I am glad I came across this post. I was thinking I was going to need to buy some new ones. My right one has a static issue and the left one has a weird clicking.
AirPods Pro Service Program for Sound Issues
81–90 of 122 posts
Re: AirPods Pro Service Program for Sound Issues
#82Re: AirPods Pro Service Program for Sound Issues
#83I've had this exact problem and I've had to replace one or both airpods not once, not twice, but thrice. But, to Apple's credit, they have handled it gracefully each time. The first time it did take a bit of convincing as there weren't many documented cases on the subject. Now, it's rote.
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.
Re: AirPods Pro Service Program for Sound Issues
#84Earlier quoted context omitted.
Airpods Pro battery can be replaced by Apple for $49: https://support.apple.com/airpods/repair
As I've said before, it's very highly likely they are not actually repairing the unit by replacing the battery -- IMO that's false advertising to make them look "green". 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, the…
> As I've said before, it's very highly likely they are not actually repairing the unit by replacing the battery -- IMO that's false advertising to make them look "green".
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.
Re: AirPods Pro Service Program for Sound Issues
#85I've had this exact problem and I've had to replace one or both airpods not once, not twice, but thrice. But, to Apple's credit, they have handled it gracefully each time. The first time it did take a bit of convincing as there weren't many documented cases on the subject. Now, it's rote. The root cause, as I understand it, is that the microphones that act for transparency mode or for noise-cancelling mode can be blo…
>I've had to replace one or both airpods not once, not twice, but thrice. But, to Apple's credit, they have handled it gracefully each time. The first time it did take a bit of convincing as there weren't many documented cases on the subject.
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.
Re: AirPods Pro Service Program for Sound Issues
#86I had this happen, and Apple replaced my AirPods free of charge.
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.
Re: AirPods Pro Service Program for Sound Issues
#87Earlier quoted context omitted.
Just anecdata, but I have been running with non-pro AirPods for years with no problems like one you describe. I tend to sweat a lot, so by the end of the run they are pretty wet. No shorting or other electrical issues. 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 u…
The only problem I've had was ear wax buildup Fun-tac is your friend.
This is a good idea! I will look into it.
Re: AirPods Pro Service Program for Sound Issues
#88Earlier quoted context omitted.
As I've said before, it's very highly likely they are not actually repairing the unit by replacing the battery -- IMO that's false advertising to make them look "green". 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, the…
> As I've said before, it's very highly likely they are not actually repairing the unit by replacing the battery -- IMO that's false advertising to make them look "green". 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 g…
> It's a stretch to call it greenwashing, though.
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?
Re: AirPods Pro Service Program for Sound Issues
#89the most annoying thing about the airpods pro for me is that a good percentage of the time (maybe 15%, give or take), only one of the actual airpods will connect when I stick them in my ears. I got a buzzing a few months ago and swapped them out under the service program, hoping it would also fix the only-one-airpod-connecting issue, but, well, it didn't. (A large percentage of the time I realize that this is because…
I had the issue where sometimes only one was charged. I noticed that sometimes the LED didn't blink when inserting one of them... and fidgeting with it, helped, but sometimes switching the position of the case from vertical to horizontal would make it disconnect (as reported by the charge widget on my iPhone). (I tried resetting them, re-pairing, etc. and it didn't help) I took it to the Apple store, showed the guy t…
This is a problem I've fixed with a Q-tip more than once. that contact is finicky and it doesn't take much lint to break it.
Airpods have also just needed rebooting from time to time, in my experience. Not daily, weekly perhaps. Not my favorite thing about them.
Re: AirPods Pro Service Program for Sound Issues
#90What happens when the battery no longer holds a charge? Are they able to replace them or do you have to toss them in the trash? 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.
At 5.3 g per airpod and 60 million pairs sold per year that is 636 metric ton of trashed airpods per year.