Overview
- Forum and Reddit posts that surfaced this week describe faint crackles, pops, ticks or clicks coming from the earpiece on both iPhone 18 Pro and 18 Pro Max models.
- Users say the noises appear inconsistently and can happen during app switching, scrolling, receiving notifications, keyboard pop-ups, calls, or when toggling Airplane Mode or changing brightness quickly.
- The reports come from a small share of owners and do not point to a clear, widespread defect at this time.
- Several owners who returned devices report replacements showed the same behavior, and Apple's iOS 27.0.1 release notes made no mention of a speaker fix with early feedback indicating the update did not stop the sounds.
- Apple has not issued official guidance or a repair bulletin, so observers and affected users are weighing software and hardware causes and launch-day buyers should note their return window if they want a swap or refund.