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iPhone X owners experiencing buzzing earpiece problem

iPhone X owners experiencing buzzing earpiece problem

A small but growing number of iPhone X owners appear to be experiencing ‘buzzing’ or ‘crackling’ sounds from the smartphone’s front earpiece speaker. This occurs primarily at high or maximum volume.

On affected phones the buzzing sound happens regardless of whether the user is on a call, listening to music or watching videos. Even ringtones and alarms have set off the crackling noise.

The iPhone X’s earpiece also serves as a speaker so it can produce stereo sound in combination with the second speaker located at the device’s bottom.

Although the noise might be the result of distortion, various owners are sure that the problem could be bigger — possibly involving other hardware or software issues.

Within the last few months, a number of iPhone 8 Plus and iPhone 8 owners reported similar problems with the earpiece, but the experience was restricted to when users were conducting phone calls. Apple issued a fix with iOS 11.0.2.

Since the buzzing sound on the iPhone X is not restricted to calls, the current issue might not be related.

According to owners who have contacted Apple, the firm has been replacing affected devices without charging them anything. The company also seems to be gathering diagnostic data so that its engineers can pursue the issue, as it normally does with any possible hardware or software problem.

Similar to the appearance of green lines on certain iPhone X screens, this appears to be an isolated issue that affects a relatively small share of devices, with the majority of owners not experiencing similar problems.

If you are one of the unlucky owners who has encountered this issue, it would be a good idea to book a Genius Bar appointment via the Apple Support app. Alternatively, contact the firm by email, phone, Twitter or online chat to arrange a replacement.

About the author

Chris

I've been a passionate evangelist for Apple and the Macintosh throughout my working life, my first love was a Quadra 605 working with a small creative agency in the south of Norfolk UK in the mid 1990's, I later progressed to other roles in other Macintosh dominated industries, first as a Senior graphic designer at a small printing company and then a production manager at Guardian Media Group. As the publishing and printing sector wained I moved into Internet Marketing and in 2006 co-founded blurtit.com which grew to become one the top 200 visited sites in the US (according to Quantcast), at its peak receiving over 15 million visits per month. For the last ten years I have worked as an Affiliate and Consultant to many different business and start ups, my key skill set being online marketing, on page monetisation, landing page optimisation and traffic generation, if you would like to hire me or discuss your current project please reach out to me here.

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