iPhone Microphone Not Working? Here’s The Fix
In this article, I’ll explain why the iPhone microphone is not working and show you what you can do to fix the problem.
Author:Daniel BarrettAug 16, 2022112622 Shares1586222 Views
iPhonemicrophone not working
You’re sitting in your office, waiting for a phone call from your boss. When she finally calls, you say “Hello?”, only to be met with, “Hey, I can’t hear you!” “Oh no,” you think to yourself, “my iPhone’s microphone is broken.”
Chances are, the microphone on your device isn’t as working as expected. Now, before you panic, you don’t need to rush to near Apple Store for a fix. The bug could be both hardwareand software related.
Luckily, this is a relatively common problem with iPhones new and old. In this article, I’ll explain why your iPhone microphone is not working and walk you step-by-step through how to fix an iPhone mic.
Test Your iPhone’s Microphone
The first thing you should do when your iPhone’s microphone stops working is to test it using different apps. This is because your iPhone has three microphones: one on the back for recording video audio, one on the bottom for speakerphone calls and other voice recordings, and one in the earpiece for phone calls.
How Do I Test The Microphones On My iPhone?
To test the front and rear microphones, shoot two quick videos: one using the front camera and one using the rear camera and play them back. If you hear audio in the videos, the video’s respective microphone is working fine.
To test the bottom microphone, launch the Voice Memos app and record a new memo by pressing the large red button at the center of the screen.
How to Fix Your iPhone’s Microphone
Those tiny dust particles sticking in your device microphone can be the reason for a muffled voice output on calls. You can clean your iPhone’s microphone using a clean toothbrush or an air compressor. But, be careful about the flow of the compressed air, keep it low otherwise it may damage the internals of your iPhone. Do not insert any sharp object into your iPhone’s microphone hole as that can end up damaging it permanently.
Disconnect Bluetooth Devices
This happens to me all the time. My wireless earbuds Funcl AI when sitting idle in the charging case, automatically turn on and connect to my iPhone. So, when I receive a call on my iPhone, the device sends it to the connected device and I can’t hear the other person. This can also happen to you if your iPhone is connected to an external Bluetooth speaker or to your car’s infotainment system.
It is always recommended that you manually disconnect Bluetooth devices from your iPhone in such scenarios from the control center to avoid such issues.
Make Sure Nothing is Covering Your iPhone’s Mic
The majority of people out there use third-party cases to protect their iPhones. The legit ones are fine but if you are using a cheap case from an unknown vendor then make sure the holes at the bottom of the case are precise with the ones on your iPhone. If the holes are not aligned, they will end up covering your iPhone’s microphone leading to quality issues with the microphone.
Clean The Microphone
If you find that one of your iPhone’s microphones sounds muffled after you test it or it has no sound at all, let’s clean them. My favorite way to clean iPhone microphones is by using a dry, un-used toothbrush to clean the microphone grill at the bottom of your iPhone and the small black dot microphone to the right of the rear-facing camera. Simply slide the toothbrush over the microphones to dislodge any stuck pocket lint, dirt, and dust.
You can also use compressed air to clean your iPhone’s microphones. If you take this route, however, make sure to spray gently and far away from the microphones themselves. Compressed air can damage microphones if sprayed at too close of a proximity — so start by spraying from a distance and move closer if you need to.
Make sure to test your iPhone’s microphone again after cleaning. If you find that your iPhone microphone still is not working, move onto the next step.
Hard Reset Your iPhone
Hard resetting your iPhone can iron out occasional software glitches on the device. Doing this will only hard reboot your iPhone and will not touch your data in any way.
iPhone Xand newer iPhone owners like the XR/11/11 Pro can follow this guide to hard reset their device, while iPhone 7and older users will need to follow this guide.
Reset All iPhone Settings
If your iPhone’s microphone is still not working properly after following all the steps above, then consider taking this as a last resort. You will have to reset your iPhone back to factory settings. It won’t wipe out any app or their data but the step will delete all saved Wi-Fi passwords.
Head to iPhone Settings app and go to General > Reset > and choose Reset All Settings option.
Update iOS
Apple’s recent iOS 13 update isn’t getting any thumbs up from the users. The update has been riddled with bugs and Apple is pushing out software updates more than ever. If the microphone issue on your iPhone popped up after a recent software update, you should update your device to the very latest release of iOS to see if that solves the issue or not.
Go to the iPhone Settings > General > Software Update and download the latest version of iOS on your device.
Put Your iPhone In DFU Mode
A Device Firmware Update (DFU) restore is the last step you can take to rule out a software problem. This restore erases and rewrites every line of code on your iPhone, so it’s important to back it up first.
Repair Option
You may want to try setting up an appointment at your local Apple Store to see if a repair is actually necessary. If your iPhone needs a repair and it’s covered by AppleCare+, Apple may repair it for free.
In case any of the steps above worked in solving your iPhone’s microphone issue, drop a comment and let us know about it!
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