iPhone 7 Plus Phone Call Sound Quality

So we just got 2 new iPhone 7 Plus' and I am noticing that the incoming call audio quality on both sounds strange. I have the Apple leather case on the phone and incoming audio sounds distant. Like it is coming from behind the phone or something. It almost sounds like the phone is on speaker phone but it isn't. Turning the volume down helps a bit but it seems off. Previous I had an iPhone 6 so I don't know how this compares to the 6 Plus.


Any help is appreciated!


Thanks!

MacBook Pro with Retina display, OS X El Capitan (10.11)

Posted on Sep 16, 2016 11:36 AM

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Posted on Sep 7, 2017 11:58 PM

I found the solution: The phone was still wrapped up in the original plastic it came in, and that plastic was making the phone sound echo in a strange way. Hope it helps you too! The sound difference without that plastic wrap is massive.

504 replies

Dec 13, 2016 11:00 AM in response to Pip129

Apple Support had me set up my 7+ as a new phone on more than one occasion with no improvement in call quality. Pip129 I agree with you what is the point of having a backup and restore process that causes issues if you restore a backup to a different model IPhone. After all, I thought one function of the restore process is to facilitate restoring your old Iphone to a newer model when you upgrade. In my opinion not being able restore makes a mockery of ICloud.

Dec 13, 2016 11:08 AM in response to Machinezane

I'll test with some real calls tomorrow and report on how well the other people hear me. I've been forced to use headphones to make calls until now. I agree it's far from an ideal solution! The biggest pain is reinstalling and setting up all the apps as I use computer generated 20 character random passwords which are different for all accounts! Oh, well at least I can make phone calls again!

Dec 13, 2016 11:29 AM in response to ===Andrew===

So I have setup my second phone as a "new" iPhone and the problem was surprisingly still there. I have on the third phone setup as a new iphone, disabled the hearing aid thing and noise cancellation, reset network settings, new SIM card, numerous resets, tried data only, no case or screen protector, tried wifi only calling and nothing has worked, and a new Apple ID. Verizon even disabled my LTE and it was the same issue. Also did connected diagnostics with Apple and the guy couldn't hear me but said the phone is working. Now Verizon has me marking my calls by dialing #832 after every call I get. At this point I don't even want a iPhone anymore I want to go back to android since I can't use my phone to talk to anyone.

Dec 13, 2016 11:39 AM in response to hiyat

Oh man..... hiyat - it seems you tried everything..


Now I'm thinking that some of us here on this forum might be the "unlucky" ones to get and keep getting faulty units. Apart from the possible software problems with noise cancellation, there might be batches of phones which e.g. have 1 of the 4 microphones out of order - and if the phone switches to one of them, the audio cannot be heard on the other end of the line. If you have this bad call quality all the time, it would be probably a mixed hardware/software issue.


In my case - the bad quality is occassional and appears randomly, which would suggest a software problem I think.

Dec 13, 2016 7:46 PM in response to Steven Fisher1

So I'm on replacement phone number two and have an appointment to swap it out again on Thursday. I have the iPhone 7+ on Verizon. EVERY phone call I'm being told I sound like "a robotic voice breaking up underwater in a tunnel" which is the same problem the last one had.


My boyfriend also on Verizon also on an iPhone 7+ has NOT had this issue AT ALL with his. So clearly it's not Verizon and it's not all of the 7's.


I've been watching this forum since I had the issue on the first phone and I've noticed that there's people complaining from Verizon, TMobile, AT&T, and some European carriers.


I've noticed that some people have gone through several replacements and eventually got a working one. I've also noticed people that are on over 5 replacements and still having the problem.


I've tried turning off voice on LTE (which I shouldn't have to do anyway because that's how you get voice and data at the same time LIKE NAVIGATION).... and STILL the problem persists. So it's NOT that either (and noticed others reporting that too).


So yeah. How many replacements do I go through before I try to get a refund and either downgrade to a 6S+ or give up all together and join the evil Android train on the Pixel? Because it's getting really annoying.


Friday my cat passed away and while I was at the ER vet Thursday night trying to call a family member and debate what to do on the CPR or DNR form - THEY COULDNT HEAR ME because of the breaking up robot voice (they ended up just driving down). But come on. I don't have a landline what if I have to call 911!?!?!?!?! I'm sure most of us don't have any other phone than our cell phone (statistics back this up actually).


This is just unacceptable and it's VERY CLEARLY an issue with the iPhone 7 itself (or a microphone in it that's broken?)


Apple.... how you handle this is going to influence your customers. I am holding off getting a new MacBook Pro because of this. But you know what speaks volumes to customers? Admitting mistakes and rectifying them in a timely manner. Even if you do it silently. Just get some info together on the bad batches and good batches and get people a working replacement! I am dreading having to go through several replacements to find one that's not a lemon (like many people on these forums are experiencing).

Dec 13, 2016 7:59 PM in response to Steven Fisher1

thank you all for the posts. i just got my replacement iphone 7+, people hear me less than the one it just replaced.


it's a 7+, 128gb, on at&t. the earpiece on my 6 was dying, so i figured i'd upgrade. really regretting this.


traveling soon, so looks like i'll fix the 6 and return the 7+.


getting 4 or 5 replacements seems just silly. i'm ****** because the extra camera really is a great thing. smh...

Dec 13, 2016 8:13 PM in response to nowXorXnever

I totally agree with you. If it's bad batches of phones, fix and recognize the problem and fix it. I've got the same problem. I've been out of town in Mexico and dread solving this problem when I get back. No one could hear me when I left on vacation. I've only been using the internet for 2 weeks. I'm hoping all of these posts will make Apple acknowledge the problem.

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iPhone 7 Plus Phone Call Sound Quality

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