iPhone Xs Max Speaker Issues - Mono/Stereo

For the record and to perhaps bump up this issue, same happened to me on my new iPhone XS Max. I was watching video when I noticed it (Comedy Central app) and it was not dependent on source (also tried Apple Music). Balance in settings was in the middle of course. Rebooting phone solved it, so I think this is a software fix for Apple.

I was having the exact same issue. I finally did a hard reboot by pushing the volume up, volume down, and then holding the power button until i saw the Apple logo. Once my phone was on again i played music and both speakers are working now. Hopefully it just needed a reboot.

Hello,

I have this issue too and it is an Apple issue, NOT a Spotify issue. This issue occurs with all apps and sounds across iOS.

To verify, perform a Left / Right Stereo Sound Test (https://www.audiocheck.net/audiotests_stereo.php)

• Note that the Left Channel works properly and as expected
• No sound comes out of the Right Channel (top front spacing speaker located in the notch area)

A reboot always resolves the issue, but the issue always returns. Apple, please issue a fix for this!

After 3 phone swaps and stuff found the actually problem and fix took almost a month. U have to put your iPhone into dfu mode then u have to restore phone and set phone up as new phone not backup u can not instal any back ups at all u have to manually add back all apps pics songs videos ect. Most is stored in cloud I pay the extra for 2tb cloud storage but so far not happens in 2 days it was happening every day 2-3 times a day so far not happened. At all and the whole system seems faster and more fluid.

TLDR: happening on iPhone XR too iOS 12.1

Happening on my new iPhone XR I just picked up yesterday. Noticed when playing music downloaded from iTunes and showing off the stereo speakers to co workers that the earpiece speaker wasn’t working. Then went into accessibility to make sure the Left and Right audio channels were balanced (slider in the middle). It was. Slid the slider to the far right and No Sound. Far left the sound came from the bottom.

Happens with YouTube and Spotify playback too. Phone calls the earpiece continues to work.

Restart corrected the issue but I’m weary of how long before the earpiece speaker will cut out again. Hoping this is a software issue!

I had a diagnostic test done by Apple Support from distance and the test was passed even though the speaker wasn’t functioning at the time of the test. A simple reboot fixed the issue. Even when the top speaker doesn’t work, it still always works for phone calls. So because of these 2 things, it is obvious that this is a software bug. If it were hardware, a reboot wouldn’t solve the issue at all.

So my iPhone XS Max just did the same thing. I pressed the volume up volume down and then pressed and held the Siri/power button until the phone shut off and then you see the Apple logo. The phone is working just fine now. I’ve noticed it also does it when you have AirPods or Bluetooth. Sometimes it thinks you’re still using mono stereo if you’re only using one AirPod. Hope this helps :)

Hi. For my case alone, every time I have this issue I close all the apps and do a hard reset on the phone and it starts working again(both audio channels). From my limited tech savvy knowledge, I would consider this as a bug, as there’s a temporary fix for the issue from my end at least. I read on another users post under this thread that tier3 techs are already working on an update for this error. So I would suggest the temporary fix vs going in to swap out a phone (too much a hassle) every time this happens. Hope this helps while we get the update that fixes the bug.

I had a very similar issue where the audio was coming from the bottom speaker only. Songs with stereo separation sounded off. Restarting my phone resolved this problem.

I had this issue on iPhone XS. Restart fixed it!

Before you determine it's an iPhone issue. Go to iTunes and pull up a song you like as though you were going to purchase it. You have the option to play it to make sure it's the song you want to buy. If it plays normally, the issue is not with iPhone. The issue would be with Spotify. If through iTunes, the same thing happens, your phone is at fault.

About connecting Bluetooth headphones (and other Bluetooth speakers) in order to fix this bug: not working (. Only reboot fixes it. I tried all modes: loudspeaker switching to phone, bluetooth to loudspeaker....all other combinations.

Emperor12 wrote:

Hmmmm...I must be crazy but....the sound (without using headphones) definitely comes from the bottom of my Iphone XS Max. There are like 10 holes (5 on each side of where you plug it in to charge) where the sound comes from. No sound comes anywhere from the notch or anything....unless I am missing something. Which is very possible hehe...

I would hope you hear sound from the bottom of your iPhone. If you look at the bottom, to the right of the lightning port (iPhone screen facing up) is a speaker. To the left of the lightning port is a microphone. If you are listening to music through the iPhone speakers, you should hear music from the bottom right speaker and the earpiece speaker in the notch.

Seems like a software issue, i’ve had it affecting my iPhone XR, chances are it will be fixed with a software update, I’m on the iOS beta program and already reported the issue so hopefully apple will address it, a device restart at the moment will fix it

What are they saying? I’ve tried getting in touch with them regarding this but they claim there is no issue. But clearly after 30 pages on this thread; the issue is there and it’s real. I fail to see it as a hardware issue though because a simple restart (not even a hard reset) seems to fix it.