iPhone 6S Plus - No sound when making phone calls

[kioko91]

As a precursor, I've already contacted AppleCare for my situation and have a Genius Bar appointment setup for this Saturday. Mainly, I was curious if others have heard of or experienced this themselves.

Basically, at random intervals, the phone will not make any sound during a phone call. For example, I called my mother, her phone rang, she answered, and there was no sound on my end. I tried on speakerphone and the regular speaker, there was just dead air. 4 bars of signal and the call was connected, both phones showed the call connected, but she heard no sound from my microphone and I heard nothing she said at all. Yet, 5 minutes prior I had just ended my phone call with Apple on the same exact phone.

It's become more consistent (daily or multiple times per day). It began a few months ago intermittently so I simply dismissed it. When I explained it to Apple they had me reset my network, run diagnostics, and nothing came back showing anything nor was the problem fixed. They assume it might be hardware related, but won't know for sure until Saturday. If anyone has experienced anything similar, feel free to discuss!

For reference, I'm on Verizon in NY on an iPhone 6S Plus 128GB rose gold model. They offered to overnight a replacement, but I can't really afford the temporary hold.

 

[cnick6]

Does your mother have an iPhone as well?

FWIW, I had this issue several months ago and I filed a bug with Apple. I collected several logs for them. Approximately two months after I filed the bug the problem had been fixed. I haven't had the issue reproduce since.

My repro was almost identical to yours except that I was calling my dad. We both have iPhones. I have the 6S+ and he has my old 6+ phone. I call him after work and we chat while I'm driving home.

My theory was that the cell tower wasn't switching the calls correctly because the problem seemed to only happen when I was moving around. When I was in a static position I never had an issue.

After Apple released another 9.x update they asked me if my bug was still reproducing. It wasn't so the bug was closed out.

It's not a hardware issue. It's probably a carrier-related problem in your area.

You can file a bug report with Apple. http://bugreport.apple.com

You can reference my bug if you'd like but Apple will ask for logs from your phone as well...

24643317: AT&T: Dropped call audio issue with 6s, iOS 9.2+

I was on AT&T. I did notice that there was an AT&T carrier version update so it's possible Apple sent my bug over to AT&T and they investigated from their end.

 

[kioko91]

Does your mother have an iPhone as well?

FWIW, I had this issue several months ago and I filed a bug with Apple. I collected several logs for them. Approximately two months after I filed the bug the problem had been fixed. I haven't had the issue reproduce since.

My repro was almost identical to yours except that I was calling my dad. We both have iPhones. I have the 6S+ and he has my old 6+ phone. I call him after work and we chat while I'm driving home.

My theory was that the cell tower wasn't switching the calls correctly because the problem seemed to only happen when I was moving around. When I was in a static position I never had an issue.

After Apple released another 9.x update they asked me if my bug was still reproducing. It wasn't so the bug was closed out.

It's not a hardware issue. It's probably a carrier-related problem in your area.

You can file a bug report with Apple. http://bugreport.apple.com

You can reference my bug if you'd like but Apple will ask for logs from your phone as well...

24643317: AT&T: Dropped call audio issue with 6s, iOS 9.2+

I was on AT&T. I did notice that there was an AT&T carrier version update so it's possible Apple sent my bug over to AT&T and they investigated from their end.

Thing is, that was one example over the last 5 months. It happened calling my local Target, my employer, even New York State government. The call goes through, there's just no audio on my end (and according to my mother and boyfriend they don't hear me on their end its just dead air).

The phone has been current on iOS updates, including betas and carrier updates. I've tried formatting the phone with a clean slate, no backup installation. And it doesn't just happen when moving. I was sitting still when calling both my mother and Target last night, two different areas of my house. It happened when I was at a mall 20 minutes away. There is no consistency or pattern to follow. It's was sporadic at first back in December/January until the last two weeks it's been daily.

We even took a video of it happening to show them tomorrow. Once I know more I'll update.

 

[cnick6]

The call goes through, there's just no audio on my end (and according to my mother and boyfriend they don't hear me on their end its just dead air.)

Yes, this is the problem I was experiencing. Eventually, the connection would get disconnected but sometimes it would stay alive for several minutes before dropping -- and the dead air syndrome would happen.

The phone has been current on iOS updates, including betas and carrier updates. I've tried formatting the phone with a clean slate, no backup installation.

That's fine but you have to understand this is a bug. It needs to get reported back to Apple and Verizon. If you file it with Apple then they'll ask for some debug logs from your phone. Do your best to collect these and attach them to the bug so that Apple/Verizon can try to determine the cause.

It *could* be a hardware failure of the device, but I seriously doubt it -- or it wouldn't likely work at all.

We even took a video of it happening to show them tomorrow.

That's good. If you can post it to YouTube then you can include the link in the Apple bug report.

Obviously, from a store perspective, they're going to swap out your hardware to make you happy, but I'm guessing the bug will reproduce at some point.

Good luck.

 

[kioko91]

Yes, this is the problem I was experiencing. Eventually, the connection would get disconnected but sometimes it would stay alive for several minutes before dropping -- and the dead air syndrome would happen.



That's fine but you have to understand this is a bug. It needs to get reported back to Apple and Verizon. If you file it with Apple then they'll ask for some debug logs from your phone. Do your best to collect these and attach them to the bug so that Apple/Verizon can try to determine the cause.

It *could* be a hardware failure of the device, but I seriously doubt it -- or it wouldn't likely work at all.



That's good. If you can post it to YouTube then you can include the link in the Apple bug report.

Obviously, from a store perspective, they're going to swap out your hardware to make you happy, but I'm guessing the bug will reproduce at some point.

Good luck.

Yeah, I changed my appointment and went today. They said they would submit it as a bug. Ran audio diagnostics and nothing came back, but he saw the video and they did replace it because of that and the previous reports I'd made. Hopefully if it's a bug they can get it fixed. Just strange that of 4 iPhones in the house all on Verizon, only one had the bug. What can you do, right?

Thanks for your input and suggestions!