Not being able to hear music, audiobooks, or your alarm on your iPhone 18 Pro or iPhone 18 Pro Max can be a headache. See iPhone 18 Pro Max Alarm Not Going Off. There’s often a quick fix, especially if it’s a simple problem with your software. Here are some simple tips for boosting your smartphone’s volume.
High volumes can damage your ears, so take care when using the tricks below.
Your iPhone Could Be on Silent
We’ll first check through some of the basic areas that are easy to overlook. For instance, you might’ve been annoyed by that shutter noise when taking a photo, so set your phone to Silent. Press and hold the Action button to turn Silent mode on. Press and hold the Action button again to turn Silent mode off. Important: Clock alarms, audio apps such as Music, and many games play sounds through the built-in speaker, even when Silent mode is on.
To change the Action button to Silent mode, go to Settings > Action Button. To choose an action (like Silent Mode), swipe to the action you want to use—its name appears below the dots.
Your iPhone 18 Pro Max Volume Could Be Turned Down
On the side of your phone, under the Action button, you’ll find the Volume buttons, which adjust sounds for videos and music in increments. This also works if you’re trying to increase the ringer volume.
If the buttons don’t change anything, go to Settings > Sounds & Haptics, then check that Change with Buttons is turned on. Alternatively, alter the volume via the Control Center by swiping down from the top-right of your screen.
There’s also an option to limit the maximum volume. Go to Settings > Sounds & Haptics > Headphone Safety. There, you can toggle on Reduce Loud Audio. This should be automatically set to 85 decibels (“as loud as heavy city traffic”), but you can go up to 100 decibels (“as loud as an ambulance siren”), just be careful with this. Your phone will warn you if you exceed recommended volume levels in a week.
Attention Aware Features: iPhone checks for attention before dimming the display, expanding a notification when locked, or lowering the volume of some alerts.
If you don’t want iPhone to check for your attention, do the following: Go to Settings > Accessibility > Face ID & Attention.
Check That Your iPhone Isn’t Connected to Bluetooth
There may not be a problem with your speakers at all; you might be connected to another device. You might not notice this if you use wireless earphones like Apple’s AirPods. This could also be the case if you use an Apple TV or connect your phone to your vehicle’s audio system.
To test this, swipe down from the top-right of your interface to access your Control Center and turn off Bluetooth. Otherwise, go to Settings > Bluetooth, where you can also check which devices you’re connected to. Disconnect as needed.
When playing music or videos, you can also tap the AirPlay button at the bottom of your screen to select where the track is playing.
Make Sure Do Not Disturb Is Turned Off
Do Not Disturb stops interruptions while you’re busy or asleep; notifications won’t appear and calls won’t ring out. You might’ve activated it and forgotten to turn it off.
You should first check your Control Center by swiping down from the top-right of your screen. Tap on Focus and check on Do Not Disturb to see whether it’s disabled or not.
You should also check whether this feature is on a schedule, so head to Settings > Focus > Do Not Disturb. Scroll down to see if there’s a schedule set; if so, tap on it and either turn it off by tapping on Schedule or get rid of it completely by tapping Delete Schedule.
Update and Reset Your iPhone
The classic advice of turning your device off and on again when an issue arises is a great way of fixing problems on your iPhone. A force-restart on your iPhone could clear your device of any minor software issues. Press and quickly release the volume up button. Press and quickly release the volume down button. Press and hold the side button. When the Apple logo appears, release the side button. Don’t worry, you won’t lose any personal data through restarting.
You may also have an old version of iOS installed. While this shouldn’t cause sound complications, it’s always worth keeping your iPhone updated to iron out potential problems. Go to Settings > General > Software Update to see if a new iOS version is available.
If the problem lies in an app—for example, volume everywhere on your iPhone except when using a specific app—check whether there’s an update to install via the App Store. If not, you could contact the developer and ask for advice.
Toggle the Equalizer to Make Your iPhone 18 Pro Max Music Louder
Perhaps there’s nothing wrong with your phone. Some just want music and alarms to play as loudly as possible.
Head to Settings > Apps > Music > EQ. This is Off by default, but you can use it to accentuate certain sounds when listening to songs. Go to Settings > Apps > Music and turn on Sound Check to normalize the volume level of your audio. For supported Apple and Beats headphones, go to Settings > Accessibility > Audio & Visual > Headphone Accommodations to make soft sounds louder.
The difference isn’t massive, and will depend on the tracks you’re listening to. Nonetheless, you’ll often hear a boost in volume, particularly when listening through earphones.
Check That Your iPhone Isn’t in Headphone Mode
This largely affects older iPhones with headphone jacks, but newer models can still be affected by dirt in the charging port (especially if you use an adapter for wired headphones).
If your iPhone thinks earphones are attached, it will play music through a non-existent connection. Adjust the volume using the side buttons; the screen will tell you if it’s being routed through another speaker.
If you use AirPods, the Bluetooth solution above should fix it. Otherwise, shine a light in the USB-C connector; you might see blockages. Such debris can be tiny, so you could have an issue even if you don’t see anything. This can also be the issue if your iPhone speaker isn’t working.
Try to insert headphones or a charging cable, then remove them. Do this a few times and test the volume again. Doing so could dislodge any dirt inside.
Use a soft lens cloth to gently clean the port and speaker areas. You can also use a dry cotton swab, cotton ball, or toothbrush to lightly rub around the edge of the small recess. Don’t press anything into recesses because you may push dirt further inside.
Avoid liquids as these can cause further damage. Even small amounts of sweat can trick your phone into thinking headphones are connected.
Sadly, if these tricks don’t help—and you’re not experienced enough to deconstruct your device—you need to visit Apple for professional help. But in most cases, you shouldn’t be too worried about troubles with your iPhone 18 Pro Max volume not working. They’re usually caused by a simple oversight.
