Chosen Solution

So I have an iPhone 7, and it has never given me doubts until a few days ago. Here’s the story: I rely on Siri a lot, asking questions like “What games are being played in the NBA tonight”, and “Call (Person’s name.) Just recently, when I open up Siri it does’t let me talk or seem like it hears me. When I used to open Siri, at the bottom of my screen I would see the colorful, wavy line showing when I talk, but now it just shows me a colorful circle, and wont let me click it so it can hear me. I decided it was probably just a bug, and that restarting (holding down power button then turning back on) my phone would work. Now, I have done that multiple times, and it hasn’t worked. I decided to just let it be, and I would talk to my dad about it that night. But, later that day when I tried to call someone, I heard the ringing, but when they answered, I couldn’t hear them and they couldn’t hear me. They got the phone call, but still, we couldn’t hear each other. When I told my dad about it later on, we tested the calling thing a few more times, always with the same result. (Happens with Android and Apple) Upon further examination, I saw that when I called, I noticed that the speaker button was grayed/faded out. It wouldn’t let me press speaker phone. I also was curious if a “Hard Reboot” (holding the sleep button and the volume down button) would work, and all results were the same. Thanks for your time! -Wilder

It sounds as if you have a “Classic” Audio IC issue that will require microsoldering for repair. Look up Iphone 7 audio IC and C-12 jumper on Google and Youtube and you will find a goldmind of videos showing the repair needed for your phone. You can find a reputable Repair shop locally that can perform Microsoldering repairs by googling it or simply search here on Ifixit in the business listings for a repair tech that can perform a “No Fix/No Fee” mail in repair for you.

I picked this up from this thread. I believe this can be used as a test to see if it is the Audio Chip IC that is the problem, Turn your phone off. Then turn it on again, put pressure on the screen as shown in the image as the phone starts to boot. This will press the audio chip on to the circuit board. If the phone boots normally, it is the the Audio Chip IC.

Here is the link to the article as posted earlier. http://www.fixstop.com/blog/iphone-7-stu… More Tests : Open FaceTimeStart dialling someone. When the phone starts to dial, press in the same place. If FaceTime works, then once again, it is the Audio Chip IC.Try a normal phone call, as soon as the phone starts to dial, press in the same place and see if it works, if it does, it is the Audio Chip ICOther tests you can perform, Record a video front & back & press the screen, Record a Voice Memo & press the screen Hope this helps.

im seeing a lot more of this issue on the iphone 7 and 7 plus im starting to think its a signature issue with them I restored one and started working fine for 5 minutes and the same thing happened. It has some issue with the audio if you have warranty take it to apple and get it swapped out if not contact ipad rehab or sts telecom.

Apple disgust me. For a company to treat is customers like this, they really don’t deserve any in the first place. I will NEVER buy any iphone again. I’ve now swapped over to android and I have to say it’s really good. I can still use my icloud email address on it and now I just upload my photos straight to my hard drive. No more icloud pestering me for extra money. It’s just getting used to a different look but once your used to it, it’s great. I prefer it now. So really I should say thank you apple for stopping me from being a life long customer of over priced very expensive phones. Let me know how your change over went? The hurdle is the first two weeks, once past this it all becomes second nature again so perseverance pays.

I’m also facing this problem, microphone stop working after update 12.1.2. I can’t make /receive calls, Facetime, any in-app calls eg FB messenger, whatsapp, cannot voice record, recording video has no sound. Not under warranty already and I’ve tried hard reset, reset network settings etc.

It’s been a month of this crap for me. I’ve literally tried EVERYTHING every forum says to do and NOTHING. I haven’t been able to resolve this issue at all. I’m beginning to think Apple does this on purpose to get people to just buy another phone. Literally nothing worked to fix this.

thanks for the answer. our shop is beginning to see a surge of issues related to this audio IC, as well. courtesy of technician Leon Stacey.

At what point does this “planned obsolescence” horseshit fall afoul of lemon laws?

Apple knows about the problem with iPhone 7’s audio chip but they do not want to fix it for free. There is a class action lawsuit right now. You can google it to find out. My spouse bought a used iPhone7 from a Walmart reseller - it had the same problem as mentioned above. The second purchase from a different Walmart reseller had the same problem (by the way, he was unable to return the first phone since he did not realize that the return period was only for two weeks). I love Apple products but Apple (the company) do not seem to care about their customers.

my iphone 7 which is on 11.4.1 has the greyed out speaker. It has 71 days left on the warranty, and i have an appointment with a certified apple repairer. I am going to try and get repair or replacement

Same exact problem went to apple and they said there gonna charge me 350 to fix it. Then they said they would give me 50 dollars store credit because my camera is scratched in the back :/

Back when my wife had this issue, I tried everything and anything you can possibly do to make it work. I found out it worked when I removed the SIM card, before resetting the phone, then it would go back to the same broken phone eventually. Long story short, Apple said it wasn’t not their fault, but told me this issue was anticipated by their engineers but there was nothing they can do?? So we had to purchase a new phone and I’m sure that was apart of their plan all along to force a new buy. Good luck!

The same happened to my IPhone 7. Suddenly, when I was trying to make a call I couldn’t hear and they couldn’t hear me! I did hard reset but the problem still was still there. The service informed me that they can do a repair and change the sound chip ( I am not sure if I use the proper words for the repair) and you can’t do anything else apart from that! It costs about 200€ and takes about 10 days ! They said that it is a common problem to these models and it happens mostly when the mobile reaches the 2 years! Very clever, 2 years = out of warranty!!!! I find that unacceptable and disgusting for such phones! Apple has to take over the responsibilities and stop lying, it is obviously a factory problem!!!

Hi Everyone,

I stumbled upon this issue when attempting to troubleshoot my Iphone 7 Plus. I tried restarting, hard restart, using earpiece.. using speaker mode. None worked. My issue was intermittent where it can work for a short while, and stop working after a while. Using bluetooth headsets worked though. I am in Singapore, and I googled this symptom with the additional word Singapore behind the search. I contacted them and was quoted SGD 120 to get it fixed. When I arrived at the shop, the person who was before me just had his iphone 7 plus fixed, with the similar problem. It took about 40 minutes to fix. I intend to use my device for at least another year or 2, to justify the high price of the device. Most likely shying away from Apple in the future after this incident.

I had this issue iPhone 7. Factory reset my iPhone, nothing changed still unable to use the microphone or hear anything through the ear speaker. The reset the network settings and this seems to have done the trick. Give it a try, better than shelling out £££££ to apple if you don’t have Apple+ protection.

I have the same issue. can everyone file a report in feedback to get apple to look into it more seriously » https://www.apple.com/feedback/iphone.ht…

Replacing the Lightning Connector Assembly might solve the issue: iPhone 7 Lightning Connector Assembly Replacement

i have same problem, but when i record video from camera and face time(Video and audio) it works. i tried with normal call, call with whatsApp the mic is not working properly, seems like mic is covered something. do you have any idea?

Guys we can stop this issue, Apple is at fault. https://www.change.org/p/apple-tell-appl…

Same problem, microphone immediately stop working after update. Contacted apple and was told I had to pay $315 to get stuff changed. And they said it only a handful of people spreading information online over several years that make it look like a lot of people are experiencing problem.

So, here’s how I resolved this. Mine did this like 2 months outside of the 1 year warranty. The first apple store Genius Bar person wasn’t helpful at all and said buy a new phone, it’s a hardware problem, not our issue. Second person on a different day admitted that for a short time the phones that did this were being replaced, but then apple decided that it wasn’t their problem (like the first person told me). He was very sympathetic though, and told me to call in to customer support and complain, give them the somtory, cry, beg, etc and hope for the best. After quite sometime on the phone and some very real tears of frustration, they agreed to a one time only swap at no charge. Of course part of it was because I did go through all of the hood of trying to fix it with restores and a million other things first. Worth a try.

Sorry, but if this happens, the ONLY fix is via hardware, or a new phone.

Im having the same issue. Woke up one morning tried to make a call no sound so i tried speaker phone its blacked out no mic for calls or siri etc. I can hear voicemails fine on the regular speaker so i know it works i can hear music through apps such as iheart. i tried doing a factory reset still nothing. When i try to restart the phone since i read several places after several restarts it started working it takes forever to start back up stays on the apple logo for quite a while. I am on a very fixed income i cannot afford a new phone right now i really need to find a fix i guess i will try the blue tooth solution for now hopefully thats a temporary fix. If this is such a common problem why wont apple take care of theyre customers who pay outrageous prices for a phone does crying and begging work because i am at that point unfortunately i cant even call apple until i can borrow a phone and the nearest genious bar is quite far on the bus for me. Please help!!!

2 weeks after warranty run out mine as done the same now have a very shiny 128gb paper weight

I’m using mine with Bluetooth kinda a pain in the ass but at least u can make and receive calls. There is a petition online to sue apple for knowing this would happen. Mine did the same thing about a month after warranty I wanted to smash it. It reset it tried several different things but nothing. I can replace the chip but it’s a very high level of difficulty but I guess it can’t hurt it’s broken it’s not gonna get any more broke unless you tear a ribbon cable or something. Sign the petition I will provide a link later today and get everyone that has iPhone 7 to do the same. Like I said use Bluetooth u can pick one up on offer up or letgo app for about 10$ and it at least works. It’s funny how videos play sound &&^&^$^ apple. They send those adds out to swap for new phone w credit but if it’s broken I believe they decemresmase your trade in value correct me if I’m wrong I know they do with screens but I’m sure the chip would way decrease the value when it’s there !&^#% fault. Sorry man it sucks I’ve been using Bluetooth for about three months and it’s irritating if I can find it or it’s not near by I miss calls all the Riemann good luck

I havent read thru the whole thread I have ul and got a new phone but it is the audio ic chip one of the pins tends to break in one of the corners not worth the effort although if your skilled it’s only a few $ part o think under 10

I tried rebooting a couple of times, did not work. I then erased the phone and restored from a backup, did not work. then I stumbled onto this discussion thread which speaking with Apple support (he was suggesting to reinstall the OS from ITUNES before the backup. Before I could do that, I rebooted 2 more times and on the 2nd reboot, the phone call audio started working again.. Thanks for this thread!!!