Filed under: iPhone
3G S application that Apple forgot to mention: dog whistle
Update: The plot thickens: the phone also emits the noise just after recording video, and for a much longer period of time. An Apple discussion thread about the noise is here.
Are dogs unusually attentive to, or angry at, your new iPhone 3G S? The folks over at Boy Genius Report have an inkling as to what might be causing it: when a iPhone 3G S user sends a text message or locks the screen, the phone's speaker (the grille on the bottom left-hand side of the device) emits a high pitched sound for approximately three seconds. Many users corroborate the presence of the sound in the comments of the article.
This is an unusual response to these interactions, and further investigation has not yielded any other function that triggers the sound. To activate the sound with a lock, the phone must first be fully unlocked (waking the phone and putting it back to sleep will not trigger the sound). The phone does not emit the tone when the sound is switched off; likewise, when the volume is low, the sound is barely audible, if at all. To my 22-year old ears the sound is soft even with the volume all the way up, but noticeable once I became aware of it (and now a bit annoying).
Boy Genius Report estimates the sound to be in the 15 kHz range (here's a clip of a similar sound for reference), well within the iPhone's listed range of 20 Hz to 20 kHz. Your personal experience with the sound may vary, as higher pitched sounds become harder to hear as you age. Some users report hearing it loud and clear, while others must hold the speaker right up to their ear to hear it; some don't hear it at all. For this reason, it's hard to say whether the sound is endemic to the phone or an anomaly only occurring in certain devices.
A call to Apple's tech support revealed they had no previous knowledge of this issue. They directed me to do a hard reset (holding down the Home button + the Sleep button for ten seconds) but the sound remained. The representative speculated it was a hardware issue, and recommended I take the phone to my nearest Apple Store to get a replacement. Until then, if a rabid dog attacks me, all I have to do to confuse it is unlock and relock my iPhone (or, send a text message).
Can any of you hear this sound too?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 5)
Infinity said 2:39PM on 6-22-2009
Like always Tuaw has old News to report. This has been out for days and tuaw just notices. :( Tuaw is not like the old times.
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jimmy dietz said 3:24PM on 6-22-2009
All you have to do is play music thru the speaker and hit the pause to hear the noise. It also plays along with the music. If you put the phone to sleep while on pause the sound goes away after 3 seconds if you leave the music on pause it doesn't go away. I have to have the phone speaker within 3 inches to hear it. My 2g also makes a sound but it is not the high pitch. There is no sound on the headphones. The speaker is picking up interference from something. I imagine it normal considering all the electronics packed in the phone.
crazypenguin said 4:21PM on 6-22-2009
SERIOUSLY TUAW, speed up on news, whats the point of a website if it doesn't deliver everything day of? do you guys read your inbox's fast enough?
Gabriel Hooper said 8:36AM on 6-23-2009
I'm hearing when plugging into my cars aux input Im certain it's the phone because I tried it with the old 3G with the same cable and no sound but the iPhone 3G emits a constant high pitch buzz
tristan Dunn said 2:48PM on 6-22-2009
Yes. I'm in the UK and I noticed the issue on the first day. Also I believe the back of my iPhone is a blue black tinge as oppose to pure black. Anyone noticed this?
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Raul Riera said 2:58PM on 6-22-2009
This is the case for the iPhone 3G as well. Watch the back of your phone with a FULL SUNSHINE DAY, and you will see it gets more blue than black
Ross said 4:32PM on 6-22-2009
That's because black isn't a colour, it's a shade.
Nick K. said 4:39PM on 6-22-2009
Yup, that's true. There's no such thing as "black dye." There are really dark blues or purples, and that's what is used to dye plastic "black."
Mike said 5:16PM on 6-22-2009
Mine has always seemed purple in the sun.
jb510 said 9:23PM on 6-22-2009
Will Apple or AT&T be offering a refund or credit for those who were promissed black phones, but got blue phones instead?
Maybe you could just cover the back of it with gaffers tape?
ds said 2:50PM on 6-22-2009
Now I'm glad I waited on the S. As someone with a good range of hearing (I can hear a failing hard drive from 100 ft, and can also hear CPU activity on my old 17-inch PowerBook), these high-pitched sorts of things would bother me to no end.
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macserv said 1:49AM on 6-24-2009
I've got very sensitive hearing as well, and I do hear the noise in question, but it's *much* lower than 15khz, and it's a very quiet tone. Sounds like it actually might be the backlight interfering with the audio hardware.
I'd definitely like them to address the issue, but it certainly doesn't bother me during use, and it's *nowhere* near as bothersome as the example audio file linked in the article, which makes me nauseous.
Just Cause said 2:56PM on 6-22-2009
I can notice it if I put my ear right on the iPhone speaker, not an issue for me it real world use so far
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intrntmn said 2:55PM on 6-22-2009
I heard it for the first time today. I'm normally around noisy areas so its no surprise i hadn't noticed it before.
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Tom said 2:55PM on 6-22-2009
Tristan: I also spotted the blue-black things.
I can also hear the high-pitched whine.
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dTondro said 5:17PM on 6-22-2009
see the little "Reply" link in the bottom right hand corner of everyone's comment? TRY USING IT... thank you.
Andrew said 2:55PM on 6-22-2009
Just heard it, do we all get new iphones now?
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Blufire said 2:55PM on 6-22-2009
I never noticed this until you pointed it out. I can hear it if I put my ear close to the speaker, but otherwise, it doesn't bother me. Perhaps it's the speaker driver idling before going to sleep. I notice my MacBook Pro's speaker clicking very quietly when I activate some sound, because the audio output system is going to sleep when it's not needed.
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doogiestyle said 2:55PM on 6-22-2009
I have extremely sensitive hearing, and I can tell you that my 3GS does not do this. Not that it really matters, but there ya go.
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Steven McDonald said 3:00PM on 6-22-2009
hi. I thaught as I read this what rubbish but I have pretty good ears when it comes to audio matters.. For what it's worth - after putting the grille up to my ears and pressing the lock button - yes I could definately sense the sound and it was repeatable and I could clearly hear the noise end.
I am not sure what it is - it is very low to my 37 year old ears anyway.
It sounds like the audio amp is being kept open and is either picking up cpu/chip noise or has a programming issue.
I am 100% certain this is NOT a hardware issue though and would bet it is present on all the phones - althrough not everyone is going to notice of course.. I would certainly not be returning my phone for an exchange due to this slight issue..
Pretty sure it will be fixed soon now its been noticed/discovered.
Just my 2p worth...
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