AirPods Max Noise Cancelation in Only One Side? Here's How to Fix It

[techfreak23]

I was curious if they would have issues like this. I experience this with my AirPods Pro occasionally. I usually always have them in transparency mode, but one will sometimes not automatically switch back to transparency when I put them back on from the case. Sometimes it switches back within a few seconds. Other times I have to put them back in the case and pull that one back out first. My original 1st gen AirPods had a similar issue except one just wouldn’t connect at all. Again, I would have to put them back in the case and pull that one out first. Sometimes it took a couple of tries.

 

[amartinez1660]

How do you reboot them vs resetting them?

Didn’t go through it all to check if you were already answered, in case:
Soft Reset:
- press and hold both crown button and noise cancelling switch button.
- after an amber light blinks release.
It will be soft reset.

Hard Reset:
- same as above but continue pressing the same buttons even after the amber light blinks.
- The amber light will turn white. Release at this point.
That will be a hard reset and will need reconnecting, but it’s simple lately, an animation showing the airpods Max will appear with a “connect” button if on the closest iOS devices.

TBH the only reason it has sold as much as they have it’s because it’s they are from Apple. Remove the Apple logo and put any other and it would not sell nearly as much. Some People believe whatever BS Apple’s marketing push them more than any other company.

learning from AirPods Pro, they were good, but the rattling noise was a design flaw, that took them almost a year to acknowledge. Problem when a company ventures into new territory is that it will have these design flaws.

Neither the AirPods Pro nor AirPods Max have an Apple logo or visible Apple anything anywhere. Actually the AirPods Max are borderline brandless, just an extreme high quality build of no name brand.

 

[Ken88]

dumb question, but how do you know how much time is remaining on the headphones?

It should display on your iPhone how much battery % APM has left. You should start charging once it reaches 20%.

 

[kp98077]

It should display on your iPhone how much battery % APM has left. You should start charging once it reaches 20%.

strange, don't see that

 

[-DMN-]

For $550 that **** should work from go. No issues, period.

People expect quality when they pay a premium price.

Just like the display issues and keyboard issues we've seen with MBP's over the past few years. Typically, Apple denies any issue in "Ford Pinto" fashion and waits until the masses are gathering at the moat demanding action. Then maybe a refund, or extended warranty.

At this price point, every possible contingency should have been tested and engineered out of the product, People shouldn't have to look for work arounds on niche websites....

I feel the exact same way. When current next generation game consoles go for less than the price of a pair of headphones. Then there should be no problems within the first few weeks of ownership.

 

[alee]

c'mon, it is not a bag of french fries for 2,50$. for that amout of money it should be working out of the box just fine. otherwise it is just a kit box for early adaptors...

It happens more than you think. Ask any Tesla owner how many times something has been broken for every new release. That premium $120k Model X SUV got an update last week where the fonts are too small to read for those with older eyes. Model 3 owners are all flipping out because Tesla arbitrarily changed the map size and speed indicator size. Elon Musk's response was an "we need a UI overhaul".

Or the $500 Valentine Research V1 gen2 radar detector that shipped with buggy software which would brick the detector in odd circumstances when powering on. They shipped a fix for it a month later, things got a lot better, and then Nov they shipped another update which caused the detector to generate countless false alerts, which they fixed in Dec.

Software driven economies work different than the old days when you got what you got. The idea of a product like the iPhone 6 getting years of updates is immensely valuable. Sure we'd all like a bug-free experience, but well... that's just a fantasy. It NEVER happens.

I'm sure you'd be more upset if it wasn't fixable at all.

 

[alee]

For $550 that **** should work from go. No issues, period.

People expect quality when they pay a premium price.

This remains the most laughable position.

Quality and price are not the same. A $500 meal can still suck. A $500k exotic car is going to find itself in the shop for stupid things just as much as a $25k Toyota.

The real question is whether you're complaining because you experience this issue every time you put your Airpods Max on, or did you decide this morning that this was truly the single issue that is going to destroy Apple?

 

[amartinez1660]

strange, don't see that

There are a few ways to get quick access to battery left hints, the most complete one would be the widgets on the Home Screen, looks like this:

But also, every time you put them on and off, the charging light lights up for a couple of seconds, if it is amber it has 15% or left, if it is green then it’s above that and you will still have a couple of hours of use before needing charging.

 

[Maconplasma]

I understand the sentiment, but make no mistake, the forum is largely chill and reasonable people... it’s just easier for those affected or feeling affected or a low hanging fruit for bashing to jump the gun.

My experience has overall been largely top notch... defective products get replaced no questions asked, working products last a lifetime (a family member is still using a 2011 MacBook Pro that I passed on... so much for “planned obsolescence”) and my specific issue that started happening on the Airpods Max (different than this one being discussed) gives me no fear of being left in the dust with a faulty working device... it will be fixed.

Firstly thank you for such a reasonable and civil post. I wish more posts were like yours. I get what you're saying but anytime a small issue or even a rumor of something involving Apple that hasn't even happened this forum gets knee-jerky and jumps on the Apple trash boat.

For example Sony has done an absolutely horrible job with their PS5 launch. Thousands of people are very upset still that they can't get one. It's been several weeks now. Had this been Apple that was even a week behind getting new Macs out to people many forum members here would have the audacity to threaten a lawsuit. In terms of this forum every other tech company gets a pass for their major issues no matter how much money the product they are selling cost. Apple gets trashing here from made up rumors.
Many years ago this place used to be overall chill with some trolls in the mix. Now the trolling is the majority, and it's hard to fight through all of this because many are determined to push their negative views in people's faces.

This is a minor issue with the AirPods Max that no doubt will be fixed really quick. I wonder how this forum would've reacted had Apple's iPhone been the one exploding and causing fires instead of Samsung? Notice no one talks about that anymore? Notice how people STILL talk about the butterfly keyboard that didn't actually cause anyone physical harm?

 

[amartinez1660]

Firstly thank you for such a reasonable and civil post. I wish more posts were like yours. I get what you're saying but anytime a small issue or even a rumor of something involving Apple that hasn't even happened this forum gets knee-jerky and jumps on the Apple trash boat.

For example Sony has done an absolutely horrible job with their PS5 launch. Thousands of people are very upset still that they can't get one. It's been several weeks now. Had this been Apple that was even a week behind getting new Macs out to people many forum members here would have the audacity to threaten a lawsuit. In terms of this forum every other tech company gets a pass for their major issues no matter how much money the product they are selling cost. Apple gets trashing here from made up rumors.
Many years ago this place used to be overall chill with some trolls in the mix. Now the trolling is the majority, and it's hard to fight through all of this because many are determined to push their negative views in people's faces.

This is a minor issue with the AirPods Max that no doubt will be fixed really quick. I wonder how this forum would've reacted had Apple's iPhone been the one exploding and causing fires instead of Samsung? Notice no one talks about that anymore? Notice how people STILL talk about the butterfly keyboard that didn't actually cause anyone physical harm?

Oh man, can’t say much but just agree 100% with it.

Indeed some of the biggest bloopers of the tech industry, were they to happen on Apple’s turf, it would get trashed for a full decade. It’s like this with everything, it’s ok for Nintendo to charge $40 for a game while steam charges $5 for the same one, take the same 30% cut (for online, physical copies is another story with their proprietary cartridge fees) and be ok with a largely exclusive titles ecosystem, while Apple gets the bulk of lawsuits, antitrust issues, etc etc because you can download their built-in apps back from their own App Store.

Onto the negativity and denial, thanks a lot for the compliment, but myself I have been guilty of having my own posts moderated or removed, sometimes warranted with because of an out of hand harsh comment, other times people because people they don’t like what they hear (like this exact comment).

I still believe (maybe it’s me being in denial mind you) that the vast majority are socially tuned, polite and reasonable, they don’t write or post as much. What also happens is that the nihilistic, negative, iconoclasts and trashers are VERY quick to jump in, will crowd the very first set of comments and then some of the reasonable people, like yourself, or the comedians that put a laugh on it all, start trying to give perspective.

 

[kp98077]

There are a few ways to get quick access to battery left hints, the most complete one would be the widgets on the Home Screen, looks like this:
View attachment 1703909
But also, every time you put them on and off, the charging light lights up for a couple of seconds, if it is amber it has 15% or left, if it is green then it’s above that and you will still have a couple of hours of use before needing charging.

do I need to add this widget? seems odd that its so difficult to simply check battery level! Bose tells you it as you put them on!

 

[amartinez1660]

do I need to add this widget? seems odd that its so difficult to simply check battery level! Bose tells you it as you put them on!

Yeah... sometimes the widget it’s kinda useful though, might just want to add it to your devices. Although lately I have been keeping track less and less for battery life... at least if it dies on you a quick 15mins charge will give you back plenty of listening time.

But yeah, it’s a bit overly complicated, there’s also this that managed to capture: I don’t know exactly how it happens, but if the headphones are close enough to a device, it will just pop up a big panel with the device type and the battery left, similar to opening the AirPods Pro charging case close to an iPhone or iPad, it looks like this:

That’s kinda the most convenient indicator, when you are about to use them it just tells you how much battery they have left.

Edit: typos and how to replicate–> taking them out from the Smart Case makes them display that pop-up with the battery left indicator.

 

[JCCL]

Didn’t go through it all to check if you were already answered, in case:
Soft Reset:
- press and hold both crown button and noise cancelling switch button.
- after an amber light blinks release.
It will be soft reset.

Hard Reset:
- same as above but continue pressing the same buttons even after the amber light blinks.
- The amber light will turn white. Release at this point.
That will be a hard reset and will need reconnecting, but it’s simple lately, an animation showing the airpods Max will appear with a “connect” button if on the closest iOS devices.


Neither the AirPods Pro nor AirPods Max have an Apple logo or visible Apple anything anywhere. Actually the AirPods Max are borderline brandless, just an extreme high quality build of no name brand.

Yeah....I’m sure they would sell the same in the Western side of the world if the brand was Huawei selling exactly the same product...

 

[kp98077]

Yeah... sometimes the widget it’s kinda useful though, might just want to add it to your devices. Although lately I have been keeping track less and less for battery life... at least if it dies on you a quick 15mins charge will give you back plenty of listening time.

But yeah, it’s a bit overly complicated, there’s also this that managed to capture: I don’t know exactly how it happens, but if the headphones are close enough to a device, it will just pop up a big panel with the device type and the battery left, similar to opening the AirPods Pro charging case close to an iPhone or iPad, it looks like this:
View attachment 1703994
That’s kinda the most convenient indicator, when you are about to use them it just tells you how much battery they have left.

Edit: typos and how to replicate–> taking them out from the Smart Case makes them display that pop-up with the battery left indicator.

helpful, thanks!

 

[amartinez1660]

Yeah....I’m sure they would sell the same in the Western side of the world if the brand was Huawei selling exactly the same product...

Hmm, I don’t think they would sell it to me personally at least because I know it wouldn’t have the whatever chips, or easily connect to iOS/iPad/MacOS, etc.
The audio switching has been working amazingly well for me, hit play on another close enough device it will pause the first one and output audio from the new one, the former one gets a top bar pop up that brings back the headphones audio output which I hardly think ’Huawei Pods Max’ would be able to or care to replicate.

Nevertheless, and I’m no expert, but I think I would bet that a year after after AirPods launched, all the knock-offs and copies that started appearing like the ‘TaoTronics’, ‘TicPods Liberty’ whatever or the Samsung’s/Huawei’s/Google‘s buds (don’t really know who has what) have already taken a big chunk of the market. Pretty much like Android did taking the vast majority of the phone market. If there are numbers on this, genuinely curious.

 

[Ken88]

strange, don't see that

Hmm, I saw it on YouTube review..personally I don’t own and won’t buy APM because too expensive, no Apple logo, too heavy, no on/off button and the case, don’t get started on that topic..good luck.

 

[Ken88]

do I need to add this widget? seems odd that its so difficult to simply check battery level! Bose tells you it as you put them on!

My Sony XM 3 or Bose 700 both have battery bar indicator next to my iPad battery % side by side so easy to know when to charge both the headphones and iPad..I have not tried APM only saw it on YouTube review. I will wait Airpods sport, summer 2021, $399, 290 grams..95 grams lighter and $150 cheaper. I mean $399 is not exact cheap but still more manageable, I guess.

 

[God of Biscuits]

$550 headphones. problems already.
Leave Audio to the Pro's. Like Sony, Denon, Pioneer , sennheiser.

The Apple car will be just as bad.

Concentrate on your core business. otherwise LEMONS when you spread yourself thin.

Because no one's first product, first release firmware has ever had minor issues ever ever ever EVAR EVAR.

Christ.

 

[God of Biscuits]

For $550 that **** should work from go. No issues, period.

People expect quality when they pay a premium price.

Just like the display issues and keyboard issues we've seen with MBP's over the past few years. Typically, Apple denies any issue in "Ford Pinto" fashion and waits until the masses are gathering at the moat demanding action. Then maybe a refund, or extended warranty.

At this price point, every possible contingency should have been tested and engineered out of the product, People shouldn't have to look for work arounds on niche websites....

I think only people who are ready to attack have an expectation of perfection. These are the same kind of people who *also* tend to demand free apps that provide infinite updates, don't require bugfixes (see above expectation of perfection in the first place) and are surprised when they get called cheapskates and then put all the blame on the developers when they are forced to stop providing updates for said apps because they can no longer afford to be indie developers.

 

[7493920]

Inevitable when products get more and more advanced. Gone are the days of products with just a few thousand lines of code. But we can both agree on the value in Apple continuing to improve on quality control as their products become more and more complex and advanced with legacy code and technical debt build-up sometimes manifesting in bugs.

Honestly I think it would be better to have slower release cycles and less bugs. There's no excuse for ****** products. I still think Apple does it better than most, but they could step it up. They have become bloated.

 

[kp98077]

How do you know if they are actually fixed? I dont seem to get a blinking amber light just blinking clear, then to green...

 

[chineseguy38]

Once again, it proves Apple doesn't do quality control with their products.

 

[kp98077]

Once again, it proves Apple doesn't do quality control with their products.

or the pandemic... things aren't perfect.. and certainly better than most other brands

 

[windywalks]

Electronic equipment needs a reset. In other news - water is wet.
I really don’t get all the hate, it’s not like it‘s a defective product, just a malfunction that is easy to fix.
I’ll decide if I love or hat the APM once they arrive tomorrow.

 

[windywalks]

Once again, it proves Apple doesn't do quality control with their products.

How does a minor glitch reflect on Apple’s lack of QC? Have you even had pair of ANC headphones?
Both my my Bose QC and Sony XM models have had some sort of malfunction at one point in time. The Bose have had the ANC screwed up with firmware updates twice. Think twice before you start typing troll posts like this.