APM not waking after stored in Waterfield case

[mpetrides]

is your APM attempting to connect and disconnect in cycles (observe your Bluetooth settings). After a number of cycles the APM locks up. Another indicator is the Battery widget will appear to report on the APM battery but it's actually not a live reading because your APM is already locked up.

take a look at the photos attached, old case where the magnets are lower and new case where it sits right where the two ends of the AirPods Max bump into each other. I measure it 0.5cm difference in where the butterfly was stiched onto the case.

I'm not sure this is the problem because in my original case the butterfly is higher than in the replacement case. Both exhibited problems but the original case (in which the butterfly was higher) was the reason I contacted Gary in the first place.

 

[mpetrides]

Here's my own final summary. After many back and forth with Gary from Waterfield, he was adamant the case was fine. I then wanted to make sure it's not my APM, went to Apple and said there is an issue with my APM and Apple agreed to replace my APM. The replacement unit had the same exact problem in my Waterfield case.

Reported this back to Gary, and I felt he just wanted to end this and immediately offered a refund. I used the refund and re-ordered another Waterfield case which finally arrived today. This new case works perfectly - the difference is that the butterfly magnet in the new case is 0.5cm higher. The APM is very sensitive in my opinion with the magnet placement.

I have reported this back to Gary, I just hope he takes note of this that as much as he produces high quality products, sometimes 1 or 2 will have a small defect.

Thanks all for this thread and all the information within! Hope this helps anyone else in the future.

See my message above. I'm not convinced that the positioning of the magnets is the problem. My original case--the one that initially caused me to contact Gary--has the magnets in a higher position than the replacement case Gary sent me. Both cause the same problem--the APMs intermittently failing to connect until re-plugged into power. I'm hoping that the latest firmware update has fixed the problem... time will tell.

I haven't been bothered enough by the issue to seek a replacement pair of APMs from Apple. Push come to shove, I will just store the APMs on the plush of the top half of the case far away from magnets while I am at home and then, on the rare occasions when I travel, will store them in the case with butterfly up knowing that I might have to plug them back into power briefly if I encounter a problem. Not a biggie for me but I'm not carrying my APMs outside of the house very often.

I, too, really appreciate everyone's posts with their experiences. My conclusion is that the only consistency in this whole mess is the inconsistency. And, yup, a simple power button that obviates the need for the stupid magnets in the first place is the obvious answer. C'mon AAPL, you can do it!

 

[jazz1]

Here's my own final summary. After many back and forth with Gary from Waterfield, he was adamant the case was fine. I then wanted to make sure it's not my APM, went to Apple and said there is an issue with my APM and Apple agreed to replace my APM. The replacement unit had the same exact problem in my Waterfield case.

Reported this back to Gary, and I felt he just wanted to end this and immediately offered a refund. I used the refund and re-ordered another Waterfield case which finally arrived today. This new case works perfectly - the difference is that the butterfly magnet in the new case is 0.5cm higher. The APM is very sensitive in my opinion with the magnet placement.

I have reported this back to Gary, I just hope he takes note of this that as much as he produces high quality products, sometimes 1 or 2 will have a small defect.

Thanks all for this thread and all the information within! Hope this helps anyone else in the future.

So is this why the cases are backordered? Waterfield is fixing/redesigning their case?

 

[mpetrides]

So is this why the cases are backordered? Waterfield is fixing/redesigning their case?

Not likely. Gary hasn't been able to identify a cause for the issue and neither have those of us who have been working with him. Without a specific cause, how can you fix the problem? The backorders are the result of the volume of orders coming in and the fact that AFIK all of WaterField’s products are handmade, not mass-produced.

An aside: FWIW the problem just resurfaced for me, so the recent APM update didn't fix it.

 

[jazz1]

Well, it happened to me two nights ago. Had the APM in the Waterfield case with the butterfly up on both sides and the APM plugged into the wall overnight. The next morning, could not get my iPhone to recognize the APM, even after a reset of the APM. Finally plugged the APM back into the wall for a second (literally) and all was back to normal. I’d had the case for several days (?3) but that was the first time I had a problem. FWIW, my magnets feel solid—no donut hole in the center that I can feel.

Last night I stored the APM in the Waterfield case with the butterfly down and the APM plugged into the wall. No problem.

Well once I get my case I guess I do the same. Mpetrides, have you stored them this way with no power plugged in, and did it work normally that way too?

 

[jazz1]

I’m a brand new APM owner and also case owner. Unfortunately also another one affected, I love this case so much I’m going to try get Apple to swap my APM with another.

Another observation from another perspective. The APM does not wake up in the morning is because after being placed in the case, it still attempts to connect and disconnect in cycles (observe your Bluetooth settings). After a number of cycles the APM locks up. Another indicator is the Battery widget will appear to report on the APM battery but it's actually not a live reading because your APM is already locked up.

This is almost like the case magnet is there but almost hitting the low power mode switch but only partially causing the APM firmware to trip. My speculation of course.

Also another note, I believe my case is Batch #24 and the magnetic butterfly looks very different from all the photos posted online. The butterfuly also sits a lot lower - have no idea if this is going to be any different.

Update:
Have reached out to Apple, they are replacing my APM with another unit, we shall see with my replacement if this is still the case.

Did the replacement headphones solve the issue?

 

[ryanbowlin]

So... I recently got a new bag for traveling that's smaller and won't fit my Waterfield AirPods Max case. So this week I went back to using the "bra" case that came with the headphones. I used them yesterday at my desk and at the end of the day I stuck them back into the bra case and tucked them into my new bag at about 80% charge.

Today I went to take my headphones out again (hadn't used them since yesterday) from the OEM case and I had the exact same issue that I had using the Waterfield case. My Mac saw the headphones for a moment and displayed their 78% charge. But I never heard a chime letting me know they were connected. I started pressing buttons, nothing. Only when I connected them to the power source did I see them come to life again. 78% charge as it said originally.

So weird. But it appears the case isn't the issue. Seems like the issue is actually with the AirPods Max themselves? Just thought I'd report my findings here. Super annoying. Always make sure you have a battery bank and lightning cable with you, I guess? :/

 

[aVex]

Did the replacement headphones solve the issue?

sorry, one month late reply.
it hasn’t, though i feel my new Waterfield case have fixed the problem for me almost, I still occasionally still need to connect the charger to wake the APM

 

[jazz1]

sorry, one month late reply.
it hasn’t, though i feel my new Waterfield case have fixed the problem for me almost, I still occasionally still need to connect the charger to wake the APM

Hmmm. I just got my case a few days ago, and I haven't tried it out. I'd kind of like to ditch the "bikini case" when using the Waterfield case while on the road. Getting in and out of the Waterfield case, and the Apple case seems a bit cumbersome.

 

[memeisland]

Oh my god I had no idea the Waterfield case was the main source of this problem. I've been back and forth with Apple about this and I'm so glad to see others have had the issue. Knowing its the Waterfield case is the problem makes it easier to diagnose. So I guess I just won't have the magnets facing upwards?

 

[Analog Kid]

I’ve not had this problem for a while— any chance it was resolved with a firmware update?

Oh my god I had no idea the Waterfield case was the main source of this problem. I've been back and forth with Apple about this and I'm so glad to see others have had the issue. Knowing its the Waterfield case is the problem makes it easier to diagnose. So I guess I just won't have the magnets facing upwards?

Are you still seeing this recently and with updated firmware?

 

[memeisland]

I’ve not had this problem for a while— any chance it was resolved with a firmware update?


Are you still seeing this recently and with updated firmware?

Yep, has happened to me for many weeks and months. I'm on the latest firmware. I also seem to have the "updated" case design, with the butterfly magnets positioned high. I bought mine on 24th of February.

 

[Analog Kid]

Yep, has happened to me for many weeks and months. I'm on the latest firmware. I also seem to have the "updated" case design, with the butterfly magnets positioned high. I bought mine on 24th of February.

Ok, thanks. Not sure what, if anything, I’m doing differently…

 

[memeisland]

Ok, thanks. Not sure what, if anything, I’m doing differently…

Whats weird to me, is that Apple support specifically told me that after 72 hours they go into a low power state anyway and the bra case isn't necessary. 72 hours sounds like the amount of time it takes for my APM to not be able to be turned on in the Waterfield case.

So I'm not sure what the point of the magnets are. From what I remember, this wasn't an issue at launch though. Didn't Apple add the 72 hours sleep mode with a firmware update? Maybe not using the magnets doesn't even matter anymore after that update? I don't find that my APM have any sort of battery drain, and I use them once every few days.

 

[Analog Kid]

Whats weird to me, is that Apple support specifically told me that after 72 hours they go into a low power state anyway and the bra case isn't necessary. 72 hours sounds like the amount of time it takes for my APM to not be able to be turned on in the Waterfield case.

So I'm not sure what the point of the magnets are. From what I remember, this wasn't an issue at launch though. Didn't Apple add the 72 hours sleep mode with a firmware update? Maybe not using the magnets doesn't even matter anymore after that update? I don't find that my APM have any sort of battery drain, and I use them once every few days.

Yep, just happened to me again, so confirmed not fixed on my side. They were idle for more than 72 hours.

 

[memeisland]

Yep, just happened to me again, so confirmed not fixed on my side. They were idle for more than 72 hours.

Did it happen when inside the case?

 

[Analog Kid]

Did it happen when inside the case?

Yes.