iPad Crackling noise

I had the issue a couple of weeks ago and rebooted the iPad and I haven't had the problem since. (knock on wood)

I have noticed the same "crackling or popping" sounds with my new iPad Air 2. I have only had it a week and in that time the crackling and popping sounds have gone mostly away. The last few times it happened was while using an app, which according to the App Store was last updated over a year ago. Maybe, that might have something to do with it. Aside from that I have not heard the sounds again, and since getting this iPad the sounds have diminished quite a bit from the first few days. If it does continue though I will bring it to that Apple Store and have it looked at.

Another pop today when I plugged in cord to PC... makes me think it's related to power. Or the iPad tried to play a sound effect and it got corrupted somehow...

Apple support made me do a full firmware restore, so I guess I will see if that fixes it.

If it doesn't fix it, I will exchange for a different one.

Wish I could just get a refund and get the Air 1 instead, but it's been over 14 days so a refund isn't possible...

I purchased the iPad Air 2 64 GB w/ Cellular in Space Gray from my local BestBuy yesterday evening. I got it home and used it for a couple hours before hearing this strange popping noise. It seemed to happen after I had fully charged the iPad. I heard the first time when tapping the address bar in Safari. As soon as I heard it I knew what it was. I work at BestBuy and had a lady return one for this same issue. Unfortunately I got the last 64GB cellular Air 2 in all colors at BBY. That night I took a few videos on my iPhone to document the issue. Today I went to the Apple Store and explained to the "Genius" my issue and showed him the video. He went to the back and got me a brand new one. So far I have not heard this "popping" sound. Although I've only used it for a couple hours and have not fully charged it yet. I did notice that the replacement iPad had 95% battery whereas the one I originally got from BestBuy had around 80%. Hopefully I got a newer one and won't have this issue.

I've randomly noticed this issue from time to time. I have no guess if it's a hardware or software issue. Eventually I'll open a support case with Apple and Siewert goes. For me it's not really a big concern.

A few cracks today. Still can't purposely reproduce it. Sent feedback.

http://www.apple.com/feedback/ipad.html

jrolson said:

There's a couple people over on the Apple support forum who have exchanged 3 times and still get it...

Click to expand...

Yep, count me I. Just called Apple to pick up my third replacement unit (64gb WiFi) for a full refund. Will wait a little bit before I buy one again. They are awesome in terms of speed, but when paying this kind of money the device should "simply work". I am not sure if it's a hardware or software defect, various people have made relatively strong cases for both. I however don't want to wait for a software fix that may or may not come, as replacing it at a later moment would yield me a refurbished unit, which I don't want. I'll try again after the initial production run has been sold, somewhere beginning of next year.

There are various threads on this issue on Apple's support forums, this one seems to be most lively (about 200 responses and about 15.000 views at the time of writing):

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/6631203?start=0&tstart=0

By the way, the only way I've been able to reproduce the problem is by playing the free game "Super monkey ball bounce" for a couple of minutes. Sounds like frying bacon, static popping noises all over the place (at least that's what I experienced). I'd say try it and let us know, I'm sure there are a couple of people here who are interested in your experience.

To me, it almost sounds like the speakers are getting a short burst of electricity causing the loud pop/crack.

Some people think it can't be coming from the speakers because they have it on mute, but if you give a speaker electricity, it's going to make noise whether you have your device set on mute or not...

The cause of this quick burst of electricity is still unknown to me, could be arching, bad grounding, static electricity build up, ect.

i experienced this issue about 10 times since i bought it (end of october)...
event though it's not so frequent, it is quite annoying... any update about it? it is a software or hardware issue?

does anybody know if the most recent units still have this issue?

I guess only Apple could answer that question if they know what is causing it.
Some people exchanged their device and thought the problem was gone but it came back some days later. It's just too randomly when it happens.

yes, this is the problem... it's difficult to make it happen on purpose, so i'm afraid that bringing it to the apple store doesn't guarantee a substitution but it would be up to the employee who will check it...

and if you live far from an apple store, it's not fine to go and come back only because nothing happen when at the apple store...

I have this issue on my Iphone 6 with my music app on, especially when i try to load some rich content website pages on safari.
Or opening Apps like example Photo Camera the crack/pop sound sounds randomly for a milisecond then it goes away.

This is my 2rd Iphone 6 and the last one did exactly the same, told a friend to replicate this odd issue and he had the same.

It have kept an eye on it and it only happens when the Phone it self try to load something heavy.. But although it only happens randomly.
So you'll never know when..

I've been using Mercury Browser for now and i don't have the odd pop/clack sound on there so often then i had on safari.
Almost to none i can tell you, but it happens sometimes.
I think safari itself is very heavy so that's why.. not quite sure if this is a hardware issue or a software.

I ordered an 16 gb air 2 space gray on Black Friday at best buy, and a day into using it I noticed a loud cracking sound periodically. I could never reproduce it on command.

Either way 16 gb wasn't enough (don't even know why Apple still makes em, definitely not enough space for OTA iOS 9+ updates that's for sure). The 64 gb gold example I exchanged for has not exhibited the issue at all.

Definitely sounded and seemed like a hardware issue... Being a guitar player I can tell when a speaker is 'clipping', and this definitely sounded like undesirable over threshold signal, like something with the amp or controller. I'd be concerned for long term life of the speaker on any example exhibiting the issue...

I'm fairly certain it is static discharge through the speakers when charging or if you have been running your fingers over the screen a lot, possibly from dry hands. Also it seems likely since it's winter here in the U.S.

Deleted.

Any news? has the problem been solved with the newer products?

mine still does it from time to time... i'm still waiting the "right" moment to ask for a replacement, althought i'm not so sure that i want to bring it back considering that everything else works fine...

update: i tried to make it happen using spotlight... it happens quite often UNLESS i am using the earphones or i remove the case!

i tried in the last half hour, maybe it's only a coincidence, tomorrow i'll try again.

could it be an electrostatic issue that only happens with the use of an integral case?
maybe all the ipads have this problem but not the users are using the case?

well, someone solved the problem with an exchange so i may think it's not so, but well, i suggest to try if you can...

Just before Christmas I was in an Apple Store doing some Christmas shopping and asked an employee in the store about the crackling noise. On my iPad it seemed to happen every time i used Excel, so I took it out and showed them. They had me make a Genius Bar appointment. We did that using an iMac right in the store, which was also able to diagnose the problem over the air. A few days later at my Genius Bar appointment repeated the same thing and got the crackling sound and they replaced my iPad Air 2. They had to order a new one, since they did not have my particular model in stock, but the next day I got an email stating it was in. Since getting the replacement, no issues at all.

I have the noose, but everything else is perfect so I deal with it

********** Nevermind No issue ***********

Nismo73 said:

A few cracks today. Still can't purposely reproduce it. Sent feedback.

http://www.apple.com/feedback/ipad.html

Click to expand...

Hopefully this will be resolved soon.

I just noticed this yesterday, on my 2 week old iPad. It happened once when opening the cover and entering the passcode, and once when pressing and holding the center button. I could not just reproduce it. It just happens. That's what brings me to the forum this morning. I can see that I'm not the only one experiencing the issue.

Mine actually sounded like a single popping noise.

Not sure what to do. There are no other problems with the iPad, and I don't want to trade for one that might not have the issue, but might have some other issues.

So many issues that these things can have.

Do we know whether it is a hardware or software problem? It seems like if it was a software problem, everyone would have it. Perhaps static discharge? I live in a dry environment, and it is winter.

usmaak said:

I just noticed this yesterday, on my 2 week old iPad. It happened once when opening the cover and entering the passcode, and once when pressing and holding the center button. I could not just reproduce it. It just happens. That's what brings me to the forum this morning. I can see that I'm not the only one experiencing the issue.

Mine actually sounded like a single popping noise.

Not sure what to do. There are no other problems with the iPad, and I don't want to trade for one that might not have the issue, but might have some other issues.

So many issues that these things can have.

Do we know whether it is a hardware or software problem? It seems like if it was a software problem, everyone would have it. Perhaps static discharge? I live in a dry environment, and it is winter.

Click to expand...

i suppose it's a static problem cause, as written few posts ago, one day was happening quite often when using spotlight on purpose to test it, but when i took off the case the pop sound never showed....

maybe every ipad air 2 could have this issue but not all the users pay much attention on it or simply use it wothout a case, or in a different environment etc...

in addition, it seems there also in this forum there is not much care about this problem and no continuous feedback from people who exchanged their ipads...

anyway, i sent a feedback to apple.
i'll wait to ask for an exchange cause apart from this (really happens once a week or less with normal use) it works fine.

Returned my first one

I had this on web site forms. Did a return. No issues on the new one. It was an intermittent problem. Most likely a hardware glitch of some kind. Definitely return it if this is happening. It shouldn't be.

Finally found a way to reproduce this pop sound.

Play any music using the music app.

Go to settings -> music -> equaliser

While the music is playing, change to any equaliser preset like night and it will make speakers pop after tapping.

So it is clearly software / sound driver issue. Sometimes the popping goes away for a week and then comes back.

Both my Air 2's do it. Shameful QC testing at Apple lately.

I think every iPad will be having pops or cracking. People just don't notice it. But it is super annoying none the less.