Airpods unusable — connecting/disconnecting

[motionworld]

Hello. Same issues:

iphone15, airpods 4 anc.

Disconnection only during calls. Calls via:

• phone
• whatsapp
• messenger
• facetime

I tried to change any parameters. Nothing helps. The disconnection is stable when I am on the phone or video call. There are no disconnections when listening to music. It seems that the headphones do not have enough width of the Bluetooth channel to transmit audio + microphone.

I tried to disable listening to Hey siri. This is the last thing that comes to my mind, I have already tried the rest.

I reset the phone to factory settings, reset the headphones, turned off anc, turned off literally all the options that can be disabled. I changed the audio routing from car to bluetooth.

This is a 100% software bug. I think that the headphones overload the Bluetooth channel with some unnecessary information when using the microphone.

And one more thing: I have never had disconnections when talking through a Macbook air m2 with the same airpods. Everything works fine there. Therefore, I think this is an iOS problem.

 

[er-minio]

This is a 100% software bug. I think that the headphones overload the Bluetooth channel with some unnecessary information when using the microphone.

100% agree.

Quick questions: which country are you in?
Phone carrier?

To add "variables" to this issue... you can see the disconnection issues I widely lamented in this thread over the last year or so.

For the last two months I've been in Italy, mostly Rome.
I am using the iPhone and Airpods A LOT for phone calls and I've had only one disconnection so far, and that was because I woke up my laptop and it tried to connect to the Airpods as I last used it with the pods connected.

Everything else worked smoothly, I had 50 minutes long phone calls (carrie, FaceTime, Whatsapp) without any signal drop or disconnection.

I'm obviously on roaming now, and after a few weeks in I added an eSIM with an Italian contract (TIM) that I will keep running on the iPhone as I need an Italian mobile number for incoming calls going on.

I'm back in the UK in the next few days. I'm thinking about buying a PAYG sim card from another carrier (I've always been with O2 since 2007) and see if that affects disconnection issues.

 

[er-minio]

And one more thing: I have never had disconnections when talking through a Macbook air m2 with the same airpods. Everything works fine there. Therefore, I think this is an iOS problem.

Same for me. Never had issues (mic or not) when connected to my MBP or Studio.

 

[motionworld]

I am from Ukraine, Kyiv. Carrier is Kyivstar.

Sometimes I can talk on video calls for hours with my iPhone and no disconnections. Sometimes disconnections occur in a few minutes. It helps to hide the headphones in the case, turn off and on bluetooth in the iPhone settings, and then take the headphones out again. After that, the disconnections disappear for a long time (a day, sometimes two).

I also thought that the problem was that my headphones were trying to connect to the MacBook. But the disconnections happen just on the street when I am very far from the Macbook. So it's definitely not the case.

Perhaps the problem is with the physical SIM card, maybe with the SIM card there will be no disconnections? But it seems to me that this is not a problem with interference, the problem is that either something is trying to capture the microphone during a conversation, or the headphones really do not have enough Bluetooth channel width.

 

[er-minio]

My assumption is channel width.

I am having similar behaviour with the iPhone disconnecting repeatedly from another bluetooth device that uses the new BT standard. All good with older ones.

 

[motionworld]

Yes, I confirm that. With my old Nokia headphones, which have Bluetooth 4.2, there were never any disconnections.

I hope that Apple will fix this problem in the next version of iOS. If not, the airpods are simply unusable.

I'll try to take logs via Mac from my iPhone. But I need to catch this bug with disconnections, it does not always repeat. If I succeed and find the problem in the logs, I will definitely let you know.

 

[motionworld]

Here are some logs with errors that occur when disconnecting. I managed to catch it. It's not very clear, but it seems that the error is due to the fact that the iPhone cannot understand whether the headphones are in the ear. But disabling this function does not solve the problem, without it the disconnection is still there!
If there is anyone who can understand the log more, I can dump the full log, there are 1345 lines.
9C:A9:C5:1E:7F:6B - its my airpods bluetooth MAC adress.
error 15:34:01.989728+0300 audiomxd Error, did NOT find HAL device for UID: , handling msg
error 15:34:02.107909+0300 audiomxd Error, did NOT find HAL device for UID: , handling msg
error 15:34:02.307744+0300 bluetoothd getInEarStatus: No AACP connection for 9C:A9:C5:1E:7F:6B
error 15:34:02.309217+0300 bluetoothd getPrimaryBudSide: No AACP connection for 9C:A9:C5:1E:7F:6B
error 15:34:02.309338+0300 audiomxd Error, did NOT find HAL device for UID: <private>, handling msg
error 15:34:02.309401+0300 audiomxd Error, did NOT find HAL device for UID: <private>, handling msg
error 15:34:02.331002+0300 bluetoothd No AACP connection for device 9C:A9:C5:1E:7F:6B
error 15:34:02.331135+0300 bluetoothd Failed to configure Software Volume error 312
error 15:34:02.331487+0300 audiomxd Error, did NOT find HAL device for UID: <private>, handling msg
error 15:34:02.331551+0300 audiomxd Error, did NOT find HAL device for UID: <private>, handling msg
error 15:34:02.462873+0300 bluetoothd getInEarStatus: No AACP connection for 9C:A9:C5:1E:7F:6B
error 15:34:02.463634+0300 audiomxd Error, did NOT find HAL device for UID: <private>, handling msg
error 15:34:02.464090+0300 audiomxd Error, did NOT find HAL device for UID: <private>, handling msg
error 15:34:02.464215+0300 bluetoothd getInEarStatus: No AACP connection for 9C:A9:C5:1E:7F:6B
error 15:34:02.464458+0300 audiomxd Error, did NOT find HAL device for UID: <private>, handling msg
error 15:34:02.465683+0300 audiomxd 249903 HALS_PlugIn.cpp:834 HALS_PlugIn::HostInterface_PropertiesChanged: the object is not valid
error 15:34:02.465794+0300 bluetoothd getPrimaryBudSide: No AACP connection for 9C:A9:C5:1E:7F:6B
error 15:34:02.467623+0300 audiomxd 249903 HALS_PlugIn.cpp:834 HALS_PlugIn::HostInterface_PropertiesChanged: the object is not valid
error 15:34:02.468379+0300 audiomxd 249903 HALS_PlugIn.cpp:834 HALS_PlugIn::HostInterface_PropertiesChanged: the object is not valid
error 15:34:02.468436+0300 audiomxd 249903 HALS_PlugIn.cpp:834 HALS_PlugIn::HostInterface_PropertiesChanged: the object is not valid
error 15:34:02.529670+0300 audiomxd 249903 HALS_PlugIn.cpp:834 HALS_PlugIn::HostInterface_PropertiesChanged: the object is not valid
error 15:34:02.603049+0300 audiomxd IRData::createNoisySoundProfilePack: Invalid SoundProfile pack.
error 15:34:02.832113+0300 audiomxd Error, did NOT find HAL device for UID: <private>, handling msg
error 15:34:02.833129+0300 audiomxd kBTAudioMsgPropertyInEarEnabled not present
error 15:34:02.833229+0300 audiomxd kBTAudioMsgPropertyInEarStatus not present
error 15:34:02.833273+0300 audiomxd kBTAudioMsgPropertyPrimaryBudSide not present
error 15:34:02.833853+0300 audiomxd kBTAudioMsgPropertyFixedMicRole not present
error 15:34:02.863240+0300 bluetoothd BundleID does not exist, return default
error 15:34:02.865046+0300 bluetoothd BundleID does not exist, return default

 

[motionworld]

We can only wait while Apple fix this. This is 100% software problem.
I send this to chat GPT and it says:
getInEarStatus: No AACP connection for 9C:A9:C5:1E:7F:6B
getPrimaryBudSide: No AACP connection for 9C:A9:C5:1E:7F:6B
No AACP connection for device...

This indicates a loss of AACP (Apple Audio Connection Protocol) — this is an internal protocol used for advanced AirPods features like in-ear detection and mic role management. Losing this connection typically means the link between your iPhone and AirPods became unstable or dropped entirely.
Error, did NOT find HAL device for UID: ...
HALS_PlugIn::HostInterface_PropertiesChanged: the object is not valid

These messages relate to Apple’s audio system (HAL - Hardware Abstraction Layer). They show that the system no longer sees the AirPods as an active audio device — in other words, the connection was lost or logically broken.
createNoisySoundProfilePack: Invalid SoundProfile pack
kBTAudioMsgPropertyInEarEnabled not present
...not present

These are consequences of the above — once the connection is lost, the system can’t retrieve expected AirPods properties anymore.

What likely happened?​

Based on the log:

• The Bluetooth connection between your iPhone and AirPods unexpectedly lost the AACP channel — this can happen due to a power-saving glitch, unstable signal, or firmware bug.
• After that, iOS stopped seeing the AirPods as the active audio output device, so audio stopped working.

Upd.
I just caught another disconnection log while talking on FaceTime.
I sent all this via feedback to Apple. I'm not sure that anything will be changed, but I really want Apple to fix this bug, I really like my airPods, but they are unusable for calls now!

 

[motionworld]

My assumption is channel width.

I am having similar behaviour with the iPhone disconnecting repeatedly from another bluetooth device that uses the new BT standard. All good with older ones.

Hello. Question. Do you have eqMac or perhaps another application on your MacBook that installs an audio driver?

 

[DaveOstrich64]

Here are some logs with errors that occur when disconnecting. I managed to catch it. It's not very clear, but it seems that the error is due to the fact that the iPhone cannot understand whether the headphones are in the ear. But disabling this function does not solve the problem, without it the disconnection is still there!
If there is anyone who can understand the log more, I can dump the full log, there are 1345 lines.
9C:A9:C5:1E:7F:6B - its my airpods bluetooth MAC adress.
error 15:34:01.989728+0300 audiomxd Error, did NOT find HAL device for UID: , handling msg
error 15:34:02.107909+0300 audiomxd Error, did NOT find HAL device for UID: , handling msg
error 15:34:02.307744+0300 bluetoothd getInEarStatus: No AACP connection for 9C:A9:C5:1E:7F:6B
error 15:34:02.309217+0300 bluetoothd getPrimaryBudSide: No AACP connection for 9C:A9:C5:1E:7F:6B
error 15:34:02.309338+0300 audiomxd Error, did NOT find HAL device for UID: <private>, handling msg
error 15:34:02.309401+0300 audiomxd Error, did NOT find HAL device for UID: <private>, handling msg
error 15:34:02.331002+0300 bluetoothd No AACP connection for device 9C:A9:C5:1E:7F:6B
error 15:34:02.331135+0300 bluetoothd Failed to configure Software Volume error 312
error 15:34:02.331487+0300 audiomxd Error, did NOT find HAL device for UID: <private>, handling msg
error 15:34:02.331551+0300 audiomxd Error, did NOT find HAL device for UID: <private>, handling msg
error 15:34:02.462873+0300 bluetoothd getInEarStatus: No AACP connection for 9C:A9:C5:1E:7F:6B
error 15:34:02.463634+0300 audiomxd Error, did NOT find HAL device for UID: <private>, handling msg
error 15:34:02.464090+0300 audiomxd Error, did NOT find HAL device for UID: <private>, handling msg
error 15:34:02.464215+0300 bluetoothd getInEarStatus: No AACP connection for 9C:A9:C5:1E:7F:6B
error 15:34:02.464458+0300 audiomxd Error, did NOT find HAL device for UID: <private>, handling msg
error 15:34:02.465683+0300 audiomxd 249903 HALS_PlugIn.cpp:834 HALS_PlugIn::HostInterface_PropertiesChanged: the object is not valid
error 15:34:02.465794+0300 bluetoothd getPrimaryBudSide: No AACP connection for 9C:A9:C5:1E:7F:6B
error 15:34:02.467623+0300 audiomxd 249903 HALS_PlugIn.cpp:834 HALS_PlugIn::HostInterface_PropertiesChanged: the object is not valid
error 15:34:02.468379+0300 audiomxd 249903 HALS_PlugIn.cpp:834 HALS_PlugIn::HostInterface_PropertiesChanged: the object is not valid
error 15:34:02.468436+0300 audiomxd 249903 HALS_PlugIn.cpp:834 HALS_PlugIn::HostInterface_PropertiesChanged: the object is not valid
error 15:34:02.529670+0300 audiomxd 249903 HALS_PlugIn.cpp:834 HALS_PlugIn::HostInterface_PropertiesChanged: the object is not valid
error 15:34:02.603049+0300 audiomxd IRData::createNoisySoundProfilePack: Invalid SoundProfile pack.
error 15:34:02.832113+0300 audiomxd Error, did NOT find HAL device for UID: <private>, handling msg
error 15:34:02.833129+0300 audiomxd kBTAudioMsgPropertyInEarEnabled not present
error 15:34:02.833229+0300 audiomxd kBTAudioMsgPropertyInEarStatus not present
error 15:34:02.833273+0300 audiomxd kBTAudioMsgPropertyPrimaryBudSide not present
error 15:34:02.833853+0300 audiomxd kBTAudioMsgPropertyFixedMicRole not present
error 15:34:02.863240+0300 bluetoothd BundleID does not exist, return default
error 15:34:02.865046+0300 bluetoothd BundleID does not exist, return default

Hey @motionworld Yeah if you could throw the full log in here that would be useful. You have caught the loop there so i'd imagine if this log makes its way to the right team we might get a fix.

Also ChatGPT is understanding the log quite well so adding more detail will hopefully enrich the response.

FYI I don't have any eqMac or similar software on my MacBook

Cheers

 

[motionworld]

Hey @motionworld Yeah if you could throw the full log in here that would be useful. You have caught the loop there so i'd imagine if this log makes its way to the right team we might get a fix.

Also ChatGPT is understanding the log quite well so adding more detail will hopefully enrich the response.

FYI I don't have any eqMac or similar software on my MacBook

Cheers

Two logs are attached. These logs were taken through the console with the iPhone connected to the MacBook via a type-c cable. It was at the time when I was experiencing headphone disconnects.

I noticed the following pattern: if I disconnect eqmac on the macbook, there are no disconnections. Yes, I have disconnections on my iPhone. And not always when I'm near the MacBook. Disconnections happen when I'm 3-4 km away. But maybe it has something to do with it, I don't know. I will continue to see if there really will be no disconnections when eqmac is turned off, disabling it from the startup at all.

 

[er-minio]

Question. Do you have eqMac or perhaps another application on your MacBook that installs an audio driver?

Hi, nothing on the MacBook, but I have Airfoil on my Mac Studio, even though I don't use it anymore (Airfoil, not the Studio ).


To give an update: after nearly 2 months abroad where the Airpods worked flawlessly, I'm now back in London and after about 48 hours without major issues, I now started to have disconnections again.

This also happens on my motorbike intercom (Cardo Freecom 4X). If I make phone calls via the intercom, it disconnects continuously like the Airpods, if I just listen to music, no disconnections.

Definitely a software issue.
Definitely either location and/or carrier do play a role.

Also, my iPhone 13 battery now almost suddenly needs replacing. 78% max charge, the phone struggles to reach end of day.
I'm thinking of servicing the battery or buying a 16... but I expect this issue to be present on a new iPhone too.

 

[motionworld]

Yes, uninstalling eqMac didn't help.
I tried to change the SIM card, but with the same carrier. No change, the disconnection is still there.
I'll wait for the iPhone software update, and if the disconnections continue, I'll try to change the carrier to another one.
I have an iPhone15 and airpods 4 anc.

 

[er-minio]

I'll try to buy a PAYG SIM this weekend to try a different carrier.

I've been with O2 for nearly 20 years

 

[motionworld]

Hello. I bought a prepaid esim from another carrier on Thursday, turned on call forwarding from my main SIM card to esim, turned off my main SIM card in the settings. 4 days and zero airpods disconnections. I also talked on whatsapp, fb messenger, facetime, phone app. Zero disconnections.

I will test it until the end of the week, if there are no disconnections, I will start transferring my number to another carrier.

 

[er-minio]

Update on my side: the Airpods disconnections are less severe than before. Still there, but not as bad.

The change on my side, apart from software updates, is that I am now running an e-sim (Italian TIM contract) in addition to my standard O2 UK SIM card. The e-sim is not always active, I turn it off manually from time to time.
But this seems to be affecting things.

I don't want to move from O2, but might check if it makes sense to switch to an e-sim with them too.

I'll keep an eye on it. I'm traveling abroad again today and will see what happens.


Disconnections from the bluetooth intercom as well were less severe (almost nonexistent) during the weekend, but I was out of London.
In my case the disconnections airpods/some bluetooth devices seem to be worse when in central London (more devices and interference around?) I'm wondering if this is linked with the carrier as well and more radio interference with some mobile carriers leads to disconnections?

 

[motionworld]

I also don't know why, but it's definitely related to the carrier. I also tried to use airpods with sim + e-sim, but there were still disconnections. As soon as I turned off the sim in the settings and had only the e-sim of another operator, the disconnections disappeared.

I don't think it's because of interference. My opinion is that this is a problem with the iPhone firmware. In Ukraine, we have the opportunity to change the carrier without changing the phone number. This is what I will do.

 

[DaveOstrich64]

I have an E-Sim with Carrier 'O2' in the UK also and have not tried using another network but the issue is very consistent. @er-minio I've also been with O2 for 20+ years...

I might try to contact O2 with complaint and maybe ask for some sort of reset, even iff my phone number has to go offline for 24 hours just to see if that fixes things.