Feels like some of us got duff sets when they were originally released, and others are OK. Maybe a poor batch of batteries or something.
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AirPod battery life a year later.
- Thread starter michial
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Feels like some of us got duff sets when they were originally released, and others are OK. Maybe a poor batch of batteries or something.
Mine gave me about 3 hours this morning and I had about 30% battery left. I got them on launch day. Add to that, they went through the wash in my pocket and everything seems to be working great!
Anyone who is experiencing bad battery life tried with a genius at all yet?
Based on partial use I would get about 80 mins on my AirPods before needing to recharge. Now I expect some degradation after a year but that is pretty severe. But they are out of warranty. So wondering what Apples take on this is.
I’m a little reluctant to drop £98 on new batteries, only get a 3 month warranty and then in another year get the same problem.
I guess next time around I buy from John Lewis in the UK and get 2 years warranty on them instead of Apples 1 year.
Based on partial use I would get about 80 mins on my AirPods before needing to recharge. Now I expect some degradation after a year but that is pretty severe. But they are out of warranty. So wondering what Apples take on this is.
I’m a little reluctant to drop £98 on new batteries, only get a 3 month warranty and then in another year get the same problem.
I guess next time around I buy from John Lewis in the UK and get 2 years warranty on them instead of Apples 1 year.
I dropped mine at the local Apple Retailer. They have to send them abroad to get them checked. It will take 6-8 business days, with a 25€ minimum charge plus whatever the replacement (?) costs. I still haven't got an update, but I will let you know if anything comes up.
So there’s a danger you could be spending not a lot less than the cost of a new pair then?
I just got a call. They said they found something wrong with the charging case, and the final cost would be 96€, including tax, labor, etc.
I find it hard that there’s an issue with the case and not the AirPods. So, either they said it was the charging case to save me some money (if both airpods needed replacement the cost would double), or the charging case is somehow indeed the culprit.
I should have them by the end of the week, so I’ll report back as soon as I can.
I find it hard that there’s an issue with the case and not the AirPods. So, either they said it was the charging case to save me some money (if both airpods needed replacement the cost would double), or the charging case is somehow indeed the culprit.
I should have them by the end of the week, so I’ll report back as soon as I can.
I've had my AirPods since release week. I believe my battery life has actually gotten better with use. I use my Airpods twice a day, 20 minutes in the morning and 20 minutes in the evening during my walks. I only charge the case once every 2 weeks.
Ok so this is interesting.
Went to my local Apple store. Local being 40 miles away. I was collecting something else but I thought I would ask about my AirPods.
The first guy I spoke to said that even if they were out of warranty, which they are, they may well replace them if they think they are faulty. He asked me to go and speak to another guy who manages the Genius appointments.
So I went to speak to the other guy. Without explaining what the previous guy had said, he also said that they may replace my AirPods, if they think they are faulty even though they are out of warranty.
So I find that interesting. In theory they are out of warranty but Apple may offer to replace them anyway if they test them and find them to be in solid condition physically but the batteries are screwed.
This makes me think that there is a known issue they are keeping quiet but will replace faulty pairs if they find them.
I didn’t have time to go to a Genius appointment today but have booked one for next Saturday so will report back after that.
Went to my local Apple store. Local being 40 miles away. I was collecting something else but I thought I would ask about my AirPods.
The first guy I spoke to said that even if they were out of warranty, which they are, they may well replace them if they think they are faulty. He asked me to go and speak to another guy who manages the Genius appointments.
So I went to speak to the other guy. Without explaining what the previous guy had said, he also said that they may replace my AirPods, if they think they are faulty even though they are out of warranty.
So I find that interesting. In theory they are out of warranty but Apple may offer to replace them anyway if they test them and find them to be in solid condition physically but the batteries are screwed.
This makes me think that there is a known issue they are keeping quiet but will replace faulty pairs if they find them.
I didn’t have time to go to a Genius appointment today but have booked one for next Saturday so will report back after that.
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This morning I received the 10% warning and I was 15 minutes short of 3 hours. I did chat with Apple and they want me to charge the case and airpods up to 100% right before I go to bed and then unplug them. They want to see if they are losing any power without use. I will see how it goes.
Ok so I visited the Apple shop on Saturday. Long story short. They said the drain was inline with the age of the device.
To be fair I don’t think I got their best “Genius” but it is always the luck of the draw with these things.
He tried to say that the case was at fault. I quickly debunked that with logic. The case doesn’t lose any charge, ever. Also why would it be the case when the AirPods are on my ears??
He eventually got another pair of AirPods from a colleague and we did some tests. We proved it wasn’t the case!! However we also did see that the other pair seemed to be draining at about the same speed as my pair.
In the end I gave up. I wasn’t going to convince him there less anything wrong so I left.
Lesson learnt here is that I won’t buy anything direct from Apple again unless there is no choice. I may have another go at another Apple store but again it is the luck of the draw on which “Genius” you get.
In reality the way they are draining is not actually affecting me in day to day use as I never seem to use them to the point where they run out but I can see how this may affect others.
As I say I may try again but unless this all blows up Apple are convinced there is not an issue. I’m suppose I could try emailing Tim Cook and see where that goes. However before I do that I will need to do some more thorough testing.
To be fair I don’t think I got their best “Genius” but it is always the luck of the draw with these things.
He tried to say that the case was at fault. I quickly debunked that with logic. The case doesn’t lose any charge, ever. Also why would it be the case when the AirPods are on my ears??
He eventually got another pair of AirPods from a colleague and we did some tests. We proved it wasn’t the case!! However we also did see that the other pair seemed to be draining at about the same speed as my pair.
In the end I gave up. I wasn’t going to convince him there less anything wrong so I left.
Lesson learnt here is that I won’t buy anything direct from Apple again unless there is no choice. I may have another go at another Apple store but again it is the luck of the draw on which “Genius” you get.
In reality the way they are draining is not actually affecting me in day to day use as I never seem to use them to the point where they run out but I can see how this may affect others.
As I say I may try again but unless this all blows up Apple are convinced there is not an issue. I’m suppose I could try emailing Tim Cook and see where that goes. However before I do that I will need to do some more thorough testing.
The more and more I think about this, the more I think I may do a bit more testing and then email Tim Cook.
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No, good point. As I say I want to test some more. I used my AirPods for a conference call yesterday and I found that after almost 50 minutes they were at 50%, so in theory 100% would have been 90 minutes. Now that is about right isn’t it? Strange.
Ok no, just checked specs and it’s 2 hours talk time. So I haves lost a big chunk.
I’ve had mine almost from day one. I just did an hour straight of listening to music at night he gym. Lost about 25%. So 4 hours of listening time total. After charging the pods the case used 6%. That’s 17 hours of charging time. Or 21 hours total. Website says 24 hours total and 5 in one charge. So yes, some noticeable battery loss but not crazy. And with my use I still only need to recharge every 3 days. Probably not worth the battery replacement
If my tests find similar battery drain, then It’s probably inline with age and in which case I will live with it. At the end of the day they are devices that will see degradation over time. I will only have an issue if that degradation is over and above what it should be for the age and usage of the device.
I had a similar thought - that after two years this felt like a normal loss of battery life that didn’t impact how I use the product. I could buying a new case or getting the battery replaced on the pods themselves if the New AirPods don’t have any killer features.
Agree, if I get 2 years then most likely I will be looking at the “new” AirPods. They are likely to have more features and probably be better with battery life. A bit like the Apple Watch. I had an original Apple Watch. Even after 3 years despite some battery degradation I was getting about 18 hours out of them. I just bought the new series 3 and I use about 30% battery over the same period with probably more actual usage.
OK so did some further testing yesterday. When I started, and throughout the listening test, each time I checked the battery I did a screenshot to record the details of how much battery had been used and the specific time. I listened top a combination of tracks from 1 album and also an audiobook through audible. Not completely scientific but not entirelyt subjective either.
What I observed was the following.
The drain of the battery across the approx 4 hour period was not consistently linear. Drain in the first hour seemed more rapid from 99%(what the Airpods registered when I put them in my ears after removing them from the case)
At 3hrs 54 minutes I had 6% battery left.
At 4hrs 5 minutes I was down to 1% and the right Airpod stopped working. As soon as I replaced it in the case the left Airpod was showing 4% remaining.
1 minute later I was still on 4% with the left Airpod but I removed the right Airpod from the case and it was showing as at 12% charge. I returned it to the case as music would not start playing through it. I then removed it again almost immediately and now it showed 54% charge ?!?!
I returned them both to the case and then 11 minutes later took them out and they both showed 90% charge.
I used them for a further 19 minutes and checked them and they had drained from 90% to 68%.
The above seems to show that they can last almost 4 hours but I think the right one may have a dodgy battery. Jumping from no charge to 12% and then from 12% to 54% in under a minute see, s odd to say the least.
I am tempted to take this up with Cook direct to cut out further time wasting with people who are not qualified to investigate.
I am not necessarily looking for a replacement for what I think may be faulty Airpods but I want to highlight a couple of frustrations.
1. I was told by a Genius that there was no way they could test my Airpods.
2. I had to drive the testing with my suggestions rather than the Genius, which is not quite what I would have expected. They are supposed to be geniuses after all? Other less technical customers would be stumped I would think.
3. The Genius could also not tell me whether this level of degradation, over this time period was acceptable or not. he eventually concluded it was and I reluctantly agreed with him but I felt I was not going to get him to perform any further testing with a 3rd pair of Airpods, as I had suggested it but he didn't seem keen to do so.
At the end of the day as I say I don't expect Apple to replace mine but I do think they should be more clued up as to the working parameters of their products.
What I observed was the following.
The drain of the battery across the approx 4 hour period was not consistently linear. Drain in the first hour seemed more rapid from 99%(what the Airpods registered when I put them in my ears after removing them from the case)
At 3hrs 54 minutes I had 6% battery left.
At 4hrs 5 minutes I was down to 1% and the right Airpod stopped working. As soon as I replaced it in the case the left Airpod was showing 4% remaining.
1 minute later I was still on 4% with the left Airpod but I removed the right Airpod from the case and it was showing as at 12% charge. I returned it to the case as music would not start playing through it. I then removed it again almost immediately and now it showed 54% charge ?!?!
I returned them both to the case and then 11 minutes later took them out and they both showed 90% charge.
I used them for a further 19 minutes and checked them and they had drained from 90% to 68%.
The above seems to show that they can last almost 4 hours but I think the right one may have a dodgy battery. Jumping from no charge to 12% and then from 12% to 54% in under a minute see, s odd to say the least.
I am tempted to take this up with Cook direct to cut out further time wasting with people who are not qualified to investigate.
I am not necessarily looking for a replacement for what I think may be faulty Airpods but I want to highlight a couple of frustrations.
1. I was told by a Genius that there was no way they could test my Airpods.
2. I had to drive the testing with my suggestions rather than the Genius, which is not quite what I would have expected. They are supposed to be geniuses after all? Other less technical customers would be stumped I would think.
3. The Genius could also not tell me whether this level of degradation, over this time period was acceptable or not. he eventually concluded it was and I reluctantly agreed with him but I felt I was not going to get him to perform any further testing with a 3rd pair of Airpods, as I had suggested it but he didn't seem keen to do so.
At the end of the day as I say I don't expect Apple to replace mine but I do think they should be more clued up as to the working parameters of their products.
Guys..
44 days later I get a call to pick up my serviced AirPods free of charge. I go in and the guy tells me that hey replaced the case...again. I almost lost it, I swear!
Obviously the problem is still there and with no official presence here in Greece I don’t know where else to turn
I’ll make some calls tomorrow, again, and try and come up with something.
44 days later I get a call to pick up my serviced AirPods free of charge. I go in and the guy tells me that hey replaced the case...again. I almost lost it, I swear!
Obviously the problem is still there and with no official presence here in Greece I don’t know where else to turn
I’ll make some calls tomorrow, again, and try and come up with something.
I got mine as a xmas present in 2016. As of now (may 2018) the batteries have started to wear out. I use them probably about 360 days/year, nearly all day (podcasts/audiobooks).
At this point, they're lasting a little over an hour. The connection to my phone seems to drop a bit more frequently, too. They still wear out at different rates, so one can charge while the other is playing, so it's not too inconvenient, but when using them on a call, it usually disconnects both at once. So when getting on longer calls I usually switch to the wired ear pods.
I'll probably be getting a new set in the next month or so, unless Apple decides to replace them
At this point, they're lasting a little over an hour. The connection to my phone seems to drop a bit more frequently, too. They still wear out at different rates, so one can charge while the other is playing, so it's not too inconvenient, but when using them on a call, it usually disconnects both at once. So when getting on longer calls I usually switch to the wired ear pods.
I'll probably be getting a new set in the next month or so, unless Apple decides to replace them
You have to question whether they should die that quickly really when some people have owned them for a similar period of time and find they are still fine. Either way I would expect Apple to be able to tell me what the lifespan should typically be. Still mulling over emailing Tim Cook about this.I got mine as a xmas present in 2016. As of now (may 2018) the batteries have started to wear out. I use them probably about 360 days/year, nearly all day (podcasts/audiobooks).
At this point, they're lasting a little over an hour. The connection to my phone seems to drop a bit more frequently, too. They still wear out at different rates, so one can charge while the other is playing, so it's not too inconvenient, but when using them on a call, it usually disconnects both at once. So when getting on longer calls I usually switch to the wired ear pods.
I'll probably be getting a new set in the next month or so, unless Apple decides to replace them