The new iPhone 7 Plus comes with potent built-in speakers that generally offer an impressive sound quality. Nevertheless, not all owners of this new iOS phablet got the same positive impression on its overall sound quality output. There have been complaints raised by some iPhone 7 Plus users regarding some issues like popping noises and random stops on the external speaker sound output.
Other users also said that their iPhone 7 Plus speakers would suddenly stop or the sound keeps cutting out while multitasking with apps. This can be frustrating as many other features of the iPhone particularly those requiring audio outputs are might as well get affected. Apps including Phone, Music, and Camera are among the major services to suffer the consequences.
What could have possibly triggered the iPhone 7 Plus built-in speakers to encounter these problems like popping noises and what should be done in order to deal with them? These are the prime queries to be addressed in this post. Read on to learn more.
Why is your iPhone 7 Plus speaker keep popping noises or not working as expected?
When it comes to speaker problems, most people would think that the hardware is to blame. But in contrary, majority of the depicted symptoms are software-related. The program that is responsible for audio outputs might be glitching, thus producing poor sound quality, intermittent or not audible sound.
Technically, the software instructs the hardware to do its function. If the software gets corrupted, then most likely the hardware gets affected. The same concept applies to the iPhone 7 Plus speaker. When the program tasked to command the iPhone’s stereo speakers is malfunctioning, speaker problems like popping noises would instigate. Software problems can happen randomly at any time.
Some issues with the speaker are isolated to an app. For example, when an app crashes, gets corrupted or experiencing audio malfunctions.
There are also other cases where the hardware is to blame for poor quality sound produced by the iPhone 7 Plus stereo speakers. This is likely the case when you accidentally dropped the phone and that has resulted to the speaker being damaged. The built-in speaker is located at the bottom of your iPhone, making it more susceptible to damages from a fall. The speaker may stop working completely or stars to produce static noises if damage occurs to the very thin piece of material that produces sound waves.
How to fix iPhone 7 Plus speaker problems like popping noises?
Software-related issues transpiring in mobile devices like the bigger iPhone 7 variant can be dealt with by certain workarounds. Explicated below is a rundown of generic solutions and suggested procedures you can try on your end should you wish to attempt fixing the problem by yourself. Feel free to refer to these methods and begin troubleshooting.
To determine whether the problem is already fixed, be sure to test your iPhone after completing each step and see if the speakers is already working fine or doing better.
Before you begin troubleshooting, check the Ring/Silent switch on your iPhone 7 Plus and make sure it is not set to Silent Mode. If necessary, drag that switch back to ring mode.
Another thing to check is your iPhone’s volume level. It’s possible that the volume level is set to low, the reason why the audio output can hardly be heard.
- To check the volume level, go to Settings-> Sounds or simply open the Control Center by swiping up from the Home screen and then adjust the volume slider to increase the sound volume on your iPhone.
Once you’ve done checking all the aforesaid switches, you may now start troubleshooting the problem.
Recommended Solution for iPhone 7 Plus Speaker problem on low sound or no sound at all
If you are having trouble with the incoming audio sounds that seemed so distant or too low that you can hardly hear especially during phone calls, try to configure the sound settings on your device. It may be necessary for you to adjust the ringer and alerts slider to increase the sound or volume.
To do so, head over to Settings-> Sounds-> Ringer and Alerts, then drag the slider to increase to the right so as to increase sound output.
Recommended Solution for iPhone 7 Plus Speaker problem on static noises or popping noises
Your iPhone 7 Plus may produce static noises or popping noises due to software glitches affecting the audio program for earpiece or bottom speaker. In this case, a reboot can help rectify the glitch. The process is otherwise known as a soft reset.
Here’s how it’s done:
- Press and hold the Sleep/Wake button for a few seconds until the red slider appears.
- Drag the slider to power off your iPhone completely.
- Wait for at least 30 seconds.
- Press and hold the Sleep/Wake button again for a few seconds until the Apple logo appears.
Test your iPhone speaker after the restart to see if the static noises have already disappeared.
Static noises can also indicate a physical or liquid damage to the speaker. This is most likely the case if you happened to drop your iPhone or exposed it to any sort of liquid. The symptoms may not appear right after the instance of dropping or liquid exposure but gradually instigate. Unfortunately, a tech service would be necessary to fix these damages. This means the need for you to take your iPhone to a service center for hardware check and repair.
Other Suggested Workarounds to deal with speaker problems on your iPhone 7 Plus
The following methods might also be helpful to deal with software-related issues on the iPhone speaker.
Step 1. Disable Bluetooth on your iPhone 7 Plus.
The built-in speakers on your iPhone won’t produce any sound if the phone is connected to another Bluetooth-enabled device. For example, your iPhone is currently paired with a Bluetooth car stereo, headset or speaker. To rule out this possibility, try to check and disable Bluetooth on your iPhone settings.
- To do so, go to Settings-> Bluetooth-> then toggle the switch to turn off or disable Bluetooth.
Now try to test your iPhone 7 Plus speakers with Bluetooth turned off and see if there are any changes.
Step 2. Test other audio apps for sound quality comparison.
To ensure that the problem is not isolate to a certain app, try to test other apps on your iPhone that has sound effects or music. Adjust the volume settings for the app if necessary. If the sound is working fine on other sound apps, then it denotes that the built-in speakers on your iPhone are working and that the problem is isolated to an application.
Step 3. Reset your iPhone settings.
If the speaker problem occurs after making some changes to your iPhone settings, try to revert the settings back to its previous configuration or reset your iPhone settings instead. You can consider the latter option if you’re not sure of which settings to revert.
As the name suggests, the process will reset all the settings on your iPhone to their default settings. Only the system settings will be reset, which means that no data or media will be deleted. Here’s how to reset all settings on your iPhone 7 Plus:
- Go to Settings-> General-> Reset All Settings.
- If prompted, enter your passcode to proceed.
Wait until the reset is finished.
In case you forget the passcode, you can reset your iPhone settings via iTunes instead. In this case you will need to connect your iPhone to a computer that runs the latest version of iTunes and then follow the onscreen instructions to restore your iPhone 7 Plus to its factory settings. Be sure to note though that the iTunes restore process will erase all of your media and other iPhone data. Thus, creating a backup of your iPhone is necessary before you start.
Here’s how to restore your iPhone 7 Plus to its factory defaults with iTunes:
- Connect your iPhone to a computer (Windows or Mac).
- Open iTunes on the computer and wait until it recognizes your device.
- Go to the Summary panel.
- Click Restore iPhone.
- To confirm action, click Restore again.
- Wait until the entire restore process is done and then set up your device as new.
This method is most likely able to fix the problem caused by software glitches or random app malfunctions that could not be remedied by the usual iPhone reboot or soft reset.
Other Helpful Suggestions
- Remove iPhone case – Also make sure that nothing is blocking the speaker, like a case perhaps. You can try to remove the iPhone case to see if there are any changes on the audio output without the case.
- Clean the iPhone speaker – The speaker sound quality can also become poor or noisy especially if the speaker is covered with debris, dirt or dust. If necessary, clean the iPhone speaker.
Contact Apple Support
If the problem persists after doing all of the aforementioned workarounds, then you should contact Apple Support to escalate the problem you have with your iPhone 7 Plus speaker and request further assistance or recommendations. You might as well consider the possibility of hardware damage at this point. If calling Apple Support is not an option for you, then you better take your iPhone to an authorized service center for hardware check.