Volume problem on iPad 3

[Fred1977b]

The last three days, the volume on my iPad 3 has been decreasing and is now nearly gone. If I put my ear to the speaker, I can still hear the sound, but I can't increase the volume to an audible level.

I've resetted the iPad; checked the settings in General (Mono audio = off), in sounds (change with button = on), and in music (volume limit = off).

Any idea what is causing this?

 

[KevinJS]

Given your investigations, I'm pretty certain you have a hardware fault.

You might want to try hooking up to a) headphones and b) external BlueTooth speaker to see if you can isolate the issue further. If you have controllable volume using either or both you probably have a dud iPad speaker. If not, the sound output itself has gone wonky.

 

[Fred1977b]

Hooking it up to an external speaker (through a docking station) does give me normal volume again.

 

[KevinJS]

That's about the best possible outcome. I know it's a pain to be without the internal speaker, but it sounds like that's the limit of your problem.

I have no idea how much it would cost to have the speaker repaired. If you have an Apple Store close by, could be worth setting up a Genius Bar appointment to find out. If it's horribly expensive, you can always say no.

 

[Fred1977b]

thanks for the help and advise... I can always use it exclusively as an expensive alarm clock... ;-(

 

[KevinJS]

I'd spend the $130 on a Braven 625s BT speaker. It gives far better sound than the internal speaker ever did.

 

[twerppoet]

It does sound like a hardware problem.

The only other things you can try that might help are to Reset All Settings, under Settings > General > Reset. Or a clean restore. If those don't work, then it's bound to be a hardware problem, either with the speakers or the amplifiers/drivers for the speakers.

Headphones might be another, not entirely satisfactory, solution.