iPhone 12 Speaker Issues

It’s entirely possible you just had a “looking for the keys that are in your hand” moment and forgot that you turned down your phone’s volume. With the volume muted, you obviously won’t be able to hear anything because your phone thinks you want it to be silent. Try turning the volume up using the upper button on the left side of the phone. If you don't see anything occurring on screen, try turning the volume up through the phone's software as well just to be safe. If it worked, we won’t tell anyone about your little facepalm there.

This won’t be as much of a problem if you’re buying the most premium phone cases from Apple or Otterbox, but some cases can actually interrupt sound as it comes out of the speakers. Try removing the case and testing out the speakers again. If this fixes your sound issues, you may need to buy a new case, but at least you’ve identified the source of the problem.

Note: Although it may be a rare case, it is possible for a screen protector to obstruct sound coming from the earpiece speaker, so if you are having sound problems during calls and your screen protector doesn’t have a cutout for the smaller speaker at the top of the phone, you may need to remove the protector to properly diagnose the issue.

Sometimes the phone’s audio processor can glitch, causing the audio signals sent to the speaker to be corrupted. Try turning the bluetooth off and playing audio again. If this doesn’t help, perform a force restart on the phone and power the phone back on. If your phone’s audio is still suboptimal, you can likely rule out any software issues.

Some iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro units contain a defective component in their receiver module which has a high chance of failing. If your phone has no trouble playing music or sound through the main speaker, but fails to produce sound through the receiver during calls, you may have one of these defective units.

Luckily, Apple has acknowledged this issue and has offered to fix affected phones through a service program. They specify that only models produced between October 2020 and April 2021 should be affected, so you may have trouble convincing them to extend the offer should your phone be manufactured outside the specified dates.

If your earpiece speaker is damaged through other means and is not eligible for Apple’s service program, you can use this iPhone 12 Earpiece Speaker and Front Sensor Assembly Replacement guide to do the fix yourself. However, you should be aware that replacing this module without Apple’s service technician software will disable FaceID on your device.

If your issue persists when playing sound through the main speaker, you may have a broken or clogged speaker unit. To solve the problem, first try cleaning out the speaker holes with a pin or toothpick. Blowing air into the speaker holes in short, controlled bursts may help to dislodge any stuck dust or debris.

If cleaning the speaker has no effect, the speaker may be physically damaged. You can replace it using this iPhone 12 Loudspeaker Replacement guide to replace the speaker with a new part.