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AirPods case bad standby battery life
- Thread starter ssrij
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I haven't been monitoring levels for the last few days. Too much work! 
And it's hard to draw solid conclusions from the (seemingly) random discharge rates we're seeing. I just want to use them 'normally' for a week or two and see how it goes.
One thing that does seem clear is that they're needlessly burning juice in the case. I see no reason for them to be doing anything at all while in the case (other than charging and then stopping at 100%)
I wonder if this is a firmware issue? Maybe manufacturing inadvertently got a pre-release build of firmware with diagnostics/logging turned on (or something like that)? So the 'pods never go to sleep properly in the case? Hopefully, all we need is a new build with diagnostics turned off?
Maybe this is what caused the release date to be pushed out at the last minute? Imagine they'd manufactured, packaged-up, shipped and warehoused tons of them with pre-release firmware? So the delay was for Apple to weigh-up their options:
Hoping this sorts itself out painlessly.
And it's hard to draw solid conclusions from the (seemingly) random discharge rates we're seeing. I just want to use them 'normally' for a week or two and see how it goes.One thing that does seem clear is that they're needlessly burning juice in the case. I see no reason for them to be doing anything at all while in the case (other than charging and then stopping at 100%)
I wonder if this is a firmware issue? Maybe manufacturing inadvertently got a pre-release build of firmware with diagnostics/logging turned on (or something like that)? So the 'pods never go to sleep properly in the case? Hopefully, all we need is a new build with diagnostics turned off?
Maybe this is what caused the release date to be pushed out at the last minute? Imagine they'd manufactured, packaged-up, shipped and warehoused tons of them with pre-release firmware? So the delay was for Apple to weigh-up their options:
- Cancel 2016 release. Open and rework the packaged inventory. That might require finished inventory to be shipped back to the factory or possibly they could set up an ad-hoc process in the warehouses?
- Release as-is in time for Christmas, make sales numbers for 2016 and then push a firmware update to the field?
Hoping this sorts itself out painlessly.
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Opening the case will be turning them on. They should be doing nothing when in the case and ta closed.
Hi All,
Been watching this for a few days as I have been experiencing the same odd battery drain. I've done some testing (although not as thorough as some others) and my early hypothesis is that the fault lies with the pods and not the case. It appears that they are often searching for any BT device previously paired with to be able to make that quick connection.
I spent the past few days draining both the pods and case to get a full charge cycle in. Yesterday afternoon I fully charged both to 100%, while that was happening I "forgot" or removed them from all of my devices (iPhone, iPad, Apple TV), turned off BT on all and turned off my Apple Watch completely. Once I was sure enough time had passed for a full charge I re-paired them to my iPhone but only through the process someone previously suggested by holding the sync button until it turned amber then white and connected. (The only thing I was trying to do here was get a quick connection to one device so I could check the battery %.) I checked with my phone and both were at 100%. I closed the case and turned the BT off on my phone. So now I knew I had full charge on both with no BT turned on for any device. I let them sit until this morning (about 15 hours) and checked the battery using my phone: Pods: 100%, Case 99%. In the past my case would have dropped 10%-15% overnight. I have since turned BT off on my phone again and will check later for another data point.
I'm guessing that if the pods detect a live BT device it has been paired with it periodically "pings" it to keep that connection in a pseudo-active state. I don't know if that is true but there is another community thread out there and it looks like they are heading to a similar conclusion.
Will post again later.
Been watching this for a few days as I have been experiencing the same odd battery drain. I've done some testing (although not as thorough as some others) and my early hypothesis is that the fault lies with the pods and not the case. It appears that they are often searching for any BT device previously paired with to be able to make that quick connection.
I spent the past few days draining both the pods and case to get a full charge cycle in. Yesterday afternoon I fully charged both to 100%, while that was happening I "forgot" or removed them from all of my devices (iPhone, iPad, Apple TV), turned off BT on all and turned off my Apple Watch completely. Once I was sure enough time had passed for a full charge I re-paired them to my iPhone but only through the process someone previously suggested by holding the sync button until it turned amber then white and connected. (The only thing I was trying to do here was get a quick connection to one device so I could check the battery %.) I checked with my phone and both were at 100%. I closed the case and turned the BT off on my phone. So now I knew I had full charge on both with no BT turned on for any device. I let them sit until this morning (about 15 hours) and checked the battery using my phone: Pods: 100%, Case 99%. In the past my case would have dropped 10%-15% overnight. I have since turned BT off on my phone again and will check later for another data point.
I'm guessing that if the pods detect a live BT device it has been paired with it periodically "pings" it to keep that connection in a pseudo-active state. I don't know if that is true but there is another community thread out there and it looks like they are heading to a similar conclusion.
Will post again later.
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It certainly seems logical that standby life is not affected until after they're paired with your device(s). Otherwise they wouldn't be arriving from the factory with a significant charge left on them.
Yeah, I'm just trying to confirm that the pods are somewhat active while in the case. We have all assumed they go dormant with the exception of normal standby battery drain but that appears to not be the case.
Some excellent discussion in the past few pages.
I'm at 16 hours since full charge on mine and my wife's"
-My AirPods: Case 80%, AirPods 100%
-Wife's AirPods: Case 91%, AirPods 100%
Last time hers lasted 24 hours before the case dropped below 100%.
Like you said - next step I'll unpaid AirPods from our phones and swap. Also an interesting idea to unpair the AirPods, give them a full charge, and leave them be. See what the battery is at after 1-2 days.
I'm at 16 hours since full charge on mine and my wife's"
-My AirPods: Case 80%, AirPods 100%
-Wife's AirPods: Case 91%, AirPods 100%
Last time hers lasted 24 hours before the case dropped below 100%.
I don't think they should be depleting themselves while in the case on standby. But that does explain the case discharge too.
@profets is the ideal one to solve this though, since he has a good set, and a bad set
Hopefully this can point towards a common cause of the drainage, if it's caused by the device, it may be fixable with an iOS update.
[doublepost=1483369623][/doublepost]
Just looked at your devices in your signature. Have you tried pairing them via regular Bluetooth to the Nano, rather than to the iPhone?
Like you said - next step I'll unpaid AirPods from our phones and swap. Also an interesting idea to unpair the AirPods, give them a full charge, and leave them be. See what the battery is at after 1-2 days.
It does appear to be the case. Mine are not doing any communication while in the case.
That is the test I have just recorded. The middle one is the AirPods, and the numbers are the date and time of the last transmission. As you can see when the case opens there's quite a lot of transmission. But about 4 or 5 seconds after you close the case, the communication stops entirely.
So whatever is causing the battery loss, or for them to remain powered up, is internal to the airpods/case.
Nice work!
I see Macrumors put an article on the side of the front page. The headline makes it misleading though.
Good stuff! Thanks for sharing that.
My concern isn't that the pods actually connect, but rather with the case closed they don't go fully dormant and if they detect an active device stay in a "ready" status that drains more battery than a conventional standby mode.
I could be completely wrong as I don't have any technical equipment to test this outside of the process I outlined earlier.
I'm going to check my battery shortly and we'll see if I'm even close. It will be about 6 hours since I last checked. I would suspect the pods to be at 100% and the case above 93% just based on the fact that I did open it once to check and we know for sure (based on your video) there is activity upon opening.
There may still be something going on inside the case, something preventing them going into standby and keeping them powered up.
But it doesn't seem to be Bluetooth communication that is the cause. So in theory, the paired device shouldn't affect on whether or not the AirPods are shutting off when you close the lid, as there's no longer any communication.
OK, my theory may not hold any water. Just turned BT on for my iPhone to check, pods at 100% and case at 91%. Almost 7 hours ago pods were at 100% and case was at 99%. That's about 1% loss per hour today compared to 1% total overnight but I had never opened the case during that time. Maybe as some have suggested just opening the case engages some process? Not really sure as I have also seen a few people post that their case has sat in the 90's for days without usage.
Oh well, at a loss for what to do next except to enjoy them and see if we get some word from Apple. TBH, even if I knew in advance this was how they would behave I would prob still have purchased them. I'm a sucker for gadgets and still really like these.
I'll keep following along to see if anyone else solves this dilemma.
Oh well, at a loss for what to do next except to enjoy them and see if we get some word from Apple. TBH, even if I knew in advance this was how they would behave I would prob still have purchased them. I'm a sucker for gadgets and still really like these.
I'll keep following along to see if anyone else solves this dilemma.
I've been reading through this thread and I've noticed a major misconception that should be corrected:
The problem is not the case; the problem is the AirPods themselves draining, while inside the case.
That point needs to be stressed. If you leave the AirPods outside of the case, the case's battery is fine. It decreases at a very slow rate. It's only when you put the AirPods in the case, that the case decreases quickly (about 1.5 to 2% of the case per hour, or a full drain in 2-3 days of standby for me).
What's happening is that for whatever reason, the AirPods are not properly powering down when in the case. This causes them to lose battery life, and since they're in the case, the case charges them back up, resulting in full AirPods but a quick-draining case.
For those who say that their case is fine, are you testing it with the AirPods in or out? Keep the AirPods inside and see how quickly the battery drains while not in use. I'm curious to see if this problem is universal or if it's only affecting some AirPods.
The problem is not the case; the problem is the AirPods themselves draining, while inside the case.
That point needs to be stressed. If you leave the AirPods outside of the case, the case's battery is fine. It decreases at a very slow rate. It's only when you put the AirPods in the case, that the case decreases quickly (about 1.5 to 2% of the case per hour, or a full drain in 2-3 days of standby for me).
What's happening is that for whatever reason, the AirPods are not properly powering down when in the case. This causes them to lose battery life, and since they're in the case, the case charges them back up, resulting in full AirPods but a quick-draining case.
For those who say that their case is fine, are you testing it with the AirPods in or out? Keep the AirPods inside and see how quickly the battery drains while not in use. I'm curious to see if this problem is universal or if it's only affecting some AirPods.
@heyyoudvd - Fully agreed. I think most of us that have been active would agree as well and have discovered that several pages back.
Yep, the trick now is to figure out what is keeping them from powering down while in the case:
Does the W1 chip stay active to be able to connect almost immediately when called upon? To check battery life and pull power as needed?
Could a firmware update fix it?
That would roughly be my guess. I still wonder about two other things:
-do the AirPods go into a lower power state after X hours of the case not being opened? I wonder if my wife's AirPods initially went 24 hours with no reported battery drain - partly because I only checked once every 12-24 hours.
-it doesn't make sense, but would the AirPods being paired to many devices (7-8) affect battery standby battery life in some way?
Both are excellent questions, and appear to be logical conclusions.
I am particularly concerned about the 2nd one, due to the iCloud sync feature they would be paired with my iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch.
UPDATES
My case is dead, my airpods died during playback. From coming off charge, I got 47.5 hours of life from the whole device, but only 9hours 45 minutes of playback. That is extremely short compared to the quoted MORE than 24 hours.
They are now back on charge and I will repeat this with a 2nd charge cycle, and no other changes.
I got about 4 hours of use from the AirPods continuously, at over 75% volume, which I am more than happy with. Just this damn standby life.
@profets With regards to being synced to multiple devices, if the airpods aren't communicating when the case is closed. I am not sure that this can be a contributory factor. But this is an assumption based on what I could test. You have the airpods and 2 accounts there to be able to test.
Hopefully it all ends up being a firmware fix, and Apple can fix this quite easily
My case is dead, my airpods died during playback. From coming off charge, I got 47.5 hours of life from the whole device, but only 9hours 45 minutes of playback. That is extremely short compared to the quoted MORE than 24 hours.
They are now back on charge and I will repeat this with a 2nd charge cycle, and no other changes.
I got about 4 hours of use from the AirPods continuously, at over 75% volume, which I am more than happy with. Just this damn standby life.
@profets With regards to being synced to multiple devices, if the airpods aren't communicating when the case is closed. I am not sure that this can be a contributory factor. But this is an assumption based on what I could test. You have the airpods and 2 accounts there to be able to test.
Hopefully it all ends up being a firmware fix, and Apple can fix this quite easily
Sorry, I have not read through the entire thread, but has anybody charged the Airpods to 100% and taken them out of the case to see how much they discharge not being used out of the case? Just curious what the drain rate is on the Airpods themselves. Sorry if this has already been answered.
UPDATES
My case is dead, my airpods died during playback. From coming off charge, I got 47.5 hours of life from the whole device, but only 9hours 45 minutes of playback. That is extremely short compared to the quoted MORE than 24 hours.
They are now back on charge and I will repeat this with a 2nd charge cycle, and no other changes.
I got about 4 hours of use from the AirPods continuously, at over 75% volume, which I am more than happy with. Just this damn standby life.
@profets With regards to being synced to multiple devices, if the airpods aren't communicating when the case is closed. I am not sure that this can be a contributory factor. But this is an assumption based on what I could test. You have the airpods and 2 accounts there to be able to test.
Hopefully it all ends up being a firmware fix, and Apple can fix this quite easily
Interesting to hear your numbers. Definitely short of what Apple claims, and of course the standby is an issue. But when ignoring those issues, that battery life sounds quite good - and I think it's masking the true issue for many people (who probably don't even realize it).
You're right - the AirPods stop communicating so I'd have to assume that the number of paired devices don't affect it.
[doublepost=1483398975][/doublepost]
I don't think so - but I'm not 100% sure. At one point early on, I did leave my AirPods out of the case unused overnight - but it was to monitor the case's battery drain (at the time I thought it was the case that was draining). I don't recall exactly what happened to the AirPods.
Good thought though. I wonder what they do when out of the case and not used for a prolonged period of time. I think I'll try that tonight (overnight) with my second pair.
Thanks. I know I have had devices before that shortly after getting unplugged will display 99 or 98 percent battery but otherwise be fine. I wonder if in this case the airpods, once getting to 100%, quickly discharge a point or two and thus place the case in a constant state of recharging them to keep them at 100%. If that is the case likely just a software update would be able to help solve the problem. If after sitting outside of the case overnight they have only dropped a couple of points we might have a good indication of what the issue is. What I don't want to see is a large drain of the Airpods battery while sitting idle out of that case. That would be cause for concern.
Update
Nearly 24 hours since the last full charge.
AirPods 1: Case 55%, Pods 100% (0 usage)
AirPods 2: Case 49%, Pods 100% (~5 hours usage)
Wife's AirPods: Case 83%, Pods 100% (0 usage)
Crazy that both of my sets are nearly 50% drained and one of them wasn't used at all. I've unpaired all 3 sets from all devices and am giving them a full charge right now.
Once full I'm going to swap mine and my wife's and pair them, then let them sit 24 hours (or longer) without being used. My second set I'm going to take the AirPods out of the charging case after being paired and just let them sit overnight, see how they do.
Also, my wife is a bit annoyed that she can't use her AirPods. And by a bit I mean a lot, lol.
Nearly 24 hours since the last full charge.
AirPods 1: Case 55%, Pods 100% (0 usage)
AirPods 2: Case 49%, Pods 100% (~5 hours usage)
Wife's AirPods: Case 83%, Pods 100% (0 usage)
Crazy that both of my sets are nearly 50% drained and one of them wasn't used at all. I've unpaired all 3 sets from all devices and am giving them a full charge right now.
Once full I'm going to swap mine and my wife's and pair them, then let them sit 24 hours (or longer) without being used. My second set I'm going to take the AirPods out of the charging case after being paired and just let them sit overnight, see how they do.
Also, my wife is a bit annoyed that she can't use her AirPods. And by a bit I mean a lot, lol.