Judging from a 29-page thread brewing on the Apple support forums over the past few weeks, the iPhone 4S is suffering from a glitch where outbound calls have no audio coming from the earpiece.
Based on the accounts of those postings, the problem seems to revolve around some sort driver issue between the iOS software and the iPhone 4S hardware. People have no issue with incoming calls or other aspects of iOS that use the earpiece, such as Siri. Originally, people thought the problem was due to connection confusion with Bluetooth headsets, but then it was revealed that those who had never even used the Bluetooth connection also encountered the same fate.
Users say that the problem remedies itself when speakerphone is toggled on and off, Siri is activated, or headphones are plugged in, then unplugged. But obviously, these are just workarounds for a problem, not a fix.
Furthermore, MacRumors posted this week about more call problems: one issue involves echoes and poor audio quality when using a bluetooth headset, and the other involves a persistent static sound during conversations.
Anyone else coming across this problem with their iPhone 4S? [Apple via Michael Benezra, MacRumors]
Johnny P
Monday, November 7, 2011 at 7:57 AMIts obviously a design feature where your not supposed to make outgoing calls
Joel
Monday, November 7, 2011 at 8:35 AMNot without permission anyway :)
JAck
Monday, November 7, 2011 at 8:15 AMHave not had this problem
Titsnass
Monday, November 7, 2011 at 8:51 AMD’ya think they released a less than finished IOS5 maybe? Keep making silly mistakes Apple, Android will catch up sooner or later!
Jake
Monday, November 7, 2011 at 11:09 AMAndroid will not catch up/take over… it is terrible. I and several people I know all switched to Android with Samsung Galaxy phones and all switched back within a month or two. Google just aren’t as good designers as Apple. Sorry Google, stick to E-Mail and Search Engines.
Ozoneocean
Monday, November 7, 2011 at 1:47 PMThe actual facts are that Android has already overtaken iOS.
Neither system is superior, it really just comes down to personal preference and choice.
Boxxy
Monday, November 7, 2011 at 2:07 PM+1 for logical thinking.
Steve
Monday, November 7, 2011 at 4:29 PM“Because Google is not as good. Why? Because fuck you that’s why!”
Good job bro.
Mitch
Monday, November 7, 2011 at 8:59 AMYep, I’ve had this problem since I got mine.
moggyx
Monday, November 7, 2011 at 9:07 AM“It just works” comment, in 3, 2, 1….
Thorbjørn
Monday, November 7, 2011 at 9:22 AMIt’s funny how Gizmodo (and other sites) try to generalize problems with iOS5 or the 4S. You’d think you could say it happens in some cases? I have a 4S and a know a few other people who have one as well. I do use headphones sometimes and also make calls while using it. Never encountered this bug. Same with the battery bug. Never encountered nor heard of anyone with that problem. Yet all tech sites write “Your iPhone battery is shit”, “This is how to fix your terrible iPhone battery” etc.
I’m no Apple fanboy, but please stop trying to make sensational stories that aren’t sensational. And this doesn’t just go for stories about iOS and iPhone. It’s about anything.
Angus
Monday, November 7, 2011 at 9:25 AMI have the issue, no audio including no dial tone on about 20% of outgoing calls. They just replaced my phone yesterday but the new one does it too.
light487
Monday, November 7, 2011 at 10:07 AMIf this were a major issue, it would be a lot more than 29 pages. Which particular iPhone 4S model are we talking about..? The International one? The AT&T one? The Verizon one? etc etc
Angus
Monday, November 7, 2011 at 3:06 PMMine was the 32GB white on vodafone AU, but from reading quite a lot of those pages I got the impression it was affecting a number of different 4S models around the globe. I agree, t 450+ posts is small given the number of units sold. But I guess there might be a lot more people that have not come forward yet… I had it from day 1 but was trying to ignore it until I saw an article on it and realised it appeared to be an actual issue.
j3rk
Monday, November 7, 2011 at 10:11 AMHad this issue in the opposite situation, whereby any calls incoming or outgoing had the mic muted such that I could not talk to the caller. Toggling the loud-speaker as noted solved it in the short-term, long-term the apple store replaced the phone on the spot sighting a hardware issue.
Was an Iphone 4s with IOS 5.
Phil
Monday, November 7, 2011 at 10:22 AMI’ve got this issue. Plus lots of echo problems. Looking forward to the fix.
JonBOY
Monday, November 7, 2011 at 11:04 AMI haven’t had this problem.
My 4S is so far perfect with exception of reduced battery performance (compared to my old iPhone 4), which will hopefully be fixed by an update soon.
Boxxy
Monday, November 7, 2011 at 2:08 PMHave you tried getting a non-Apple phone? I heard this fixes the problem.
Argh Bee
Monday, November 7, 2011 at 2:12 PMI encountered this for the first time yesterday. Have had the phone for a couple of weeks. It was very frustrating.
The proximity sensor also stopped responding and I kept putting calls on speaker with my face.
AUM
Monday, November 7, 2011 at 3:03 PMHad this problem, extremely annoying. First thought it was Telstra but then I read the 29 pages or so on the Apple Support forum. Went to the Sydney Apple Store and got it swapped this weekend for another one, they admitted they heard about the problem but the Genius that helped me hadn’t seen one before mine – haven’t had the issue since but haven’t made too many calls either…
Ftruck
Monday, November 7, 2011 at 7:05 PMhmmm my 4s has been in its box since day 1, have been waiting for a jailbreak before I start using it…hopefully apple sorts its shit out by then.
maschette
Tuesday, November 8, 2011 at 12:16 PMI have had this issue from day 1, this phone in its current state is a piece of crap, i get muted phone calls, static, echos and all other sorts of crap.
Cant wait until the y fix the bugs and get siri working to its full potential in australia so i can really put this phone through its paces.
light487
Monday, November 7, 2011 at 10:07 AM“And you only have to look at the quality of the comments here to see what kind of audience this attracts.” – Indeed :)
Kerry
Monday, November 7, 2011 at 10:11 AMPresent company included.
light487
Monday, November 7, 2011 at 1:18 PMHaha exactly :)
Angus
Monday, November 7, 2011 at 3:11 PMSorry, yep there’s still good commentary :) I just meant there way too much crud a lot of the time. Would be great if Giz saw fit to moderate their content better.