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The AirPods Pro “Rattlegate”
- flyinglizard 6y agoLeft rattling here.
- MetalMatze 6y agoGlad my first gen still work super fine - even with Android. :)
- jasonrojas 6y agoI've been googling about this same exact issue for the last week seeing if there are any "fixes". damn.
- disantlor 6y agodont have AirPods but had over the ear headphones that had similar rattling issues that were just the result of a small hair getting through the mesh and interacting with the driver
- valine 6y agoI was just on Apple's support page for this exact issue. I ordered my pros on launch day so I was hoping it was a quality control issue from the first batch. One thing I've noticed is that the rattling noise goes away if I disable noise cancellation. It seems to be an issue with the NC microphones.
- dijit 6y agoI have this issue; have been waiting for the apple stores to re-open, wasn't aware it was wide-spread.
- jborichevskiy 6y agoI had my faulty Airpod replaced via mail after calling them. They ship you a working one with a return label and you have a few days to send your broken one back. They also put a hold on a card as a deposit.
- dijit 6y agoI don't see such options in the Swedish store, but I'll call tomorrow. :) Thanks
- jborichevskiy 6y agoAh yeah, forgot to mention this was in the U.S. Hope they offer you it too!
- FireBeyond 6y agoNo idea why Apple, one of the richest companies in the world, and "all about the customer" needs to place a hold on my card for a warranty replacement. I've exchanged a faulty $3,000 camera on Amazon and they overnighted the replacement, and said that if I didn't return the faulty one within 30 days they'd charge me. They didn't pre-auth or hold funds. Better hope you have a credit card, I guess.
- jborichevskiy 6y agoAbsolutely agree. My list of questions that begin with “no idea why Apple, one of the richest companies in the world...” is quite long. Most recently posed here https://jborichevskiy.com/posts/spending-electronics/ https://jborichevskiy.com/posts/spending-electronics/
- ajzinsbwbs 6y agoIn order to get the replacement, I needed to know the serial number of the AirPods but didn’t need to provide any proof of purchase (I wasn’t the original buyer of the AirPods). This suggests to me that anyone who can get AirPod serial numbers could get free AirPods sent to them by contacting customer service. Absent the credit card hold, it seems like a good way to steal a lot of AirPods. I would guess at Apple’s scale, someone probably has done this scheme in the past so they need to find a way to prevent it (even if it never happened with AirPods, it probably happened with iPhones). Asking for the credit card hold upfront is a little unfriendly, but a lot better than dealing with a bunch of anti-fraud/collections work. It’s also much more friendly than requiring the customer to send in the broken AirPods first to get a replacement (this is the most common repair service I’ve experienced from other manufacturers, and it’s painful enough that I usually just try to fix the thing myself or throw it away). I’d say the credit card/mailing method is also not Apple’s preferred means of exchange - it’s the backup for when the Apple Store is unavailable. At the store you hand them the AirPods when you get your replacement so there’s no need to provide a deposit.
- sprite 6y agoDoes anyone know a workaround for having to switch microphone to Internal on MacBook Pro every time you connect AirPods Pro to avoid terrible sound quality?
- drewwwwww 6y agothat's a bluetooth limitation likely on the macbook side, so i think the answer is "buy a new macbook pro".
- cjbconnor 6y agoI have this issue on a new MBP 16, and it seems like something forces the Bluetooth codec to switch whenever the mic on the BT device is active.
- Polylactic_acid 6y agoBluetooth has many modes. The regular audio one is A2DP which sounds good but has no mic support. Then there is HSP which sounds like a tin can microphone broadcast over AM radio. I imagine apple has something proprietary to do 2 way audio on the airpods tho.
- sephamorr 6y agoOh boy, at least it's only annoying. Not sure if this is just because I use 3rd-party bluetooth headphones (bose QC35) and inadequate Apple software testing, but if I try to use headphones for audio and switch to the internal macbook mic, Facetime either freezes or crashes every time.
- strombofulous 6y agoI bet it's somehow the 35s. Those things have - hands down - the worst bluetooth drivers I've ever encountered
- Mandatum 6y ago
- aqme28 6y agoI've been noticing this on one of mine lately. I didn't realize it was so widespread. Good to know I'm not the only one.
- foobarbazetc 6y agoI have this exact issue. The “fix” was to never use either NC or transparency. Just park it on the middle option. I really dislike this product.
- dewey 6y agoFor me this issue persists even in all the other "modes". The support chat advised me to take off the rubber tips and try them without for testing and it didn't make any rattle noises then. I don't really understand how that can be the reason.
- foobarbazetc 6y agoSometimes the mode doesn’t “click” until you switch it to NC then back to the middle. It’s a mess.
- jb775 6y agoIs there a hardware piece physically rattling inside? Or is this a software issue? I have the new airpods but haven't had any issues (besides a single airpod sometimes not syncing with my phone at first). For what it's worth, I rarely ever use the mic.
- outworlder 6y agoNo, sounds like a software issue. EDIT: other sources are saying it is actually a hardware problem. But there's nothing actually "loose" that's physically rattling as far as people can tell (specially since noise cancellation off minimizes the problem)
- another_kel 6y agoIt's hardware 100%. I had that thing on my left one first only in noise cancellation and close to max volume. But then I dropped it onto asphalt and that thing became loud af in any mode on any volume. Doubt that the drop affected the software.
- 6y ago
- rememberlenny 6y agoApple will replace your AirPod Pros if you have this problem. You can submit the request online and they will just send you a new pair. Most likely you fall under the support warranty period, and it will be at no cost to yourself.
- dmcginty 6y agoIn the article the writer says that they've had to do multiple replacements so far, and having to get replacement AirPods every several months isn't sustainable or convenient.
- dewey 6y agoWriter here: Yes, they replaced them twice and currently in the process of replacement number 3. I'll just see if I can get a refund though. I'll wait for the next generation.
- Polylactic_acid 6y agoThis seems to be a trend with apple products.
- catacombs 6y agoWhere, exactly, can one file this request on Apple's website? I doubt something like this is easy to find.
- nolaspring 6y agoI contacted apple support and got a new pair. Free (with credit card hold until I sent the defective pair back). So far so good. But if it happens again... yeah not sustainable.
- slivanes 6y agoMy guess is that Apple can replace them 7 times and still be ahead profit-wise.
- Kirby64 6y agoYou think the actual BOM cost for AirPods Pro's is less than $32? (Assuming you mean replace both earphones 7 times, so 8 total earphones) Pretty sure that's on the low side. Plus, logistics cost of dealing with replacements and such adds far more than just absolute BOM cost.
- tim58 6y agoMy guess is that the damage to Apple's brand name that occurs with each replacement is larger than the cost of replacing the product. I once had an expensive brand of computer mouse. After eight months the mouse failed. Later I bought another mouse from the same brand. The mouse failed after 14 months. I stopped buying from the brand. The same thing can happen to Apple, and they need to be careful about the quality of the products they sale when they charge premium prices.
- Bnshsysjab 6y agoI daresay an iPhone, after R&D costs to Apple and third parties, probably costs less than $100 in materials.
- Kirby64 6y agoYou'd be very wrong. Component cost (not including any assembly cost) for any modern flagship smart phone is well north of $100. North of $300 on most phones. Take a look at the cost estimates that most folks do on smartphones (Ex. https://www.techinsights.com/blog/samsung-galaxy-s10-teardown https://www.techinsights.com/blog/samsung-galaxy-s10-teardow...). Apple isn't undercutting other companies by $300+.
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- mikairpods 6y agoHad this issue on AirPods Pro, first with the left ear approx. 2 months after purchase and then with the right ear approx. 6 months after purchase. In both cases Apple replaced at no cost.
- WildGreenLeave 6y agoI've gotten both my left and my right Airpod pro replaced on different occasions. My right one after 4 months and my left one 1 month later. So far, all of my friends/coworkers that own the pro's also got them replaced at some point within 6 months, or are dealing with the 'Rattlegate' issue. I am blown away by the quality of the pro, both positive and negative. How is it that we are all paying $280 and still have to replace them every year. One good point is, Apple is sending replacements out without any questions asked other than 'is it making that sound?'. The replacement flow is really smooth too: Call or chat -> CreditCard got charged -> Left or right replacement is send via UPS -> You replace the specific side that isn't working correctly -> You pack the broken one in the bag that is included -> You return it for free at a UPS point. Obviously, this won't work anymore after a year of use because after that they are out of warranty. (At least in The Netherlands)
- mey 6y agoThe fact that it is so smooth indicates that is has become a SOP and been scaled up.
- noodlesUK 6y agoI don’t know about the Netherlands specifically, but most countries in the EEA have extremely strong consumer protection laws. It’s probably the case that you have many years of guaranteed freedom from manufacturing flaws under your local laws. In the U.K. it’s almost pointless to purchase extended warranties as most items are guaranteed by law to be free from manufacturing defects for 6 years after purchase. https://www.apple.com/uk/legal/statutory-warranty/ https://www.apple.com/uk/legal/statutory-warranty/
- NullPrefix 6y ago>CreditCard got charged I somehow misunderstood this part. Do you have to pay for warranty replacement?
- WildGreenLeave 6y agoThey charge your Creditcard until you send back your broken Airpod. In the end it doesn't cost you anything.
- behexen 6y agoI've had two replacements on my AirPods Pro so far because of this issue. First time the issue started after 6 months of use. The second time was within a week of the original replacement. All good so far after the second replacement (about a month). Fortunately Apple makes the replacement process easy.
- a-wu 6y agoI've had my pair replaced for this too. It seems to be an issue with the NC mics. When neither NC nor Transparency are on, I didn't get the issue. Apple will do an Express Replacement (2-day new pair, _then_ you mail old pair back) which is nice.
- badwolf 6y agoMine got so bad I would get the "rattle" anytime music had any amount of bass/mids. Regardless of noise-cancellation or transparency.
- a-wu 6y agoyikes, that sounds like blown out drivers?
- badwolf 6y agoPossibly. It started out with just the "rattle" in noise cancellation or transparency mode. Then I started noticing it any time I talked on the phone/zoom/etc... (I have a deeper voice) then it started without the mic being used at all (NC completely off, just music or podcasts) ... Now the other pod is doing the same thing.
- Polylactic_acid 6y agoCould just be some glue inside broke off.
- badwolf 6y agoApple replaced my left pod for this... Fast forward a few weeks and now the right pod is doing the same thing. Meanwhile my regular Airpods are still working like a charm.
- elbigbad 6y agoMy regular airpods, which are now three years old, are tanks. I use them now exclusively for running/exercising and they won't die. My new ones are better for the sound isolation/listening to music, but they rattle now and do migrate out of my ears when I talk too much, so the latter part of meetings is usually a little annoying with me needing to constantly re-adjust them.
- dkonofalski 6y agoMy old AirPods went through the washer on accident and wouldn't power on. After dunking them in some rubbing alcohol and charging them, they still work flawlessly to this day.
- toyg 6y agoSame here. The battery is obviously not what it was (I get about 90mins of phone calls before I have to start the 1-in-ear-1-charging dance), but apart from that, and despite my typically abusive treatment (fell on tarmac and tiles multiple times), they still work great. I was considering a switch to the Pro but after this post I'll have to reconsider...
- tptacek 6y agoI had this problem; Apple just replaced the affected earbud. Hasn't recurred, it's been a few months. But, I mean, I've had problems with most of the IEMs I've ever bought at one point or another. It's just that you don't get to the top of HN with a post about a pattern of Shure product defects.
- michaelsitver 6y agoCan confirm. Apple has replaced (for free, to their credit) at least two, maybe three airpods for me for this issue.
- egypturnash 6y agopicks up her trusty B&O earbuds and kisses them Never need to worry about charging them, soft replacable rubber cups fit into my asymmetrically-sized earholes, they're always there waiting in my bag on the rare occasion I want to use them, I am gonna be so sad when my 6s breaks and I have to replace it with either an Android phone or an iPhone with no audio jack, maybe I'll just get one of those lightning⟷audio adaptors and keep it on the earbuds forever. I still do not see how the Airpods are an improvement in any way.
- somuchlan 6y agoI've always been curious of picking up a pair of bluetooth B&O buds, but as an Apple user - the W1/H1 chip for constant pairing with no interference in high traffic areas (subway, city streets) is huge
- egypturnash 6y agoThese are wired. :)
- xnyan 6y agoCables. It's fair if they are not a problem for you, but they are for me and getting rid of them is a gamechanger. I move around a lot all day, most days. They were constantly getting caught in things throughout my day and pulling at my ear in a very unpleasant way, or got caught snagged on something like ladder I'm climbing and would go flying out of my ears. Hatred. Airpods (not pro) are fantastic for what they are. They last for hours, charge in minutes, pair reliably with my iphone 11 and sound very ok. Not great, but not bad. Ok. Perfect for podcasts, audiobooks, lectures, and calls I have to take throughout the day. The famous photography advice "the best camera in the world is the one you have on you when you need to take a picture" definitely applies. It lets me listen to spoken word and a little music very comfortability throughout the day, and I have big cans at home for everything else.
- kemayo 6y agoChiming in to agree -- the original AirPods made a serious difference to how much I listened to things. I was skeptical before I tried them, but the subtle inconvenience of cables turned out to be a huge subconscious factor to me. The convenient case (and not having to deal with wrapping cables up to put them away in it...) also helped, of course.
- zelly 6y agoI've had this problem. It comes and goes randomly. Finally someone said something.
- bobsil1 6y agoJogging with them = rattling sound
- _bxg1 6y agoI've had the same issue. And another, more important one: the noise-cancelling/passthrough features have gradually ceased to work entirely. I replaced one bud when this started happening and was making things asymmetrical (super annoying), then noticed the new one was noise-cancelling more than the "still good" one, indicating that the other one had started degrading too. Eventually both of them stopped working for anything but basic playback. I've heard theories that the outer mics can get clogged with ear wax over time, and I tried several different strategies for cleaning them. I even bought entirely new rubber caps, just in case that contributed. Nothing I did worked. Eventually I just gave up and bought another pair of the regular AirPods, which had always worked reliably (I gave away my first pair as a gift when I got the Pros). It's honestly shameful that such an expensive product can be so problematic, but I got weary of being upset about it and just wanted to get on with my life.
- lstamour 6y agoI had connectivity issues on mine. One or the other would stubbornly not go into NC mode, or you’d see iOS say “Noise Cancelling” but it would actually be transparency mode, and had not fully shifted. Haven’t had too many issues since I had the entire set replaced, but it was multiple calls and a fair amount of headache when juggling returning each of the AirPods shipments and returns. Two of the boxes, the case and left AirPod Pro arrived one day, the right AirPod Pro was stuck at FedEx and would ship the next day. Why couldn’t they be replaced in one box the way I bought them, I wondered... Overall, the AirPods Pro are impressive but hardly foolproof... yet?
- DominikPeters 6y agoA common theory on forums is that noise cancellation was reduced by a firmware update (to version 2B588), for unknown reasons.
- _bxg1 6y agoThat isn't what I'm talking about here. It's most obvious on passthrough: there's simply almost no sound being picked up by the ambient mics.
- DavideNL 6y agoInteresting, I have noticed the same issue this week :'(
- ajzinsbwbs 6y agoThis happened to me four times in four months. Every time, it appeared one of the microphones was broken, because I would hear a buzzing, rattling, or clicking noise when in transparency or noise-canceling mode. The current set have both been good for a two or three months. At least Apple has great service. When the Apple store was open I could just walk over there and get the broken AirPod swapped in minutes. After lockdown I needed to call Apple support and get them to mail me one, which would take a few days to show up.
- aaomidi 6y agoAlso can use the apple support app
- borkt 6y agoWow, so thats what it is? My Siri hasnt been working well and I just assumed the two were unrelated. Roughly every other sentence I dictate to Siri has the word 'Play' at the start of it as well, which must be related. I can wait 5 seconds after triggering siri to begin speaking and it is still prefixed with 'play'. No idea why but all these together sound like a support call is in order.
- cpascal 6y agoMy left AirPod pro began rattling. It's obviously annoying/upsetting that this is an issue, but AppleCare+ support was awesome. I chatted with Apple on a Thursday and on Friday I had a new left AirPod Pro via overnight mail. No cost to me.
- pageandrew 6y agoI'm having this same issue. Thinking of sending mine in as well.
- oweqruiowe 6y agoOh nice, mine are getting delivered tomorrow!
- tim58 6y agoAntidotally I am a heavy airpod pro user, averaging seven hours a day. I have two pairs so one is always at full power. I have not experienced this problem.
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- flog 6y agoI had this. The first attempt to fix was to ship a replacement rubber earpiece, which didn't work. Ultimately they replaced the entire earbud.
- somuchlan 6y agoI just dropped my left airpod pro replacement in the mail today. Fingers crossed this works, I had the right one replaced just three months ago for not charging. The "seal test" never works either for both ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I do agree these have by far been the most needy/buggy pair of wireless headphones I've owned in the past 5 years (Beats, Bose, Sony, Anker, B&O). Yes, I own a lot of headphones
- mleo 6y agoI have replaced my right AirPod (1 in 3 months), but as yet, these don't hold a candle to the PowerBeats3. I think I went through 5 replacements in 1.5 years. With PowerBeats, I had to send in the headphones for warranty repair, losing any use (in the couple of cases they maybe, kind of kept working). For the replacement AirPod, at least Apple sent the replacement before I had to send it back to them.
- grawprog 6y agoThis might be off topic or overly pedantic but why must this be referred to as 'rattlegate'? How is this a 'gate'? In what way does a line of rattling heaphones resemble an incident where the president of the united States was caught incriminating himself on tape in a hotel? Why must this term be used for everything?
- outworlder 6y agoAntennagate set the precedent.
- pvarangot 6y agoI like to think how everything must be so right in the world were this people live that what makes them the most active and angry is their pieces of cheap consumer electronics not working perfectly. And yeah your Airpods are cheap, $250 for a wireless noise cancelling pair of headphones that fit in a pocket is wonderfully cheap and Apple can only sustain that pricing because this fashionable products are almost a loss leader.
- mmahemoff 6y agoIs there a source for that? Similar products are only a fraction of the cost of Airpods. Granted, they don't work as well, but that's to be expected as Apple has complete control over the device. Accessories like this are generally where Apple has enjoyed huge margins.
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- throwanem 6y agoIt's off topic and overly pedantic. In the same spirit, Nixon wasn't at the hotel.
- cma 6y agoLots of words lose their original impact and become widespread. Decimate was originally used to refer to killing 10% of a company's soldiers as collective punishment or something like that, but today we use it for much less serious events (and usually ignore the actual percentage magnitude).
- ngcc_hk 6y agoIt is not a gate level issue. Any lying. Any secret tape. Any abuse of public authority involving CIA ...
- css 6y agoI have received 3 full replacements for this issue.
- smcleod 6y agoThis has happened to me with both my left and right AirPod, Apple was pretty good about replacing them but it was obviously still annoying especially since they’re $400 earbuds.
- dkonofalski 6y ago>they’re $400 earbuds. You do realize that the price of these is listed on their website. They're not $400.
- smcleod 6y agoI do realise that, Apple's website is where I got the price from and how much I paid. They are $399 (sure, $1 less than $400) in Australia and New Zealand - maybe you're in a different country? Link: https://www.apple.com/au/shop/product/MWP22ZA/A/airpods-pro https://www.apple.com/au/shop/product/MWP22ZA/A/airpods-pro Screenshot: https://i.imgur.com/lfyAVod.jpg https://i.imgur.com/lfyAVod.jpg
- kristofferR 6y agoAustralian dollars are worth way less than the American dollars we're talking about.
- smcleod 6y agoI didn’t reply to any comment that was talking about the price in the USA, state or suggest I was talking about how much they might cost in the USA and the article was not discussing anything USA specific. > "Dollar (symbol: $) is the name of more than 20 currencies, including those of Australia, Brunei, Canada, Hong Kong, Jamaica, Liberia, Namibia, New Zealand, Singapore, Taiwan and the United States." - Wikipedia When you talk about the price of pacemakers, penicillin or Wifi do you expect everyone to talk about them in AUD just because they were invented there? Just because you (presumably) live the USA doesn’t mean the rest of the internet does.
- personlurking 6y agoWow. I've had this same problem for months. I spent over an hour on the phone with Support just trying to describe the problem, until they came to the conclusion that there was absolutely no way to send me new ones or to have me send them my broken ones...because I live in Puerto Rico. The week prior, Apple had sent me a new cable for my phone in 2 days flat, yet when I had a problem, there was nothing they could do about it.
- george_perez 6y agoSame here. From Puerto Rico, too. I thought about sending my AirPods Pro to my relative living in FL, but with COVID-19 shipping delays I didn't want to risk missing the extremely narrow shipping window to send back the broken AirPods. They were all "Yep, this sounds like a problem! Let me set up a repair" until I sent my Puerto Rico address. Terrible support for non US-mainlanders.
- sukilot 6y agoFile a chargeback on your credit card. Or send the pods to FL and then file the claim.
- londons_explore 6y agoChargebacks against apple are a good way to get a lifetime ban from all Apple services... No iCloud for you, ever!
- mandeepj 6y ago> non-US mainlanders should be US non-mainlanders
- george_perez 6y agoThanks! Fixed.
- personlurking 6y ago
- borkt 6y agoJust want to add same here.
- moltar 6y agoInteresting. I’ve had mine since November last year and use them for many hours per day. Haven’t had any issues. Could it be the way it is being used causing it? Maybe dropping a lot? Or carrying it in a bag with other items, E.g. magnets?
- fnordprefect 6y agoI don't think so, on my anecdatum. I've also had mine since early November last year, and also use them many hours a day, mostly at my desk. Never dropped. Either left on desk in case or carried in a trouser pocket with nothing else except my iPhone. They were absolutely perfect until about ~6 weeks ago, when the right bud started to make an awful tinny noise (which I thought was imperfect cancellation, and a software bug of some kind) when I coughed, which it had never done before. Yesterday, I started getting the rattling sound when walking, right earbud only. Goes away for a couple of steps if you take it out and reseat it, then comes straight back. Rattles in time with footstep. Since it's an impulse thing for me (force of cough, force of bouncing when walking), I'm guessing defective connection (defective solder joint?) that is misbehaving when stressed?
- ddlutz 6y agoI'm kind of surprised so many people are having issues in this thread. This is probably the only apple product that hasn't caused problems for me. My iPad constantly has weird internet disconnect issues, I have the faulty keyboard on my macbook pro that's just unnaceptable, but never had an issues with the airpod pros.
- toyg 6y agoFault rates of 50% will make a lot of people angry, but if you're in the "right" 50% you won't notice it. The Airpods are possibly the single best-selling Apple SKU at the moment, so even a 10% fault rate will generate a lot of unhappy people.
- Godel_unicode 6y ago> The first generation of the AirPods was generally regarded as a perfect product If you don't care about sound quality, isolation, noise cancelation, mic quality, or using it with a non-apple device of any kind, sure. In other words, if you primarily care about form and only peripherally about function. Edit: for reference, rtings gave them a 6.4 https://www.rtings.com/headphones/reviews/apple/airpods-1-truly-wireless-2017 https://www.rtings.com/headphones/reviews/apple/airpods-1-tr...
- dewey 6y agoThe first generation was never advertised as having a noise cancellation feature so I'm not sure why that that should be a negative point. They also work well with non-apple devices as they can just be paired via Bluetooth like any other wireless headphones.
- Godel_unicode 6y agoA perfect product would be a product which has all the features you would want. How do you adjust their onboard eq from your Android phone? Change their settings in any other way than volume? Unless you use the word perfect to mean something other than "having all the required or desirable elements, qualities, or characteristics".
- chrisseaton 6y ago> How do you adjust their onboard eq from your Android phone? Almost nobody wants to do this. It's a vanishingly minor requirement. You end up with a 'Homer Car' forcing all these wacky features in. I'd actively prefer a product that's simpler, without features like this.
- Godel_unicode 6y agoHN: anything other than totally free software is a crime against humanity. Also HN: Apple knows best, don't adjust your radio. If you think the audio could be better, you're the problem. What a horrifyingly boring world we are building in the name of "simplicity"
- akkartik 6y agoMore on the environmental effects of airpods: https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/neaz3d/airpods-are-a-tragedy https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/neaz3d/airpods-are-a-trag... That they're unreliable is just the icing on this sandwich.
- mic_stee 6y agoAre AirPods any worse for the environment than any other electronic device? You could argue that they are unnecessary but they don't seem to be any different than older bluetooth earbuds or any other device that is plastic with a rechargeable battery.
- Teknoman117 6y agoAdmittedly not tiny little wireless earbuds, and costing twice what airpods do, my Sony XM3 noise cancelling headset had 30 hours of battery life when it was new. After 1 year of full day usage during the work week, they last 24 hours. Kinda surprised the Airpods battery dies so quick.
- jbverschoor 6y agoMy airpods last not even 15 minutes of phone call. They were about 18months old
- smabie 6y agoThat article is so ridiculous and over the top I have a hard time even taking it seriously: "People in working or impoverished economic classes are responsible for the life-threatening, exhaustive, violent work of removing their parts from the ground and assembling them. Meanwhile, people in the global upper class design and purchase AirPods." I mean, yeah, I guess so?
- kawfey 6y agoI just had my right airpod returned and replaced under warranty, it's only a matter of time before the left goes. It took me two hours to get a person on the phone, and we went through no less than 3 reset cycles. :| Then the advisor told me I have to return it in person to an apple store (which is closed) or to an apple authorized repair store, and mentioned there will be a $29 fee, but fortunately for me, she was reading the prices wrong. Warranty returns/repairs should be free of cost. I asked for a supervisor, and was connected to someone who actually knew what was going on. He said they could mail the replacement and return packaging so I wouldn't have to come in. Second advisor was so helpful and knowledgeable. I'm just babying my left airpod before it goes.
- Iwork4Google 6y agoTry using the official Apple Support App and chatting w them. They should send you a replacement airpod pro the same way you got a cable. They will just place a hold on your card for the amount of the replacement part until you return the defective one. They ship with a pre-filled return label - at least in the US
- jfb 6y agoSame in Canada. Chatted online, got a case #, turned around in less than a week. Good service, not the best product.
- xylophonermore 6y agoNope, chatting didn't help for me, it only added to the time wasting. I had the same AirPod Pro problem and started with chat Not only did they not solve it via chat (despite detailed troubleshooting notes I provided), they wasted a lot of time asking me to try things that clearly had nothing to do w/ the problem. After a long time of this, they said I'd have to call. Even with a case number, I basically started from scratch on the phone, took about 1hr. After all that, they did finally send me one replacement (right side only). It fixed the problem, though I will say that now they perpetually unbalanced in terms of ear pressure.
- pgtruesdell 6y ago
- tomcam 6y agoMine rattle too! Man, I hate that. I assumed it was just my bad luck, and since peaceful protestors looted my local Apple Store I wasn't able to bring them in.
- tyre 6y ago> since peaceful protestors looted my local Apple Store There is a difference between peaceful protestors and people who engaged in looting. Don't conflate the two for the sake of a snarky comment.
- haram_masala 6y agoThe parent commenter was making a facetious reference to the way the protests were reported in the news media. They surely know there’s an actual difference, which was the point.
- tomcam 6y agoGlad someone gets it
- elbigbad 6y agoMaybe, or maybe they're one of those that use protests as a scapegoat for everything from the Apple store being closed to new instances of coronavirus. You just can't tell, so it's not worth engaging.
- tomcam 6y agoEspecially when you don’t have a clue. I had to call mall security to find out that it was closed because 20% of the mall was looted. No local media coverage, and the police wouldn’t tell me why. Can you think of a better way to get the information? It took me quite a lot of work.
- tomcam 6y agoWhile we’re issuing commands , don’t tell me how to think when you completely lack a of sense of humor. By the way, the local news media never mentioned the store was looted. I had to find out the hard way. All they talked about was peaceful protesters.
- shepardrtc 6y agoUp until the other day, I had only needed to replace my AirPods twice so far. But then the microphone died on the right one and now I will need to replace them yet again. I love my AirPods but this is so incredibly frustrating. Pro tip: Use the Voice Memo app to determine which microphone is failing, and then go into the Bluetooth settings. You can make the microphone default to the side that isn't broken.
- Rebelgecko 6y agoSheesh, this is a big reason why I dislike Airpods. They've turned headphones/earbuds into a piece of disposable tech. Apple wants to be normalize the purchase of a new pair of earbuds every year. It sounds like you're about to be on your 4th pair since 2017. Even just having to replace them twice seems excessive. I'm on my second pair of corded over the ear headphones since 2008. My current ones still work, but one of the ear cushions is starting to fall apart. Instead of throwing all the electronics away, I can just get a new ear piece on eBay for $3
- 0x38B 6y agoI love buying gear that I can take care of and otherwise maintain. This includes a fountain pen - a Lamy 2000 that writes wonderfully and holds plenty of ink - and a pair of wired Shures. Previously I had a great pair of earbuds from MeeElectronics (now MEE Audio) that lasted a couple years. The sweet spot for me is to buy quality gear that satisfies my needs; not too cheap and not too expensive. I fully expect to lose my Shures or my Lamy before they break, and I like it that way. Edit: maybe I'm just really careful with my gear, but I always coil my cables nicely - over/under or a similar method, and I let them fold the same way each time. My cables last forever, including earbud cables.
- samatman 6y agoI hear this a lot, but headphones and earbuds are distinct products, and earbuds have always been semi-disposable for me. I've only ever had one pair of headphones, which are on their third (fourth?) cable and needed muff replacement on one side. Earbuds? The corded ones last me 2 to 6 months before the thin copper in the cabling work-hardens and breaks. Airpods are semi-disposable as well, and much more expensive, but convenient and nice, while lasting quite a bit longer than corded earbuds. My first pair lasted 18 months, and the battery was fine, I just blew out the speakers. I value not being tethered to my phone. Your mileage may vary, I'm kinda hard on my stuff.
- jzymbaluk 6y agoI've also been dealing with rattling and buzzing noises in my airpods pro. Usually (but not always) turning noise cancellation mode off fixes the issue, but that totally defeats the purpose of having the pro model. Not to mention they are nowhere near as comfortable in your ear as the base-model airpods. Definitely a disappointing purchase
- johncozen 6y agoYour point about comfort is accurate. I can sleep with the base model in comfortably. Not so much with the pros.
- elbigbad 6y agoWow! I thought I had broken mine or something. My left one rattles constantly as I'm walking, unless I tiptoe.
- DanHulton 6y agoOh wild, I didn't know this was widespread. Happened in my left airpod pro, and went through Apple Support to get a replacement mailed out. Hasn't happened to the right one yet, though I _did_ notice a real difference in audio quality between the new left and the old right. I'm kind of hoping it starts to rattle so I can more-easily get a replacement for it, honestly?
- MindTooth 6y agoI currently have mine delivered for a service. Started experiencing the popping sound. There is something off with these. Would not change them out though. I’ve also have new Comply Foam ear foam on their way.
- drclau 6y agoI had this problem with both left and right AirPods. I got a replacement, and a confirmation that it is a known issue. I currently live in Czechia, and there’re no official Apple stores here, but this hasn’t been a problem. I just had to wait a couple of days for the replacement. Interestingly enough, I had a very similar issue with my Sony WH-1000XM3. They would click and pop whenever I moved my head, touched them, or simply when a door or window would open or close and produce a small change in air pressure. They would click several times in a row, every time with less intensity, before stopping. Extremely annoying. Just like with the Airpods, it would only happen with ANC on. After a failed attempt to repair them in warranty, I just insisted on getting a new pair or my money back. I am fairly confident that in both cases it was a hardware failure.
- fourseventy 6y agoI have some friends that live in CZ and they still all call it Czech Republic and hate the new Czechia name. This is my first time hearing anyone refer to it by that name before.
- reaperducer 6y agoI read recently that one of the leaders of .cz likes the name and one of the leaders hates it. I'm not a fan because to me it's too similar to Chechnya. In fact, that's what I thought the parent poster was talking about until your comment was posted.
- alexdumitru 6y agoHere in Romania we've always called it Cehia, which sounds a lot like Czechia, so it feels more natural now.
- smcl 6y agoI lived here before and after the official name change. Everyone I know still calls it "Czech Republic" - "Czechia" feels weird and unnatural to me. Additionally it sounds quite close to "Čechy" - what in English we call "Bohemia" - which refers only to the western half of the country (see [1]). So it reminds me a little bit of when people call the UK "England" - so as a Scot living in Moravia I sympathise a little with some locals who feel a bit irked by it :-) [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Czech_Republic#/media/File:Czech_Rep._-_Bohemia,_Moravia_and_Silesia_III_(en).png https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Czech_Republic#/media/File:Cze...
- illustriousbear 6y agoSame issue. I had my left one replaced and then the right one. My wife's hasn't failed yet...
- ja27 6y agoSame happening for about 5 weeks now with my left and now a little bit on the right. Had the right replaced earlier because it kept randomly buzzing. It's actually really helpful to see that it doesn't happen when Noise Control is Off, since I failed to notice that. That gives me a mode that works temporarily. Had no real issue getting replacements(for both sides since I think it's starting on the right too) in the mail just now (since my local Apple stores are closed). Do need to provide a credit card hold / deposit until you return the old ones. Last time my replacement included fresh ear tips too so a small bonus for the trouble.
- pgtruesdell 6y agoI had my left AirPod Pro replaced in the past few weeks. It was straightforward and effortless to get support via iMessage, and I got a replacement in 2 days. It seemed a bit too easy, to be honest, so I figured Apple knows about this issue and is trying to solve it as quietly as possible. Interesting to see how widespread this issue is.
- JoshGlazebrook 6y agoI had this problem and surprisingly doing a factory reset fixed the issue.
- otterley 6y agoHad the same problem, spoke with Apple Support over text, got a replacement sent overnight to me with free return shipping. The only thing that could have gone better is it never happening in the first place, but overall, I'm pleased with how it was handled.
- batmanthehorse 6y agoI had this after I dropped my right earbud ~3 feet. There was a click every time I took a step with noise canceling or transparency mode. The outer grille on mine was very barely dented. I think this caused the external mic to pick up unexpected noise and try to cancel noise that wasn't there. Apple was very quick to send a replacement.
- emsy 6y agoI had a different issue. My right AirPod Pro just flat out refused to connect. It was still “hissing” from the NC and making the click noise from the pause gesture. But it wouldn’t connect to my phone, even after resetting the Airopds.
- drcode 6y agoI don't know how I feel about these types of threads... the airpods are something of a technological miracle, I frankly can't believe how reliable they are despite the shortcomings (I have the Pros and have experienced occasional rattling issues, as well as connectivity issues, but still less issues than on similar devices from other manufacturers I had previously) I kinda feel like overly nitpicking these types of extremely advanced pieces of technology risks discouraging Apple and other companies from experimenting on cool new technology. Can't we just all agree that the Airpods Pro give an awesome experience to 95% of people, and be happy with how great that is? :)
- dkonofalski 6y ago>Can't we just all agree that the Airpods Pro >95% of people Seems like at least 5% of people would disagree with you. And this is coming from someone who absolutely loves both my AirPods and AirPods Pro and doesn't have the issue described. I'd be pissed if I had to swap out headsets every 2-3 months.
- totetsu 6y ago> risks discouraging Apple and other companies from experimenting on cool new technology. I don't think we have to worry about hurting Apple's feelings.
- ouid 6y agoAre airpods really universally agreed upon to be a "perfect product"? Are we forgetting the price tag, the limited use time, the fact that they add 3 disconnected parts to your phone/headphones setup, or the fact that they were released along with the removal of a headphone jack, preventing users from opting out?
- nmfisher 6y agoThe success of AirPods continues to astonish me. I was gifted a pair, and they're sitting at the bottom of a drawer somewhere because I find them so irritatingly bad.
- valuearb 6y agoHighest customer satisfaction of any Apple product in history.
- johnpaulkiser 6y ago> add 3 disconnected parts to your phone/headphones setup This is a pro in my experience. I think they were intentionally designed so that they earpieces would only ever be in 2 places: in your ear or in the case.
- IMAYousaf 6y agoDoes anyone have a problem with their AirPods (not Pro) suddenly seeming dead silent? I've cleaned my AirPods very carefully and they are spotless. I've also had my ears cleaned out, but my AirPods seem to be whisper quiet. I've done all the tricks of trying to reconnect and disconnect and checked all the volume settings. Any advice here would be really welcome.
- twiceaday 6y agoHave you restarted the phone?
- IMAYousaf 6y agoI've restarted both the phone and computer, and let the batteries drain to 0% on the AirPods.
- chis 6y agoHonestly I went at the grille with an electric toothbrush for a while and that fixed it.
- IMAYousaf 6y agoI used an ultra fine point and covered it in a tiny hard wax ball to clean off my AirPods. I bet they're cleaner than even new ones at this point. No clue why they still sound so faint.
- dontreact 6y agoThe level of hyperbole in calling so many things *-gate is starting to really annoy me. Watergate was a historic breach of trust that to me seems to have marked an inflection point in the decay of trust in American society. This person had some issues with a new technology product which were ultimately resolved. I know it’s common within certain subcultures to have this kind of lingo and hyperbole. But you end up sounding really whiny and entitled to my ears.
- cameldrv 6y agoI had the same thing happen. I think that the problem is that the little grille on the ear side of the airpod is getting clogged with wax.
- woutr_be 6y agoI just got my AirPods Pro replaced last week due to the same issue, it started with some squeaking sounds, but eventually it became a loud rattling sound and it became unusable. Stopped by the Apple Store and they just replaced both he left and right one.
- _alex_ 6y agoCan we please stop using -gate as a suffix for anything on the spectrum from annoyance to full blown scandal?
- simlevesque 6y agoWhy ? Rattlegate sounds better than "rattle scandal".
- mienski 6y agoBut it's not a scandal - it's an issue with a product, not some government conspiracy
- paulcole 6y agoYep, I’m right there with you. Gategate has to end.
- yalok 6y agoI’ve got a similar problem a couple of months ago - so had around 6 months of problem-free operation, and then it started out of blue in only one headphone. Rattling or static noise is added only to certain sounds, looks like depending on their frequency, and is very audible when noise canceling mode is on, otherwise it’s almost inaudible,
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- anonu 6y agoWell thats a bummer to hear. I finally pulled the trigger and upgraded to the Pro after a pretty happy/successful run with the originals (1G). Actually my revelation that the Pros are inferior came on the first day before I even popped them in my ear. You can tell just by holding the 1Gs and the Pros in your hand: note the clearance between the lid and body on the 1G is almost non-existent compared to the Pro - a sign of better build quality. When you pop open the lid on the Pros, you note they dont fit snugly in the case. You can easily wiggle them around making me wonder if the charging contact will be a problem later on.
- theonemind 6y agoGiven the speed with which I had charging problems, it surprises me that I don't hear more people complaining about it. The metal contacts inside the case of mine don't seem to protrude enough. I can usually get it to work again with a q-tip... but not by cleaning. I kind of put it down and swirl it around until it catches on the metal and pulls them out again a bit. Without that, no amount of jiggling or pressing will get charging contact. Then it happens again a few days later. The right side started doing it first. The left one followed a few months later. But, i just had my own 'rattlegate' around the time of this post, and apple replaced the case under warranty for me with the bad pod, at least.
- kristo 6y agoAlready has been for me. Thankfully they replaced them
- balls187 6y agoRight airpod has rattling issues from time to time, via voice calls.
- tadasZ 6y agoI don't have this problem, but a lot of times my right airpod pro does not connect, so i have to put it back to the case, wait a few seconds ant try again.
- localhost 6y agoI had this problem with my left AirPod Pro for a few weeks and it was super-annoying. I chatted with Apple support and they replaced it in a couple of days. But it was annoying having to try a bunch of random things that clearly weren't going to work.
- caseyf7 6y agoI had this same problem. One of them rattled so loudly I couldn’t hear anything else while walking. Had it replaced and then noticed the other one is doing it, but much quieter...for now.
- gamesbrainiac 6y agoI have the exact same problem, and its becoming an issue. If I laugh, I get rattle.
- SirHound 6y agoI had this exact same thing happen with the Powerbeats Pro. A buzzing that would change in intensity relative to head movement. No music. Annoyingly I noticed just before I packaged them to return that they were working normally again. As expected they came back untouched. They’ve not done it since but now I feel I own a pair of time bombs.
- deathanatos 6y ago> Support agreed that this is a problem and sent a new AirPod. I've had this problem with companies, too. I owned a Belkin router. If the microwave was on, WiFi devices "connected" to the router would lose the connection. The router's front panel LED would go from green to red. When the microwave was done, sometimes the WiFi would recover … sometimes it wouldn't. Support agreed that this was a problem and sent me a new router. It, of course, had the same issue. I sort of understand the WiFi and the microwave interfering. I do not understand why it should persist even after the microwave is off. Oh well. I later changed to Comcast's router. If you enter in WPA2-PSK key (not a password, an actual key) and you power-cycle the router (which happens automatically on occasion) the router will reset the key to the factor default password. But only the password/key changes, not the SSID or any other settings. Support agreed that this was a problem and sent me a new router. (I… actually didn't want a new router, I just wanted to make them aware of the issue, but okay.) And yeah, that one of course does the exact same thing because it's a software bug, not a hardware one, and I'm the only person on the planet choosing a key by random generation. So now I feed the output from urandom through base64 to make it a password, which goes through whatever KDF (at least, I hope it's a KDF, but my gut doesn't trust WPA2 that much) WPA2 uses just to get random data into more random data. Or, IDK, perhaps I should just give up and declare WiFi patently insecure and just craft a nice riddle for the password. It is sort of along the lines of something else I've noticed: there are a ton of companies, who, in one way or another, sell software, but have absolutely no public-facing bug tracker, and doom their support agents to just fielding the same bugs all day, which, practically speaking, they likely just /dev/null those reports, and in the same breath, their marketing department will shove the words "valued customer" down your eyeballs.
- qubex 6y agoI don’t know if it’s still “a thing” or whether showing my years here, but wouldn’t you be better served by setting up a RADIUS-based authentication system? I used to have one at home (2011-2016), using nothing but a Mac Mini Server (which was mainly deducted to other tasks) to serve as the RADIUS authority and a perfectly normal Apple AirPort network. Worked perfectly for years. The only reason I retired the system is that a home server and systems such as those are a bit of an overkill for somebody who lives alone, used the same three devices regularly, and basically just wanted to go home and forget about enterprise IT-type stuff.
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- peignoir 6y agoSame here I had both replaced, but they would only let me replace one and later the other. Replacing was great at first, I observed that the first few days the sealing test was perfect, but already the test is not passing. I m pretty sure it’s a hardware problem, could be shock resistance could be wax could be humidity but it looks like the mic (or many?) who is needed to do the noise cancellation gets faulty somehow. If it’s a design issue I guess the only option will be to wait for the next gen, apple might offer a discount if you bring back your pro but I’m pretty sure they won’t do a thing unless this becomes a public issue (maybe the European Commission or some class action) too bad as I love this product hopefully the next gen will fix it
- SilasX 6y agoThis is a pretty short (and poorly styled) blog post that just links a much deeper dive, the latter of which should IMHO be where this submission links: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/airpods-pro-rattlegate.2233658/ https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/airpods-pro-rattlegate....
- kthartic 6y ago> and poorly styled I disagree. Good line spacing, comfortable page width (doesn't take up the full width of my monitor), clean & concise, no 'junk' surrounding the content. I'm not sure I see where you're coming from
- dewey 6y agoThanks, I wasn't sure if the parent comment referred to my writing or the blog design. The latter we try to keep as minimal as possible, with no JS (Except a tiny non-Google analytics snippet), ads, external fonts or other garbage on the page.
- SilasX 6y agoThose decisions are great! The choice of an ugly mono space font isn’t, and isn’t relevant to those design goals. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23832054 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23832054
- tempodox 6y ago“Ugly” is in the eye of the beholder. I for one can't complain about the font.
- SilasX 6y ago“Ugly” relative to the “not trying to signal” crowd, yes. The vast majority of websites don’t use monospace, and publishers in any medium try to move away from it as soon as it’s technically possible.
- nxpnsv 6y agoHad them since January, not a single issue. Perhaps eu gets different batches.
- pantulis 6y agoSame here, also in the EU. But seems that the issue develops with time.
- leokennis 6y agoI always wonder with "gates" like this: how many people (what percentage) are affected? For example, I never had an issue ever with my AirPods Pro since I bought them six months ago. Does that make me the outlier? Or is it just that 1% have issues, but they are very vocal about it (for understanable reasons)?
- richman777 6y agoIt took a bit down to get to someone like me too. Have had no issues since day one and now I'm going to be insanely critical of them.
- mvkel 6y agoI’m curious too. I bought the pros when they came out. While the water resistance continues to be terrible, I haven’t had audio issues
- noir_lord 6y agoDisatisfied people tend to be more vocal. Something I learnt many years ago when I worked in sales was that a happy customer might tell one or two people but a pissed off one will tell everybody. That said it doesn't negate the underlying issue if it's a real one.
- dx034 6y agoA Reason why Apple is affected relatively often is the huge volumes of products they ship. No other manufacturer ships that many identical phones and probably no one has shipped that many identical headphones over such a short time frame. Even a problem affecting only 0.01% has a sizeable number of affected customers if you ship 100 million devices. If you only ship 1 million, that same problem is much less likely to find public support. Apple already has good quality control (my opinion) but to reach the same level of public complains as other companies, they need to be several magnitudes better.
- miahi 6y agoThere is also the expectation of quality, given the branding, price and the presentation. If a $50 pair of headphones break, it's not a big deal. If a $300 pair of headphones break (repeatedly, it seems), you start to talk about it.
- Havoc 6y agoThinking im buying a classic one next time again. Don’t really need the noise cancelling. Have different ones for that
- lanks 6y agoCrazy! I have had the same issue and have had my left airpod replaced twice.
- ngcazz 6y agoStarted a couple of weeks on my pair. Called up Apple. The support representative didn't ask me a lot of questions and said I'd get a replacement Airpods for free. Then I got quoted for a £75 deposit held until sent back the broken one back and no clarity from the representative on when the deposit would be repaid. So I just issued a replacement request with Amazon instead.
- ZoomZoomZoom 6y agoThis thread shows the absurd level of Stockholm Syndrome between Apple users. Year after year of user hostility and people still write "at least Apple has great service" (which is clearly not the case for a noticeable part of users here).
- neuronic 6y agoNo it doesn't. Apple has shipped an insane amount of AirPods and even if a minuscule amount is affected by the hardware issues, thousands of people will still experience them. The same goes for Apple support: you won't read online complaints from people who got their laptop immediately replaced or who were sent a new keyboard without question. You will read the bad experiences where potential factors such as own fault or shitty behavior are not mentioned, further skewing the picture. Apple can have very shitty service - no doubt - but what really is the overall experience of support when Apple ships many millions of hardware devices every year? You insinuate that people are too stupid or too Stockholmy to apply consequences after continuous bad experiences and also that Apple just doesn't give a shit about customers which is absurd.
- ZoomZoomZoom 6y ago>You insinuate that people are too stupid Absolutely not. I don't insinuate anything, I'm as straightforward as it can be: There's a very specific type of relationship between Apple, their users and their non-users that's very interesting from the point of view of behavioral economics, psychology and cultural studies. I'm not sure every side is at win there, to put it mildly. I'd also like to read any studies on this topic, if they exist.
- tingol 6y agoYou are literally the example of what he's saying. Any kind of headphones that are $150 and over are expected to work PERFECTLY. It's a fucking high end product, there is no company in the world that would survive having it returned 4 or 5 times without being blasted all over the internet. Except for apple and its mind controlled apologists...
- neskiredk 6y agoHave not had this issue, after daily use since release.
- lanevorockz 6y agoI can attest to the same issue ... Apple Pods Pro purchased for Christmas, had the problem twice and replaced both airpods twice already.
- karxxm 6y agoHaha I just received a new left AirPod Pro. I was wondering why they send it so fast and I thought maybe they know this problem, send me a replacement so I don’t ask any more questions. Rattlegate seems to be an appropriate name for this!
- steedsofwar 6y agoI'm on my 3rd or 4th pair. The current ones need to be replaced as they rattle, first appearing in the left now the right are progressively following suit. They are convenient and work well, however the fault rates are incredible. As soon as apple store opens back up I'll be replacing them for 5th time. At this point, I have given up and probably go back to SoundMagic in ears or something with noise cancelling that I can use while riding my motorbike. PS: I didn't purchase apple care, and my friends/colleagues haven't had any issues.
- rozularen 6y agoDoes apple replace them for free?
- nonbirithm 6y agoOnly sort of related but I hate how I sometimes get the impression that review sites do not take the date of review into the account when presenting a final rating. For example I got an Instant Pot once. It worked fine for a year. Then one day I was steaming some lentils and it just shut off. No error or anything, it just shut off without a sound and never turned back on. And because my continued existence was basically contingent on that Instant Pot I began to starve. So I bought another. Two weeks later it was dead in exactly the same manner. And I went back to starving. Then I went back and read the most recent reviews on Amazon and realized that if I had paid attention I might have noticed that so many other people were having the same kind of problem and various other mechanical failures and leaving one-star reviews. But because the reviews section was swamped by five star reviews from years ago that got highly upvoted, I didn't notice. At least, that was my impression. I think it might be hard to change the public's mind if you have a large group of people leaving reviews saying "it works great" in the first few months of the product being released, and you build up this false credibility. Then suddenly a defect occurs that only appears after a very long period, say a year or more, and people don't bother to update the five star review and figure it's time to buy a new pressure cooker anyways. If there were some way of verifying this were the case it would certainly be frustrating. Do all the people who wrote those five-star reviews years ago that haven't been edited still use the product and never had it break on them after a few years? Eventually I got a Yedi and it's more convenient since the pressure valve never clogs like it did with the Instant Pot all the time and is automatic release. I get the impression that it's just better engineered and Instant Pot was just overhyped garbage. But still that's my impression because I've had it for only a month and can't judge if I'll be able to keep using it for another year yet. Maybe I just got lucky. Look at how Steam does reviews. If a developer releases a patch several months after initial release that improves or breaks something, you have a better chance to know about it since they have a separate rating for only the most recent reviews. And sometimes the difference between the two is stark. I would say this is innovative. More sites with review systems really ought to follow suit. And I really wish Amazon were like that.
- macando 6y agoAlmost 60 people in this thread claimed having this issue with their AirPods Pro. Doesn't look like a case of 'a loud minority' to me. I bought mine a few week ago for $370. No issues so far, was supper happy that after 5 years I had finally found perfect earphones.
- Razengan 6y agoI've bought 2 AirPods Pros since soon after they launched, and no problems with any part (the 4 pods or the 2 cases) so far.
- empath75 6y agoHow many people with no problem are going to post and say theirs are fine. Or even read the thread?
- mm89 6y agoZero problems here either. I paid much less than $370 in the USA. Much better headphones than my Sony wh-1000xm3 or powerbeats. So at least two of us.
- karxxm 6y agoQuestion for everyone with the Rattlegate problem: Do you brush your teeth with an electronic toothbrush while you hear something with your headphones? My theory is that various micro vibrations cause the problem :D
- hollowcelery 6y agoI noticed that the rattling was most noticeable when I brushed my teeth with my electronic toothbrush. Not sure if the toothbrush caused it or not. I eventually got the faulty AirPod replaced.
- Joeri 6y agoI have the problem since a few weeks, and no I’ve never done anything with microvibrations while wearing them. I do wear the case close to my body, so it may be adhesive weakening caused by heat. That would explain why some people don’t have it at all and some see it happen 4 times in a row.
- jonplackett 6y agoYep this happened to me too after a few weeks of owning them. Luckily a trip to the Apple store and they replaced straight away. It made me question them at the time though. The guy said it wasn’t common back then
- apinstein 6y agoI had this problem with my AirPods Pro, too. Funny thing though... I have intermittent tinnitus in my left ear, and it took me a few weeks to realize it wasn’t my ears making the noise but rather a problem w the AirPods. I had been switching between noise-cancelling and transparency mode, swapping ears, etc to see if it would go away. It didn’t, so I assumed it wasn’t an audio processing issue. Then one day I realized I hadn’t tested on “off” mode (since you only get to this mode through the UI I had forgotten it even existed). The noise issue went away instantly. Called Apple and they replaced it without hassle. Still kinda blows me away that this issue sounded so identical to my tinnitus that I literally couldn’t tell the difference.
- zdwolfe 6y agoWow! I'm in the same boat. I've had tinnitus for a while and at first I thought it was just my ears being weird. It got way worse though (the rattling) and I was able to tell the difference.
- Jeremy1026 6y agoYep, I'm having the same issue. Got my left replaced, then about 2 days later my right started. I haven't gotten around to swapping the right yet as I didn't want to do them to close together and have them be like, HEYY!
- neillyons 6y agoWow. I have the same problem. I just got my left AirPod Pro replaced at the Apple Store last wednesday because of rattling. (It appears to only happen in noise canceling mode. When noise canceling is off it doesn't rattle). A couple days later I started to notice the right airpod is rattling. I've used up my warranty now so would have to buy a new pair if I want this fixed.
- jmull 6y agoYou don’t get at least a year warranty?
- Asad445 6y agoWow interesting
- shahzadi76 6y agoWow good
- waheoo 6y ago> It also started to behave weird as soon as there was a bit of wind. Heh evenmy sony mx3s do this in the wind. So is that the problem? Noise cancelling failure? Generally noise cancelling has problems with wind, air pods are the kind that probably see a lot of use outdoors.
- jsmith12673 6y agoI'll add that my Bose headphones have also always have trouble in the wind. That's to that there not be something wrong with the airpods/bose, but Sony's have a distinct advantage
- shahzadi76 6y agoWow interesting
- markstos 6y agoThe author calls out Apple for the ecological implications for replacing faulty AirPods every few months, but accepts no responsibility for purchasing the AirPods himself-- the product is designed around an embedded battery that can't be serviced and has a limited lifespan. If you want ecological headphones, you could buy ones with no battery or a replaceable battery.
- jaybeeayyy 6y agoMy airpods pro are rattling as well. Great.
- jordache 6y agoSame issue with the airpod pros.. clearing my throat or talking a bit loudly results in a buzz/rattle in my left earbud
- everdrive 6y agoConsumer electronics are usually a letdown. The solution should be to buy fewer of them. Many of these consumer electronics don't actually save you time, but instead save you impulse control. There's nothing wrong with traditional headphones, except you have to think about putting them on, and wrapping up their cord when you take them off. This doesn't actually take time to do, mind you, but instead requires the consumer to exercise some impulse control, or to ignore some inconvenience. We're a long way away from something like the invention of the washing machine, which saved countless women hundreds of hours a year. Prior to a washing machine, you'd be stuck next to the laundry for the duration of the laundry. Laboring the entire time. The washing machine automated a monotonous task, and allowed women to do nearly anything else while the laundry was going. It was an enormous game changer. Compare that to something like Google Home. What does it do? It prevents you from having to type in your phone? It's not as if the voice prompt takes a meaningfully different time than typing a query into a phone. And for that matter, it's not as if walking over to a traditional computer and typing in your query takes a significantly greater time than either alternative. No, what the Google Home does is prevent you from having to think about switching your task, and that's about it. Are AirPods any different? Corded headphones don't prevent you from doing anything, they just require a small amount more impulse control: to wrap them carefully every time. And in exchange, you get a product that is: expensive, has a short shelf live (due to using a battery), and apparently sometimes has reliability issues.
- viklove 6y agoThe Google Home enables my parents to use Netflix and Spotify without me. They're unable to remember the complexity of connecting to a Chromecast manually from their phones, but asking Google to play X show or start Y playlist is well within their capability.
- ryanwaggoner 6y agoYou've picked a remarkably poor example to make your point. My Airpods (not the Pro, intentionally) are easily one of the best consumer electronics purchases I've made in the last decade. And it has little to do with not having to wrap the cord up. It's that they're so light and unobtrusive that I can wear them for hours at a time, whether I'm listening to something or not.
- ryanwaggoner 6y agoAm I the only one who prefers the original Airpods to the Airpods Pro? I have both but I haven't used the Pro ones in months. I find the NC to be a little finicky, but more than that, I just don't like the way the ambient environment sounds when I'm wearing them. This is especially true when I'm not listening to something. With the Airpods, I'll often just leave them in my ears for hours whether I'm listening or not. With the Pros, I feel like I have to take them out if I'm not actively listening to something. I also don't like that I have to squeeze them for controls instead of just tapping (but maybe there's an option for that somewhere). I have good over-the-ear headphones for when I really need noise cancelling, and the rest of the time, the Airpods are perfect for me.
- leakybucket 6y agoI had a 'rattling' issue, but mine correlated with moving my head. If I held very still, the sound was fine. This didn't happen at first, it developed over time. I wondered if the issue was either loose/dirty silcone tips, even though I was wearing the best fitting size (and they passed the ios ear tip test). Cleaning the tips didn't make a difference. So I bought some new foam tips from www.complyfoam.com , and to my pleasant surprise, the rattling stopped. Not sure if this is different from the vast number of other reports, but fyi.
- jeffwilcox 6y agoYes! This has been driving me insane. I spent an hour on support with Apple, was sent to Best Buy, but do to COVID-19, cannot get an "appointment" for a replacement for 2 months... I should have opted for a mailed replacement. :/
- e40 6y agoI was seriously thinking of getting these. I think I'll wait.
- T3RMINATED 6y agoClass Action Lawsuit
- BFatts 6y agoThe over-usage of the "-gate" addition to anything that people take issue with is getting old as fuck. Seriously, can people not come up with something better? Also, is it truly a conspiracy? That's what an association to Watergate is... that or just breaking the law. neither of which is what is going on. I really, seriously doubt that Apple is conspiring to have their earbuds rattle. Please, for the love of everything sane, stop using "-gate" to catch eyes with your clickbait captions and titles.