Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

domhoenig

macrumors regular
Original poster
Oct 31, 2012
179
111
Anyone having intermittent connection issues? They were fine for the first few days, however now they will randomly drop connection and interrupt the music I'm listening to. Sporadic how frequently it occurs.
 
  • Like
Reactions: GRIFROMLA

GRIFROMLA

macrumors newbie
Sep 7, 2016
24
9
San Francisco
I listen to podcasts on Spotify. I’ll throw on my APM’s, hear the connect sound, hit play... and the podcast will play on my phone... not sure what I’m doing wrong, but I consistently find myself having to select the APM as the sound output...

Update - tried a different podcast app and it fixed the issue for most of the day, but it happened again tonight. Will try forgetting/resetting
 
Last edited:

tonie walker

macrumors 6502a
Sep 25, 2020
598
1,018
worldwide
Anyone having intermittent connection issues? They were fine for the first few days, however now they will randomly drop connection and interrupt the music I'm listening to. Sporadic how frequently it occurs.
i have same issue and happens several times, when it drop connection iphone will freeze a bit and apple music will be muted while the apm noise control will change to off. Resetting doesn’t make it go away. I talk to support, we did forget device first the apm and have it reset. Will observe for days if still happening. APM and iphone 12 both latest firmware
 

domhoenig

macrumors regular
Original poster
Oct 31, 2012
179
111
i have same issue and happens several times, when it drop connection iphone will freeze a bit and apple music will be muted while the apm noise control will change to off. Resetting doesn’t make it go away. I talk to support, we did forget device first the apm and have it reset. Will observe for days if still happening. APM and iphone 12 both latest firmware
this sounds exactly like my issue
 

Ronragronuk

macrumors newbie
Dec 14, 2020
3
1
I'm getting dropped connections, but the main issue is getting the things connected to any devices....plus the noise cancelling button doesn't work....plus changes between noise cancelling and without automatically. Was really happy with them for the first few days that they worked, but ever since they've been a right pain in the bum.....
 

yetimade

macrumors newbie
Jan 27, 2021
1
0
Whenever I go to use my AirPods they are momentarily connected, and then immediately rejected thereafter. They don't seem to work unless I force my Mac to forget them, and then re-pair them manually every time. Connection seems fine while in use, but if I go to another room or set them on my desk for an extended period of time (30m) I have to repeat the process over again.
 

Mascots

macrumors 68000
Sep 5, 2009
1,667
1,418
If on a Mac, restarting "coreaudiod" process from Activity Monitor helps remedy a large degree of problematic behavior without needing to restart the computer in my case. This includes the weird stutter to silence though connected and playing, headphones refusing to connect, and the controls going unresponsive / head detection stops working.
 
  • Like
Reactions: yetimade

ethant

macrumors newbie
Aug 27, 2010
21
3
I’m having this issue but I think it’s due to the horribly bugging Bluetooth on the M1 Mac mini. The AirPods are rock solid on iPhone and iPad but are basically unusable on the mini...
 
  • Like
Reactions: yetimade

Jetfire

macrumors 6502
Jul 10, 2008
386
347
Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
I'm maybe having the same problem. It's like the APM turn off while on my head. I'll have to take them off my head and but them back on. To get them to reconnect to my device that I'm listening to. I can not get switching to work properly. I can not get switching to work at all on my iMac Pro. I have to manually select it in bluetooth devices to get it to connect to my iMac Pro. Then do the same thing to get it reconnected to my IOS device.
 

domhoenig

macrumors regular
Original poster
Oct 31, 2012
179
111
I'm maybe having the same problem. It's like the APM turn off while on my head. I'll have to take them off my head and but them back on. To get them to reconnect to my device that I'm listening to. I can not get switching to work properly. I can not get switching to work at all on my iMac Pro. I have to manually select it in bluetooth devices to get it to connect to my iMac Pro. Then do the same thing to get it reconnected to my IOS device.
Possibly, mine will just cut out all audio on my iPhone but stutter before doing so. Music app still thinks it’s playing. Taking them off and putting back on resolves the issue sometimes. I have a new pair of AirPods Max coming on Monday under warranty.
 

janezblond

macrumors regular
May 15, 2013
143
84
Possibly, mine will just cut out all audio on my iPhone but stutter before doing so. Music app still thinks it’s playing. Taking them off and putting back on resolves the issue sometimes. I have a new pair of AirPods Max coming on Monday under warranty.
Won’t help. I had the same issue and had my pair replaced - same issue with the new pair. So far the only (temporary) solution has been to factory reset the headphones and enjoy using them until it starts happening again. In my experience it seems to take a few days (up to a week) before the software on the AirPods Max goes wonky and needs to be reset to default again.
 

domhoenig

macrumors regular
Original poster
Oct 31, 2012
179
111
Won’t help. I had the same issue and had my pair replaced - same issue with the new pair. So far the only (temporary) solution has been to factory reset the headphones and enjoy using them until it starts happening again. In my experience it seems to take a few days (up to a week) before the software on the AirPods Max goes wonky and needs to be reset to default again.
They arrived at 7am, been listening to them non stop since - rock solid connection with zero drop outs.
 

domhoenig

macrumors regular
Original poster
Oct 31, 2012
179
111
And it will be like that until at some point the bug rears its head.
Don’t really get the logic behind that. My previous pair I was unable to ever resolve the problems. Disconnecting and reconnecting only sometimes worked and the problem was intermittent, they never had a stable connection at all, across multiple devices...including non apple devices.

This new pair are perfect.
 

srwc

macrumors newbie
Feb 3, 2021
1
0
+1 Came across this thread trying to find a solution. Was rock solid for the first while, but now I get constant drops on both my M1 Mac and my iPhone 12; regardless of the sound source. This seems to have come about since updating to 11.2, but that doesn't seem relevant since I'm experiencing this on iOS as well.
 

pianoguy98

macrumors newbie
Feb 21, 2021
1
0
Don’t really get the logic behind that. My previous pair I was unable to ever resolve the problems. Disconnecting and reconnecting only sometimes worked and the problem was intermittent, they never had a stable connection at all, across multiple devices...including non apple devices.

This new pair are perfect.
I had the intermittent sound dropping issue on my AirPods Max, so I got them replaced at the Apple Store. The new pair worked great for over 2 weeks, but I just started noticing the same issue.

There's also a new issue with the replacement pair. The headphones sometimes switch to no noise cancelling (i.e. the mode other than noise cancel/transparency) by themselves and when I try to go back to noise cancelling, it says "Place both AirPods in your ears" (which makes no sense since these are headphones). I've also noticed a strange buzzing sound 3 separate times when this happened when I took off the headphones.

Not sure what to make of those issues, but the sound dropping is real
 

KUKitch

macrumors 6502
Jan 10, 2008
451
289
England
I have also had this issue crop up intermittently, I suppose it's part of the aches and pains of new products... I'm having a lot of trouble with them and my M1 MBA as well
 

Bexx

macrumors regular
Apr 4, 2012
213
305
UK
Adding my name to the list. It’s quite infuriating when they drop out every couple of minutes, but last night they cut out twice before I’d even started playing anything! I’ve had this problem since they arrived a week ago.

Bizarrely, they will sometimes last an hour or more without cutting out. There’s no rhyme or reason to the behaviour, so I can’t anticipate it. Luckily I’ve bought the cable so I can use them wired which I do when I use my meditation apps - not exactly relaxing knowing the headphones are likely to drop connection in the middle of a session.

I don’t want them wired for music though. I love being able to change tracks using the crown, not to mention the comfort and convenience of being wire-free. I really hope Apple pushes out a fix for this.
 

TriApple

macrumors regular
Mar 16, 2011
214
196
So I just got APMs and when using them wirelessly, music or voice will "stutter" for a few seconds or longer. Sometimes it will drop completely and I can get them to play again by changing the mode from noise cancelling to off or transparency. Or by disconnecting and reconnecting.

Is this the same issue as yall?

I was wondering if it were a BT issue with my iMac proc, but I've had it happen with my iPhone as well.
 

TheLuckiest

macrumors newbie
Jan 10, 2013
20
33
San Francisco
So I just got APMs and when using them wirelessly, music or voice will "stutter" for a few seconds or longer. Sometimes it will drop completely and I can get them to play again by changing the mode from noise cancelling to off or transparency. Or by disconnecting and reconnecting.

Is this the same issue as yall?

I was wondering if it were a BT issue with my iMac proc, but I've had it happen with my iPhone as well.
This is the exact issue that I have, and I discovered the same "fix" by changing the mode. I don't use my APMs with anything other than my 16" MBP, but will have to do some testing to see if it happens on my iOS devices as well.
 
  • Like
Reactions: domhoenig
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.