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przidentkendall

macrumors newbie
May 15, 2014
18
1
What experiences have people who've gone through the Apple Support process and have been sent a replacement had? I'm currently talking to Apple Care Ireland about my problems (on my 3rd pair) and am trying to convince them that the problem is software related, however they're very keen to send me a replacement pair - which is great a) if they work as advertised (I'm sceptical having had three dud pairs) and b) they don't take 6 weeks to arrive.

So I guess my questions are... are people finding the Apple Support replacements better? How long have they had to wait for them?

I'm on my second pair. The replacements are no better. I spoke with Apple Support about the battery drain issue, on the 21st December, and then in-between Christmas and New Year, and then finally decided to go ahead and replace the AirPods. They told me it would be prioritised, and one rep said it would be within 5 days, however it took 2 weeks, which is extremely frustrating, especially considering that you have paid for this item, and Apple should be meeting demand by at least 1 month after first going on sale.

I intend on getting another replacement pair, but once they get their act together with supply in late February. I've found Apple are keen to replace the AirPods, but I explained it was probably software related, and said to make notes and pass along feedback. Alas I haven't heard from any support specialists for follow ups.
 

Lihp8270

macrumors 65816
Dec 31, 2016
1,143
1,608
Just an update. I charged my 3rd set to 100% on Wednesday 11th. Since then, I have had 16 hours playback. And my case is at 20% charge remaining.

Very happy with this level of battery life.
 

k1ckdapro

macrumors regular
Sep 28, 2014
136
67
Luxembourg
Hi,

Just wanted to share that my case seems to be not draining anymore. My Airpods are paired with my phone and I was at home mostly without using them - after 1 week the case still has 70% left.

I also regularly checked their battery life without using them, so this seems to not be triggering an issue for me.

Maybe a few (2-3) discharges have calibrated the battery?
 
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Reactions: Lihp8270

gerbrian

macrumors member
Jun 2, 2014
82
8
Same for me. I have the Airpods for 5 days now and have already charged the case 3 times despite not using them that much. I get about 1-2%/hour, no matter what I am doing. Haven't had any time where it has been better than this so far.

How do you check the battery life of the case without opening it btw?
 

tomaustin44

macrumors regular
Oct 26, 2013
185
90
Ok so this is an interesting Reddit thread. Specifically because one of the commenters is reporting that their firmware has been silently updated recently to 3.3.2 (as shown in their screenshot). The commenter is hypothesising that Apple is slowly rolling out an update with a fix to the battery drain problem.
 

MathersMahmood

macrumors 65816
Sep 5, 2016
1,171
2,731
England
Ok so this is an interesting Reddit thread. Specifically because one of the commenters is reporting that their firmware has been silently updated recently to 3.3.2 (as shown in their screenshot). The commenter is hypothesising that Apple is slowly rolling out an update with a fix to the battery drain problem.

Very interesting. Has yours been updated?
 

CharlesShaw

macrumors 68000
May 8, 2015
1,729
2,862
Ok so this is an interesting Reddit thread. Specifically because one of the commenters is reporting that their firmware has been silently updated recently to 3.3.2 (as shown in their screenshot). The commenter is hypothesising that Apple is slowly rolling out an update with a fix to the battery drain problem.

The commenter's posts have been deleted and the surrounding comments suggest it could have been false.
 

tomaustin44

macrumors regular
Oct 26, 2013
185
90
The commenter's posts have been deleted and the surrounding comments suggest it could have been false.

Just seen that all his posts have been deleted. Pretty disappointing but I had my suspicions... not sure why anyone would go to that length to fake a screenshot. It certainly looked real.
 

tomaustin44

macrumors regular
Oct 26, 2013
185
90
Just got off the phone with Apple Care. The engineering department confirmed that they are aware of the issue and simply advised me to keep the software up to date as they are working to resolve the issue.
 

przidentkendall

macrumors newbie
May 15, 2014
18
1
Just got off the phone with Apple Care. The engineering department confirmed that they are aware of the issue and simply advised me to keep the software up to date as they are working to resolve the issue.

Whilst they're at it, we need the same seamless AirPods functionality on macOS and Apple TV

AirPods and Apple TV
https://dribbble.com/shots/3190374-AirPods-and-Apple-TV

AirPods and macOS Sierra
https://dribbble.com/shots/3190410-AirPods-and-macOS-Sierra
 

JCrz

macrumors 6502
Sep 12, 2014
459
1,326
How do I avoid the connection with the Mac? When I pair with the iPhone, it syncs with iCloud anyway for me

Sorry I was unclear. What I meant was to not actually play audio through it from your Mac (you can't avoid having AirPods connected to your iCloud account). As soon as AirPods make a Bluetooth connection to the Mac, it will have the discharging problem as soon as you open the case to check charge level.

The reason people are seeing good results after resetting is because they haven't yet used with their Macs.

The AirPods fail to call the Bluetooth shutdown procedure so they never completely disconnect from the Mac until several connection failures. If you've used them with your Mac and see discharge problems, try completely powering off your Mac (or keeping the Mac and AirPods physically separated beyond Bluetooth range) and you'll see the discharge problem go away. Apple's testing focused heavily on use with iPhones but they failed to test usage with simultaneous devices (note that the 2016 15" MBP's fan always runs when it's on—now unlock your iPhone and open the AirPods case...it'll connect to the iPhone to report battery charge but it also fires up the Mac—you can hear the fan quietly turn on and then off a minute after the AirPods case is closed).
 

gerbrian

macrumors member
Jun 2, 2014
82
8
Sorry I was unclear. What I meant was to not actually play audio through it from your Mac (you can't avoid having AirPods connected to your iCloud account). As soon as AirPods make a Bluetooth connection to the Mac, it will have the discharging problem as soon as you open the case to check charge level.

The reason people are seeing good results after resetting is because they haven't yet used with their Macs.

The AirPods fail to call the Bluetooth shutdown procedure so they never completely disconnect from the Mac until several connection failures. If you've used them with your Mac and see discharge problems, try completely powering off your Mac (or keeping the Mac and AirPods physically separated beyond Bluetooth range) and you'll see the discharge problem go away. Apple's testing focused heavily on use with iPhones but they failed to test usage with simultaneous devices (note that the 2016 15" MBP's fan always runs when it's on—now unlock your iPhone and open the AirPods case...it'll connect to the iPhone to report battery charge but it also fires up the Mac—you can hear the fan quietly turn on and then off a minute after the AirPods case is closed).

I have not used my macbook since I got my airpods and still have battery drain.
 

TT D'arby

macrumors member
Oct 6, 2014
53
102
Sorry I was unclear. What I meant was to not actually play audio through it from your Mac (you can't avoid having AirPods connected to your iCloud account). As soon as AirPods make a Bluetooth connection to the Mac, it will have the discharging problem as soon as you open the case to check charge level.

The reason people are seeing good results after resetting is because they haven't yet used with their Macs.

The AirPods fail to call the Bluetooth shutdown procedure so they never completely disconnect from the Mac until several connection failures. If you've used them with your Mac and see discharge problems, try completely powering off your Mac (or keeping the Mac and AirPods physically separated beyond Bluetooth range) and you'll see the discharge problem go away. Apple's testing focused heavily on use with iPhones but they failed to test usage with simultaneous devices (note that the 2016 15" MBP's fan always runs when it's on—now unlock your iPhone and open the AirPods case...it'll connect to the iPhone to report battery charge but it also fires up the Mac—you can hear the fan quietly turn on and then off a minute after the AirPods case is closed).

noticed the exact same thing last week........left airpods in car at work for over 10 hours not near any devices.....got home checked batt. life 100%........3 hrs later at home it was down to 95%
 

Juiceboy

macrumors regular
Mar 10, 2011
181
103
My airpod drain about 20% a day. I only use my airpods for about 2 hours a day max. I often pop them out and use them for 5 mins and pop them back in, as that's the safest place for them. I feel like every time i do that it wants to do a full charge when it doesn't need it. I fully charged the case yesterday and then today it's at 79% when i've used them for maybe 2 hours total.

Should i contact apple or wait for a software fix?

The case did not last a week the previous week and there is no way i used my airpods for 24 hours total. Probably 10-12 max.
 

WilliamG

macrumors G4
Mar 29, 2008
10,007
3,894
Seattle
Just got off the phone with Apple Care. The engineering department confirmed that they are aware of the issue and simply advised me to keep the software up to date as they are working to resolve the issue.

Hopefully they also fix the sporadic connection speeds to iPhones, too.
 

k1ckdapro

macrumors regular
Sep 28, 2014
136
67
Luxembourg
Reporting back regarding the battery of my case : After 1.5 weeks without recharging it and a few short listening sessions (+ checking the battery life) it is still at 60% which would equate a drain of 4% per 24 hours (maybe even less due to the fact that I have used them a bit). Seems to be OK !
 

gerbrian

macrumors member
Jun 2, 2014
82
8
Reporting back regarding the battery of my case : After 1.5 weeks without recharging it and a few short listening sessions (+ checking the battery life) it is still at 60% which would equate a drain of 4% per 24 hours (maybe even less due to the fact that I have used them a bit). Seems to be OK !
That souds perfetct! Have you done anything in order to get that?
 
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