AirPods 4 battery issue

[Tommyinnit]

Hi everyone, and happy new year! I’m having an issue with my new AirPods 4 (ANC) and would appreciate your help.

I suspect there might be a software issue rather than a hardware one. The reason I say this is that even though the operating system reports incorrect battery levels, each AirPod dies at very similar levels and one of the pods (randomly left or right) will start draining immediately after removing it from the case and will drop 1% per minute. So it’s not fixed to left or right.

As you can see, there can sometimes be a significant difference in battery levels between the left and right pods. However, they continue to drain at similar levels.

As the battery level drops, the left and right battery levels often merge when they reach lower battery levels and the highest battery level applies to both pods. This leaves me to believe that the higher level is accurate. But why is this happening?

I’ve ordered a replacement, and the exact same issue occurred with that pair as well. So, it can’t be a hardware problem, right?

Currently, I’m getting 6 hours of battery life with everything turned off at 50% volume, playing a mix of music and YouTube. I also get around 4-5 hours of battery life with a mix of ANC and Spatial Audio.

What should I do? Should I return them and wait for a new batch? These were manufactured in October 2024. Are you all experiencing the same issue?



This is on an iPad Pro (2021) running iPad OS 18.2.



Thanks a lot!

 

[XboxEvolved]

I have similar issues, and I have had this issue with other AirPods in the past. I think it has something to do with which AirPod is the "dominant" one that listens for you, and acts as the initial speaker before doing any actual calls with someone. Usually if they start to lose battery I will get the warning jingle in both around the same time, but one will always die a few minutes before the other.

If it is draining at a rate of a percent a minute though yeah I'm not sure what would cause that.

 

[Tommyinnit]

I have similar issues, and I have had this issue with other AirPods in the past. I think it has something to do with which AirPod is the "dominant" one that listens for you, and acts as the initial speaker before doing any actual calls with someone. Usually if they start to lose battery I will get the warning jingle in both around the same time, but one will always die a few minutes before the other.

If it is draining at a rate of a percent a minute though yeah I'm not sure what would cause that.

I didn’t think about it that - maybe the AirPod that goes in first or comes out of the case first reports correct information.

Yeah the drainage at a rate of 1% per minute happens on either pod. Which is why I don’t think it’s hardware. How can I report this to Apple?

 

[XboxEvolved]

I didn’t think about it that - maybe the AirPod that goes in first or comes out of the case first reports correct information.

Yeah the drainage at a rate of 1% per minute happens on either pod. Which is why I don’t think it’s hardware. How can I report this to Apple?

Contact their support

 

[Tommyinnit]

Contact their support

Sorry - you said you had a similar issue with other AirPods in the past. Could you elaborate? And is this something I should be worried about or should I go ahead and order another pair?

 

[Jackbequickly]

Have you tried to update them. Connect them to your iPhone via cable.

 

[Tommyinnit]

They were updated to the latest versions. I’m surprised more people haven’t gone through this.