Resound Hearing Aids & iPhone 12 Pro - Connection issues/static, only one working w/static etc

My “new” iPhone is probably so old that it doesn’t add much insight to what’s going on. But I got my wife’s old iPhone 6S (bought in 2015) upgraded to iOS 14.2, paired it to my ReSound Quattro’s, changed various settings and programs in the Smart 3D app and listened to brief parts of a Windows Weekly podcast streamed directly from the Apple Podcast player and the sound was great-no static or cutting out. Only updated and paired the phone today so did not get to try any older versions of iOS 14.x. Since I’m only using the 6S as an “iPod” I don’t have any experience with phone calls.

Restarting the phone cures static on phone calls with my Phonak Audéo HAs, but only for a few hours. iOS 13.7, ioS 14.2. More here.

I have a new iPhone 12 (not Pro) and Costco Resound Forte (Linx 3D) hearing aids and have the static issues still from iOS 14.1 to iOS 14.2, though a little better now. On my iPhone Xs max with iOS 13.7 I had no issues, but the Xs max was returned for trade-in credit.

Most times it is easy since I have Apple AirPods that work with my open fit domes of my hearing aids and I use those for streaming phone calls when I am home (which is most of the time). When out and about then I take phone calls to my hearings aids and the static is very annoying, though I can still hear enough to have the conversation, but I keep calls short.

I’ll call Apple Support on Monday and add to the support tickets for those of us having HA MFI issues with iPhone 12 / iOS 14.x issues.

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Yep. She updated to 14.2 , issue still persists.
Cutting out, static etc. Bummer.

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Same problem here with a set of Oticon Opn S. Apple just had me install a profile on the phone to enable detailed bluetooth logging. Naturally I can’t reproduce the problem now that’s it’s installed.

I should have mentioned that my static problems are with an iPhone 11 (eleven) Pro.

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My fairly new Resound Linx Quattros work just fine with my iPhone XS, but the first time I streamed a Youtube video from my new iPhone 12 Pro, I immediately noticed the sound cutting out randomly from one or another or both hearing aids. This is merely annoying from YouTube, but is a major no go issue for work phone calls, Zoom or Teams sessions etc.

From reading some of the Apple Community discussions over the last few days, this problem with iPhone12 affects many different manufacturers’ hearing aids and IOS 14.2 doesn’t help. So I am returning my iPhone 12 Pro for a refund.

My hearing is good enough that I don’t need to use streaming for phone calls or media (video, music, etc.). Has anyone had static issues with iPhone 12 or 12 Pro and iOS 14.2 when NOT streaming through their ReSound Quattro (what I have) or other aids? I have no issues currently with my iPhone XS Max on iOS 14.01, but have an iPhone 12 Pro Max on order and arriving this Friday and hoping I won’t have any issues with non-streaming usage.

Not exactly what you asked, but I ran iphone 12 Pro with IOS 14.1 and LiNX 961 Quattros for about a day before I had reason to discover the one or other aid dropping out during streaming. But I didn’t hear the cracklings issue at all.

I saw somewhere in another thread elsewhere that Resound recently told another user that they are aware of the issues and their aids are not yet certified for use either with iPhone 12 or IOS 14.

Anyway I have sent my iPhone 12 Pro back for a refund.

Thanks for the followup. Since I don’t use streaming, I’m willing to take a chance on not having any connection issues with the new iPhone and iOS 14.2. I did think about holding off for awhile until reports of the BT connection issue being fixed, but with new iPhones, the wait time can be extensive if one does not order during the first few minutes of the start of pre-orders, and I didn’t want to wind up getting my phone sometime in December. It appears likely this is just a software issue, and Apple is generally fairly quick to rectify things. As an Apple shareholder, though, it’s distressing to see this kind of thing slip through the QA cracks during beta testing of iOS 14 and possibly even the new iPhones, too. There are 1000s of developers and many others who install and use the beta releases of iOS before general release, and there almost surely would be a certain percentage among them who are HA users. Hard to understand how this glitch could not have shown up earlier and have already been addressed.

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Yes I agree it’s surprising. I suspect the poor BT connection is an iPhone 12 issue rather than an IOS 14 issue. I think I read somewhere that iPhone 12 uses a different BT chip to the ones Apple have used before, so probably a design issue rather than a QC issue.

Hopefully they can fix it with firmware, but I have still sent back the phone, so if it’s hardware related I will just sit it out until it’s sorted.

Anyway do let us know how you get on.

Incidentally the phone streaming to HA is useful in itself and not just as a workaround for hearing loss. Before CV19 I was in a cinema with my wife, listening in to a company Teams session from another time zone. With the microphones on my HAs switched off, I could hear the Teams session perfectly and without bothering anyone else next to me. And I didn’t miss much of the movie!

My iPhone 11 Pro with Phonak P90s has static in phone calls over both my and the other side’s voices, but not over silence, and not with non-phone call streaming. The problem occurred with iOS 13 and persists with 14.2. It is temporarily cured by rebooting the phone.

There seem to be two different issues that people are reporting. One is noise or “static” which affects the HAs some of the time, not necessarily while streaming is happening. This pre-dates iphone 12 and IOS 14, but doesn’t affect all HA makes.

The other is intermittent sound to one or the other or both HAs during streaming and this seems to affect many manufacturers since iPhone 12/IOS 14 came along.

My experience with Resound Linx Quattros is that were always pretty well rock solid ok on iPhone XS/IOS 13 and unusable with iPhone 12 Pro/IOS14.1 So I am returning the iPhone 12 and will wait while Apple and the HA manufacturers sort it out.

Best

David

I believe this is an iphone 12 hardware/firmware issue. I upgraded from Xs max (running 14.1 with no hearing aid problems) to the 12 pro max today. I am also having this issue with my resound hearing aids. I have found that while a hearing aid’s connection is glitching that if I go into accessibility and stop streaming to the hearing aid that is WORKING the glitching hearing aid begins to work normally. However once I re-enable streaming the aid that was was working starts glitching again This happens on both the right and the left. I believe the iPhone twelve is having issues streaming to two mfi channels at the same time. Perhaps the extra magnets they put in for the mag safe is interfering with the low level blue tooth (lets hope not!). I am hoping someone can repeat my findings and perhaps give apple another clue. Like many here. if this isn’t fixed soon I’ll return the 12 and go back to the old xs max.

I also believe this is an iPhone 12 issue. I was using my Oticon Opn S aids with my iPhone 11 pro with no problems. As soon as I upgraded to an iPhone 12 pro, I experienced a loud blast of static in one of my aids (last few times the right one, not sure if it’s always that one_) whenever streaming any audio. The other aid streamed as normal. I’d say it happens maybe 1/4 of the time.

I have a friend at Apple I’ve contacted and he’s seeing if he can find out anything from his end.

Alex

My Resound Lynx worked perfectly with my iPhone 6. Just got a iPhone 12 and the sound cuts in and out both ears - usually one side is cutting out at a time.

I unpaired them, uninstalled the Smart 3D app and reinstalled, re-paired them to the phone.

No luck.

Spent hours with Apple support yesterday and finally gave up in frustration. They had me reinitialize my phone without any of my data. Same issue. They wanted me to use iTunes to reinstall the firmware - that was a step too far for me (I hate iTunes).

FYI - I also updated my iPad to iOS 14.2 and it still works great paired to the hearing aids. So it is not the iOS itself, it is something in the bluetooth drivers.

It REALLY sucks that a $900 phone works worse than my old phone!

Might try pairing today to another iPhone 12 we just bought for my wife - I have never paired HA to her phone(s) - to see if perhaps its something carried over from my profile (I really doubt it).

Me too with the older Lynx LT691-DRW behind the ear model.

I was on phone for over an hour with Apple support yesterday. They ran diagnostics and my Bluetooth on the iPhone 12 was fine. They put me through endless hoops including restoring my phone without any of my data - still have same issue. My iPad with upgrade to iOS 14.2 still works great with my HA.

I called ReSound and they said they have not yet certified the iPhone 12 (disappointed to hear that - no pun intended).

Fingers crossed that it is firmware not hardware issue …

FYI I gave up on Apple Accessibility line after 5 minutes on hold, and went to a chat support session instead. That “only” took a few minutes of queue time.

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AlexR Thats great you have a contact lets hope its fixable with a firmware patch. Please keep us posted. I’ll probably keep mine for couple weeks before I return it. Lets hope they have a fix by then. Or at least an answer…

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Everyone the issue is with iPhone 12 and not the iOS, I have the iPhone SE 2020 and do not have the issue. A friend just got the iPhone 12 and I ask to try it and I got the static issues. I believe it is the MagSafe that is built into the iPhone 12 that is the issue. My wife has the Samsung galaxy note 20 5g and I have tried it with my connect clip and have no static. So I believe it isn’t the 5g that is the issue either.

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