UPDATE: This story was updated on Tuesday, Oct. 3 with the news of an update that purportedly fixes the issue.
If you're hearing static on your new iPhone 8, it's not you — it's the phone's earpiece.
Reports of the iPhone 8's earpiece emitting crackling sounds and static noise disrupting phone calls are currently spreading across Apple's Communities Discussion pages, Reddit and the forums at MacRumors.
On Oct. 3, Apple formally responded to these concerns by releasing iOS 11.0.2, and stating — in its release notes — that it "fixes an issue where crackling sounds may occur during calls for a small number of iPhone 8 and 8 Plus devices."
To install this update, open Settings, tap General, tap Software Update and tap Download and Install. We've yet to see any user reports confirming that this feature solves the issue, or if it fixes any of the bugginess reported from iOS 11.0.1 users.
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These complaints began on launch day with a forum post from the user Vask asking "Is anyone else experiencing a crackling static noise from the earpiece during facetime or cellular calls? Strange thing is this noise happens randomly, roughly 1 in 3 calls. This is happening on [an] iPhone 8 Plus."
In a statement to The Verge, an Apple spokesperson acknowledged the issue, but stated that there have only been a "small number" of instances. The representative promised it would be solved soon, noting "Our team is at work on a fix, which will be included in an upcoming software release."
Judging by reports from regular users, this issue isn't affecting users on any specific carrier or region, and may vary in how bad it sounds. In one posted video, the crackles are so faint that you need to wear headphones to perceive them, while another user reports that they "can’t make one single call without hearing loud metallic popping sounds."
If the update doesn't fix this flaw in your device, it appears that the company is replacing devices that have the issue. A forum post from the user ghsNick claims that an Apple retail store in Florida replaced his iPhone 8 Plus twice, as the second model he got also crackled.
Apple released the previous update, iOS 11.0.1, on Sept. 26, and it issued three updates to iOS 10 within the first six weeks of its release.
