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SCP

macrumors member
Jan 16, 2017
39
12
Sorry to drop a bomb on this discussion but BT stability has been an issue with the iPhone for a long, long time. I've had the issue of calls dropping from BT earpiece to phone and then randomly back to earpiece after anywhere from ten seconds to two minutes since my 3GS, including my 4S, 5S, 6+, 6S and 7. I've gone through earpieces from Jawbone (original, new Era, Icon), Blueant (Z9, Z9i, Q3, Q3i), Plantronics (Explorer 500, Voyager Edge, Voyager 5200), Moto (H12, Sliver II) and I'm sure I'm forgetting some.

I've had an open case with Apple regarding this and another issue for a bit shy of a year, all I have ever heard back is "wait for the next iOS release," never any real response from an engineer. This went all the way through iOS 9 and of course the problem still exists with iOS 10 - every version so far. The connection drops and it looks like BT just shuts off then comes back on and reconnects. It makes no sense whatsoever and it beyond annoying. And yes, time and time again have reset network settings, repaired devices, wiped phone clean and rebuilt/restored, nothing fixes the problem.

So, the short answer is that the airpods are not solely (maybe not even partially) responsible for this problem...
 

rhyme

macrumors regular
Sep 22, 2013
224
22
Sorry to drop a bomb on this discussion but BT stability has been an issue with the iPhone for a long, long time...

If that were the issue, it would be happening during music play and while streaming Netflix, not just during calls. That's not the issue.
 

tivoboy

macrumors 601
May 15, 2005
4,052
853
If that were the issue, it would be happening during music play and while streaming Netflix, not just during calls. That's not the issue.
Well, yes and no. Streaming FROM a source TO the airpods is just a one direction stream, while talking on a call requires a duplex audio stream and listening to the mic, listening to the source and managing that back and forth. It's probably one of the many reasons why the battery life and calling time is less than HALF of the audio streaming time.
 

tekchic

macrumors 68020
Apr 19, 2010
2,056
1,763
Phoenix, AZ
I'm having issues w/Airpods on calls as well, but it's not the disconnects so much as 1 in 3 calls begins all garbled and in slow-mo distorted sound. I have to hang up and then dial again, and apparently the person on the other line can hear it as well.

No idea why it's been doing that, but it's to the point where it feels like Russian roulette as to whether or not my call will have the issue.

For regular audio (music, audiobooks, podcasts) - Airpods are solid as a rock. No static, and I can get a good distance in the house away from my phone. I get the occasional split second "sync" crackle between the two earbuds sometimes, but it's rare enough to not bother me at all.

Call clarity (when it's not garbled at the start) has been very good as well. Not sure what's wrong w/the frequent garbled calls though.
 

tivoboy

macrumors 601
May 15, 2005
4,052
853
the only thing I have found that has worked to keep calls from dropping, is using ONE earbud at a time. Two buds, I'm going to get dis-connects. Even after having turned OFF my apple watch and turned OFF bluetooth on my mac and ipad (on the same itunes account) I still get the drops, sometimes every minute, sometimes it takes 15 minutes - so I have literally NO idea what drives the drops. But, one earbud - even leaving the microphone on automatic, and it doesn't really do it at all or SO infrequently it's manageable.

Before these things came out, there was rumor that the delay in release was due to synchronicity across the two airpods from the source device. I think we're seeing that in the live environment now.
 

SCP

macrumors member
Jan 16, 2017
39
12
I'm having issues w/Airpods on calls as well, but it's not the disconnects so much as 1 in 3 calls begins all garbled and in slow-mo distorted sound. I have to hang up and then dial again, and apparently the person on the other line can hear it as well...
...Not sure what's wrong w/the frequent garbled calls though.
Are you using wifi calling? That exact "symptom" has been a problem I have been dealing with for over a year, it happens when your call makes a transition between wifi/tower, have had a case open on that forever...
 

tekchic

macrumors 68020
Apr 19, 2010
2,056
1,763
Phoenix, AZ
Are you using wifi calling? That exact "symptom" has been a problem I have been dealing with for over a year, it happens when your call makes a transition between wifi/tower, have had a case open on that forever...

So far it's been over LTE, usually on the way home from work. I'm also wondering if it's the area I'm driving through, but I'm not always calling/receiving calls from the same area, so I've hopefully ruled that out.

I think I have had one "garble" over my home ATT Wifi calling, however. But the rest have been out and about.
 

dbontrager

macrumors newbie
Jun 28, 2012
4
0
I have had disconnection while watching a movie that I physically put on the phone as well. Same problem with dropped calls from AirPods. Simply re pairing did not always work for me, I have restarted my phone to get them back to working. I have not seen the problem with one AirPod. I am taking mine back because they are just a hassle and unreliable.
 

iamMacPerson

macrumors 68040
Jun 12, 2011
3,488
1,927
AZ/10.0.1.1
After seeing the article on the front page, I'm glad to see I'm not the only one. It seems to happen mostly when I'm on the phone for 10+ minutes, although I've seen it happen during shorter calls. It's almost like the AirPods don't disconnect from the phone itself, but the phone just switches audio sources for no reason. I could be wrong, as I do hear the disconnect chime from the AirPods sometimes when this happens.

Also worth noting that on my pair, they sometimes have a tendency to disconnect independently from my devices (both my iPhone and iPad), meaning I'll get noise from one side but not the other. Seems to happen a lot when I'm in bed laying on my side with them in my ears.

iPhone 6s Plus, original Apple Watch, iPad Air 2.
 

tivoboy

macrumors 601
May 15, 2005
4,052
853
I just noticed something today when doing a call. When even using just one earpiece, if you take OUT the earpiece for a second, the call trips over to the phone - probably using the proximity sensor on the earpiece, and then when removing it tries to switch to a 2nd audio connection - the phone speakerphone. MAYBE this is something that is happening with the disconnects, it's thinking there is an earpiece - would be both earpieces and that they are out of the ear.
 

kasiegel

macrumors newbie
Jan 24, 2017
1
0
Do you have an iPhone 6 by any chance ? As that appears to be happening to a few of us. I don't think it is happening on the iPhone 7 though...

Yes, I am having enormous issues with Air Pods and my iPhone 7 (VZW). Several issues with calls dropping b/n air pods and iPhone as well as my left air pod completely failing.

I am very frustrated.
 

alex_ivaylov

macrumors member
Jun 18, 2015
32
5
Edinburgh, UK
Hi, I have the exact same issue and it's driving me nuts! The thing would always disconnect when somebody is in the middle of saying something to me. Yes, I have iPhone 6s and Apple Watch 1st gen.

It also happens with Skype and other VoIP calls over my home Wi-Fi. Everything works fine with music. I also did a Skype call from my MacBook and I could walk around the house and talk without any problems so it looks like it is an iPhone issue.

I "fix" this by plugging in my old, wired headphones..
 

ascender

macrumors 603
Dec 8, 2005
5,021
2,897
I didn't have this issue at all with my first set of AirPods but I had to return them due to the white noise/static/hiss on audio calls.

The new boxed pair I pick up now drop calls regularly.

I've using an iPhone 7 with these.
 

0970373

Suspended
Mar 15, 2008
2,727
1,412
This happened to me for the first time yesterday while I was on a very important call. I have an iPhone 7. Hopefully it's an isolated incident but if it happens again, I plan on contacting Apple for a replacement pair.
 

ascender

macrumors 603
Dec 8, 2005
5,021
2,897
A replacement pair from Apple seems to have fixed the problem with my iPhone 7, I've not had any drops in the last couple of weeks.
 

jsutcliffe

macrumors newbie
Apr 30, 2014
14
0
One recommendation above was to un-pair and re-pair the AirPods to the Phone and conduct a hard reset on the AirPods. This didn't help me.

Placing my Apple Watch into Airplane Mode _seems_ to eliminate the call drops.
 

dokindo

macrumors regular
Feb 4, 2009
239
28
One recommendation above was to un-pair and re-pair the AirPods to the Phone and conduct a hard reset on the AirPods. This didn't help me.

Placing my Apple Watch into Airplane Mode _seems_ to eliminate the call drops.

This is also my only solution. Annoying but I mostly use the Airpods at home, so not totally unworkable for me.
 

WilliamG

macrumors G4
Mar 29, 2008
10,007
3,894
Seattle
My wife was having this issue regularly. Turns out it was just the AirPod too loose in her ear after X minutes of use or after she moved around/chewed some food etc. She's more conscious of placement now so that the optical sensors don't think she's removed the AirPod when it's still actually in her ear.

No issues since then.
 

rywen

macrumors member
Feb 27, 2014
46
4
does this issue always show up as a random connect/disconnect during calls? or is the issue for everyone with the initial call audio transfer?

I've found that when making or receiving calls with the airpods on, the call audio almost always switches to the iphone. Even if a call comes in while I'm listening to music through the airpods, answering the call (either with the iphone screen or by double tapping the airpods) will transfer the call audio to the iphone. if i select the airpods in the audio menu, I just get silence from both the iphone and airpods. switching audio back and forth from the airpods to iphone or speakerphone will sometimes get the audio working in the airpods (if the other party hasn't disconnected by then). I've found that shutting down my original generation apple watch (even though i'm not answering the call with it) will fix this issue while the watch is powered off, and sometimes for a short period of time after the watch has been rebooted.

I have a call into apple about this. one of the senior techs had me collect some log files for engineers to analyze. I'm waiting to hear back...
 
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hubieonekanubie

macrumors regular
Jul 15, 2010
228
207
Kansas
does this issue always show up as a random connect/disconnect during calls? or is the issue for everyone with the initial call audio transfer?

I've found that when making or receiving calls with the airpods on, the call audio almost always switches to the iphone. Even if a call comes in while I'm listening to music through the airpods, answering the call (either with the iphone screen or by double tapping the airpods) will transfer the call audio to the iphone. if i select the airpods in the audio menu, I just get silence from both the iphone and airpods. switching audio back and forth from the airpods to iphone or speakerphone will sometimes get the audio working in the airpods (if the other party hasn't disconnected by then). I've found that shutting down my original generation apple watch (even though i'm not answering the call with it) will fix this issue while the watch is powered off, and sometimes for a short period of time after the watch has been rebooted.

I have a call into apple about this. one of the senior techs had me collect some log files for engineers to analyze. I'm waiting to hear back...
I'm having the exact same issue. I have 7 plus. Apple replaced both AirPods and case last week however the issue still persists. Please keep us updated. They're great for listening to music but it's a total crapshoot if they're going to work for a call.
 
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