but you must switch the Bluetooth profile to HFP (Hands-Free Profile) or HSP (Headset Profile).
Note that this is the default for better quality (Bluetooth spec, not Linux).
Yeah, I have the impression most people assume Apple magically solved sound/mic quality in bidirectional mode. Or they just don't care. In any case, I'm unhappy about how much Airpods are used for meetings. They sounds so much worse than any wired mic! Or your laptop's mic, as long as you're not using the speakers.
They did announce a special "high quality recording mode" for Airpods in iOS 26 (which I didn't know, so thanks) but I couldn't find much except their developer announcement. It's not documented and I don't have the feeling it's being used.
And the alternative, newer "Bluetooth high quality recording" I mentioned in sibling comment is not recommended for real-time communication due to increased latency.
So the situation seems to be more complex than I thought. But I stand by my original sentiment: I dislike the prevalence of bad-sounding Airpods in meetings.
Edit: You meant Librepods. Apparently I managed to forget what we were commenting on in the first place.