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I_am_a_loser

macrumors regular
Original poster
Sep 8, 2015
199
69
Boston, MA
I've been using my 6s for about 2 weeks now, and while I'm quite happy with it and was fortunate enough to get a cosmetically flawless device, as well as one with the TSMC A9 chip (if that really makes a difference), I gotta say that I'm rather disappointed with the audio quality of the speaker. I'm coming to the 6s from an iPhone 5 and the positives far outweigh the negatives, but the sound quality of the internal speaker is pretty subpar in my opinion. I'm no audiophile, but the speaker on my iPhone 5 was clearly louder and richer sounding. Granted, I'm not using the speaker a lot, but I enjoy listening to the occasional podcast or Spotify while doing something that requires me to go without headphones. Anyone else having this issue? Is it a software problem maybe? I don't believe there's anything wrong with the device itself, as others reviewing the 6s online have noted the audio, even when maxed out, is noticeably quieter than that of the 6. I'm a bit perplexed by this.
 
I can't help you much, as I never had a 5, but I think the 6S speaker is really good for what it is.

If you can find somebody with a 6S to compare speakers that should tell you if there's a problem with yours.
 
I can't help you much, as I never had a 5, but I think the 6S speaker is really good for what it is.

If you can find somebody with a 6S to compare speakers that should tell you if there's a problem with yours.

Yeah, that might clear some things up. One odd example, that others at Apple's official iPhone forum have also experienced, is when turning the volume up to it's maximum setting on the 6s and setting the standard opening tone as your ringtone, you get some slight distortion towards the end of the tones playback. I have set my ringtone to the old phone setting and this does not happen. Who knows what the deal is. Maybe a later software update will address the problem. It's not bad enough to warrant a replacement. Plus, there's no way on God's green earth that I'm going to accept a remanufactured device when I just switched from Verizon to AT&T and agreed to a new 2 year contract in doing so. I went through hell exchanging my iPhone 5 three times a few years ago. I finally had to contact Tim Cook's office via e-mail for a resolution that was acceptable. I don't blame the Genius Bar staff at the stores, as they have to follow protocol, but they haven't been super helpful in my past experiences.
 
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That's an odd one, what is the name of the ringtone? I'll test it out myself.

Hope you can find another 6S to compare with, let us know how that goes.
 
That's an odd one, what is the name of the ringtone? I'll test it out myself.

Hope you can find another 6S to compare with, let us know how that goes.

The one that I experience the distortion with is the preset tone the 6s ships with. At the very end of the tones ring cycle the problem occurs. I set my device to the 'old phone' ringtone and the problem isn't there. The standard tone that has the issue also seems audibly louder than the other tones as well, thus possibly explaining the slight crackle/distortion. I really believe this is a software thing and I'm usually the first to say "hardware issue."
 
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The 6S+ loudspeaker is lousy for music too. Mind you, I thought the iPhone 5 was...
However, the 6+ wasn't, it sounded fab, so I can see no justification for the retrograde step.
 
The 6S+ loudspeaker is lousy for music too. Mind you, I thought the iPhone 5 was...
However, the 6+ wasn't, it sounded fab, so I can see no justification for the retrograde step.

Totally agree. My 5 sounded just fine. My Aunt's 6 sounds clearer and a tad bit richer to my inexperienced ear. It's not a dealbreaker for me as the 6s is fantastic otherwise, but I'd expect more from Apple.
 
I just tested that tone out, for me there was no distortion and it was exactly the same volume as the other tones I tried, even the classic duck tone which I use as my current ringtone.

I agree that it is most likely a software issue.
 
I just tested that tone out, for me there was no distortion and it was exactly the same volume as the other tones I tried, even the classic duck tone which I use as my current ringtone.

I agree that it is most likely a software issue.

Thanks for testing that out. My phone is a week 41 model, which is the second week of October. So it's not a super early manufactured device that is possibly more likely to see issues as we have seen with some launches in the past.
 
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