Last August, Apple publicly acknowledged a serious audio issue where “a very small percentage” of iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro devices manufactured between October 2020 and April 2021 “may experience audio problems due to a component that may fail on the receiver module” when making a call.
At the time, the company promised that it, or one of its authorized partners, would repair eligible iPhones for free, up to two years after the first retail sale. As noted by 9to5Mac, Apple has now increased that term to three years.
Despite the extension of the eligibility period, we advise the affected owners to take up the offer as soon as possible: of course there is no point in living with a big problem like this if it can be solved for free. But it’s also worth noting that serious physical damage – Apple gives a cracked screen as an example – will need to be repaired before the audio problem can be fixed. So any damage you collect from now on will make it more expensive to use the free service.
Of course, not every faulty iPhone is eligible for repair. You should have your phone examined to verify its eligibility, either by taking it to an Apple Authorized Service Provider or Apple Store, or by contacting Apple Support and using the mail-in service. You can review the terms of the service program in a support document that Apple has now quietly updated.
Officially, and rather oddly, the issue only affects the iPhone 12 and 12 Pro. The 12 mini and 12 Pro Max are not part of the program.
