iPhone Air iPhone AIR speaker phone

[MiK86]

and two replacements

My phone has been in repair for three weeks now. The first time, the phone came back with a diagnosis that everything was fine. I turned on some music and it crackled. The salesperson was shocked. They took it back. I'm waiting to be contacted. Terrible customer service at iSpot. The only consolation is that I'm not tied to Apple services/phones and can change brands at any time.

Get ear buds and spare us the public nuisance.

I use headphones at work for a few hours. And by the time I get home, I'm completely fed up with them. I paid for the speaker, and I'll be using it.

 

[NicosAccount]

Exact same issue. Actually, the same issue from the iPhone 15 era.
Run it with > 60% volume and > 600 Hz on the tone generator will guarantee a replication. Can also replicate with the "sunroof" song with max volume. This doesn't happen on all contents, but it's frequent enough to be extremely annoying.

Tested with several display units, and two replacements, contacted the support, hopefully hear back from engineers next Tuesday, definitely a universal issue.

oh cool, could you write an update here when you hear back from engineers? Im hoping they can tweak output frequencies to fix the issue. I also got a replacement and its the exact same issue. Im keeping it though cause what i like about the air outweighs this problem for me.

 

[shonkalaka]

oh cool, could you write an update here when you hear back from engineers? Im hoping they can tweak output frequencies to fix the issue. I also got a replacement and its the exact same issue. Im keeping it though cause what i like about the air outweighs this problem for me.

Definitely!
I am making the same decision, and it's worth noting that the two I had, the problem severity is very different. The first one was a lot worse than the second.

 

[Kjabean]

Mine doesn’t really distort, it definitely doesn’t sound as full like the speaker is getting pushed, same with any phone I have had. It sounds about the same as my razor I had, and surprisingly louder even with just the one speaker.

 

[1rottenapple]

I’m happy with my air and I’ve been torture testing it by using it on my trip overseas. No battery issues, no speaker issues. I’m liking this big phone.

 

[shonkalaka]

oh cool, could you write an update here when you hear back from engineers? Im hoping they can tweak output frequencies to fix the issue. I also got a replacement and its the exact same issue. Im keeping it though cause what i like about the air outweighs this problem for me.

So, just had a call, the engineers are investigating this issue, not sure about a fix yet (not sure if it's a hardware or a software issue), and they will reach back out when they have a solution. They currently seem to be aware of the issue, but they don't have much data at the moment, so I encourage Air owners with this problem to spend a few minutes chat with support and submit reports and diag logs to accelerate this.

One more interesting observation made by a Reddit user suggests this is related to the screen provider Samsung vs LG issue; the LG one seems to have no issue, while the Samsung one has issues like ours:

https://www.reddit.com/r/IphoneAir/comments/1o5qxpe/iphone_air_speaker_problem

Take a look if you are interested, this is just one data point though, it would be greate if we can gather more data here.

 

[NicosAccount]

So, just had a call, the engineers are investigating this issue, not sure about a fix yet (not sure if it's a hardware or a software issue), and they will reach back out when they have a solution. They currently seem to be aware of the issue, but they don't have much data at the moment, so I encourage Air owners with this problem to spend a few minutes chat with support and submit reports and diag logs to accelerate this.

One more interesting observation made by a Reddit user suggests this is related to the screen provider Samsung vs LG issue; the LG one seems to have no issue, while the Samsung one has issues like ours:

https://www.reddit.com/r/IphoneAir/comments/1o5qxpe/iphone_air_speaker_problem

Take a look if you are interested, this is just one data point though, it would be greate if we can gather more data here.

oh man thanks for the post, that is interesting so I guess I got 2 samsung panel ones. Guess the only fix they could have other than replacing the panel would be to tweak frequency outputs

 

[MiK86]

I will get a refund for AIR. What other model do you recommend? With a working speaker. I'm a little afraid to buy other 17 series. I'm considering the 16e or 16 pro. However, I've heard that the 16 pro also makes some creaking noises.

My priority is the speaker. I don't care that much about the camera or display.

 

[WB2Colorado]

I returned my Air and gave myself a couple weeks to think it over and I’m going to order another one and see if the speaker doesn’t crackle. I think I’m going to keep it this time regardless, and hope this is something Apple can address with a software update down the road

 

[jntdroid]

I will get a refund for AIR. What other model do you recommend? With a working speaker. I'm a little afraid to buy other 17 series. I'm considering the 16e or 16 pro. However, I've heard that the 16 pro also makes some creaking noises.

My priority is the speaker. I don't care that much about the camera or display.

The 16e has a surprisingly solid set of speakers with decent depth and volume. We've had a couple in our house with no creaking or crackling noises.

 

[shonkalaka]

I returned my Air and gave myself a couple weeks to think it over and I’m going to order another one and see if the speaker doesn’t crackle. I think I’m going to keep it this time regardless, and hope this is something Apple can address with a software update down the road

Ha, I'm actually in the same boat, but I will go checkout screen manufactures for the display units.
Maybe later batches will have improvements.

 

[shonkalaka]

oh man thanks for the post, that is interesting so I guess I got 2 samsung panel ones. Guess the only fix they could have other than replacing the panel would be to tweak frequency outputs

I think this issue is fixable on Apple's part with EQ calibrations, it's just that they have to do it in the iOS updates. Given how iphone 15 generation problem was handled Im not sure I have confidence in the speed.

 

[justmadeupname]

Ha, I'm actually in the same boat, but I will go checkout screen manufactures for the display units.
Maybe later batches will have improvements.

How can you tell which screen manufacturer you have on your iPhone Air?

 

[shonkalaka]

How can you tell which screen manufacturer you have on your iPhone Air?

Returned it before I saw the post, but Im planning on checking out a few display units this week.

 

[justmadeupname]

Went to my local Apple Store and played some YouTube football (soccer) match highlights at near full volume and didn’t seem to detect any issues on the Air.

However I didn’t have time to test all Airs but will someday so can someone a YouTube video to test ?

 

[NicosAccount]

Went to my local Apple Store and played some YouTube football (soccer) match highlights at near full volume and didn’t seem to detect any issues on the Air.

However I didn’t have time to test all Airs but will someday so can someone a YouTube video to test ?

just play the song Sunroof by Nicky Youre at 100%, the first few seconds rattle

 

[justmadeupname]

just play the song Sunroof by Nicky Youre at 100%, the first few seconds rattle

👍

 

[IJustWannaTalk]

I am quite surprised at the number of people who both use a lot and care deeply about the sound quality from their phone speakers.

Had no idea.

 

[SmugMaverick]

I am quite surprised at the number of people who both use a lot and care deeply about the sound quality from their phone speakers.

Had no idea.

They don’t. They just need to make excuses to buy the pro model that they don’t need.

FOMO

 

[NicosAccount]

They don’t. They just need to make excuses to buy the pro model that they don’t need.

FOMO

love that this post is about an actual issue with the speaker rattling and youre speaking like any issue is invalid and dumb (i exchanged mine for another air that still does it, but im keeping it cause i prefer the air)

 

[techspin]

love that this post is about an actual issue with the speaker rattling and youre speaking like any issue is invalid and dumb (i exchanged mine for another air that still does it, but im keeping it cause i prefer the air)

While I think the speaker issues are just what a little speaker can produce on a phone, I support your thread since it brings more attention to what a short-sighted decision it was to have crappier sound than iPhones from years ago. Comparing the sound of the Air to the Pro on the following.

Music: 30% worse
Speakerphone/FT calls: 25% worse
Regular calls: 13% worse
Scrolling on social media: 6% worse
Landscape content: 100% worse unless you have one ear lol.

For your own sanity, the sound quality is going to be what it is on the Air. It’s a phenomenal phone for daily use. Try to enjoy it or use a different one until the next update.

 

[NicosAccount]

While I think the speaker issues are just what a little speaker can produce on a phone, I support your thread since it brings more attention to what a short-sighted decision it was to have crappier sound than iPhones from years ago. Comparing the sound of the Air to the Pro on the following.

Music: 30% worse
Speakerphone/FT calls: 25% worse
Regular calls: 13% worse
Scrolling on social media: 6% worse
Landscape content: 100% worse unless you have one ear lol.

For your own sanity, the sound quality is going to be what it is on the Air. It’s a phenomenal phone for daily use. Try to enjoy it or use a different one until the next update.

im fine with a single speaker, but idt its supposed to rattle like this though, not all of em do it seems

 

[nepalisherpa]

just play the song Sunroof by Nicky Youre at 100%, the first few seconds rattle

No rattle or crackle at 100%.

 

[shonkalaka]

No rattle or crackle at 100%.

Do you mind doing a check on the screen manufacturer? There is a working theory on crackle caused by LG vs Samsung screen manufacture. Much appreciated!

You can run sysdiagnose on your phone (press volume up, volume down, and lock button) all together for around a second. You will feel the phone vibrate.

Wait a couple of minutes (might be 10 min or so) and then go to Settings -> Privacy and Security -> Analytics and Improvements -> Analytics Data.

You will then scroll down and look for a file titled: sysdiagnose_XXXXXXXX.

You will click on that file and then dick the arrow in the upper right hand corner and scroll down and click “Save to Files” Once it is saved you will go into your files and click the file to unpack it.

Within the folder that is unpacked you will click on the folder “ioreg” and then click the file “IODeviceTree”.

You will then use the magnifying search glass in the bottom right hand corner to search “raw-panel”. It will then give you a serial number.

 

[nepalisherpa]

Do you mind doing a check on the screen manufacturer? There is a working theory on crackle caused by LG vs Samsung screen manufacture. Much appreciated!

You can run sysdiagnose on your phone (press volume up, volume down, and lock button) all together for around a second. You will feel the phone vibrate.

Wait a couple of minutes (might be 10 min or so) and then go to Settings -> Privacy and Security -> Analytics and Improvements -> Analytics Data.

You will then scroll down and look for a file titled: sysdiagnose_XXXXXXXX.

You will click on that file and then dick the arrow in the upper right hand corner and scroll down and click “Save to Files” Once it is saved you will go into your files and click the file to unpack it.

Within the folder that is unpacked you will click on the folder “ioreg” and then click the file “IODeviceTree”.

You will then use the magnifying search glass in the bottom right hand corner to search “raw-panel”. It will then give you a serial number.

I have actually checked it already. It’s an LG GVC panel.