Chosen Solution
I have read all the forums and watched all the videos about how to fix the “stuck on headphone mode” issue and none of them worked. I have no proof that the phone had any water damage but At this point im 99.99% sure that I need to replace the headphone/charging assembly. I just have a couple questions… First, would a damaged / malfunction headphone jack cause the earpiece speaker not to work due to it being stuck on headphone mode? Second, everything else seems to work fine except the “stuck on headphone” thing but could it be another hardware issue besides the headphone jack? Thanks! UPDATE: FIXED I trouble shot the issue further by unplugging the headphone/charging assembly from the logic board and booting the phone back up, the stuck on headphone issue went away so I confirmed it was the assembly. After reseating everything and replacing the connector cover it worked for a minute then went back to being stuck on headphone mode (super irritating) but I knew i was on to something. So I removed and reseated the connectors again but this time without the metal cover that goes over the battery and headphone/charge and it worked! I left it like that and put the phone back to gather and used it for a while, everything worked without issues. Somehow that metal cover was pushing the connector wrong and causing the issue. I bent the metal cover a bit so it created more tension when I tightened it down and everything works perfectly (for now). SOLUTION: The metal plate that covers the battery & headphone/charge port connector was our of alignment and somehow causing the “stuck on headphone” issue. Adjusted it and bent it slightly and had no more issues.
First, would a damaged / malfunction headphone jack cause the earpiece speaker not to work due to it being stuck on headphone mode? Yes, when the phone thinks headphones are plugged in during calls it will route the audio output to the earphones and not the earpiece speaker which is why you hear no sound coming out of the earpiece. Should be just the headphone jack, or in other words lightning dock assembly as you said. I’ll link guide and parts if needed: iPhone 6s Plus Lightning Connector and Headphone Jack Replacement iPhone 6s Plus Lightning Connector and Headphone Jack
