AirPods Pro Service Program for Sound Issues
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support.apple.com
Despite that, I'm still upgrading to round 2 this morning. Hoping the new version of the chip plus the new case makes this connection/charging issue go away. Sigh. Apple does manage to always get my money, doesn't it. Though, I guess, to be fair, apart from those issues my first gen's have served me well for like 3 years and they're the only headphones I actually use 90% of the time. (Also, even more noise cancelling on the already good noise cancelling sounds good...maybe these can become my long-plane-trip headphones and let me retire the big sonys.)
(I tried resetting them, re-pairing, etc. and it didn't help)
I took it to the Apple store, showed the guy the issue, and he claimed it was most likely a firmware issue and not the case. He said the Airpod disappearing from the charge widget was the firmware misreporting, and not a bad/loosy connection. I had my doubts and was sure that it was a physical issue with the case... but he replaced the single airpod (he updated the new one's firmware first) and the issues went away.
Airpods have also just needed rebooting from time to time, in my experience. Not daily, weekly perhaps. Not my favorite thing about them.
BTW, AirPods “work everywhere” as standard Bluetooth headsets
The battery percentage thing does seem appealing, idk I guess I just charge mine often enough it hasn't really been an issue.
Auto switching does sound good though, maybe someday I'll try airpods.
AirPods are a case where I broke my rule of thumb with Apple, not to buy in to a new product line until the fourth iteration. And sure enough, they've been a little flaky, my first-gen not-Pros developed a terrible crackle and had to be replaced.
But fixing flakiness with Apple stuff by buying a new one works more than you might think. They do actually iterate on reliability (not you macOS).
Man, finding them in the cushions might be worth the cash all by itself. The ones I have do the one-ear thing like one in ten (?) times, and I swear quietly and stick them back in the case. Reboot them a few times a month.
So, fine really, could be better. If they were a bit worse I'd run out and get the new ones.
Can confirm. Here the 3 of us have 2nd generation AirPods. In one of them the mic is no longer working, on another one of the AirPods won’t connect 90% of the time, and the last one has a combination of these two issues. Another family member is on their second pair already.
AirPods are great, while they are working.
Edit: forgot to mention that 3 of those pairs were replaced while under warranty.
The main annoyance is just that I have to re pair them to switch devices. But so far so good otherwise. I'm interested to see if they ever make a new version.
Also found the 1st gen noise cancellation not quite as good as with Bose (in ear as well as over ear).
And now I'm here pressing reload in the browser so I can buy the 2nd gen...
So glad they finally make a watch for my mountaineering & diving lifestyle.
Narrator: "He has never been diving our mountaineering."
I hope the new generation is more durable, as it really does feel like a giant waste of resources. The sad part is that they are really good when they work so I keep getting them.
I think there is a limit on how long after you bought the airpods they fall under this program. Which basically means I'm going to buy the new ones after these break. Doesn't feel like the right way of voting with my wallet :-) but I use them literally every day.
I had a tough enough time describing it just now (it’s the sort of problem that is inherently un-Googleable), but has anyone else experienced this, and have you had any luck with the service program?
I’ve also had a tough time describing it, so couldn’t Google for it. I’ve also held off on taking it to the apple store to get it looked at, just because I didn’t know how to describe it well. May be I’ll just use your description now.
Just yesterday two people told me that they hear echos when I use my AirPods on two different meetings, so I had to switch to using wired headphones. Adding that to my list of problems. I wish I could just return the product now.
At this point the only Bluetooth device I use is my mouse and AirPods. The rest I switched back to wires because of how unreliable it is especially in a residential building with lots of wifi access points.
Back in late 2020 I took mine in for an issue in one Airpod. They ran them through their little testing device and determined they had other problems too and just gave me another. Worse they can do is tell you no, but they're pretty liberal about just replacing them.
It has been two months and the new ones are already experiencing major issues. One doesn’t charge sometimes, even if the case seems to indicate that it’s connected. I thought it was the case, but the same thing happens in another case. The weird shifting noise cancellation the first ones did where both ears cancel noise differently has started happening. The pop, pop, pop, squelch as I walk has started happening.
I was sure I was breaking them somehow until I found out this experience is not that uncommon.
It’s such a shame because when they work well, they really are game changers. I’m hesitant to upgrade, though. These were expensive and only lasted two years (with replacements). Apart from the money, I also find the waste upsetting. I was optimistic to get more liken 5 years out of them.
I don't think there's much as an individual I can do to make a difference, it's just disheartening to see massive multinational companies dumping out electronics that become non-functional so quickly – even when they're a high enough quality otherwise that they wouldn't really become obsolete for a very long time.
I've killed 3 pairs due to sweat from running seemingly shorting them out and then they never seem to recover.
the sound is great but I can't really tell much a difference between them and the $50 pair I tend to buy from amazon. That could be due to my 40 year old ears though.
They do connect really well and allow me to connect to both my phone and laptop which I love but durability seems to be a big problem for them.
The only problem I've had was ear wax buildup (yeah, gross, I know) with the first/second AirPods generation (the ones with the long stem). I was able to use alcohol & hydrogen peroxide to clean them up a bit, but eventually the sound is muffled pretty bad.
I have recently switched to a pair of the latest version, AirPods 3 (with the shorter stems) and they seem to be made better in general. No sound problems and they seem to stay cleaner with minimal regular cleaning. I use a toothpick to gently remove any buildup as needed. The fit of the 3s is significantly different that the older version and did require some getting used to. They are a bit larger in the ear.
I purchased a hearing aid cleaning kit[0], and the little wire loop tool is excellent at removing wax.
Fun-tac is your friend.
It's mounting putty or sticky putty. You moosh it into your airpods and it grabs all the little debris that may be stuck to them.
There's also keyboard cleaning gels made specifically for this purpose: https://nerdtechy.com/best-keyboard-cleaning-gel
When it comes to sweat I believe balanced armature drivers tend to last much longer than dynamic drivers.
One of my AirPods Pro has an annoying tick. It's like a metronome (regular) and orthogonal to the music I'm listening to.
I've taken it to the Apple Store, but instead of the service rep putting it in their ear to confirm the issue, they use some machine that checks and, in my case, "computer says no!" to my complaint. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0n_Ty_72Qds
The rubber around the ear insert is changeable, so it wouldn't be unhygienic for them to listen directly.
Their refusal at an exchange has caused me to eschew trusting them for the new AirPods, and instead I've moved on to another brand.
I suspect the issues weren't actually resolved by the date they claim.
Also, more annoyingly, they offered replacement refurbished left and right pods for $89 each. I can go to Costco and buy a new pair with a new charging case for only $2 more.
Moral of the story: Airpods are unreliable, if you buy them then also buy the extended warranty from Apple.
I also have this issue. I have a hunch that the glue inside the stem that holds the microphone in place fails, and so the tick is the microphone striking the stem/housing. I find if I hold my head very, very still, that clicking noise will stop.
:-) my music makes my head bop.
If they don't want to diagnose their hardware, then they should just exchange them with no questions asked. Getting denied on a repair "cuz the computer said so" is crap.
At one time, I have found a YouTube video describing how to fix the noise cancelling issue by literally sucking on the external microphone grille of the malfunctioning AirPod. Oddly enough, it did fix the problem temporarily. I think there may be a valve that is used to equalize the pressure between the sealed ear and the outside, and if that gets stuck opened or closed the noise cancelling fails. In my case, low frequency sounds were passing through. Very annoying.
Worth noting, I had the clicking noise issue with Sony WH-1000XM3, too. The behavior was exactly the same as with the AirPods Pro. Whenever a change in pressure occurred (door/window closed or opened), and during walks or even just moving the head in certain ways, the clicking noise started. This only happened when ANC was active, both for AirPods Pro and for the Sonys.
With Apple, I never had any problems getting a replacement, and it was in two countries that do not have official Apple Stores. However, with the Sony it was a completely different story. I had them fixed in warranty, just to find out they were not actually fixed. They replaced the headband that had really nothing to do with the problem. Eventually, after lots of emails and calls, the store I bought them from just gave me back my money.
I was worried they would blame my third-party tips (https://www.complyfoam.com/collections/comply-foam-tips-comp...) but as mentioned by the other poster, they remove the tips before testing.
I got them replaced in Spain while the original purchase took place in Germany.
The root cause, as I understand it, is that the microphones that act for transparency mode or for noise-cancelling mode can be blocked by particulate matter. A quick test to see if this has happened is to disable both transparency and noise cancellation to see if the audio artifacts disappear - it is not always enough to inspect them under a microscope; this has been the case for me each time but I confess my environment is extremely dusty at times and I wear these airpods for extended periods in all manner of adverse conditions and they have always performed admirably.
Wow that sounds awful.
How did they "handle it gracefully"? You don't seem upset, but I got second hand customer service frustration reading this.
The closest thing I had to this was an xbox360 red ring of death 3 times. I excused it because I wanted to play Xbox games and that was the cost of playing.
- On the first instance I contacted apple via their customer support chat. It took about 30 minutes to get replacements shipped to me.
- On the second instance, the problem was well-established, so they just shipped me new ones.
- On the third instance, they asked me to go in to a local Apple Store, and that did take a bit longer.
In fact, I'm due for round 4 here soon. There's no stopping the dusty environment.
I'm pretty demanding of headphones - 2 pairs of jaybirds died horribly under the same circumstances and the company would only replace the first set. A cheap set of Aukey buds fared considerably better and they still have life left in them.
The tight integration of the airpods with my other apple devices and the perks, plus the overall sound quality and excellent noise cancellation around loud equipment more than make up for the hassle of a free replacement rigamarole every year. I've been pleased with them since I received them as a gift in December of 2019, and I'm absolutely not upset in the slightest that there have been problems. Fortune has smiled upon me with regard to my experiences with Apple products.
I wish whatever tricks Apple used, they could implement at the Post Office and Car Dealerships. I don't even care if I have to undergo exploitive psychology, I just don't want to be miserable with things outside my control.
I wouldn't dare prescribe my regimen for how I deal with things beyond my control, but for interested parties I would say daily meditation and exercise have helped me turn down the volume on such things.
I do appreciate your ire, as I share it.
They're like silicon sleeves for the AirPod Pros that give them shark tips that make them more secure in the ear.
I’ve been avoiding these because they seem like wasteful fast fashion. I imagine having to throw them out in ~2-3 years, where as my over ear Beyers will likely last the rest of my life.
The plastic halves of the earbud casings are ultrasonically sealed together; you have to break them apart to get at the guts (and IIRC the battery is also soldered in). Just look up the iFixit teardown; they're completely unrepairable. My bet is, they are just swapping them out with refurbs or new units and writing off the loss against their AppleCare earnings.
I'm sure you're right about the first bit, and that calling it "battery replacement" is a sin of omission and/or over-simplification. As an engineer you're offended, but for average consumers, the result is what matters.
It's a stretch to call it greenwashing, though. Apple has supported AirPods recycling since its introduction. In the case of AirPods specifically, Apple pays recyclers for the manual labor required to recover materials, even though it significantly exceeds the value of the materials being recovered.
It's not a stretch to call it greenwashing when a replacement is marketed as a repair, no matter what else they do. Especially since a full replacement for battery drain inevitably leads into their recycling process - if they think that their recycling process is even better than replacing the battery, why lie?
> Apple pays recyclers for the manual labor required to recover materials, even though it significantly exceeds the value of the materials being recovered.
The criterion for recycling isn't whether it's profitable or not. Why would you get any recognition for profitably recycling?
Of course it can be argued that if apple had designed them for easy battery replacement repair would be so easy as to always be greener.
Their lifespan is, at best, the lifespan of the battery (in terms of useful recharge cycles). This is the dirty secret of the vast majority of wireless earbuds on the market, regardless of their cost.
If one metric ton's worth of AirPod fun were to be had, ending right now, the fun would have started in 1858 BC.
I'd say it's worth it.
IMO the Airpods Pro are poorly designed. You really gotta be careful when you handle them as the little "air vents" that prevent ear pressure can easily "clogs" and this create a rattle sound when ANC is active.
My guess is that there is a non negligible portion that gets returned.
I sincerely hope the new version is more robust, the return experience was not great, I have doubts about the capacity of their automated tests to detect some of the actual issues that users experience.
If you have problems get it replaced. What's the drama?
Needs a (2021) in the title.
Now my replacement pair is doing a similar, although different sounding issue. I need to take those in.
Annoying. But clearly a First World Problem that I'm glad Apple is taking steps to fix.
AirPods Pro even compared to the the non-Pros have awful microphones.
Right now, my left ear bud is good for 2 hours of music at the most and the right one is good for about 4 hours.