iPhone Owners Complaining of Mysterious Mute Bug on Outbound Calls

Apple launched its latest handset, the iPhone 4S, in October of last year. And while the company seems to have corrected the infamous antenna problem, the device has still had its fair share of issues.

From its poor battery life — which is more than likely iOS 5 related — to its Sprint data speed troubles, users have had multiple complaints regarding the handset. And now it looks like we can add another problem to the list…

Dubbed “Audiogate” by thousands of disgruntled iPhone users, the issue seems to affect outbound audio calls made from the handset. Here’s the complaint that sparked the 109-page long thread in Apple’s support forums:

“Picked up a Verizon iPhone 4S – 32GB and on about 1 in 10 calls I get no outbound audio when dialing. Call shows the timer counting as if the call is progressing but absolutely no ring back and cannot hear the party on the other end when they answer.”

Apparently, a lot of folks have been experiencing similar symptoms as the thread has garnered over 1,700 replies and 16,000 page views. And the problem doesn’t seem to be limited to just the iPhone 4S either — a few iPhone 4 users have also chimed in.

While there doesn’t seem to be any fix for the problem, some users have noted that turning the speakerphone on and off temporarily resolves the issue.

Apple has yet to comment publicly on the issue, and there hasn’t been any indication that the upcoming iOS 5.1 update will contain any type of resolution. So it looks like users are stuck with the bug for the foreseeable future.

Have you experienced any outbound call audio problems? What have you done about it?

[GigaOM]