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.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
7-02-2008 @ 9:06AM
Metryq said...
Clean the lint out of your pockets!
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7-02-2008 @ 3:25PM
Chris Meesseman said...
Actually, that's exactly the problem. I keep my phone in my pocket and I've had this problem a few times. If you have really thin tweezers you can get in there and get it. DO NOT, however, spray contact cleaner in there because it will ruin your screen. It didn't set off my water sensor though, so Apple replaced it. I'd be careful with compressed air, because they sometimes leak propellant.
7-02-2008 @ 9:07AM
AJ said...
I worked at an Apple retail store and this was quite common, even with iPods and Macbook/MBP. Basically, the best way to stop the phantom headphone problem is to insert the headphones and pull them out several times (you can do it with some speed too). There is a sensor inside and moving back and forth across it will clear it.
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7-02-2008 @ 9:13AM
jrflesch said...
This issue may also be resolved by inserting and removing a pair of headphones several times over again.
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7-02-2008 @ 9:13AM
wooptywoop said...
happened to me a few months ago. I blew into the headphone jack, NES game cartridge style.
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7-02-2008 @ 9:28AM
Gregg said...
Those were the days!
7-02-2008 @ 9:25AM
jason said...
as AJ and jrflesch said, inserting and removing the headphone is the best way of fixing this problem, that was what the applecare rep told me when I called about the problem last year.
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7-02-2008 @ 10:52AM
Raghu said...
There is support article about this too... I really had to do the "several times" mentioned in step 4 of the article.
Look for article TS1630
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1630
7-02-2008 @ 9:36AM
rongor said...
this has happened several time to me; there is apparantly a light sensor in the jack that can be blocked by a speck of dirt. Air, blowing on it several times, if one doesn't have a earplugs handy) or inserting the earplugs a few times usually works.
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7-02-2008 @ 10:00AM
Steve said...
I have had this issue since Day 1, happens on and off.
I am on my 3rd iPhone because of defective models and this has happened with each one.
-Steve
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7-02-2008 @ 10:08AM
KLB said...
The compressed air worked for me -- thanks so much!
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7-02-2008 @ 10:20AM
Stephen Miles said...
I also encountered this issue after trying to use a set of haedphones that wouldn't fit into the iPhone recepticle. AJs (#2 above) solution fixed it.
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7-02-2008 @ 10:27AM
Darrin said...
Apples fix for this... is the same as some. Insert and remove the HS several times.
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7-02-2008 @ 10:35AM
iamwatson said...
Thats been happening to me since the beginning. Sometimes Ill pull out my headphones and it thinks that they are still in. So I just put the headphones back in and out until it goes away usually 2-3 times. Because lets face it, most people dont carry around compressed air with them.
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7-02-2008 @ 10:39AM
John T said...
You have no idea how badly I wish this was posted back in January. I was going in to some sort of insanity over this because I couldn't figure it out!! Thanks for the heads up!
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7-02-2008 @ 12:50PM
mark said...
This has been posted (even a video was made to show you how) ages ago. Don't take this the wrong way but this isn't the only site to get iphone news at.
7-02-2008 @ 10:48AM
Russell Burns said...
I had the same issue, Apple Store (North Park Mall, Dallas, TX) used condensed air as the "tool" of choice to resolve the issue! Presto I was back in business!
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7-02-2008 @ 10:50AM
jimmy.twining said...
I have had this problem before and it is always cause by me removing the headphones while music is playing. If you pause the music first and then pull the headphones out you will not have this problem. I figured this out because when the speaker wasn't working I tried to turn the volume up and the volume control told me I was turning the volume up on the headphones, but the headphones weren't plugged in! So I guess compressed air or inserting and removing the headphones fast works to solve the problem, but pausing the music before you remove the headphones PREVENTS the problem.
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7-02-2008 @ 11:02AM
.nate said...
dude! my ipod touch was dead to audio then I tried what you said and now I am happier than a pig in... mud
I'd blown and removed headphone jacks galore but it was only after some hardcore compressed air sessions that I have my iPod back!
Thanks!
Reply
7-02-2008 @ 11:04AM
vsmith1 said...
Sounds like someone needs to produce a soft plug or cap I doubt that the new iPhone will be any better at avoiding this issue. Maybe this is why several mobile phone makers don't use a mini jack socket.
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