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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 Mar 2, 2017 5:26 AM

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The iPhone 7 (Photo credit: John Taggart/Bloomberg)

With the launch of the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus, Intel finally made its way into Apple's most important product. Good news for Intel, no doubt, but not for consumers.

Tests of LTE connectivity, released on Thursday by Cellular Insights, show a huge performance gap between the iPhone 7 equipped with an Intel modem and a Qualcomm modem. The difference in performance is a black eye not only for Intel, but also for Apple, which for the past five years had relied on Qualcomm exclusively for its iPhone modem chips. With the iPhone 7, Apple decided to make two versions -- one with an Intel modem and one with a Qualcomm modem. (Neither Intel nor Apple have commented on the performance gap so far.)

For consumers, the downside of owning an Intel version is significant. The tests revealed that Qualcomm-powered iPhone 7s are able to consistently establish stronger connections to LTE networks than Intel-powered iPhone 7s. Qualcomm modems outran Intel modems by 30% in overall performance, and 75% when the signal was at its weakest.

Since writing a story about these modem benchmarks, readers have asked FORBES -- directly and via Twitter -- how to make sure they're buying the better iPhone 7 with a Qualcomm modem. If you want to get the best bang for your buck, you probably should be careful which iPhone 7 you end up buying.

Here are some ways you can make sure you're not buying the inferior iPhone 7.

Model number

As this Apple spec page shows, Apple created two distinct versions of the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus to segment out devices with an Intel modem or a Qualcomm modem.

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By checking the model number on the back of the iPhone 7, you will be able to tell:

  • Model A1660 and Model A1661 means they have a Qualcomm modem.
  • Model A1778 and Model A1784 are equipped with an Intel modem.

Carriers

If you're a United States-based customer buying from a carrier, the best way to make sure which iPhone 7 you're getting is:

  • Verizon and Sprint sell the Qualcomm-powered iPhone.
  • AT&T and T-Mobile sell the Intel-equipped iPhone.

The Apple spec page indicates that the Intel-powered

A1778 and A1784 phones won't support CDMA (or code division multiple access), a cellular technology used on some LTE networks. That means an Intel-powered iPhone 7 simply won't work on CDMA networks, such as Verizon's and Sprint's.

Qualcomm's modem works on all the four big carrier networks in the US. And o

verall, Qualcomm's modem supports a much wider variety of cellular technology than Intel. Qualcomm hardware supports GSM/CDMA/WCDMA/TD-SCDMA/LTE, while Intel's only support GSM/WCDMA/LTE. That means that in addition to improved connectivity performance with a Qualcomm modem, Qualcomm can work on more networks.

Apple also sells unlocked versions of the iPhone 7 and iPhones 7 Plus that

come with a Qualcomm modem.

The relationship between modem makers and carriers is a close one. Supporting various cellular technologies is extraordinarily complex. Each carrier has their own unique network demands and features. Qualcomm has been in this game a lot longer than Intel, and as a result, it has a lot more to offer the consumer, according to experts.

“Building modems for today’s cellphones is an extremely daunting task,” said Sundeep Rangan, an engineering professor at New York University who specializes in wireless technologies. “It has to support a dizzying array of features and get the chips down to a form factor and low power performance.”

Follow me on Twitter @aatilley or send me an email: atilley@forbes.com

504 replies

Dec 14, 2016 6:16 AM in response to red1mp

Battery issue on the other models is a brand new one having to do with iOS 10. It was shutting off people's phones at 30% (opposed to 1%) and they'd plug into charger and it would say 60% then unplug and immediately says 30% and shuts down. Also battery drain happening a lot faster.


I haven't had this issue as I upgraded from 6 to 7+ before upgrading the 6 iOS.


But as you can see these call issues are pretty bad. Again I couldn't even call 911 from my house if I needed to right now because I only have a mobile phone and it's not working as a phone!


I'm honestly questioning just asking Verizon to swap my phone to the Google Pixel. It's supposed to have the best camera anyway. And that's saying something since I've never had an Android and I'm a huge Apple fan (and web designer where our whole industry is Apple is the standard). I haven't gone back to Windows computers or non-Apple phones for like 10 years!


I guess I could try to swap for the iPhone 6S+ too but that just seems like a downgrade. Plus I know two people who have working 7+ on Verizon. I just wish they'd figure out how to tell which ones work by serial number so they could guarantee me a working one on phone #3.

Dec 15, 2016 6:47 AM in response to Steven Fisher1

Though I've done it before under guidance from Apple Support I fully reset my 7+, before doing so I completed backups to my computer and icloud. I set my phone up in a quite room, during this process I chose to ignore the two part verification. Once set up was complete I phoned my answering machine and left a message, I compared the clarity of this message with a message I left before the reset and heard no real difference. I also set up a personal greeting using my phone before and after the reset when I compared them there was again little difference. Next I restored from the backup on my computer and repeated the exercise and still little difference. In my case setting up as a new phone doesn't seem to have improved my voice quality during calls. I've tried my phone at different distances from my face and at an angle so my mouth was lined up with the side the mic is located with no discernible difference in quality. That's two 7+ I've owned both of which exhibited the same poor call quality and neither improved after being set up as a new phone. I'm still wondering if it's something to do with the Phone App as voice quality is fine in other Apps like Voice Memo and Facetime, the common entity is the Phone App. I've looked for other Phone Apps but can't seem to find one and it seems as though Phone App is one of the few Apple Apps that can't be removed.

Dec 15, 2016 6:48 AM in response to Lawrence Finch

Lawrence, following my email to Tim Cook I was called back by someone who was clearly not part of the normal support channel. I was specifically instructed to "Erase all content and settings" (which logs you out of iCloud, Find my Phone etc..) followed by "Setup as new iPhone" and specifically to avoid any sort of iCloud or iTunes restore. Please see my You Tude video showing the call quality before and after this process, I'm sure you will notice a difference. If anyone else is doing this please remember to turn off 2FA on your account first, otherwise you are sent a SMS verification code, but by this point your phone is half-reset and cannot receive SMS messages.


It's a real pain having to download all my apps and set them up again, but at least I can use the thing to make a phone call without having to plug the headphones in.

iPhone 7 Plus Phone Call Sound Quality

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