AirPods Pro: Rattlegate

[seggy]

What's the current out-of-warranty warranty situation on this?

I have a launch APP that I used for 4 months intensively then... well, you know, the thing. Since then I've used it at most about 20 minutes a week on average, and I've had the crackle on the left hand side bud for at least a year, I haven't done anything about it. When I'm ready to venture out on a regular basis is it a case of throw these in the bin or is there any sort of stealth recall?

 

[mnsportsgeek]

My AirPods arrived at Apple today and my repair status says the repair was completed in 8 minutes and now they’re on the way back to me.

When I get them back will they tell me what they did? Like replaced 1 airpod, both AirPods, or everything?

I assume something was replaced but I really hope they didn’t just replace 1 so the battery life in both ears is drastically different now.

 

[Ralfi]

My AirPods arrived at Apple today and my repair status says the repair was completed in 8 minutes and now they’re on the way back to me.

When I get them back will they tell me what they did? Like replaced 1 airpod, both AirPods, or everything?

I assume something was replaced but I really hope they didn’t just replace 1 so the battery life in both ears is drastically different now.

Yeah you should get a brief summary of what happened. But if you can’t make sense of it, just call up Apple Support - they should be able to dig deeper.

What's the current out-of-warranty warranty situation on this?

Yeah, you should qualify for a recall, but it may vary per country, so go through the process of calling up Apple Support, get a Case ID, book a Store appointment & get them tested.

Since you haven’t been using them too much, then battery difference shouldn’t be so bad if they only replaced the one bud. Good luck.

 

[Aaleck]

My AirPods Pro's started making the rattling noise (just the right side), I picked them up at launch, so the warranty has since expired. I only used them occasionally which I'm guessing is why they lasted so long. I contacted Apple via chat and answered all of their troubleshooting questions. I live 2 1/2 hours way from the nearest Apple Store so I asked if a mail in option was available for me. He said it was approved and they next day air'd me a box, I shipped them back the next day. 5 mins after they were delivered I received an e-mail saying that it was complete (at this point I'm guessing they're just replacing both since that wasn't enough time to diagnose anything) and I had the return tracking number. I received them today and they replaced both. Let's see how long the new ones will last.

 

[risenphoenixkai]

It's probably going to be a month in total from my first raising the support ticket until I have the AirPods Pro back.

I hate being right. It took a week for the empty return box to get from Australia to my place in NZ. I had the AirPods Pro in that box, packaged and labelled correctly, and in my postbox for the rural courier to pick up the next day. He collected it, and I waited.

And waited.

And waited.

After another week went by with no contact from Apple, I contacted them to find out what was going on. They had no record of the AirPods being shipped. The consignment number I gave them turned up no results.

I spent another week playing phone tag with increasingly useless levels of Apple customer support. I offered to pass on my rural courier's contact details to the support agent, but she refused to take them and said she wouldn't contact him for "privacy reasons". After 20 minutes of arguing with her, I gave up and hung up.

I spoke to my courier the next day when he came by to drop off another package, and he confirmed that he did indeed collect the package and passed it on as normal. I passed this info on to Apple, but since none of the various shipping companies they contacted had any record of the shipment in their systems, Apple basically said they'd given up and would send me a statutory declaration document to sign, saying that I'd shipped the damned things but they'd vanished into thin air through no fault of my own, and they'd send me a new pair of AirPods Pro.

The next morning, instead of getting that statutory declaration form, I got an email from Apple - saying they'd received my AirPods Pro and were repairing them. So it took two weeks for the shipment to get from NZ to Australia, and not one single person bothered to scan the shipment at any point during that two week journey.

Apple has (allegedly) repaired the AirPods and are sending them back my way. It will be at least another week before they arrive, so yes, in total this absolute fiasco will have taken a total of one month from start to finish.

It would have taken me less time to hop in a kayak and paddle my way to the nearest Apple Store in Sydney. Perhaps I'll just do that the next time something breaks.

 

[Tagbert]

I hate being right. It took a week for the empty return box to get from Australia to my place in NZ. I had the AirPods Pro in that box, packaged and labelled correctly, and in my postbox for the rural courier to pick up the next day. He collected it, and I waited.

And waited.

And waited.

After another week went by with no contact from Apple, I contacted them to find out what was going on. They had no record of the AirPods being shipped. The consignment number I gave them turned up no results.

I spent another week playing phone tag with increasingly useless levels of Apple customer support. I offered to pass on my rural courier's contact details to the support agent, but she refused to take them and said she wouldn't contact him for "privacy reasons". After 20 minutes of arguing with her, I gave up and hung up.

I spoke to my courier the next day when he came by to drop off another package, and he confirmed that he did indeed collect the package and passed it on as normal. I passed this info on to Apple, but since none of the various shipping companies they contacted had any record of the shipment in their systems, Apple basically said they'd given up and would send me a statutory declaration document to sign, saying that I'd shipped the damned things but they'd vanished into thin air through no fault of my own, and they'd send me a new pair of AirPods Pro.

The next morning, instead of getting that statutory declaration form, I got an email from Apple - saying they'd received my AirPods Pro and were repairing them. So it took two weeks for the shipment to get from NZ to Australia, and not one single person bothered to scan the shipment at any point during that two week journey.

Apple has (allegedly) repaired the AirPods and are sending them back my way. It will be at least another week before they arrive, so yes, in total this absolute fiasco will have taken a total of one month from start to finish.

It would have taken me less time to hop in a kayak and paddle my way to the nearest Apple Store in Sydney. Perhaps I'll just do that the next time something breaks.

That is quite the ordeal.

BTW when they say “repairing” it’s really just replacing with a new pair. Airpods are too small to be repaired. Perhaps they will make the net generation a little easier to open up and maybe then they can actually repair them but not these.

 

[mnsportsgeek]

Got my repaired AirPods back. The new ones didn’t allow my ear tips to fully seat. Only one side would fully click into place. Back to Apple they go.

 

[risenphoenixkai]

Finally got my AirPods Pro back today. Although I sent them in to get only the left AirPod replaced, apparently both of them failed Apple's test, and they replaced both.

From start to finish, this whole thing took 25 days:

• 9 days for the shipping box to get from Australia to my place in NZ
• 12 days for the returned AirPods Pro to get wherever they were going - untracked the entire time
• 5 hours between Apple receiving the product and going, "Yep, those are munted"
• 4 days for the new AirPods to get from Auckland to my place

In the midst of all this, when it became clear that this was going to take just shy of forever, I bought a set of Beats Fit Pro earbuds. My girlfriend will be getting these (now brand-new) AirPods Pro to replace the first-gen AirPods I handed down to her when I got the AirPods Pro back in October 2020.

Even though I'm satisfied with the final result, I'm really not happy with how Apple support or FedEx handled this. I spent nearly two weeks pulling teeth over the phone and email trying to get any kind of useful information from Apple on the status of this case, all of which could have been avoided had FedEx not been completely ***** at their job in getting this from Point A to Point B.

Anyway, it's over now. Finally.

 

[AppleMango]

Sorry for the ordeal you had to go through @risenphoenixkai . It’s truly awful. I hope you’ll be happy with your beats and your AirPods please your girlfriend.

I’m still quite happy so far with my replacements, no fault so far. Yay!

All the best!

 

[reggavegga]

Just took mine in today. I had a 4:10 appointment. The Apple employee took mine and went and tested both of them he said they both failed. Had someone bring us 2 new ones. He unsealed them and put them in my case had me sign his ipad and I was out in around 20 minutes. I have had mine pretty close to when they were released in October of 2019. Also gave me all the 3 size tips for them.

 

[Ralfi]

Just took mine in today. I had a 4:10 appointment. The Apple employee took mine and went and tested both of them he said they both failed. Had someone bring us 2 new ones. He unsealed them and put them in my case had me sign his ipad and I was out in around 20 minutes. I have had mine pretty close to when they were released in October of 2019. Also gave me all the 3 size tips for them.

My only regret was forgetting to ask for the Medium tips on my old pair to keep as spares.

 

[reggavegga]

Yeah I asked if I should take mine off and he said no he would give me new ones. Ones that came on the new pods and the other 2 sizes that were in the boxes the airpods came out of.

 

[Ralfi]

Yeah I asked if I should take mine off and he said no he would give me new ones. Ones that came on the new pods and the other 2 sizes that were in the boxes the airpods came out of.

I had one break in half (& replaced months ago), & would've used that as a reason to keep my original ones. No big deal though. New buds (batteries) after that amount of time is magnificent service ??

 

[ericg301]

has anyone had theirs replaced at Best Buy (an authorized Apple repair center)? I have an appointment for later in the week. will they just give me a new bud or buds on the spot? or do they have to ship them off?

 

[willdude]

Glad (well, "glad") to see this thread still active, since I'm starting my third support case with Apple for this. Got my APPs in Feb. '20, and that December the left started clicking and got replaced. A few months later, April '21, the right started clicking, and when I took them to the store, both failed their tests and they replaced both. Now, a little over a year after that, the right one is clicking again.

As others have said, I can't believe this is a problem affecting only models manufactured before October '20, since all my replacements have come after that date. I'd think they'd be smart enough to replace them with newly-manufactured models, but maybe not. So I'm curious to see if they'll still give me free replacements, or if they say they don't qualify since they're not from pre-Oct. '20.

Admittedly, I may be partly to blame for this. I run in my APPs, and sweat a lot, so I can image the sweat messing up something in the not-actually-water-resistant devices. If I can't get a free replacement, it might be time to find something new that's actually meant for exercise.

 

[Tagbert]

Glad (well, "glad") to see this thread still active, since I'm starting my third support case with Apple for this. Got my APPs in Feb. '20, and that December the left started clicking and got replaced. A few months later, April '21, the right started clicking, and when I took them to the store, both failed their tests and they replaced both. Now, a little over a year after that, the right one is clicking again.

As others have said, I can't believe this is a problem affecting only models manufactured before October '20, since all my replacements have come after that date. I'd think they'd be smart enough to replace them with newly-manufactured models, but maybe not. So I'm curious to see if they'll still give me free replacements, or if they say they don't qualify since they're not from pre-Oct. '20.

Admittedly, I may be partly to blame for this. I run in my APPs, and sweat a lot, so I can image the sweat messing up something in the not-actually-water-resistant devices. If I can't get a free replacement, it might be time to find something new that's actually meant for exercise.

Having run my AirPods Pro + case though a wash cycle, I can say that they are pretty water resistant. Have worked just fine ever since.

I don't think that the rattle is due to anything users are doing. I think it is a basic design flaw of this generation of AirPods Pro. I'm not sure what makes Apple think that those made after Oct'20 are exempt if they are still having the same kind of failure.

 

[willdude]

Glad (well, "glad") to see this thread still active, since I'm starting my third support case with Apple for this. Got my APPs in Feb. '20, and that December the left started clicking and got replaced. A few months later, April '21, the right started clicking, and when I took them to the store, both failed their tests and they replaced both. Now, a little over a year after that, the right one is clicking again.

As others have said, I can't believe this is a problem affecting only models manufactured before October '20, since all my replacements have come after that date. I'd think they'd be smart enough to replace them with newly-manufactured models, but maybe not. So I'm curious to see if they'll still give me free replacements, or if they say they don't qualify since they're not from pre-Oct. '20.

Admittedly, I may be partly to blame for this. I run in my APPs, and sweat a lot, so I can image the sweat messing up something in the not-actually-water-resistant devices. If I can't get a free replacement, it might be time to find something new that's actually meant for exercise.

Came back from an Apple Store with a new replacement pair, now my 3rd. The guy said his tests couldn't find any clicking/rattling, but it did show sound quality problems. Initially they said they'd have to mail it in for further testing to replace, but then figured out a way to ring it up so they could just do an in-store warranty replacement of the pair.

I put them in and WOW the difference was immediately noticeable. Noise cancellation works way better, as does transparent mode. I had felt like the bad pair was a little off, but I had no idea they were that degraded. Kinda makes you wonder about the quality of these things, how many are out there and that degraded and people just don't realize it. I'm glad they've been willing to do these replacements, but it's not a great sign that I'm on my 3rd pair in just over 2 years.

 

[Tagbert]

Came back from an Apple Store with a new replacement pair, now my 3rd. The guy said his tests couldn't find any clicking/rattling, but it did show sound quality problems. Initially they said they'd have to mail it in for further testing to replace, but then figured out a way to ring it up so they could just do an in-store warranty replacement of the pair.

I put them in and WOW the difference was immediately noticeable. Noise cancellation works way better, as does transparent mode. I had felt like the bad pair was a little off, but I had no idea they were that degraded. Kinda makes you wonder about the quality of these things, how many are out there and that degraded and people just don't realize it. I'm glad they've been willing to do these replacements, but it's not a great sign that I'm on my 3rd pair in just over 2 years.

Sounds like what people report when they get their cataracts removed. They knew it was bad but had no idea how much until after the procedure.

 

[hepokatt1]

I bought AirPods Pro at 11/2019. The second time when they were replaced I got early 2021 manufactured, if information at this site is correct https://en.tab-tv.com/?p=20811

That was about a year ago, and the replaced ones worked fine for a day until the firmware got updated. So I assumed that it was a firmware issue because of the time of manufacture and did nothing. Until this week when bad ANC got me very irritated (again). Neither one passed the tests and I got both replaced for the third time. The firmware was the same 4E71 both old and new ones, but there is significant different at ANC. The new ones are manufactured early 2022. Hopefully this was the last replacement needed!

 

[owl70]

Got my 7th replacement pair a couple of weeks ago. And today the left side started to make the thumping sound from walking. Right side feels normal.
Sound test reports that left side is not ok.

Looks like my 8th replacement round is about to start.

The only slightly unusual use I have is using them with a helmet when driving a scooter (<50km/h). Thus it is a bit windy, but they aren't squeezed.
Never dropped them, they have been dry, they fit well...

Looks like I will be replacing them until I run out of warranty, but having then in service half of the time is pretty annoying.
Are the Airpods3 better quality?

 

[JCCL]

What's the current out-of-warranty warranty situation on this?

I have a launch APP that I used for 4 months intensively then... well, you know, the thing. Since then I've used it at most about 20 minutes a week on average, and I've had the crackle on the left hand side bud for at least a year, I haven't done anything about it. When I'm ready to venture out on a regular basis is it a case of throw these in the bin or is there any sort of stealth recall?

I think you can still take them for an exchange - the campaign was extended to 3 years from original purchase date if I recall correctly

AirPods Pro Service Program for Sound Issues - Apple Support

AirPods Pro Service Program for Sound Issues

support.apple.com

 

[reggavegga]

Went in with my sister yesterday. She asked me to go with her because I have already done it. They replaced both of hers also. In and out in about 15 minutes.

 

[Ralfi]

Got my 7th replacement pair a couple of weeks ago

7th?!

And today the left side started to make the thumping sound from walking.

That’s normal.

Sound test reports that left side is not ok.

What sound tests are these??

Looks like my 8th replacement round is about to start.

Maybe these just aren’t for you…

 

[tim1000]

is this issue resolved on new AirPods Pro. I have been dealing with the issue and am considering buying a new pair.

 

[owl70]

7th?!


That’s normal.

What sound tests are these??


Maybe these just aren’t for you…

The fit/sound-test in AirpodsPro bluetooth settings is a good indicator of problems.

I'm trying to think of reasons they keep breaking, but all of my uses are "normal"; walking, running, keeping them dry, not dropping them. Even my motorcycle helmet usage was on pause during the winter, and they still kept breaking. After 2-4 weeks the start getting sound issues.

I got a pair of AirPods3 yesterday.