AirPods Gen 3 + iOS 16 + FaceTime = broken.

[WilliamG]

This is a really frustrating issue, and I’ve repeated it on multiple iPhone 14 Pro devices.

To reproduce:

1.) Put an AirPod Gen 3 earbud in your ear.
2.) Have someone call you on FaceTime audio.
3.) Answer the call.
4.) You will hear the person who called you, but most of the time the person calling you will not be able to hear your voice until you either remove the AirPod from your ear and put it back in, or switch between the iPhone itself and AirPods and back via the audio menu.

This is driving me insane. Most of my calls received are via FaceTime, and this bug is infuriating. This bug does not occur when making the FaceTime call yourself. Only received calls. How did Apple miss this?

Anyone else?

 

[AppleTooPlus]

I am having this issue as well (using my iPhone 14 pro max and AirPods 3), except it’s ALSO with regular phone calls. Most of the time when someone calls me as a regular phone call or using FaceTime audio, when I put in my AirPods (gen 3), I can hear the other person but they can’t hear me. It’s largely reproducible — though there have been occasions where it works as it should. When I initiate the call, I haven’t encountered any issues.

Ive had the issue for the last few weeks and thought it might be the AirPods — however I had them replaced at the Apple Store and the issue remains. Ive also tried forgetting the AirPods from my bluetooth settings, resetting the AirPods, and restarting the phone. None of have worked. I’m on the latest iOS and AirPods firmware.

Any recs appreciated!

 

[WilliamG]

I am having this issue as well (using my iPhone 14 pro max and AirPods 3), except it’s ALSO with regular phone calls. Most of the time when someone calls me as a regular phone call or using FaceTime audio, when I put in my AirPods (gen 3), I can hear the other person but they can’t hear me. It’s largely reproducible — though there have been occasions where it works as it should. When I initiate the call, I haven’t encountered any issues.

Ive had the issue for the last few weeks and thought it might be the AirPods — however I had them replaced at the Apple Store and the issue remains. Ive also tried forgetting the AirPods from my bluetooth settings, resetting the AirPods, and restarting the phone. None of have worked. I’m on the latest iOS and AirPods firmware.

Any recs appreciated!

Maddening, isn’t it? How has this not made front page on MacRumors when as far as I can tell it affects every single iPhone 14 Pro user (I can’t speak for other devices but everyone I know with a 14 has this problem).

Grrr!

 

[AppleTooPlus]

Maddening, isn’t it? How has this not made front page on MacRumors when as far as I can tell it affects every single iPhone 14 Pro user (I can’t speak for other devices but everyone I know with a 14 has this problem).

Grrr!

Been doing a deep dive into threads where this issue has been discussed. I found two troubleshooting tips I hadn’t already tried which were offered to a user by Apple support:

1) turn off Wi-Fi calling
2) reset network settings

I tried only the first option earlier today and with a very limited dataset of only 3 individually answered incoming calls, so far so good. Could be a coincidence but it was rare that my AirPods 3 mics would connect twice in a row. Fingers crossed it continues.

 

[AppleTooPlus]

Been doing a deep dive into threads where this issue has been discussed. I found two troubleshooting tips I hadn’t already tried which were offered to a user by Apple support:

1) turn off Wi-Fi calling
2) reset network settings

I tried only the first option earlier today and with a very limited dataset of only 3 individually answered incoming calls, so far so good. Could be a coincidence but it was rare that my AirPods 3 mics would connect twice in a row. Fingers crossed it continues.

PS: even if it does work, it’s technically a workaround since Wi-Fi calling is a feature that obviously should be able to work without negatively impacting AirPods’ connectivity.

 

[WilliamG]

PS: even if it does work, it’s technically a workaround since Wi-Fi calling is a feature that obviously should be able to work without negatively impacting AirPods’ connectivity.

Well I don’t have Wi-Fi calling enabled currently anyway, so that can’t be it. I doubt either of these suggestions have anything to do with it given 100% of people I’ve tested this with have the same issue…

 

[Misheemee]

Same issues with my APP2. Also, they just randomly dropped off regular calls too

 

[WilliamG]

Same issues with my APP2. Also, they just randomly dropped off regular calls too

Perhaps it’s just a systemwide issue? What phone are you on?

 

[Misheemee]

Perhaps it’s just a systemwide issue? What phone are you on?

13 pro max

 

[WilliamG]

13 pro max

Interesting. So this is surprising not more people are complaining. It’s so easily repeatable, too..!

 

[kjell]

A friend of mine has it too (iPhone 13 mini + AirPods gen 3). When I FaceTime Audio him and he has his AirPods in, he can hear me but I can't hear him. Every time!

 

[WilliamG]

A friend of mine has it too (iPhone 13 mini + AirPods gen 3). When I FaceTime Audio him and he has his AirPods in, he can hear me but I can't hear him. Every time!

Yep. That’s it. So annoying!

 

[DrFix]

I have got the same issue on my AirPods 3rd gen and iPhone 13 Pro. iPhone is on iOS 16.1. Already talked with Apple and took logs from my iPhone and sent them multiple times. I believe it is not related with the AirPods themselves because I bought another pair just to try that. Same issue happened with the newer ones. However when I pair AirPods to my wife's iPhone 12 Pro Max(iOS 15.7) she has no problems receiving FaceTime Audio calls and the other party can hear her as well. So I believe this issue is 99% related to iOS 16.

 

[WilliamG]

I have got the same issue on my AirPods 3rd gen and iPhone 13 Pro. iPhone is on iOS 16.1. Already talked with Apple and took logs from my iPhone and sent them multiple times. I believe it is not related with the AirPods themselves because I bought another pair just to try that. Same issue happened with the newer ones. However when I pair AirPods to my wife's iPhone 12 Pro Max(iOS 15.7) she has no problems receiving FaceTime Audio calls and the other party can hear her as well. So I believe this issue is 99% related to iOS 16.

100% it is. I tested my wife’s AirPods 3rd gen and it’s the same issue, and the same issue on her phone too, running iOS 16.1 now. Definitely software, and definitely beyond frustrating.

 

[WilliamG]

I have got the same issue on my AirPods 3rd gen and iPhone 13 Pro. iPhone is on iOS 16.1. Already talked with Apple and took logs from my iPhone and sent them multiple times. I believe it is not related with the AirPods themselves because I bought another pair just to try that. Same issue happened with the newer ones. However when I pair AirPods to my wife's iPhone 12 Pro Max(iOS 15.7) she has no problems receiving FaceTime Audio calls and the other party can hear her as well. So I believe this issue is 99% related to iOS 16.

So this is interesting. I have not updated past iOS 16.1 quite yet, but a firmware update got pushed to the AirPods Gen 3 this past week week. I’ve been testing since then and FaceTime calls now behave perfectly on them when receiving the call! Have you tested this yourself yet?

Apple Releases New Firmware for AirPods 2, AirPods 3, AirPods Pro 1 and AirPods Max

Apple today introduced new 5B58 firmware for the AirPods 2, the AirPods 3, the original AirPods Pro and the AirPods Max, up from the 4E71 firmware...

www.macrumors.com

 

[DrFix]

So this is interesting. I have not updated past iOS 16.1 quite yet, but a firmware update got pushed to the AirPods Gen 3 this past week week. I’ve been testing since then and FaceTime calls now behave perfectly on them when receiving the call! Have you tested this yourself yet?

Apple Releases New Firmware for AirPods 2, AirPods 3, AirPods Pro 1 and AirPods Max

Apple today introduced new 5B58 firmware for the AirPods 2, the AirPods 3, the original AirPods Pro and the AirPods Max, up from the 4E71 firmware...

www.macrumors.com

Yes, they work perfectly. It seems they finally fixed the issue.