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Condensation in AirPods Max after long usage
- Thread starter ssong
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Has anyone considered the possibility that Apple have actually tested this and know about it, and actually designed them not to be adversely affected by it?
Just a thought. They are pretty clever people working there, I’m sure they realise condensation can and will happen on metal near a human body
Just a thought. They are pretty clever people working there, I’m sure they realise condensation can and will happen on metal near a human body
The AirPods Pro's hardware redesign shows that some very obvious glaring flaws can still pass by Apple's product development process. The fact that they didn't recess the mesh protecting the vent facing your ears, which meant that it would get clogged up over time by skin oil / wax for people whose anatomy mean that the skin of the concha touches the mesh, and degrade SQ and ANC performance over time, is just plain stupid.
My guess would be that Apple favours secrecy over all else, and that it might get in the way of comprehensive evaluation of a product's flaws by the most competent people in each specific area. Basically, "mesh guy / girl" possibly never knew in full what he / she was exactly working on.
There are some really problematic self-contradicting elements to the APM's design that highlight some issues in Apple's development process.
Regarding water droplets being deposited over time here's an example of them on Sony's XM3/4 series :
Very interestingly in that picture the driver seems mostly dry, unlike what we frequently see with the APM.
Personally I'm not excessively worried, but I'd really like to know if the water droplets deposited on the driver affect the frequency response curve.
Right, I consider that option and hope for it to be the case, but Apple has also designed the butterfly keyboard or they used a too short cable in the 2016 and 2017 MacBook Pros so that the display would fail in many devices just by opening and closing the laptop. So I‘m careful about believing that they took care of it. Maybe they did, maybe not - some kind of proof by people who opened them up would be nice (e.g. iFixit). Maybe it‘s an idea to write them if they found some kind of protection?
Off course Apple is aware of it like every other headphone manufacturer.
But here it is treated as the fantastic discovery of the millennium
But I am still amazed that nobody has tagged a "Gate" to this...
WaterGate ?? Oh wait ....Off course Apple is aware of it like every other headphone manufacturer.
But here it is treated as the fantastic discovery of the millennium
But I am still amazed that nobody has tagged a "Gate" to this...
I picked mine up from my local Apple store last Thursday. I have listened to them multiple times since then for hours at a time. I've yet to experience this issue. As usual with many of these "gates" that seem to occur with every new Apple product I've yet to be affected. I'm lucky I guess???
Its mainly the minority always seems to be the loudest, or gain the most traction, on issues of new technology. The vast majority usually don't experience any problems. Not to say the problem doesn't exist, it absolutely does. But I don't think everyone or most people will necessarily have it.
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Well, I‘m affected, I’m concerned and I have read many reports on this. It seems that quiet some users experience the issue.
I just hope that it won‘t matter and that Apple‘s engineers have taken care of this instead that they sell an expensive device with a faulty design - it wouldn‘t be the first time. I‘ll hope for the best.
I just hope that it won‘t matter and that Apple‘s engineers have taken care of this instead that they sell an expensive device with a faulty design - it wouldn‘t be the first time. I‘ll hope for the best.
If this is happening to someone what kind of a "workaround" would even be remotely possible???
Used my for a 7 hour Teams workshop this friday. They were very comfortable the whole time and when i took off the cushions after the workshop was over, the headphones were completely dry inside. Maybe it depends on your climate? I live in scandinavia...
I wore my AirPods Max for 10-11 hours straight today, starting at 8 AM with two hours on my exercise bike. And I spent several hours in front of the fireplace watching the Mandalorian on my iPad Pro, plus talking on the phone, watching videos in bed; the APM were on my head and in use the entire time. During those 10+ hours, I periodically checked my ear cups, removing the cushions periodically and observing the inside of the cups both visually and with my finger. Never once did I see—or feel—any moisture.
I live in Vermont, where during winter the heat is on 100% of the time, making for very low ambient humidity inside the house. I never wear my AirPods Max outside of the house. I have a very small head and the APMs fit is on the loose side. I tend not to generate much heat (don’t sweat much). I have no idea whether any of these observations has any bearing on my lack of moisture. But I’m happy with the results I’m seeing. I was really afraid I wasn’t going to be able to wear the APM on my exercise bike.
I live in Vermont, where during winter the heat is on 100% of the time, making for very low ambient humidity inside the house. I never wear my AirPods Max outside of the house. I have a very small head and the APMs fit is on the loose side. I tend not to generate much heat (don’t sweat much). I have no idea whether any of these observations has any bearing on my lack of moisture. But I’m happy with the results I’m seeing. I was really afraid I wasn’t going to be able to wear the APM on my exercise bike.
There’s zero point in comparing with other people on this
The main drivers in wether you get condensation in the cup is
1. If you sweat more
2. The temperature of the cups
3. The atmospheric humidity
also there are other minor factors like how much hair you have etc. But the ones above will vary from person to person quite a lot.
i have seen it in mine, but not always and obviously it’s because I’m releasing less moisture in my skin, and the cups are warmer and humidity is different etc etc
Fairly sure this happens with other headphones but you just cant see it
The main drivers in wether you get condensation in the cup is
1. If you sweat more
2. The temperature of the cups
3. The atmospheric humidity
also there are other minor factors like how much hair you have etc. But the ones above will vary from person to person quite a lot.
i have seen it in mine, but not always and obviously it’s because I’m releasing less moisture in my skin, and the cups are warmer and humidity is different etc etc
Fairly sure this happens with other headphones but you just cant see it
I’m Swedish, I assume you live in Denmark ?
I have had condensation on a few, maybe five(?) times, or so. Sometimes after an hour, sometimes after ten hours.
Mostly no condensation at all though.
This happened to me yesterday for the first time. Can't say what made this day different then the usual but after wearing them for a few hours, I took the ear cups off and there was slight moisture in them, just wiped them off. I'm pretty sure this also happens when I wear my beats but we can't remove the cups and don't notice it. oh well....if they break due to moisture, then Apple support will hear from me LOL
I'm having them replaced for the 4th time. The Digital Crown or the ANC button keeps failing after 3-4 weeks. Minutes/hours before failing, they are behaving heretically, which is a common behavior of short circuits, and you can guess, caused by water damages.
Also, when waiting for a replacement, on top of having the crown failing, the automatic head detection broke.
I asked for a refund or gift card, but they said no so far. I took the AppleCare+ so I guess I'll get a fresh new pair every month for the next 2 years ?♂️
Also, when waiting for a replacement, on top of having the crown failing, the automatic head detection broke.
I asked for a refund or gift card, but they said no so far. I took the AppleCare+ so I guess I'll get a fresh new pair every month for the next 2 years ?♂️
Perfect solution right there. Liberal application of an entire can of anti-perspirant for each ear before you use them, then enter your hermetically sealed listening room. Where’s the problem?
Exactly, it worked on the reality that Apple’s engineers were at (same folks who designed that case) so it must be good.
Funny you should say that.... I'm on my 2nd replacement pair and I started seeing odd behaviour with the ANC button. kept switching by itself for no good reason, can only change it through software because the button it self doesn't react, but oddly enough I can still reset it because it seems to register the long press?
My hope was that next time round I'll just ask for a refund because this is just ridiculous but judging by your experience I guess I won't have much luck...
EDIT: In case someone has similar experiences to me
I got lucky and had my case escalated and got a refund. I’ll probably just wait for the second iteration of these and hope that they fix some of the issues. I was offered a replacement, and was told that the 4th replacement would be a new retail unit but having made the case that retail unit or not, replacement units are obviously not solving the problem for me and asked for a refund.
Interesting note, I asked if the engineers / technicians left any notes on my previous 2 units that I sent back as to what the issue might have been. Sadly nothing useful ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ but yeah happy for y’all that are having no issues cos I really did like these headphone but it just kept breaking on me :/
EDIT 2: in case anyone is interested the 1st time round the issue was it was having intermittent connectivity issues and then got to a point where it just wouldn’t connect at all. 2nd time round it wouldn’t respond at all to any button presses, chargers, etc. Almost as if the circuit board got fried ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ and the last time round which led me to go for the refund, one of the buttons stopped working, and by the time I went to process the refund, both buttons no longer worked... so similar to the 2nd instance.
But yeah.. I’d like to believe Apple had considered all options but as some people point out... they did make the butterfly keyboard and we all know how that went.....
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