About two months ago, I wrote about a problem that I was having with my AirPods Pro. I would occasionally hear a strange crackling or static sound when I was using either noise cancellation or pass through mode. Or sometimes, if there was a noise in the outside world, it would be even loader in one of my AirPods than it should be. The problem was especially obvious when I was on a treadmill. I noticed it with my left AirPod about four months after I started using them, and I noticed it in my right AirPod about eight months after I started using them. Both times, I reached out to Apple, and Apple sent me a free replacement.
A few weeks ago, I started to notice the problem again with my left AirPod — the one that Apple had replaced about seven months earlier. I figured that meant that I would need to go through the process of requesting a replacement again, and because AirPods have a one-year limited warranty, I knew that I would have to do it before the one-year anniversary of my purchase.
However, on October 30, 2020, Apple launched a new AirPods Pro Service Program. Apple now acknowledges that "a small percentage of AirPods Pro" that were "manufactured before October 2020" — in other words, any AirPods Pro currently in use — "may experience sound issues." Apple says that one symptom is "[c]rackling or static sounds that increase in loud environments, with exercise or while talking on the phone." Another symptom is "Active Noise Cancellation not working as expected, such as a loss of bass sound, or an increase in background sounds, such as street or airplane noise." That describes my problem to a tee. As a part of this new program, Apple will now replace an affected AirPod for up to two years from the date of purchase — double the original warranty.
To take advantage of this program, Apple says that you can visit an Apple Store, but with the risk of COVID-19, I wasn't interested in risking exposure to others in the small and traditionally crowded Apple Store located in the Lakeside Shopping Center near New Orleans. Fortunately, that wasn't necessary. Using the Messages app on my iPhone, I initiated a chat session with Apple support. I began by simply typing "AirPods Pro support." A bot immediately responded by asking me to provide my serial number and then I was quickly connected to a real person.
I told the person about the problems that I was having with my left AirPod, and I was asked the following questions:
- Are your AirPods fully charged?
- Have you tried cleaning the AirPods case?
- Are there any nearby sources of interference?
- Does this happen with more than one device, like another iPhone or iPad, etc.?
- Have your AirPods and/or charging case experienced any accidental or liquid damage?
- Have you tried resetting them?
After I answered all of those questions, the support representative set up a replacement for me. Apple sent me a pair of new AirPods (even though I was only experiencing problems with the left one — so far, at least). I wasn't sent a new charging case; just the individual AirPods. They each came in a separate box, and it only took 48 hours for the AirPods to show up via FedEx.
I put each old AirPod in the same box, exposed the self-addressed return label, and dropped them off at a FedEx location for a free return. (Apple put a hold on my credit card for the $198.92 cost of a replacement AirPod, but I know from my prior experiences that Apple will cancel that hold once they receive the return.)
As for the new AirPods, I put them in my current case (first the old left one with the new right one, and then later the new left one with the new right one), and I waited about 10 minutes. Then I removed the memory of the prior AirPods from my iPhone (Settings -> Bluetooth -> AirPods Pro -> Forget This Device), held down the button on the back of the case with the case open until the white light flashed on the front, then I paired my AirPods with my iPhone again.
So far, the new AirPods Pro work great. Not only do I no longer experience the bizarre noises, but I'm actually finding that the noise cancellation function works a little better than it ever did before. It seems like it is keeping out even more outside noises. Also, when I run the Ear Tip Fit test within the Settings app, I'm virtually always getting the "Good Seal" test result:
With my prior AirPods Pro, that test failed for me almost every single time, as I noted in my review.
I have no idea what was originally causing this problem and what Apple did to fix it. And at this point, I obviously don't know if I will start to experience new problems in a few months. But for now, I'm very happy, and hopefully, Apple has really fixed it this time.
If you use AirPods Pro and you occasionally experience some of these bizarre noises, I encourage you to take advantage of the new AirPods Pro Service Program. AirPods Pro are amazing — one of my favorite Apple products — and I use them every single day. It is great to have them performing at their best 100% of the time.
