On September 18, the day the iPhone 18 Pro went on sale, a user on the overseas MacRumors forum shared that their newly purchased iPhone 18 Pro Max started making a crackling sound from the speaker as soon as it was turned on and set up. After he exchanged it for another unit, the second one had the same problem.
At the time, there were only sporadic cases, so it was still hard to tell whether it was a widespread problem. But two weeks later, similar reports had gradually increased.
Two weeks later, similar reports have continued to come out on MacRumors, and many users in Reddit discussions have encountered it too. More strangely, the sound doesn’t only appear when playing music or on phone calls; some people can hear it even when swiping the screen or adjusting screen brightness. The just-released iOS 27.0.1 hasn’t fixed the problem either.
Image source:Apple
iPhone 18 Pro speaker emits crackling sounds! It happens when swiping the screen or adjusting brightness, and even getting a new phone may not fix it.
On Reddit’s r/iphone subreddit and MacRumors Many users on the forum have reported that their iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max are both experiencing strange popping sounds:
They describe the sound as a crackle, a pop, or a very short “pop.” There are also many situations that trigger it, including playing audio, phone calls, swiping the screen, opening the keyboard, quickly adjusting screen brightness, and even toggling Airplane Mode.
It is still unclear how many iPhone 18 Pro series devices are affected. Some users say the problem persists after switching to a new phone, while others have never encountered it at all.
When the iPhone 18 Pro series went on sale on September 18, MacRumors forum user Yuck Mouth shared that he heard a crackling sound while setting up the iPhone 18 Pro Max he had just received. The second unit he exchanged it for still had the issue, and he added that he really didn’t want to go through the return and exchange process again:
Later, more and more people also began encountering the same situation. User corteletti said their phone had also started making the same sound, and they only found this post by searching online. In addition, another user, A1423, who also has a black 512GB iPhone 18 Pro Max, heard it during setup as well and at first thought it was interference caused by other signal transmissions:
User opusmind said this is a very faint “tick” or “pop” coming from the earpiece speaker, and it seems to occur when the keyboard slides up or a pop-up window closes. He tried turning off the keyboard key sounds, and after that, the sound disappeared completely:
Another user, Flogyz, believes it’s an iOS 27 bug. He noted that on Reddit, users of the iPhone Air, iPad, and even older iPhone models have reported similar issues, so it seems more like a software bug.
iPhone 18pro /max speaker issue
byu/Zestyclose_Cold_9716 iniphone
iOS 27.0.1, released just a few days ago, fixes only three issues: iPhone 18 Pro series devices unexpectedly restarting when Face ID authentication fails, some iPhone 18 Pro models showing a color cast when taking photos with 2x zoom under certain lighting, and the touchscreen becoming unresponsive when Notification Center and Control Center are opened at the same time.
This speaker issue isn’t on the list, and many users have reported that the sound is still there after updating to iOS 27.0.1.
Although most people currently think it is a software problem, hardware defects still cannot be ruled out at this point.
In fact, this isn’t the first time a new iPhone has had abnormal noises from its speaker or earpiece after launch.
After the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus launched in 2017, some users reported crackling noises from the earpiece during calls, and Apple fixed it about two weeks later in iOS 11.0.2. In 2023, less than two weeks after the iPhone 15 went on sale, users also reported that the speaker would distort at high volumes.
If you’re also hearing a similar crackling sound, you can try opusmind’s approach: go to Settings → Sounds & Haptics → Keyboard Feedback, turn off Sound, and see if it improves.
Next, it’s just a matter of waiting for subsequent iOS updates and Apple announcements.
Source: KOCPC Chinese