How To Fix Your iPhone Microphone At Home

Is your iPhone’s microphone suddenly not working anymore? Are your call partners complaining that they’re not able to hear you properly, even when you’re not on speaker mode? Have you noticed that the videos that you record have a poor audio? If one of the above scenarios fits you, it’s highly likely that your iOS device has a microphone problem. The issue can be hardware or software related.

In this article I will help you pinpoint the problem and provide some common home fixes. You might not know, but iPhones come with three microphones. First you have to find out which one doesn’t work and then try to fix it. I’m writing this article during the COVID-19 pandemic. Nowadays, repairing your iPhone at home is the best you can get, because Apple’s retail stores remain closed, at least until the month of May. So, read on and let’s see if we can fix your microphone!

How To Test Your iPhone Microphone
In case you own an iPhone 8 or newer model, it’s packed with three microphones, as mentioned above. One is placed at the top of the front-side, the other at the bottom of the same side, while the third is available on the back of your iPhone. Let’s proceed and isolate the problem:
1. Front microphone: record a video using the selfie (front) camera of your iPhone while you speak out. Play the video and hear if the audio was recorded properly.
2. Back microphone: Use the same trick for the rear mic. This time capture the video with the iPhone’s main camera.
3. Bottom microphone: Open the stock iOS Voice Memos app and record an audio memo. Play it and check if your voice sounds normal or not. If your voice is fading in and out or if you hear a cracking sound, the iPhone’s bottom mic has a problem.

5 Ways To Fix Your iPhone’s Microphone
1. Clean it with a Toothbrush
In the most common iPhone microphone problems we’re talking about lint that accumulated in the mic. Too much dust will cause a muffled voice. Use a toothbrush to gently clean the microphone. You can also use an air compressor, but be extra cautious with the air pressure. Keep the flow of air low to prevent unwanted damage to your iPhone’s internals.
Tip: You can check how to properly disinfect your iPhone, especially now during the new coronavirus outbreak!

2. Remove Cover
There are also many times when the iPhone’s mic gets obtruded, either my a case that’s not matching properly or by the users’ own finger. If you’re using a third-party case, make sure that it perfectly fits your device. Just check that nothing else, excepting dust is blocking the microphone from recording properly.
Fact: We’ve tested the iPhone while wearing a surgical mask (COVID-19 pandemic!). Microphone reception is a bit lower than normal but you can compensate by speaking out a little louder.

3. Check Idle Earbuds
If you’re using wireless headphones make sure that they’re not in range. Else, the iPhone can connect to them, if Bluetooth is enabled and the earbuds are idle. This will automatically disable the speaker and microphone functions of your iPhone and redirect a call to the wireless headset.
Fix: The solution is to turn off the Bluetooth of your iOS device, or even better to turn of the earbuds when you’re not using them.

4. Tweak iOS Settings
Noise cancellation is enabled by default on your iPhone. iOS tries to reduce ambient noise during phone calls. However, in rare cases, when speaking while lying down in your bed it can make your voice sound muffled.
Fix: Either adjust your position and see if the problem persists or open the Settings app and browse for Accessibility -> Audio/Visual and disable the Phone Noise Cancellation feature.
Did this work? If not, move on we have a couple more fixes available!

5. Enable Microphone Access For Third-Party Apps
If the iPhone microphone problem arises only while you try to perform a WhatsApp call, Skype conference or a FaceTime chat, the issue might be related to iOS permission restrictions. Whenever you install and app, you’re asked if you allow the app to access various data from your iPhone. Call related apps will ask for microphone, camera access among others. Refusing to allow access will cause the mic not to work. It’s quite unlikely for this to happen but you can double check here for the fix: Settings -> Privacy -> Microphone and tap on the app in question to enable microphone access.

Did the above tips help you to bring back your microphone to normal functioning? If not, make sure that your iPhone is updated to the latest iOS version (to eliminate any software bug).
Last but not least you can also try to shutdown your device and then turn it back on to see if the problem persists. You can also attempt an iPhone hard reset to be sure that you eliminate all potential software glitches!

IF after all this the microphone still acts faulty, there might be a hardware failure and you have to bring your device to an authorized Apple repair shop! Let us know in the comment section available below if you ever experienced an iPhone microphone problem!