the rear mic (fold the back of case like a triangle) when I initiated a phone call.

Sure enough it worked this time, no complaints from person in other end.

Just luck or not, I will test this more with this case on too see if I get any complaints.

As of now I'm happy again because the Dallas case is really good, light weight and nice to hold.

And... then hope for SW update from Apple so I don't have to care about the position of the back of the case when making a phone call.

I Have tried everything and after all my time into this problem and 3 new iPhone 7's later i have found that the only way people can hear you is by keeping the bottom of the phone no more than about 4 inches from your mouth. Anything els is barly audible. My iPhone 6 can be heard as far as my arm can hold it out. Speakerphone off. No case

Same issue with iPhone 7 (not plus). Calls seem distant, and I'm often talking over the person on the other end/hearing myself echo. iOS software is up to day 10.1.1

I tried this with both cases (Dallas and Evo) on and yes, the sound quality is better if the flap is not covering the rear mic. I am now using my old iPhone 6 using a case whereas the flap opens from bottom over the top to the back completely covering the rear mic when I am making a phone call. And no issue at all.

I have had other iPhone, even the iPhone 4S and with all my other iPhone's I have not had this issue before. I have always used cases which a flap covering the rear mic. So I am not sure whether a SW update will solve this issue with the iPhone 7 Plus.

That's why I have returned the iPhone 7 Plus as I refuse to use it without a folio / wallet case or use it in a way where I have to find an akward way to make a phone call so people can hear me. :-(

Perhaps it has to do with the Intel modem chip. I have an European model which uses the Intel modem chip. There are reports that the Intel modem is underperforming compared to the Qualcomm. Check this http://fortune.com/2016/10/20/apple-iphone-7-qualcomm-intel/or http://www.macrumors.com/2016/10/20/iphone-7-plus-qualcomm-modem-bests-intel-mod em/

Anyway, I do not really know what is going one and Apple is not responding nor acknowledging the issue. So all I can do as a 'loyal' customer is wait and see.

That must be frustrating after having tried 3 different iPhone 7. Seems like the iPhone 7 has a different issue with the front bottom mic... Are you back to using your old 6?

Ok I understand.

My reasoning is like I use the phone for 5% phone calls and 95% for other stuff like browsing and text messaging.

So I'll keep the Dallas case incl the phone which have great performance for other areas, i don't find the flap position that akward on the Dallas design since you can fold the smaller edge, although I would like to use it the way it was intended to. (My only fallback would have been iPhone 5s which is not an option as I see it).

I've made several calls today with case on (but not hiding rear mic), everyone said they can hear me as clearly as using any other brand/model of phone.

I still believe its firmware/software though (noise cancellation component of sw) , time will tell...

(Regarding original topic with strange incoming audio, I have not experienced that at all, I hear everyone I talk to very good, better than ever in fact 🙂 ).

In my case, the iPhone case has caused this problem. If I remove the case (a notebook type case) from my iPhone 7 Plus, the sound quality was improved. Please try.

Very hesitantly I got the new iPhone 7 Plus at an Apple Store just yesterday. Today, all I got was complains from whoever I talked to on the phone. People asked me not to put them on speaker phone saying that I sound hallow and distant. But when I actually put them on speaker phone, they said I sounded normal. I thought there was a problem with data network with Verizon, which is my carrier, but I didn't know the problem is also on the voice call. This is the very basic function I need the PHONE to work like a phone... Any ideas what's going on?

Hi Steven Fisher1,

Did you check out this page "If you can't hear a person on a call or voicemail or if the sound isn't clear on your iPhone - Apple Support" ?

If not, I highly recommend you to do so because this will help to check if your iDevices have any sound problem.

1. If it solved your problems please let us know
2. If it didn't contact the Apple Support in order to get your iDevice fixed