Has Apple acknowledged the low volume issue on the iPad Mini with retina?

[acadia11]

So I compared my 5s and mini retina and mini's max volume is much lower??? I checked Apple support community and this issue seems to be universal. Has Apple acknowledged yet?

 

[Garz]

I noticed the same thing. Created a thread about low volume. I've played with a few and they are all low. Seems to be not a issue but just the speaker they used in the mini.

 

[acadia11]

It has to be an issue? The sound quality is poorer than original mini, 5s, and 4, I pay apple premium expecting better quality? No way it should be lower than my phone? Opened a case , if enough people complain Aplle will do something, with the prices we pay and their cash reserves they need to bend over backwards. We pay for their name which implies quality.

 

[ios4ever]

You do know that louder doesn't mean better audio quality right?? I paid about 780$ for iPad Mini Retina at 128gb and it has Two little speakers vs loud one on iPhone 5s... So please don't start with Premium price rant, it may not be as loud but two speakers do sound better... It's called mono vs stereo.... But hey just my opinion. You could always return it and get a Surface tablet

 

[Garz]

It has to be an issue? The sound quality is poorer than original mini, 5s, and 4, I pay apple premium expecting better quality? No way it should be lower than my phone? Opened a case , if enough people complain Aplle will do something, with the prices we pay and their cash reserves they need to bend over backwards. We pay for their name which implies quality.

So you have to turn it up a little more. I still don't need it all the way up to sound fine. I don't see Apple changing the hardware in the middle of the generation. It's not a real issue.

 

[iEd]

Low volume n iPad mini retina has Apple acknowledged?

I believe their can be a perceived loudness difference between stereo speakers on a new mini and mono on a iPhone.
Stereo material on a iPhone is summed to mono you have the left and right signals combined.
With stereo material through stereo speakers the left and right signals are not summed. So mono is louder or perceived as being louder in a sense.
In mixing music for example. Tracks that are panned center are perceived as being louder than a track panned hard left of right with the same volume level.
But if the loudness of the new mini speakers are not to your liking that's your choice. If you aren't satisfied with the audio of the device.

 

[acadia11]

It's lower than even the max volume of the old mini. Finally, are you a consumer or do you work for Apple? Corporations won't do anything unles consumers make demands ... And if you go in the apple store community site I'm nit the only one who noticed it.

Finally, the premium you pay compared to other tablets why would you expect, justify, or accept less me ISheep , I mean iEd!

 

[cyberpaw]

Good to know I am not only one feeling the volume is really low - even my iPhone is much louder.

 

[acadia11]

No it's not just you, the question is if we can get enough complaints about it so, Apple will get off its collective axxes. They seemed to shutdown the thread that was on Apple community site on their we page, the last post being they are having engineers look at it.

We need a sticky here in iMore or a site that mainstream will pick up on run with it. It took them like year to acknowledge the antenna issue on the 4. It seems though with some consumers here actively working against their own interest it might be an uphill battle.

 

[nikkisharif]

It's lower than even the max volume of the old mini. Finally, are you a consumer or do you work for Apple? Corporations won't do anything unles consumers make demands ... And if you go in the apple store community site I'm nit the only one who noticed it.

Finally, the premium you pay compared to other tablets why would you expect, justify, or accept less me ISheep , I mean iEd!

No need for name calling. You seem to have a bad habit of insulting people when they don't agree with you. We are all adults here and everyone has their own opinions so chill.

As far as the speakers go...I never use my mini without my headphones, so the loudness of the speaker isn't a big deal for me. I never even tested the speaker. I only use my mini to watch movies on the plane & to play a few games. If you have an issue with it then report it to Apple and get those that feel the same as you to report the issue. There's no reason for those of us that aren't bothered to file any type of complaint. To each their own

 

[acerace113]

If your expecting the iPad mini retina to have Bose like quality speakers then your expectations are way too high for speaker sound quality on any tablet. One of the complaints of the original iPad mini was the amount of distortion the speakers had at high volume, apple listened and fixed that.

I personally would rather have less distortion at the cost of volume than a lot distortion at high volume.


Sent from my iPhone 5S or 5th gen iPod Touch using Tapatalk

 

[cyberpaw]

I am realistic enough to not expect Bose sound quality on my RMini. What I was expecting, however, is that the sound in terms of volume would be as loud as my iPhone. But is not.

 

[acadia11]

I am realistic enough to not expect Bose sound quality on my RMini. What I was expecting, however, is that the sound in terms of volume would be as loud as my iPhone. But is not.

Thank you , my iphone sounds better than my mini. This should not be the case. I can't comprehend how anyone is defending Apple here? I'm confused how anyone sees this as acceptable I'm confident Apple knows their is an issue and this is not intended behavior.

 

[BreakingKayfabe]

Thank you , my iphone sounds better than my mini. This should not be the case. I can't comprehend how anyone is defending Apple here? I'm confused how anyone sees this as acceptable I'm confident Apple knows their is an issue and this is not intended behavior.

Yeah. After two months with this thing, I've changed my tune (pun intended) on this issue. The speaker volume is too damn low. My 5S sounds way better. The iPad air I had before this was loud too. So was my iPad 2,3, and 4

 

[nikkisharif]

Thank you , my iphone sounds better than my mini. This should not be the case. I can't comprehend how anyone is defending Apple here? I'm confused how anyone sees this as acceptable I'm confident Apple knows their is an issue and this is not intended behavior.

I wouldn't say people are defending Apple. Like I said earlier, I don't use my rMini without headphones nor do I listen to music or anything on my phone without headphones. We all use our devices for different purposes so to each their own. You are definitely justified in your irritation because apparently this interferes with you using and enjoying your device. I hope you find a solution to your problem soon. Whether its getting a new device or getting the response you want from Apple.

 

[acerace113]

For the record apple has acknowledged the problem and is working on a fix.


Sent from my 5th gen iPod touch or iPhone 5S using Tapatalk

 

[acadia11]

For the record apple has acknowledged the problem and is working on a fix.


Sent from my 5th gen iPod touch or iPhone 5S using Tapatalk

I wonder if it's easy repair, hopefully, they have it out.

While I'm at it iPad mini case sux, it's much better in its large guise for the iPad. I think the cardboard used isn't strong/thick enough and the magnet is weak , likely due to its smaller than iPad magnet.

 

[kube8]

Hi all.... I thought I'd chime in on this. I waited for the iPad mini with retina FOREVER and was so excited when I got it. The sound is AWFUL. I've read a lot of people talking about sound quality vs volume, but this is a volume issue... hands down. If I put on a movie and place the iPad mini on the couch next to me on max volume, the sound is difficult to hear. If I then bring down the volume to 50% it's basically inaudible.... so I did a little test and compared it to my iPhone 5. (yes I understand I'm comparing two different products) I put on Pandora on both... iPhone clear as a bell and louder than the iPad mini. Then I turned on HBO GO, loaded the exact same episode at the exact same spot and played one and then the other and then both simultaneously.... iPhone 5 was louder and the iPad mini was very difficult to hear. (I'm not hard of hearing). In addition, there is no issue when I plug in the headphones.

I contacted tech support numerous times. They told me to reset... didn't help. Then I did a full system restore to factory settings.... didn't help. Then I sent it to tech support where they first told me that they couldn't detect the issue that I had. I explained in detail via email what the issue was. They then claimed that they were able to duplicate the issue. So they sent me a new one.

I got the new one earlier this week and guess what? SAME PROBLEM. I contacted Apple again to tell them that I was still having an issue. I must have spoken to 5 different people at Apple who ALL claimed to have never heard of such an issue. Meanwhile, there are thousands of posts online about this volume problem. Instead of sending it back and doing this whole thing over again, I will hike over to the genius bar tomorrow to show them this problem live. I'm not sure if they'll have a bright idea or not, but I fear that this is an ongoing issue with the iPad mini with retina. The whole point of having this device is so I can watch movies while on the train or in bed, etc. Everything else about the iPad mini is flawless.... the resolution is fantastic, runs great, excellent battery life, etc. However, I'll be damned if I spent 700 bucks on this device I can hardly hear. The whole point of having this is so I can watch movies and what not in bed or place it on the coffee table while I'm doing other things. Unless I'm on the train or in a public place, I never planned on having to be confined to the length of my headphones. I'm very curious to have them compare it with another retina to see if I just so happened to get two flawed products... but I highly doubt it. If they can't figure this out, I guess I'll just have to return it. I am so disappointed.

 

[BreakingKayfabe]

I think you'll be returning it. It's simply low volume by design. It does suck. Big time.

 

[acadia11]

I think you'll be returning it. It's simply low volume by design. It does suck. Big time.

This is not what apple has stated also it's what was reported in their forums. Also, who would purposely design something to be low volume in comparison to all it's other speaker end products, iPhone 4S, iphone 5 , 5s, iPad mine 1, iPad ... It doesn't even sound logical the 2nd largest mobile device they offer... Would hAve the lowest sound???? Come now, the only device with larger speakers is the iPad air. What you are saying is counter intuitive.