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0118571

Cancelled
Nov 28, 2012
16
3
whenever you see a negative comment about airpods and airpods firmware bwinter88 is over there because he is the chosen one he is ifun, ifan and iadvocate. he/she doesn’t add any new comment he/she says just “fIrmware Iz Good” whenever negative comment posts here!!! ok we got it big boi but there are many people have issues and maybe you have 2C firmware but you are happy with that. but apple pulled back because of many many issues.
.....
and a minute later
i am waiting for
....”BUT FIRMWARE IS GOOD“
by iadvocate-bwinter88
😁😂😳
probably he would be happy while one bud is 2C the other bud 2D so he would have longer battery life. hoorrrayyy for apple horrayyy for ifun-bwinter88. he will be here for always. thanks 🍏
 

JarettJones

macrumors newbie
Apr 7, 2020
2
0
Brandon, Manitoba
I have the same problem and have spent the last 2 days trying to get Apple to help. The issue is the firmware 2D3 is not available for update yet. I finally got to a Senior Adviser and he said he could not help me other than send me another set but could not check the firmware before shipping so may or may not match. They have sent me 2 left ones, both with the 2D3 firmware which of course won't sync with the other one and cannot be updated. The adviser wasn't helpful at all. He said if many people report the problem (in my case it took 48hrs to get to him), then engineers might look at it. Otherwise there was nothing he could do for me. https://www.apple.com/feedback/airpods.html
how did you get to contact this advisor? im having the exact same problem
 

JarettJones

macrumors newbie
Apr 7, 2020
2
0
Brandon, Manitoba
Same here. They have sent me two sets and they never match. Please raise hell and file a report so they see that there is more than one of us. The only thing saving me is the hack that I read on another site. When you pull out the lightening cable, there is a green light for a nano second. If your timing is good, push the sync button on the case, the light will turn white and you can pair them to your iphone. Every time you put them back in the case and close it, it resets and you'll have to go through the 'forget this device' and re-pair. Don't close the case and they work fine. It's not perfect but at least they both work at the same time.
I have the exact problem and im quite frustrated
 

0118571

Cancelled
Nov 28, 2012
16
3
how did you get to contact this advisor? im having the exact same problem
advisors will recommend to reset airpods wait 40 minutes and update iphone but you can’t update to unreleased version and you will have to call again.

my friends said that when they called apple support they hadn’t any information about 2D3 firmware and especially one of advisors claimed that airpod should be fake. after long very long conversations and some tests the advisor accepted problem. when they escalated seniors they had to make another long conversations and firstly advisors said they can’t send another replacement but when my friends said they will sue them, advisors consulted their department and now my friends are waiting new replacements but probably they will get another bud with 2D firmware while other bud with older firmware.
so you should say you will sue them if they don’t take any action. i am not sure your issue will be solved when you get replacements.
nowadays apple just focused new devices and online services they have forgotten customer relations. BTW there won’t be any fix anc because apple doesn’t accept the anc problem and they pulled back because of some connection problems.
 

BarrettF77

macrumors 6502a
May 24, 2015
931
1,295
This is now on all the major sites. Pretty sure we will see new firmware shortly as this will only gain momentum.

how did Apple expect customers to try this out if they cannot update the firmware
 
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SorsCode

macrumors member
Jul 23, 2010
47
24
Apple called me again this evening to go over the issue. The person I've been working with is also dealing with another person having the same issue. It has been decided to do a complete replacement. I asked if they were just sending individual pieces or a new/refurbished replacement and they stated it would be an advanced replacement. Time will tell.
 
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blue_marzipan

macrumors newbie
Mar 27, 2020
6
2
I phoned, emailed, chatted and tweeted many, many people before Oliver with iMore took up my cause. No one at Apple would listen to me. When Oliver sent me the original article this morning, I had no idea that it would get picked up by so many other outlets.

Apple shipping new airpods with unreleased firmware. And yes, that's my iphone in the screen shot of the article. Lets hope APPLE does something now.
 

Erehy Dobon

Suspended
Feb 16, 2018
2,161
2,017
No service
Maybe we will never get an update. I Mean, thats embarrassing. 3-4 Months now with the messed up FW???
I am fine with that. My AirPods Pro are still on firmware version 2B584 since I bought them in late November.

They work great. Active noise cancelling is great. Pairing with my various devices is great. Battery life is great. If they can stay on this firmware version for their entire life, I should be happy.
 

Minarets

macrumors 6502a
Oct 28, 2011
857
367
Mine sound great. But the thumping is back when walking. Not horrible, but worse than when new.
 

Joseph C

macrumors 65816
Feb 5, 2009
1,452
2,751
This is a clear timeline of the firmware issue:

1*c8cON4aQvCsmwuhovKPkyQ.png


This article accounts the whole shambles from launch to now, including all the big problems with Apple Support's replacements, the rolled back firmware and the unreleased firmware bricking people's AirPods.

https://medium.com/macoclock/we-need-to-talk-about-airpods-pro-4bbd2533e031
 

bwinter88

macrumors regular
Jul 20, 2012
152
1,913
Mine sound great. But the thumping is back when walking. Not horrible, but worse than when new.
The thumping went away when I replaced the stock tips with foam ones from amazon. The noise cancellation also improved.

This is a clear timeline of the firmware issue:

1*c8cON4aQvCsmwuhovKPkyQ.png


This article accounts the whole shambles from launch to now, including all the big problems with Apple Support's replacements, the rolled back firmware and the unreleased firmware bricking people's AirPods.

https://medium.com/macoclock/we-need-to-talk-about-airpods-pro-4bbd2533e031

This article is nonsense.

"most annoyingly, before long 2C54 was on the scene and there was zero difference between the noise cancellation and transparency modes."

I'm sorry, what?

How do you claim the ANC is completely gone without looking around and noticing plenty of people with Airpods Pro that have perfectly acceptable ANC?

Lots of people on this very thread have commented they're satisfied with the noise cancellation on 2C54. None of my other friends with Airpods Pro think the noise cancellation is anything but stellar. The difference is night and day on my pair.

If ANC was completely gone on 2C54, you'd think it'd be more noticeable for the other few million users or so.

Either he's exaggerating, or there is something wrong with his pair, not a widespread problem.

If one pair's ANC works fine, or at least acceptably, and yet your Airpod's ANC is "zero difference from transparency mode," and we're both on 2C54...

How do you square that?

It's not a firmware issue. It's literally impossible at this point.

Case closed. Get a new pair. Try different tips.

Read around the issue, and you'll find a large amount of people think the ANC only partially went away. But this author believes it worsened dramatically. How can this sound like a consistent firmware issue to anyone?

Secondly
"By this point, complaints were rising about the noise cancellation, and it wasn’t long before the media picked it up."
The multiple articles would make you think this is a well-documented problem. But all of those articles have only the same, single source: the RTINGS test.

But the RTINGS test doesn't support the article's premise.

-It says the ANC worsened on 2C54, not 2B588.
-It says the ANC worsened only 4 dB in a narrow lower frequency band, nowhere near "dramatic."

And yet, we're just casually taking in this stuff as if it all adds together into one big perfect firmware problem.

I don't understand it.

I keep coming back to this thread because it's in my notifications, I have oodles of free time in quarantine, and every time I see more unsubstantiated noise I can't help but point out the flaws, in the hopes that someone will engage with me on the evidence, not what they thought they heard 5 months ago.

Anyone? Or do we want to keep pow-wowing over the update that'll never come?
 
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Joseph C

macrumors 65816
Feb 5, 2009
1,452
2,751
🤷🏼‍♂️ I didn't write it but I had the exact same experience (except I got mine first week of November). The noise cancellation problem hit in 2B588. How do you explain the Apple Support thread which was started upon 2B588's release if it's all a load of rubbish?

And the difference was dramatic to me too like countless others have also found. With 2C54 they sounded different when listening to music I thought. Did you even use a pair running 2B584?

I think you've selectively interpreted what was written too, particularly about that person's experience with duds - to me it read that their buds failed on the hardware side in the period between 2B588 and 2C54, hence the replacement. I've read a lot of people saying similar things so I think it's a mixture of dodgy hardware and software. I don't think it matters anyway as all the other evidence stacks up.

Did RTINGS even test against 2B588? My understanding was that they re-tested 2C54 against their launch review 2B584. Their update is fairly brief in any event.

From The Next Web: "While some people might be lucky enough to not have downloaded the 2C54 version of the AirPods firmware that has caused the ANC issue, many people online think the problems actually started with the 2B588 update. This means that even if you avoided the 2C54 version, you might still have some firmware that delivers less than impressive noise-canceling."

You seem to have a vested and obsessive interest in gaslighting a huge number of people who have all had the same experience. Maybe you just enjoy playing the devil's advocate?
 
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zhenya

macrumors 604
Jan 6, 2005
6,931
3,681
I have been working from home for the last month like so many others, however doing so in a house of 5 with a dog where everyone is trying to get work done while the 3 younger kids attempt to remain on task has meant everyone is putting their headphones to good use.

In doing so I have been moving back and forth between my AirPods Pro, on 2C54 and my Sony over-ear WH-1000xM3's on a regular basis. I have the added distraction of running a small space heater full time right next to me during the day, which is an excellent test of a headphone's ability to block white noise.

The results have been interesting. As expected, neither set does much with the background voices, dog barking. I'd say the two are about equal in that regard. For the heater noise, surprisingly, I'd give the win to the APP's by a fairly substantial margin. Neither blocks it out completely, but the APP's block out the more annoying frequencies.

While I have had my APP's since near launch, I'd say I'm uncertain as to the changes in noise canceling. I do agree that the blu-tack method reliably gets them to pass the fit test, and subjectively, may improve the bass response, but my experience over the last month certainly shows that some of the hyperbolic statements here about how Apple "ruined" noise canceling are not accurate in the least.
 

bwinter88

macrumors regular
Jul 20, 2012
152
1,913
??‍♂️ I didn't write it but I had the exact same experience (except I got mine first week of November). The noise cancellation problem hit in 2B588. How do you explain the Apple Support thread which was started upon 2B588's release if it's all a load of rubbish?

if you actually read the comments, you’d realize that thread simply became a catch-all for any problem anyone was having, some not even relating to ANC. Of course complaints accumulate in the first couple weeks of a product’s release. The range of problems described in that thread do not support a firmware problem.

And the difference was dramatic to me too like countless others have also found. With 2C54 they sounded different when listening to music I thought. Did you even use a pair running 2B584?

I think you've selectively interpreted what was written too, particularly about that person's experience with duds - to me it read that their buds failed on the hardware side in the period between 2B588 and 2C54, hence the replacement. I've read a lot of people saying similar things so I think it's a mixture of dodgy hardware and software. I don't think it matters anyway as all the other evidence stacks up.
What other evidence? There is none, other than people’s anecdotal experiences. The only quantitative evidence that does exist doesn’t support a dramatic change.

Not only did I buy a pair on launch day I was able to try a pair in October through an Apple engineer friend. The ANC was then, and still is, stellar.

Did RTINGS even test against 2B588? My understanding was that they re-tested 2C54 against their launch review 2B584. Their update is fairly brief in any event.

From The Next Web: "While some people might be lucky enough to not have downloaded the 2C54 version of the AirPods firmware that has caused the ANC issue, many people online think the problems actually started with the 2B588 update. This means that even if you avoided the 2C54 version, you might still have some firmware that delivers less than impressive noise-canceling."

You seem to have a vested and obsessive interest in gaslighting a huge number of people who have all had the same experience. Maybe you just enjoy playing the devil's advocate?
That’s a distortion of my words. I’ve said many times that maybe people DO experience reduced ANC—but it’s almost certainly can’t be a widespread firmware issue. I’m not gaslighting anyone. If anything, the gaslighting is coming from people insisting it’s firmware with no evidence. People DO experience reduced ANC—be it dirt, a poor ear fit, or psychosomatic reasons.

But it’s almost certainly not firmware, for these reasons.

1. the problem as described by users is too inconsistent.
2. Plenty of users report perfectly fine ANC with comparable performance to other ANC headphones.
3. Apple has not released any firmware “fixing” it after many months.
4. This exact scenario has happened with ANC headphones from two other companies—users became convinced the firmware ruined the ANC, testing found no difference.
5. Poor fit, dirt build-up and mechanical issues with single units are a far better fit for the range of issues described.

I keep coming back to this thread because I can’t understand how such a phenomenon perpetuates with so little evidence.

To me the issue is fairly clear. The first time you use the Airpods ANC, it's mind-blowing. Then you get used to it. You start to hear things you didn't hear before, not because they weren't there, but because your brain is more accustomed to the silence. The eartips get dirty. They slide out and don't seal as well as the first time. The microphone grilles get a little gunked up. Suddenly it's a few weeks in and the ANC is less impressive. You google the issue and find others complaining of the same thing. Someone points out there was a firmware update recently. And the conspiracy takes off. Nothing will convince you that it's anything but firmware now.

Now that description is sure to tee off the certain folks here who have actually had a genuine mechanical issue with their Airpods. But for everyone else, a little story. I've been using the Bose QC20's for a good 5 years now. I fall asleep with them in my ears almost every night. Very shortly into using them, I began to believe that they were less effective at noise-cancelling—did I always hear the refrigerator that loudly through them? I chalked it up to physical damage from heavy use, but it was still acceptable quality to me so I continued using them. Recently I bought a new pair for my girlfriend and had a chance to compare.

They were exactly the same. The brain simply normalizes to the silence.
 
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Joseph C

macrumors 65816
Feb 5, 2009
1,452
2,751
We'll have to agree to disagree. And you've now suggested you have a friend at Apple who works in engineering which potentially explains your vested interest in the blanket denial of this issue (Apple's line).

I know for a categorical fact that 2B584 had far stronger noise cancellation than 2B588 (forgetting about 2C54) for two reasons: I used them daily from 2nd November on the same commute route and in the same work environment (construction), and noticed the change the day they updated to 2B588 - FOR MYSELF, without even knowing there had been a firmware update.

And secondly, I had some replacements issued by Apple which were both running 2B584 about 2 weeks ago and tested them out straight away alongside my partner with the (yet to be mailed back) pair on 2B588. We both agreed the units on 2B584 were far better at isolating the other person's voice at multiple distances and the television.

They updated within an hour to 2B588 and under the same conditions we tested again with the exact same AirPods as the test an hour previously (the voice sitting 1m away, voice on the other end of room, and TV on the same volume) and both concluded the difference. With 2B584 the ANC was significantly stronger and blocked nearly all the sound, on 588 a lot leaked through.

I suppose you think that's "psychosomatic" but that's just laughable.
 
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bwinter88

macrumors regular
Jul 20, 2012
152
1,913
We'll have to agree to disagree. And you've now suggested you have a friend at Apple who works in engineering which potentially explains your vested interest in the blanket denial of this issue (Apple's line).
Blanket denial? Apple hasn't denied anything. In fact, they haven't said anything at all. Just because they haven't supported your theories with an acknowledgement doesn't equate to a denial.

What relevance does bias have here? This is not a faith-based argument. Everything I'm saying is simply logically following evidence and reports we all have access to, which I cite, repeatedly and often, when I post.

I've never claimed to have inside info or push a company line. And he works in the audio division, in fact. So if having a friend who might know a thing or two about what's actually going on somehow makes me less informed, have at it.

And secondly, I had some replacements issued by Apple which were both running 2B584 about 2 weeks ago and tested them out straight away alongside my partner with the (yet to be mailed back) pair on 2B588. We both agreed the units on 2B584 were far better at isolating the other person's voice at multiple distances and the television.

They updated within an hour to 2B588 and under the same conditions we tested again with the exact same AirPods as the test an hour previously (the voice sitting 1m away, voice on the other end of room, and TV on the same volume) and both concluded the difference. With 2B584 the ANC was significantly stronger and blocked nearly all the sound, on 588 a lot leaked through.

That's a flawed testing procedure. Your ears have already heard the sounds during the first test, so your ears know what to listen for. Which makes it much more likely you'll indicate that you hear them on the second round.

I don't entirely dismiss your perceptions as evidence of something, but RTINGS already did that test of 2B584 vs 2B588 with actual dB measuring equipment, and found no noticeable difference.

The fact that they were pushed to do the test after reader complaints, and found no measurable difference with testing equipment, supports the argument that this is psychosomatic and echos the phenomenon experienced by Bose QC35 users. (People complained; Bose intervened; no difference was found by Bose engineers).

This Forbes article was also inundated with readers who reported no difference in ANC with 2B588.

So if you both noticed a drastic difference, clearly there's something else going on, non-firmware related. Yes, psychosomatic perhaps.

Also, did anyone notice RTINGS retracted their conclusions about 2C54?

Update 12/04/2019: After receiving multiple reports of the ANC being worse than before after the 2B588 firmware update, we retested the Apple AirPods Pro's noise isolation performance and didn't get noticeable test result differences. Apple might have tweaked the ANC, but not enough to noticeably impact the overall performance.
 
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Ralfi

macrumors 601
Dec 22, 2016
4,373
3,101
Australia
I wonder if there’s a way we can identify the production ‘batch’ of those who have experienced diminished NC with their AirPods?

Are they all from the same country?
 
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ipponrg

macrumors 68020
Oct 15, 2008
2,309
2,087
The thumping went away when I replaced the stock tips with foam ones from amazon. The noise cancellation also improved.

This is kind of obvious, no? On top of ANC, you are adding more passive noise cancellation via foam. Comply foam will always isolate more over silicon tips.
 

bwinter88

macrumors regular
Jul 20, 2012
152
1,913
This is kind of obvious, no? On top of ANC, you are adding more passive noise cancellation via foam. Comply foam will always isolate more over silicon tips.
I’ve tried comply foam and stock tips, but actually what’s worked best for me has been the stock silicone tips/foam DIY mod. They still wiggle loose eventually, but the isolation is unmatched. Comply tips actually don’t even come close.
 

ipponrg

macrumors 68020
Oct 15, 2008
2,309
2,087
I’ve tried comply foam and stock tips, but actually what’s worked best for me has been the stock silicone tips/foam DIY mod. They still wiggle loose eventually, but the isolation is unmatched. Comply tips actually don’t even come close.

I haven’t had that issue yet with comply foam on my other wired IEMs. Havent thought about using foam with my APP since it’s only used for taking calls, and the ANC is good enough
 
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