Sound only coming from one speaker on your iPhone?

This content is 15 years old. I don't routinely update old blog posts as they are only intended to represent a view at a particular point in time. Please be warned that the information here may be out of date.

I’m now on my third iPhone 3G (in just 5 months):

  • #1 developed a crack in the case (and was replaced under warranty by Apple).
  • #2 showed light at the edge of the screen where it should have been covered with the black bezel (visible in a dark room), so yesterday Apple changed that for me too (on yet another visit to the Apple Store to try and get my MacBook fixed…).
  • #3 so far so good, except…

…I was playing some music tonight and accidentally covered the speaker with my finger. Then I noticed that sound only came out of one speaker. Arghhh!!!

It turns out that is normal behaviour. The left grill next to the dock connector covers the speaker, the right grill covers the microphone.

Checking out some of the forum sites reveals this is a common concern (there’s even a website dedicated to the topic) but nevertheless it had me worried until I googled it…

Of course, I could just RTFM – but where’s the fun in that?

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