iPhone 101: Headphone issues

Recently, my iPhone was having issues. Specifically, it thought headphones were inserted when they weren't. I first noticed the problem as I was typing and didn't hear that familiar "click" that normally accompanies a key press.

I thought I had accidentally toggled the ringer mute button (which I seem to do often), but no, it was set to ring. I inserted some headphones and heard everything - the clicks, music, etc.

I placed a call and tried turning the speaker on and off to no avail. Next, I rebooted the phone. No dice. I connected it to my Mac and performed a sync with iTunes and still, there was no sound.

I reset the phone by holding down the power button and the home button. Still, there was no sound without headphones. At last, I got a can of compressed air and gave a couple of short blasts into the headphone port. That did it! The phone must have been interpreting the junk that had collected in there over the past year as headphones.

A simple solution that, hopefully, will save you some time.

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How-tos iPhone iPhone 101

Recently, my iPhone was having issues. Specifically, it thought headphones were inserted when they weren't. I first noticed the problem as...

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Sheila

These fixes DO NOT WORK, they are MYTHS. I have attempted all of these fixes and NONE of them worked. I must have inserted and removed it a million times, still NO GO.

DO NOT violate your warranty by attempting this nonsense, just take the phone into the Apple store.

September 16 2008 at 4:14 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Sam Williams

Blowing through a drinks straw works well as a free / handy alternative to compressed air.

July 06 2008 at 4:39 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Ben

This problem just came up for me today. Thanks for the information, I couldn't figure out why music would not play out of the speakers. I pulled headphones in and out several times and it worked like a charm

July 04 2008 at 1:25 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Jimmy Rogers

I had this issue recently and I went to the Apple store. The genius I talked to didn't know how to fix it, but his co-worker quickly directed him to a special adapter that basically fits into the headphone jack and shoots compressed air into it. Worked like a charm!

July 03 2008 at 1:34 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

pao

I really wish I had seen this two days ago. Guess who sent his iPhone back to Apple via O2 for a repair on a faulty iPhone?

:-|

July 02 2008 at 4:46 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Miguel

happened to me too.

July 02 2008 at 2:53 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

ahenrich

I just had the same problem the other day with my iPhone. I called Apple and they told me exactly what AJ said in his post. I freaked out cause it happened June 30, aka the day after my warranty expired.

July 02 2008 at 2:00 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Adam B

I had a similar issue a while back when my headphones got accidently yanked out of the jack abruptly (i forgot i sat the phone down on the chair next to me and when i got up... you know...) anyway...
I went through the same processes turning the phone on/off, flicking the ring switch to and fro, syncing, reseting.
Ultimately all I had to do was plug the headphones back in, and gently unplug them again. Alas, all was better.

July 02 2008 at 1:31 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Rickwhois

could this be the ticket to a free upgrade to iPhone 2.0? haa, wishful thinking, but this happened to my friend yesterday too, kinda screwy how they didnt actually fix this issue, i hope this is resolved in the new iPhone.

July 02 2008 at 1:08 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Ethan

I also had this problem. I took it to the apple store, they basically went through the same process you described in the post, and couldn't solve it. The tech went into the back, got a little white box, and sent me home with a new phone. Problem solved! Now why won't my car dealership give me the same service when they can't fix a problem?

July 02 2008 at 12:46 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply