Apple is planning to Omit Noise Cancelling from the iPhone 13’s Design

Apple’s “Noise Cancellation” accessibility function has been a standard on previous iPhones. However, 9to5Mac reports that the capability may have been permanently deleted from the iPhone 13 series. The function is intended to “reduce ambient noise on phone calls while you are holding the receiver close to your ear,” which may make it easier to hear calls when the receiver is close to the ear.

As Apple support explained to one of 9to5Mac’s readers, “Phone Noise Cancellation is not accessible on iPhone 13 models, which is why you do not see this option in [the Accessibility] settings,” the iPhone 13 does not have the feature. Upon the reader’s request for clarification, the support staff stated that the functionality is “not supported” at this time.

Shortly after the phone went on sale, questions concerning noise cancellation began popping up on Reddit and Apple support sites, with users discovering that feature was no longer accessible on the Accessibility page. Even though the function is still accessible with iOS 15 on previous iPhone models, it is not available on the iPhone 13.

When enabled, “Noise Cancellation” utilizes the camera microphone on an iPhone sharing to detect and reduce background noise, allowing you to hear the other person on the phone or FaceTime conversation with greater clarity — something that may be very useful for the deaf or others who have difficulty hearing. The problem only occurs if you use the phone by itself rather than with, for example, Apple’s AirPods noise-canceling earbuds. This does not affect what other people hear; Apple created the Voice Isolation feature with iOS 15 to address this issue.

Apple has not yet publicly confirmed that the function has been permanently disabled from iPhone 13 handsets; so far, the only information on the subject has come indirectly from the company’s customer support department. As a result, Engadget has contacted Apple to get further explanation.