iPhone Voice Isolation: How To Make Your Voice Sound Clearer On Phone Calls

Michael Grothaus

03/23/23 •  4 min read

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iOS 16.4 introduces a new iPhone Voice Isolation, that uses AI to block unwanted background sounds when you are on a call. Here’s how to use it…

We’ve all been there: we’re walking down the street when we get an important phone call, so we pick up right away. Yet because of all the ambient noises around – pedestrians, cars, construction work – it’s really hard for the caller to hear us on the other end.

But a new feature in iOS 16.4 called voice isolation can make your voice sound much more clear. Here’s what you need to know about iPhone voice isolation and how to use it.

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What Is iPhone Voice Isolation?

iPhone voice isolation is a new feature in iOS 16.4 that uses machine learning (otherwise known as AI) to clarify and amplify your voice when you are on a phone call and there is a lot of distracting ambient background noise behind you.

While you won’t actually benefit from iPhone voice isolation, the caller on the other end will. That’s because iPhone voice isolation will make your voice sound much more clear to them and it will also dampen any of the background noises around you for them.

• TIP: Check out what’s coming in iOS 16.5!

iPhone voice isolation is the odd iPhone feature that primarily benefits the person not using the iPhone. Of course, iPhone voice isolation does benefit the user too, as it will make your voice sound more clear, and thus you’ll probably sound more professional – or at least not annoy people so much that you’re not taking their call from a perfectly quiet room.

Does iPhone Voice Isolation Already Exist?

Despite Apple introducing iPhone voice isolation in iOS 16.4, the technology has existed on the iPhone for years – in a way. iPhone voice isolation in iOS 16.4 introduces iPhone voice isolation for cellular audio calls. These are regular phone calls you make over your iPhone.

But iPhone voice isolation has existed for FaceTime calls in iOS for a few years now. What Apple is doing with iPhone voice isolation in iOS 16.4 is adding the technology to cellular audio calls, too.

What Are The Requirements For iPhone Voice Isolation?

There are a few requirements for iPhone voice isolation for cellular calls. First, your iPhone needs to be running iOS 16.4 or later.

The second requirement for iPhone voice isolation for cellular calls is you need to have a compatible iPhone. As of the time of this writing, Apple hasn’t listed which iPhones iPhone voice isolation for cellular calls will work with. But the company says voice isolation for FaceTime calls works with the following iPhones (and thus iPhone voice isolation for cellular calls will probably require the same iPhones):

It’s important to note that though the iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, and iPhone X can run iOS 16.4, it’s likely those phones will NOT feature support for iPhone voice isolation due to the older chipset used in the devices.

How To Enable iPhone Voice Isolation For Cellular Calls

Provided you have a supported iPhone and it is running iOS 16.4 or later, do the following to enable iPhone voice isolation on cellular calls:

And that’s how you enable iPhone voice isolation for cellular calls on iPhone!

Michael Grothaus

Apple expert and novelist, Michael Grothaus has been covering tech on KnowYourMobile for the best part of 10 years. Prior to this, he worked at Apple. And before that, he was a film journalist. Michael is a published author; his book Epiphany Jones was voted as one of the best novels about Hollywood by Entertainment Weekly. Michael is also a writer at other publications including VICE and Fast Company.