AirPods Pro: Rattlegate

[MayaTlab]

By now I've just accepted that there will be a 200 euros hold on my credit card every few months with these. I feel like I'm a victim of Stockholm syndrome : I both hate and love these things so much.
I'll receive another pair tomorrow, crossing fingers it's the revised version... at least to see if it will make any difference or not. If I have to exchange them again I'll probably call it a day and ask for a refund / credit / whatever and abandon the TWS format until they've solved these issues for good.

 

[Cdwright12]

After reading these comments, I’m thinking of mailing back the APP I ordered from Black Friday before I open them. Sounds like the savings won’t be worth the hassle they come with.

 

[MayaTlab]

So I received two recessed vents ones. Interestingly the amount of recess isn't constant. We'll see if the problem's definitely solved or not.

 

[BigZ12]

It's 1 month since I got my money back, after 4! exchanges due to yellow ear fit test (started green everytime), loss of bass, rattle when talking on the phone etc.
BUT I miss them, and really want to try if the new "version" has taken care of all problems.

Please confirm what letters the serial numbers must have, to prove it's manufactured Oct/Nov/Dec. (latest possible)

Thanks.

 

[joeblough]

It’s difficult but I think you just have to go with a fingernail. If you feel snag or resisting along the grill. If your fingernail gets trapped in the tiny recess of the grill..chances are it’s the later (post-October) version.

It’s difficult to see but this pic of my new replacement (With tip. Post-October) alongside my original (without tip, pre-October) shows a slight but obvious definition of the plastic surrounding the grill

View attachment 1691714 View attachment 1691713

ah - yeah i can feel the snag on the new one but not the old. thanks. visually i still can't see much of a difference but maybe if i took pictures like this it would be more obvious.

 

[Bustermd]

Can anyone confirm if the new ones are actually immune to the fault? From what I'm reading it's the same thing, i.e. best case you might get a few months out of them before you have to replace them again. I'm only asking because I got a replacement set a couple of months ago and it seems that the rattling is starting again. I almost got a full year of use from my original set, it seems like the replacements are even worse (may be refurbished?).

And I did get a big laugh out of Apple claiming a "small amount" of units were affected on their page. It seems like most, if not all, of them are affected.

Its an interesting situation: when they work as they should, these are the best product I've ever bought from Apple. At the same time the worst because of the atrocious reliability. I'm seriously tempted by the new airpods that are APP without noise cancellation, but I hesitate to "reward" apple with more money because of this. That being said every other non-Apple pair of "true wireless" earbuds have been pure garbage and I've had to return them. It really sucks because I don't know what to do. Its a giant pain in the butt to keep having to get them replaced.

Pro tip for you guys new to this: don't go to the Apple store for service as you will have to make multiple trips because they won't have replacements in stock. Do the mail exchange if you can (I know having the charge on your account doesn't work for everyone).

 

[rawCpoppa]

Can anyone confirm if the new ones are actually immune to the fault? From what I'm reading it's the same thing, i.e. best case you might get a few months out of them before you have to replace them again. I'm only asking because I got a replacement set a couple of months ago and it seems that the rattling is starting again. I almost got a full year of use from my original set, it seems like the replacements are even worse (may be refurbished?).

And I did get a big laugh out of Apple claiming a "small amount" of units were affected on their page. It seems like most, if not all, of them are affected.

Its an interesting situation: when they work as they should, these are the best product I've ever bought from Apple. At the same time the worst because of the atrocious reliability. I'm seriously tempted by the new airpods that are APP without noise cancellation, but I hesitate to "reward" apple with more money because of this. That being said every other non-Apple pair of "true wireless" earbuds have been pure garbage and I've had to return them. It really sucks because I don't know what to do. Its a giant pain in the butt to keep having to get them replaced.

Pro tip for you guys new to this: don't go to the Apple store for service as you will have to make multiple trips because they won't have replacements in stock. Do the mail exchange if you can (I know having the charge on your account doesn't work for everyone).

It’s probably too early to say. New ones have only been out maybe a month or so.

 

[doolar]

My left pod was starting to make that smacking sound when I touched it - so I booked an appointment with the Apple Store and had both replaced. Took all of ten minutes. Shame about the fault - great of Apple to own up and replace no questions asked.

 

[TotalMacMove]

Received a new recessed grill airpod pro!

 

[Cdwright12]

Received a new recessed grill airpod pro!

Was it from a service exchange or did you buy them new?

 

[TotalMacMove]

Was it from a service exchange or did you buy them new?

Service

 

[KarimLeVallois]

Hmmmm, Amazon are currently offering these for £199, so saving £50. I don't think the saving is worth the headache though, as these won't be the revised ones.

 

[Cdwright12]

Hmmmm, Amazon are currently offering these for £199, so saving £50. I don't think the saving is worth the headache though, as these won't be the revised ones.

I feel the same way. I ordered a pair from the Black Friday sale and haven’t opened them. Apple chat confirmed the serial number was manufactured in September. Don’t know if I should open and hope they work and not have to do multiple exchanges, or just send them back... The more I read, the more I lean to sending them back.

 

[Mario90]

“The fifth character represent the week in which the device was manufactured. There are 28 possible characters in this spot: the digits 1-9 are used to represent the first through ninth weeks, and the characters C through Y, excluding the vowels A, E, I, O, and U, and the letter S, represent the tenth through twenty-seventh weeks. For devices manufactured in the second half of the year, add 26 to the number represented by the fifth character of the serial number. For example, a product with a serial number whose fourth and fifth digits are “JH” was manufactured in the 40th week of 2012.”

So the 4th character “D” means 2nd half 2020. The 5th character “D” should be 26+9+2=37, so week 37 of 2020 is when they were made. Week 37 is early September.

Hello from austria,
i got 2 new AirPods from Apple.
when I use this instruction, because of the letter G and K the Production would be cw 39 and 42.
But on the backside I have also a sticker with 2041 and 2043. Does this mean there are from year 20 cw 41 and 43?
The vents are the new ones. But if letter G is cw 39 the production is end of September and not the new model from October. I am confused.

 

[Natzoo]

Does anyone have a picture describing the vents versus the non vents.

 

[ewrapple]

I had mine replaced with the new version. Are they supposed to fit more comfortably? Pretty sure I am still using the medium ear tips and they seem to not go in the ear as deep but sound better and cancel noise better. I had no issues that i was aware of other than failing the ear tip test.

 

[Broken Hope]

Has anyone had theirs replaced from an authorised seller rather than Apple? Will they swap them there and then or do they have to send them off?

 

[Theophil1971]

Has anyone had theirs replaced from an authorised seller rather than Apple? Will they swap them there and then or do they have to send them off?

I tried 2 different authorized seller/repair shops (Best Buy, and another local shop in town). Neither were able to exchange, because they said Apple does not supply them with stock. They could only send them in, and then Apple would send replacements to them which I would have to come back to pick up.
It would've been better to send them in to Apple myself.
Fortunately, I was able to find an Apple Store that had stock and could replace them same-day for me.

 

[Enclavean]

Buying these in early january in a small european country, will I likely receive the revised version?

 

[Big Mac Daddy]

If I buy them from another retailer (Costco in this case), can I still send them back to Apple to have them fixed if something goes wrong with them? Also, do you think Costco has the revised version? Is it worth saving $50?

 

[neuralengine]

Just received a pair from Amazon (Canada). The fourth and fifth characters in the serial numbers of both buds and the case are DT, which would suggest late November or early December but the firmware they had out of the box was not the most recent one. Kinda odd, no? Wasn’t the most recent firmware released in September? How could they be manufactured in December but have the previous firmware?

(These feel and sound great by the way and in-ear earbuds have never worked for me.)

 

[chepeloni]

But on the backside I have also a sticker with 2041 and 2043.

those are the part numbers of each individual airpod pro. the case has a different 4 digit number too.

 

[neuralengine]

Hello from austria,
i got 2 new AirPods from Apple.
when I use this instruction, because of the letter G and K the Production would be cw 39 and 42.
But on the backside I have also a sticker with 2041 and 2043. Does this mean there are from year 20 cw 41 and 43?
The vents are the new ones. But if letter G is cw 39 the production is end of September and not the new model from October. I am confused.

According to this table:

How to find out the production date of iPhone, iPad, Apple watch, date code table 2010-2023 | en.tab-tv.com

en.tab-tv.com

One of the two serial numbers in your photo would be October 2020 (DK) and the other one would be September (DG). I’m not sure this table applies to AirPods but the serial number format does seem to match up.

This is looking at the fourth and fifth characters in the serial numbers (which are marked S/N). By the way, you may want to take down those photos or at least blur out part of the serial number. Not sure what someone could do with it, but better safe than sorry.

 

[Mario90]

According to this table:

How to find out the production date of iPhone, iPad, Apple watch, date code table 2010-2023 | en.tab-tv.com

en.tab-tv.com

One of the two serial numbers in your photo would be October 2020 (DK) and the other one would be September (DG). I’m not sure this table applies to AirPods but the serial number format does seem to match up.

This is looking at the fourth and fifth characters in the serial numbers (which are marked S/N). By the way, you may want to take down those photos or at least blur out part of the serial number. Not sure what someone could do with it, but better safe than sorry.

Thanks,
but both had the recessed grill. I don’t know if I should return the one because it is built in September. And apple said that all AirPods Pro from october build are redesigned.

 

[Mario90]

I also read Post-October 2020 productions end in 0C6L. Pre-October 2020 (should) end in LKKT.

Also the last 4 chars of the pods are 0C6K (left) and 0C6J (right) for the new version.