AirPod battery life a year later.

[Ralfi]

How long are you AirPods supposed to last when fully charged? Mine drains pretty quickly?

Power and Battery

• AirPods with Charging Case: More than 24 hours listening time, up to 11 hours talk time
• AirPods (single charge): Up to 5 hours listening time, Up to 2 hours talk time
• 15 minutes in the case equals 3 hours listening time or over an hour of talk time

https://support.apple.com/kb/SP750?locale=en_AU

 

[LordEntropy]

Power and Battery

• AirPods with Charging Case: More than 24 hours listening time, up to 11 hours talk time
• AirPods (single charge): Up to 5 hours listening time, Up to 2 hours talk time
• 15 minutes in the case equals 3 hours listening time or over an hour of talk time

https://support.apple.com/kb/SP750?locale=en_AU

Thanks. The question really is , a year later what should you expect to get from them? What should you expect to get from them 18 months later. I know for a fact that I am not getting the advertised, and I understand that as I know batteries degrade. What I am not too happy about is that no one from Apple can tell me. They are meant to be the experts but when I went to see a Genius about them I was driving the conversations and testing.

 

[Ralfi]

Thanks. The question really is , a year later what should you expect to get from them? What should you expect to get from them 18 months later. I know for a fact that I am not getting the advertised, and I understand that as I know batteries degrade. What I am not too happy about is that no one from Apple can tell me. They are meant to be the experts but when I went to see a Genius about them I was driving the conversations and testing.

I guess every type/generation of battery reacts differently over time.

The batteries in the Airpods I'd presume are a rare kind(?) & coupled together with the W1 chip, it's a combination that has their own degradation graph which only Apple engineers may know.

^That's most likely very useless (& incorrect!) info, but just my 2c.

 

[LordEntropy]

I guess every type/generation of battery reacts differently over time.

The batteries in the Airpods I'd presume are a rare kind(?) & coupled together with the W1 chip, it's a combination that has their own degradation graph which only Apple engineers may know.

^That's most likely very useless (& incorrect!) info, but just my 2c.

Completely agree with you and my question is “what is that information” and I would expect Apple to be able to tell me.

 

[Ralfi]

Completely agree with you and my question is “what is that information” and I would expect Apple to be able to tell me.

I think you should try & leapfrog Genius support, call Apple & request a senior support representative.

Use the Apple Support App to set it up. Let me know how you go.

 

[LordEntropy]

I think you should try & leapfrog Genius support, call Apple & request a senior support representative.

Use the Apple Support App to set it up. Let me know how you go.

Ok will give that a try and then if that doesn’t work I go to Tim I don’t expect a response from him personally but I would expect something to happen.

 

[vine-boating]

I think you should try & leapfrog Genius support, call Apple & request a senior support representative.

Use the Apple Support App to set it up. Let me know how you go.

I think I am going to take my phone to Apple
Pretty sure there is something wrong with it because the volume loudness doesn't make sense especially when everybody else seems to get loud music through their airpods/earpods

 

[cynics]

I've had the AirPods for about 8 months I pretty much use mine exclusively for phone calls. I swap them back and forth and probably talk on the phone 6-7 hours a day 5 to 6 days a week, every week.

While I'm sure its there I don't have any noticeable depletion in battery longevity. I'll need to time it but I would guess about an hour and half of talk time out of one AirPod. I usually end up swapping them 5 times a day (first world problems anyone?).

 

[hsouris]

60 days later my AirPods saga reaches an end.

After a call back and forth directly to Apple Support, they were able to finally replace my AirPods. Now, battery life is lives up to the advertised hours.

 

[FilmIndustryGuy]

Again sounds like my experience. Battery life fell off a cliff suddenly. I expect some degradation but this is quite severe. 5 hours to maybe less than 2 hours audio playback is pretty poor.

had similar issue when the year was about to end. contacted apple and got them replaced right before warranty was about to go out. i figure ill be buying new ones every 2 years or so. im sure apple knows these are throw away items since they dont have apple care for airpods.

 

[Dehelix]

I bought mine about 7 months ago. Battery life is pretty much the same. Occasionally they don’t charge. Lefty especially. But a quick wipe and a swish with an ear bud inside the case sorts that out. I do find that only the official cable recharges them. Third party cables rarely charge them. At least in my experience. I have worn them very single day on my iPhone, iPad and Apple TV. Best Buy ever.

 

[Datsyuk]

It seems like I'm the odd-man out here. My AirPods (which I've had for a little over a year) last for about 2 hours for audio-only, and under an hour for phone calls.

The Left Airpod drains significantly faster than the right (Right is currently at 74%, Left is at 62%). I'm approaching a point which they will need to be replaced. Maybe I've got a bad pair, but I feel like the last 3 months the battery life has dropped off a cliff.

Same here.

 

[OBirder]

It seems like I'm the odd-man out here. My AirPods (which I've had for a little over a year) last for about 2 hours for audio-only, and under an hour for phone calls.

The Left Airpod drains significantly faster than the right (Right is currently at 74%, Left is at 62%). I'm approaching a point which they will need to be replaced. Maybe I've got a bad pair, but I feel like the last 3 months the battery life has dropped off a cliff.

Same here.

Similar here as well. While I posted last October on this thread that my battery was holding up well this has changed. I have mine since launch (Dec 2016). They held up great for the first year. However, over the last 3 months it has dropped significantly. Getting low battery warning at 30 min. talk and listening to music I loose about 30% in 30 minutes.

A friend of mine who got his the same day, doesn't have this issue. His are still holding up well. Same for another family member with one month younger AirPods. Both probably used them more than I did. So it seems not to be generic.

For myself I hope they hold up until we may see an improved version later this year. For calls I alternate left/right when battery gets low. For Music I rarely listen for more than 1 hour without a break. Overall I am still impressed with the technology and especially the call quality.

 

[dpelletier360]

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

I got mine the same time as you. I'm also having similar battery issues as you. However, I did send mine through the washer and dryer over the summer of 2017. The sound quality was unaffected, and the battery life I thought was unaffected. But recently it's just become terrible.

Oddly enough I think I do get more than an hour of charge? I could be wrong. Also experience no connection drops like you're describing.

I don't use mine everyday though, nor for long periods at a time typically.

As for replacement. Since both ours are out of warranty, countless Apple reps have told me it will cost more than it's worth (in my opinion) to replace them. I kept getting different numbers from different people though. I've read and been told by some it costs $49 to replace the battery per AirPod. Though sometimes I was told it was $69 per AirPod, but that is for a lost AirPod I thought? Again that's only for the pods themself and not the charging case.

I think I'm going to wait until Fall launch of new hardware and pray that there's even a minor refresh like some of the rumors are saying.

 

[iMacDragon]

Just had mine replaced after year and a half of fairly regular but not day long use, were lasting a bit over 3 hours.

 

[LordEntropy]

Just had mine replaced after year and a half of fairly regular but not day long use, were lasting a bit over 3 hours.

So did you pay to get them replaced? Buy a brand new pair?

 

[iMacDragon]

So did you pay to get them replaced? Buy a brand new pair?

Replaced under EU warranty, as bought direct from Apple.

 

[LordEntropy]

Replaced under EU warranty, as bought direct from Apple.

So you got them replaced under EU warranty? That’s interesting. I tried and had no joy but if you could give more specific details please? I have had mine about 18 months now and they are probably lasting about 4 hours, last time I did some testing.

 

[iMacDragon]

So you got them replaced under EU warranty? That’s interesting. I tried and had no joy but if you could give more specific details please? I have had mine about 18 months now and they are probably lasting about 4 hours, last time I did some testing.

No real details, I just went into Apple store and asked their opinion as didn't think battery should be only lasting 3-4 hours after probably likely only 3-400 cycles. Exchange paperwork says was processed under consumer law.

4 Hours depending on amount of usage is possibly not unreasonable though.

 

[LordEntropy]

No real details, I just went into Apple store and asked their opinion as didn't think battery should be only lasting 3-4 hours after probably likely only 3-400 cycles. Exchange paperwork says was processed under consumer law.

4 Hours depending on amount of usage is possibly not unreasonable though.

Hmm I may have to try that again then. But as you have had yours replaced using EU law as the reason then I may have a chance. Can you say which Apple store this was in? Did they do any testing at all?

 

[taytay0519]

I tweeted the same question to John Gruber and a few other Apple gurus who said they remain in great shape after a year of daily use.

That is false for me, at least. A full year later and I'm down to a 2.5-3 hour battery life. It is extremely depressing!

 

[Knowlege Bomb]

Where do you go to see the individual battery status for the AirPods? In my battery widget I just have one percentage value under AirPods.

 

[LordEntropy]

Where do you go to see the individual battery status for the AirPods? In my battery widget I just have one percentage value under AirPods.

If you open the battery case and put one of the AirPods in, for an instant you will see the battery levels of both the AirPods and the case.

 

[scotio200]

Hmm I may have to try that again then. But as you have had yours replaced using EU law as the reason then I may have a chance. Can you say which Apple store this was in? Did they do any testing at all?

Just a FYI EU consumer law should not cover consumable items like batteries. This guy/gal got lucky

An update to my post, I have had mine since launch day and now im only getting 45minutes of play time from music before hearing that dreaded battery low jingle on the AirPods. These are used daily and have degraded quickly within the last 3-4 months.

£49 each earbud to replace out of warranty is not good, may as well wait and just buy the next gen if/when they come out.

 

[LordEntropy]

Just a FYI EU consumer law should not cover consumable items like batteries. This guy/gal got lucky

An update to my post, I have had mine since launch day and now im only getting 45minutes of play time from music before hearing that dreaded battery low jingle on the AirPods. These are used daily and have degraded quickly within the last 3-4 months.

£49 each earbud to replace out of warranty is not good, may as well wait and just buy the next gen if/when they come out.

I am thinking the same. I am also thinking of buying them from a retailer with 2 years warranty so this doesn’t happen again so soon.