This issue is very bad, and I've had it on all 3 of the sets of AirPods pros I have owned.

Another issue I have had on all three is that the noise cancelling degrades over time. When you get a new set, it's kind of night and day how good they are at first. After about 6 months I would say that they noticably suck compared to how they are when you first get them, and they just continue to degrade over time.

My guess is just wax and gunk getting to the external microphone mesh over time, but there is no way to deal with it that I can see short of buying another pair.

Apple has covered these sound issues for me, every time they have apparently diagnosed that the issue matches my complaint. But I've had to make 5 warranty claims for this in just over 2 years of ownership! I have only made 8 warranty claims ever in my life, over 60% of my lifetime warranty claims have been for one airpods pro purchase!

Something is seriously up with the design of the original pros. I hope these issues have been resolved for 2nd gen.

This might be because each were sold with the old firmware (better noise cancellation), and eventually got updated to the new firmware (better battery).

I've had this happen three times now in 2.5 years. The first symptom is that the noise cancellation gets worse. Some months after that, you start hearing a crackling sound, particularly while speaking, or if you adjust the airpod in your ear.

I believe what is happening is that earwax is building up in the grille on the top inside of the airpod which houses a microphone. As the sound from this microphone gets more distorted, the noise cancellation gradually stops working. You can also see this because after you've had the airpods a couple of months you will never get the ear tip fit test to pass.

Every time this has gotten to the crackling stage, Apple has replaced these without charge, even though I didn't have Applecare. They have some sort of machine in the back of the store that they use to test them, and if your set fails the test, they give you a new pair (sometimes just one).

Wow, thanks for sharing this. I've had mine for 9 months and just started hearing the crackling noise. I didn't know this was a widespread issue or that Apple addresses it so easily. Fingers crossed...

It's not firmware - the issue develops very gradually rather than all at once. This is part of what makes it such an insidious fault, like the boiling frog analogy.

I think that was an issue on the earlier airpod pros and they had/have a replacement program for that issue: https://support.apple.com/airpods-pro-service-program-sound-...

Make no mistake, the issue is in no way resolved on new manufactured 1st gen pros. New manufactured stock are more likely to be covered by the original purchase warranty and so there is less pressure on Apple to extend support.

I recently had my pre-Oct 2020 pros replaced with new manufactured stock under this support program. Within less than a month the replacements developed the same sound issues, supported by Apple's diagnosis and another free replacement.

I don't think I use them in an unusual way - I don't even wear them during exercise. There is just something inherently flawed in the design that causes the sound quality to subtly degrade by a significant amount.

> noise cancelling degrades over time

Glad to know that I’m not the only one with this issue. I’m already on my third replacement pair, but the problem keeps coming back. In my case when it fails the noise cancelling amplifies low frequency noise.

> My guess is just wax and gunk getting to the external microphone mesh

I’ve came to the same hypothesis and wiped my second replacement pair down with alcohol every other day, the problem STILL eventually manifests.

> My guess is just wax and gunk getting to the external microphone mesh over time, but there is no way to deal with it

I haven't tried this myself but someone on reddit mentioned you can use blu tack (sp?) - press it on the external mics, then pull off to clean it. I imagine it works but as I said, haven't tried it personally.

I have tried it (and done this more than once) -- it does work, but it's not quite that easy. You have to fashion the tack into various shapes to get into the crevices, and it has taken the better part of an hour to be satisfied with the result each time. Still worth it.

As others have also said, I've never had this happen.. You should look into a warranty replacement.

The fix is to clean the stems with alcohol. That will get rid of the corrosion building on the contacts.

Also, as a preventative measure, before putting them in the case, make absolutely sure they are dry.

As a runner, mine tend to get sweaty and if I put them in the case with even just a hint of salty sweat on them, the current flowing through the connector will corrode it very quickly, necessitating the cleaning next time.

They said there will now be (I assume, optional) audio cues when you put your AirPods in the case to let you know they are charging, not sure if that will help or not. I agree with you though. It seems like it would be a really easy thing for Apple to check if 1 headphone was in the case (that it knew of) and the other wasn't but also that you weren't playing music/audio so it could warn you. I added a battery widget to my home screen to see if they are both charging. Thankfully this issue is rare-ish for me but when it does happen it's maddening.

+1 to audio cues.

Also, I want a "cry baby" mode. If a device is left idle, eventually it'll start "crying" to be placed onto the charger.

I've had this issue too, and I think the root cause is that the physical connection between the AirPods and the case can be unreliable/spotty -- likely a light film buildup on the contacts.

I've had success from "massaging" the offending AirPods in a circle pattern while they're in the case -- which I think rubs the contacts together. Anyway, I haven't had the problem for some time now.

Sorry to hear that this happens to you but I have never seen this issue on my AirPods Pro in the last 3 years or my AirPods 1st/2nd gen.

Check if you have rust in the case contacts. Happened to me and I had to clean them with vinegar.

Weird, because I don't use my airpods for sport and I have no idea why the contacts would be rusted.

I replied to the gp saying I had similar issues, this fix appears to have improved the issue quite a bit

This is my exact same experience with the AirPod Pros, its extremely irritating

I had similar issues but found somewhat of a workaround.

What I have to do is first put the left AirPod Pro into the case, close the lid, then wait for the light to turn orange. If it doesn't turn orange, try re-seating it and it eventually will. Only after that happens can I then put in the right AirPod Pro and everything will properly charge and pair properly.

I have this same problem, have had the right one replaced under warranty and the entire set replaced under warranty, no luck. If I periodically clean the inside of the case with rubbing alcohol it helps mitigate the charging problem. Then I just end up in a world where left ear connects, right ear nothing... unpair, re-pair... right ear connects, left ear nothing... unpair, re-pair... I used to use them mostly for trail running and it would take me 10-15 minutes to get them functional before every run. Now I just skip them, too frustrating.

FWIW I've got Samsung Galaxy Buds that also suffer from a similar case charging issue [1]. Seems to me that it is a problem with the technology itself which hopefully companies will improve in next product iterations.

[1] https://www.reddit.com/r/galaxybuds/comments/if7ajj/ultimate...

Made worse in my experience with M1 Macbook Pros keeping bluetooth connected/paired while closed/asleep (and so other devices can't connect to them), and the fact that Monterey got rid of the "paired" bluetooth system menu icon (it's always just the standard icon which doesn't change depending on paired status now), so it's now a bit more annoying to work out if things are paired or not, without clicking around in the menu.

Is there a light that indicates charging? I know with my super cheap earbuds I rely heavily on that light to avoid the problem you describe...

There is a light. The problem is if only 1 is charging, you'll still see the "charging" light while the other slowly loses battery.

I've dealt with this occasionally, from what I suspect is some buildup on the contacts due to sweat on my headphones from running. I find taking a cotton swap with alcohol to clean off the contacts every so often solves the problem.

The light only indicates the case is charging, you can take out both airpods (or have them not contacting properly) and the light will still come on.

I have two devices I pair my AirPods with, one a work laptop and one a personal phone, using two different iCloud accounts. I also had the problems you describe.

I started disabling Bluetooth on my phone and now the AirPods don’t seem to have any issues. Not sure if it was related, but maybe worth trying.

I have the same issue(s) on my third set of earpods and second case. It has gotten to a point where I don't want to buy another set of Apple headphones because I'm afraid this will happen again one day or another.

This has never happened to me. It's likely you have a defective unit, take it in.

Apple won't replace or fix for this, it's something many many many Airpods Pro owners have complained about (including myself).

My fam is 2/3 this issue happening with their pros. It’s super annoying to have to babysit the case to make sure they’re actually charging.

Mine got replaced in the store. Online support wasn't as helpful.

This happens to me with my PowerBeats Pro but never with my Airpods Pro.

I had similar issues when I used them while working out and was sweaty. Sometimes, in the case, they wouldn't fully make contact and didn't charge. Cleaning them off periodically fixed that for me.

100% of these issues happen to me too. I thought I must have gotten a defective set or been doing something wrong!

Don’t get me wrong, it’s still an absolutely fantastic product. I hope they’ve made the new line even better.

I actually have a similar issue. I gave them a good clean last week which seems to have helped a bit... Very seriously considering upgrading to the new generation sometime soon.

This happens to me all the time too, just saying.