Apple confirms iPhone 8 'crackling' sound problem for small number of people and says it's working on a fix (AAPL)

AP

Apple said that a small number of its new iPhones are suffering from an audio problem that creates a crackling or popping sound during phone calls in some instances.

The problem affects the new iPhone 8 models that went on sale earlier this month and has been reported by several users on online forums such as MacRumors and Apple's support forum. According to some of the comments, the problem occurs during regular phone calls and Facetime calls, apparently when using an earpiece.

But the crackling sound seems to occur sporadically, with one online commenter saying it happens on one out of ever three calls.

"We are aware of the issue which is affecting customers in a small number of cases. Our team is at work on a fix, which will be included in an upcoming software release," Apple told Business Insider.

Apple's confirmation of the problem was first reported by The Verge, which has an example of what it sounds like.

The iPhone audio problem is the second high-profile glitch to affect Apple's new line up of products ahead of the holiday season. A bug in the new version of the Apple Watch Series 3 with LTE prevents the device from connecting to cellular networks in some instances, spoiling a major selling point of the device which promises to let users make phone calls directly from their wrists.

Business Insider did not experience the iPhone 8 crackling sound problem in the review unit we tested, although The Verge noted that a phone owned by one of its editors suffered from the problem.

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