Apple’s iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus come with new Lightning EarPods, but they are not working properly. The company is working on a solution for this, according to a statement it gave to Business Insider.
Apple working on a fix
While using the EarPods, a bug becomes active occasionally, resulting in the remote portion of the accessory becoming unresponsive while they are in use. The audio continues to play without any interruptions, but the remote does not work; hence, there is no way to control the volume, answer a phone call or access Siri, says MacRumors.
“The glitch doesn’t happen every time. It’s seemingly intermittent and random. (I thought I was going crazy until I saw some people with similar issues complaining on Twitter.) If you experience the problem, you can just unplug your EarPods and plug them in again to temporarily fix it,” says BI.
Business Insider said it is not sure if the bug is affecting third-party Lightning-based headphones as well, but similar bugs have been reported with the Lightning adapter. It appears that when some headphones, such as Beats headphones with a 3.5mm connector, are plugged into an iPhone with the Lightning adapter, they also have a non-functional remote.
Apple said it will fix the problem in a future software update, but it did not say anything about when it plans to release the update that will fix the issue.
Missing headphone jack to blame
There is no headphone jack in the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus; hence, Apple shipped the phones with a set of EarPods and a Lightning connector. When the EarPods plug into the Lightning port, it becomes impossible to charge the phone. For customers who wish to use their own headphones, Apple also included a 3.5mm to Lightning adapter.
A lot of controversy took place around the removal of headphone jack from the iPhone. But Apple defended its decision, saying that by ditching the headphone jack, it got more space for an advanced Taptic Engine, bigger battery and improved cameras. It added that it wanted to design a water-resistant chassis and that the removal of the 3.5mm port enabled the iPhone to get rid of a key point through which liquid could enter the device.
In the special event for unveiling the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus, Apple’s SVP of Worldwide Marketing, Phil Schiller, said it took “courage” to move away from the legacy port.
