It is Apple’s most expensive smartphone yet and was unveiled to much fanfare last month.
But the £1,599 ($1599 in the US) iPhone 15 Pro Max has not been without its issues — and now it seems there’s another snag.
That’s because users have complained that the speaker on their new handset rattles at high volumes.
One customer even claimed to be on his third replacement because his iPhone 15 Pro Max was ‘cracking like it has water in it’ when songs and videos are played at ’80 per cent volume’.
Apple fans have already branded the model ‘fragile’, after a ‘durability test’ by one user found that the phone’s back glass shattered in his bare hands after being bent.
Problem-plagued: It is Apple’s most expensive smartphone yet and was unveiled to much fanfare last month. But the new £1,599 ($1599 in the US) iPhone 15 Pro Max has not been without its issues — and now it seems there’s another snag
Not happy: One customer, tech enthusiast ‘MilesAboveTech’, has even claimed to be on his third replacement because his iPhone 15 Pro Max was ‘cracking like it has water in it’ because some songs and videos are played at ’80 per cent volume’
Others said their iPhone 15 Pro smartphone overheated to more than 100F (38C) – which experts blamed on ‘compromises’ made in the design, while there have also been complaints about dust in the components and even the metal changing colour.
Now, a number of Apple users have taken to forums to report problems with their iPhone 15 Pro Max speaker.
Tech enthusiast ‘MilesAboveTech’ said his model was replaced by Apple because it had a ‘tinny top speaker’, only to find the new one had the same issue but worse.
To make matters worse, he claims that the second replacement ‘still has the same top speaker issue’.
‘When the volume is above 80 per cent with some songs and videos the speaker rattles and cracks like it has water in it,’ he added.
‘Others seem to be having this issue too, which seems very odd because usually speakers on iPhones are great and have little to no issues.’
Another customer posted on a forum on the MacRumours website asking whether anyone else was also experienced a speaker crackling issue on high volume.
‘The speaker crackling issue happens when 1) On high volume watching video or listening to music 2) On regular phone calls (high volume on speaker) . However, even on high volume, crackling doesn’t happen all the time,’ they wrote.
‘I’d say, on regular phone calls with speaker on, crackling noise happen more often, and the crackling noise only happen on the top earpiece speaker.
‘Is it a defect? Should I get it replaced? Other than this, the phone is great.’
Complaints: Tech enthusiast ‘MilesAboveTech’ said his model was replaced by Apple because it had a ‘tinny top speaker’, only to find the new one had the same issue but worse
To make matters worse, he claims that the second replacement ‘still has the same top speaker issue’. ‘When the volume is above 80 per cent with some songs and videos the speaker rattles and cracks like it has water in it,’ he added
Apple fans have already branded the model ‘fragile’, after a ‘durability test’ by one user found that the phone’s back glass shattered in his bare hands after being bent
Several people replied saying they were also experiencing the same problem.
They questioned whether it was a software or hardware issue, before speculating that a software update might fix the issue.
MailOnline has approached Apple for a comment about the reports but is yet to receive a response.
On a Reddit forum one iPhone 15 Pro Max user said the speaker problem ‘appears to be a common issue’.
In response to another customer who voiced a complaint, WallStreetKernel wrote: ‘My 15 Pro Max does the same thing – it’s not very noticeable on music, but noticeable on speech, particularly if the audio quality isn’t great.
‘Like yours, mine does it at high volumes.
‘Some people don’t hear this because they might not be as “in tune” or sensitive to audio quality as we are.
‘For example, I mentioned this to my wife, and she thought I was crazy for thinking there was something wrong with the speaker.’
Negative feedback about the iPhone 15 Pro series includes dangers of overheating, the metal changing colour and the device easily bending in the hand
‘This is insane’: One experiment in China showed the iPhone 15 Pro can reach temperatures of 118°F (48°C)
Social media users shared pictures of the new phones, showing significant discolouration, with the metal sidebands picking up fingerprints and oils from the users’ hands
They added that ‘the fact that multiple people are observing this issue makes me think it is a software issue and Apple needs to tune the speakers’.
Apple unveiled its long-awaited iPhone 15 at the company’s ‘Wonderlust’ event in California last month.
The standard range of phones starts at £799 ($799 in the US) and comes in the same 6.1-inch and 6.7-inch screens that users got from the last generation of iPhones.
But the new handset features a significant redesign to its screen.
The ‘notch’ at the top of the phone, long seen as a design flaw, has been replaced by the ‘dynamic island’ used on its current Pro models.
The iPhone 15 also comes with a USB-C charging port — the same one currently used to charge iPads and Macs.
It is available in five new colours – pink, yellow, green, blue and black – and has an upgraded camera which should allow for more powerful zoom.
