![iphone 6s plus board view in audio ic iphone 6s plus board view in audio ic](https://www.fixshop.eu/media/product_image/watermarked/a04b77cbdafc32d920688a4af4c8289183fe7f51.jpg)
Since audio IC disease has a very similar cause, we’ll see if they give the same response this time round. Even when forced- eventually- to concede its existence, their statement was evasively worded, insinuating that users were partly at fault (something which contradicted almost all independent research) and deflecting issues of responsibility on their part. Apple failed to acknowledge that for several months despite mounting evidence. This is similar to their response to touch disease issue on the iPhone 6. What Can Be Done About It? Apple’s (Non) ResponseĪt the time of writing (late August 2018), Apple has not yet acknowledged “audio IC disease”/”loop disease” or anything associated with it even though evidence has been growing for its existence for some time now. IPhone 7 exhibiting the greyed-out loudspeaker icon during a call. Since the problem often only becomes obvious after the phone is turned back on again– most obviously the hanging at the boot stage- it would be understandable if a customer thought it had something to do with the (unrelated) repair, even though the fault was already there. That’s because, although many iPhone owners can go weeks or months without ever needing to turn their phone off in normal use, we have to do this before carrying out any repair work. The other apparently has its own, separate clock input and therefore isn’t affected by damage to (for example) the C12 clock input.Īn issue for repair stores like ourselves is the risk of being wrongly blamed for the problem. the amount of time allowed for the check is exceeded).Īlthough Apple try to keep the internals of their chips as secret as possible, it’s believed the reason that some non-call-related audio still works even after this is because the audio IC is effectively two (or more) distinct hardware circuits on one chip. Normally this doesn’t take long enough to notice, but if the audio IC isn’t responding, it’ll keep doing this forever or until it times out (i.e. It’s believed that this is because it’s constantly checking and rechecking (in a loop- hence “loop disease”) that the audio IC is ready before it proceeds. We mentioned that taking a long time to boot was one symptom, with the phone looking like it’s stuck at the Apple logo for an extended time. However, many people think that “audio IC disease” on the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus may end up being even worse.
![iphone 6s plus board view in audio ic iphone 6s plus board view in audio ic](https://www.microsoldering.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/s-l1600-17.jpeg)
(Other pads such as E12, G12 and H12 sometimes get damaged as well, but C12 is the most significant).Īs we mentioned above, this is much the same problem that led to touch disease on the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus- the phone is able to bend more than it should, which in turn flexes the motherboard and strains- then breaks- the connections between it and various ICs. In particular, most problems are due to the “master clock” C12 pad- which is essential to the functioning of the audio IC- becoming detached. When the motherboard inside bends, the solder pad connections to the flat audio IC get strained and eventually broken.
![iphone 6s plus board view in audio ic iphone 6s plus board view in audio ic](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/qdazZO78ZMU/maxresdefault.jpg)
It’s widely believed the problem is ultimately due to the phone bending at a weak point which happens to be where the audio IC is located, along with a couple of other important chips.
![iphone 6s plus board view in audio ic iphone 6s plus board view in audio ic](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/M1zQeHU7ecc/maxresdefault.jpg)
On the other hand, if you want to find out more, read on! Now that you’ve read this, if you’re bored and simply want your phone fixed, you can stop reading here- contact us to arrange for your iPhone to get looked at, or bring it in to our Dundee store. The apparent cause is similar to the problem that caused “ touch disease“ on the iPhone 6- a design fault lets the phone bend too much, straining then breaking the connection between ICs (chips) and the main board. It also means that the problem is most likely to appear after the one-year warranty has passed. This would explain why the problem only seriously started coming to light approaching two years after the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus first launched. The problem seems to generally get worse as affected phones age, most likely due to the accumulated strain and damage over the years. The phone also takes much longer than usual to boot. It’s quite common to have these problems with calls and Siri while (e.g.) you can still play an MP3 music file on your iPhone). (It should be made clear that this issue doesn’t affect all audio functionality. It’s a fault with the audio IC- or “audio chip”- that causes various symptoms including problems with audio during voice calls, Siri not hearing your voice, greyed out voice memos icon and a greyed out loudspeaker icon during calls. If you’re an Apple iPhone 7 or iPhone 7 Plus owner, there’s a new problem you should be aware of- “audio IC disease” (also known by some as “loop disease”).