Little Rattle in iPhone

[bunjy]

I plopped my iPhone 5 on the couch next to me and heard a very slight rattle. When I held the phone up to my ear and tapped in the back near the camera, I could pick up a faint rattling sound. As a sanity check, I did the same with a coworker's 5 and heard the same thing. Is this normal?

 

[ckillam3]

Re: Little Rattle

No, it is not. Have traced back your activities with the iPhone? Is there any visible damage to the exterior? This is my Quality background coming through.

 

[anon(4698833)]

Re: Little Rattle

No, it is not. Have traced back your activities with the iPhone? Is there any visible damage to the exterior? This is my Quality background coming through.

lol...what?

Yes, actually, this IS normal (the most common source is said to be the camera itself) but it could be due to a few things. The camera, power button, loose fitting volume rocker or mute button, etc etc etc, none of which effect the performance of the phone.

If you look through threads going back to the original iPhone's, little rattles are normal. To be honest, you could probably go back and look at the history of ANY modern smart phone and find the same thing.

 

[bunjy]

Re: Little Rattle

The phone has been in a case since day one and has not been dropped.

 

[dustrho]

Re: Little Rattle

Mine does the exact same thing. Se with my manager and friends. It is supposedly the autofocus on these making the rattling sound. It's very annoying as well as the loud clicking sound coming from the home button.

 

[03_CTD]

Re: Little Rattle

Mine has had a rattle since I got it in November. Hasn't gotten any worse over time and I've experienced no performance issues whatsoever. As Sean said, it's totally normal!!

Edit: The 5 on my second line has a rattle as well. No performance issues with that phone either.

 

[Engire]

Re: Little Rattle

lol...what?

Yes, actually, this IS normal (the most common source is said to be the camera itself) but it could be due to a few things. The camera, power button, loose fitting volume rocker or mute button, etc etc etc, none of which effect the performance of the phone.

If you look through threads going back to the original iPhone's, little rattles are normal. To be honest, you could probably go back and look at the history of ANY modern smart phone and find the same thing.

^ This ^

It seems to be commonly attributed to the auto-focus of the camera. My iphone 4 and my wife's iphone 4s as well as my BB Z10 all have the rattle. In fact the only phone I have that does not have a rattle is my BB 9930 but it is a point and shoot camera without auto-focus.

 

[bunjy]

Re: Little Rattle

I appreciate all the responses. Being new to the iPhone, I just want to make sure I'm not overreacting.

 

[malt1977]

Re: Little Rattle

I always thought it was the accelerometer...could be wrong, but mine does it anyway as do all the ones we sell.

 

[mikeo007]

Re: Little Rattle

If it doesn't rattle, then you've got a problem.

 

[sting7k]

I plopped my iPhone 5 on the couch next to me and heard a very slight rattle. When I held the phone up to my ear and tapped in the back near the camera, I could pick up a faint rattling sound. As a sanity check, I did the same with a coworker's 5 and heard the same thing. Is this normal?

Some iPhones rattle, some don't. This has been going on since at least the iPhone 4. My iPhone 4 had a rattle, my bro's iPhone 4 did not. Both went strong for 2 years. My iPhone 5 rattles.

 

[bunjy]

Some iPhones rattle, some don't. This has been going on since at least the iPhone 4. My iPhone 4 had a rattle, my bro's iPhone 4 did not. Both went strong for 2 years. My iPhone 5 rattles.

That's disappointing to hear. I expect Apple would have better QC than this.

 

[pr1nce]

I've had my 4S since last fall. Mine doesn't rattle unless I tap it kinda hard on my knee or something.

 

[mac2013]

Finally a thread that cleared my doubt...

 

[anon(4698833)]

That's disappointing to hear. I expect Apple would have better QC than this.

Its a moving part, and like i said before, if you check most smart phones with elaborate camera systems (or other moving internal pieces), you'll find the same thing. It's not just Apple, my brother's Galaxy S4 does the same thing. And to be honest, it's something you'd only hear when you put your ear up to it...who does that? Has your phone experienced performance issues because of it? We'll talk QC issues when the iPhone presents a legitimate issue that isn't a microscopic noise that people nit pick about.

 

[pr1nce]

I think Apple is still top notch when it comes to quality control.

 

[reeneebob]

I think Apple is still top notch when it comes to quality control.

This.

In all the apple products I've owned (not to mention at work all I've sold and activated ) I've only ever seen 3 with poor QC - one 4 bricked out of box (totally, completely unresponsive and dead, never seen anything like it), a 4S with a blown line on the display out of box (thank god I got the sim pulled so I could DOA it), and my personal 5 (first one I pulled had a misaligned screen display, you could rock the phone like a rocking chair, it was popped out that far on one corner ).

Worst QC I've ever experienced? BlackBerry. Bar none.


Tippy tapped from my iPhone 5, from me to you.

 

[dannejanne]

The little rattle sound has nothing to do with bad quality control. It's some autofocus part of the camera and basically every phone I've had has had this sound. Be it Android, WP or iPhone. Nothing to worry about. I usually hear it when I put down my phone with a bit of "force".

 

[anon(5718668)]

I have the same issue and took the phone into Apple in Bath and was told that the gyroscope was to blame.. It almost sounds like a small ball bearing..

 

[Not Quite Right]

It's the camera. Totally normal to hear this. My iPhone 4&5, my Nexus 4, my Galaxy S4 all make this sound.