Glad it worked out for you. Yes, I know for me personally, I'm done spending $1000+ on iPhones.
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iPhone 7/Plus iPhone 7 "Speakergate" Useless after Software Update!
- Thread starter davidhunternyc
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Glad it worked out for you. Yes, I know for me personally, I'm done spending $1000+ on iPhones.
Also, though I have a temporary solution for my broken iPhone, "Speakergate" is here to stay. I will post any new info about my refurbished iPhone and I will back anyone who is having problems with their phone. There is strength in numbers and we all have to stick together if Apple is going to hear this message.
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I just had to start dealing with this on my iPhone 7 which no longer has any microphone functionality.
The Apple Store Genius I first talked to told me that she had seen the issue frequently with iPhone 7 units, and already knew the symptoms of Voice Memos not detecting a microphone and AirPods still working fine. Then I was informed that it would cost me $350 to give them my current phone for them to give me a functioning device. Or, I could still get "full" $200 trade-in value toward an iPhone XR!! Yippee!
I asked if any higher level Genius could make an exception like they were doing until 2018 and I was told that it couldn't be done, and I was also told by said "higher-level" Genius that Apple researched the problem and found that it was NOT common, contradicting the prior Genius I was talking to. Then they said that if I wasn't willing to pay to replace the phone, I could "use AirPods as a workaround".
They let me go on my way without having the problem solved. For now, I'll wait until they come out with the inevitable repair program that will come into effect soon as a result of the class-action lawsuit that is going on over it.
That is if they don't come out with another victim-blaming sort of program that costs $150 to replace each of the "very small percentage of devices that have been dropped multiple times on a hard surface and have incurred further stress through being thrown at brick walls repeatedly" when really it's their own design failure.
The Apple Store Genius I first talked to told me that she had seen the issue frequently with iPhone 7 units, and already knew the symptoms of Voice Memos not detecting a microphone and AirPods still working fine. Then I was informed that it would cost me $350 to give them my current phone for them to give me a functioning device. Or, I could still get "full" $200 trade-in value toward an iPhone XR!! Yippee!
I asked if any higher level Genius could make an exception like they were doing until 2018 and I was told that it couldn't be done, and I was also told by said "higher-level" Genius that Apple researched the problem and found that it was NOT common, contradicting the prior Genius I was talking to. Then they said that if I wasn't willing to pay to replace the phone, I could "use AirPods as a workaround".
They let me go on my way without having the problem solved. For now, I'll wait until they come out with the inevitable repair program that will come into effect soon as a result of the class-action lawsuit that is going on over it.
That is if they don't come out with another victim-blaming sort of program that costs $150 to replace each of the "very small percentage of devices that have been dropped multiple times on a hard surface and have incurred further stress through being thrown at brick walls repeatedly" when really it's their own design failure.
Hi, I have the exact same issue with my phone. I'm so angry because Apple made it very difficult to log any formal complaint or anything against them. I have opened up and case and I can't even deal with one point of contact. I literally have one number that I can phone and tell someone my issue and then they tell me they can't help because my warranty is 6 months. What's the point of buying a phone, which isn't cheap, for it to only work for 6 months and Apple to walk away. So angry. There must be something we can do.
I had 2 iPhone 7 doing the same thing. The first I sent out 3rd party micro soldering repair then only last for 4 months and did the same again. I don't bother to fix the second iPhone 7. Just trade-in for 11.. BTW if you shut down the phone and leave the ice pack on the back for few minutes then start the phone. It might work. I think it caused by leaving the phones in the pocket constantly.
I'm just now getting the exact same problem on my iPhone 7, latest iOS upgrade.Microphone suddenly stopped working, speaker icon grayed out. I disabled and reenabled "Hey Siri," but I got a popup saying "Disconnect Headphones to Set Up Siri - Siri uses the built-in microphone to learn how to recognize your voice."
Doing a reset doesn't cure the problem, BUT -- the "erase all data" option DOES fix the problem. Restore my backup? Problem is back. "Hey, Siri" doesn't work. Cannot hear or speak on the phone. Aaaaand the kicker: I never, ever used headphones on this phone; just Bluetooth. (And even disabling Bluetooth and forgetting every device it ever connected to didn't help.)
Factory reset as a fresh phone: fixes the problem.
This tells me that this is a software problem, not a hardware problem.
Doing a reset doesn't cure the problem, BUT -- the "erase all data" option DOES fix the problem. Restore my backup? Problem is back. "Hey, Siri" doesn't work. Cannot hear or speak on the phone. Aaaaand the kicker: I never, ever used headphones on this phone; just Bluetooth. (And even disabling Bluetooth and forgetting every device it ever connected to didn't help.)
Factory reset as a fresh phone: fixes the problem.
This tells me that this is a software problem, not a hardware problem.
Sometimes the IC can connect, sometimes not. A factory restore won’t solve a corroded solder joint.
Your problem will come back.
The reason the problem still comes back after a repair job is because of lazy repair shops are just reflowing the chip instead of wiring the weak pad. They are afraid of killing the phone in the process (which is easy to do since on the other side of the board there is the baseband CPU and it is easy to float) so they just rehot audio IC.
This problem needs a full repair, strengthening the trace to the audio IC C12 pad.
Apple refuses to repair them /likely because it can't be done reliably. My 7 is permanently borked
This is not a software issue. Same thing happened to me and even after restoring and setting up as new, the issue persists. It is a logic board failure within the device; unsure as to why it crippled after the update though.
A replacement would be needed but I would just upgrade because it appears that this happens frequently on iPhone 7
Other person mentioned the problem came back after repair too, I was addressing that also.