Apple Investigating Issue With AirPods Randomly Disconnecting During Calls

[Mac 128]

I wouldn't call it "inferior". Maybe something is interfering. Try shutting off wifi and see if that improves the situation. It did for me. I only need to do this in one place. I have had this issue on an iPhone 6 with PowerBeats headphones, so it's clearly not just an AirPod and iPhone 7 problem. Knee jerk reactions don't help anyone.

If I had this problem in just one place, and was told by Apple engineers that this was just a temporary solution until the fix came, I might be OK with it too. However, my park is the beach, where there's free public wifi, and I use streaming there. Unfortunately, my phone gets a very poor signal in that area, so if I'm hanging out in the park, I don't really have a choice. I'd be pretty unhappy if this were the temporary fix, especially if it lasted any length of time.

 

[ApplefanboyOMG]

Apple is investigating multiple reports from iPhone owners of AirPods randomly disconnecting and reconnecting during calls, MacRumors has learned.

A MacRumors forum thread and a long thread on Apple's Support Communities website has been generated by AirPods users who are regularly experiencing Bluetooth connection dropouts during phone calls, despite the fact that the wireless earphones almost never lose their connection when used to listen to music or anything else. MacRumors forum member protobiont wrote:
At present, the issue appears to be limited to iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus devices, with several users reporting no such problems after upgrading to an iPhone 7. MacRumors was also unable to replicate the problem on Apple's latest handset.

Initial reports suggested the dropout issue only occurs if users also have an Apple Watch paired to their iPhone, but MacRumors was able to replicate the problem with a Fitbit Blaze, suggesting a more general conflict when other Bluetooth devices are also connected.

Unpairing and then repairing the AirPods does not appear to solve the problem, neither does rebooting nor resetting the iPhone. Until Apple offers a solution, users are advised to use only one AirPod for conducting calls, as the dropouts only seem to occur when both earpieces are in use.

Article Link: Apple Investigating Issue With AirPods Randomly Disconnecting During Calls

 

[TallManNY]

I have this issue on calls fairly regularly. I have a Series 0 Apple Watch connected to my iPhone 6S. But it does switch back to the AirPhones pretty quickly most of the time. Sound and microphone quality is so good that I really want to use the AirPhones as my conference call headset, but this bug is a bit distracting.

 

[ApplefanboyOMG]

I have had this same issue with my iPhone 6s. I do own an Apple Watch which seems to be common. Here's a video of my AirPods disconnecting:

 

[magicschoolbus]

My iPhone 6s paired with my car stereo will disconnect after I call someone and then my whole phone freezes up. Sometimes when they call me, my phone will disconnect and reconnect to the headunit.

Running the newest version of the software... was never doing this before.
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I have had this same issue with my iPhone 6s. I do own an Apple Watch which seems to be common. Here's a video of my AirPods disconnecting:

My phone does this EXACT thing when streaming to the headunit in my Toyota (this just started).. NEVER had any problems on the older software.

 

[Ferc Kast]

I've had an issue with my AirPods cutting out while listening to music. It seems to happen more often when I'm using my Apple Watch to select songs. It's become worse over the last week or so. Listening to movies or podcasts on my iPhone 6s doesn't cause the same issue.
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Have you tried istocknow.com? I found a pair by keeping an eye on that site between 10am and 1pm. A local Apple Store got a shipment in and it popped up. Target is starting to carry AirPods as well.

I have; but the few times they've shown up is when I'm at work and then they're back out of stock before I leave work.

 

[3rdiguy]

I get these types of drops as well. Sometimes there's a significant delay in it connecting when I chose AirPods as source and my disconnections happen more than a couple times.

 

[WilliamG]

Airpods. iPhone 7. Two failures. Sitting side by side.

Funny. I love both. A lot.
[doublepost=1485187389][/doublepost]

I get these types of drops as well. Sometimes there's a significant delay in it connecting when I chose AirPods as source and my disconnections happen more than a couple times.

I don't get drops, but I do get the delayed connection, as does my wife on hers. Both iPhone 7 and 7 Plus and both of us wear Apple Watches S0.

 

[djeeyore25]

I have; but the few times they've shown up is when I'm at work and then they're back out of stock before I leave work.

Hopefully they'll be more readily available soon. I just happened to click on the website just as they received a shipment and ordered a pair for in-store pickup. By the time I was done checking out they were out of stock again, so I was very lucky to have snagged a pair.

 

[PinkyMacGodess]

How do you only use one for a call?
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I am located in Australia. iPhone 6S. Apple Watch. I experience this issue of calls dropping from AirPod to phone often. I also get interference/small glitches when listening to music.

I also have experienced this on two separate occasions. While running and listening to music, a phone call comes in. The green AirPod icon lights up on my watch. I press to answer but it does not answer the call. The call rings out. When the caller hangs up, the music does not resume. I then cannot get the music to play though the AirPods again. Quite frustrating while running.

I've had static using Plantronics Backbeat Fit's. Every so often I get a little burp of static. I only use them on my bike, so I can't tell if the phone function would be interrupted. This makes me wonder if it's something environmental, rather than a flaw. My sample size is small, but if it happens more often, I might toss Bluetooth altogether.

The static 'burp' is rather loud, and lasts for a fraction of a second, several times in an hour.

 

[TurboPGT!]

What's unbelievable is people who pay TOP DOLLAR for these devices and are happy to put up with these ridiculous compromises. Apple deserves all the "trash talk" it gets until it can make basic functions like BT work reliably.

None of what he wrote was true. Hence, typical Macrumors nonsense.
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How do you only use one for a call?

What kind of question is this?

Only one at a time is 99% of my AirPods usage.

 

[Ad13]

My iPhone 6s paired with my car stereo will disconnect after I call someone and then my whole phone freezes up. Sometimes when they call me, my phone will disconnect and reconnect to the headunit.

Running the newest version of the software... was never doing this before.
[doublepost=1485185660][/doublepost]
My phone does this EXACT thing when streaming to the headunit in my Toyota (this just started).. NEVER had any problems on the older software.

That's bizzarre because I too have the exact problem with my iPhone 6s Plus and my VW head unit. The phone drops the handsfree connection constantly and as you point out, this is vey new and recent behaviour!

 

[Ma2k5]

Hmmm odd. I've never had call audio drop out on my wired Apple Earbuds.

I call BS...

 

[Estrith22]

Same thing happens to me on my iPhone 7, I thought it was just me! Guess I'll try it out with 1 AirPod in so I don't go crazy

 

[chrono1081]

Form over function as usual lol

So you did all the troubleshooting required to know exactly what is wrong here, and have determined through the process of elimination it's a hardware issue that can't be solved?

Or are you speculating as usual

 

[routine_analyst]

*Calls Wife* *Ring Ring*

"HEY HONEY! I BOUGHT MYSELF NEW AIRPODS! DON'T I SOUND GREAT?"

*Pause* *Disconnect*

"Damnit, my AIRPODS keep disconnecting*

 

[farewelwilliams]

i experienced this. the fix is to disconnect all non apple devices from using the airpods. in my situation: windows keeps forcefully taking over the connection. it looks like the bluetooth in the airpods broadcasts two types of devices: one for voice calls and another for general high quality listening. there's some confusion with windows attemping to connect when it detects both devices (which mostly happens when on a call). could also happen with android devices

to confirm this: take a call outside away from all non-apple devices. you won't be disconnected at all.

 

[2457282]

Thankfully I have not had any issues with my airpods dropping. My daughter does not report any issues either. However, I do have issues connecting. I paired the AirPods with both my iPhone and iPad. It does not seem to handle the transition well. Haven't really spent a lot of time on it since I just go into the bluetooth menu and connect manually. It's not a big deal but I thought it would transition automatically.

 

[PinkyMacGodess]

What kind of question is this?

Only one at a time is 99% of my AirPods usage.

Pardon my ignorant question. I don't have them yet, so just trying to figure out how they work.

 

[WilliamG]

None of what he wrote was true. Hence, typical Macrumors nonsense.
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What kind of question is this?

Only one at a time is 99% of my AirPods usage.

Same here! I switch ear if a battery gets low, but 99% of the time on calls with one AirPod in!

 

[BvizioN]

Airpods. iPhone 7. Two failures. Sitting side by side.

Yeah, right! You got it.

 

[tchadrainwater]

That has been the problem with all BT headphones on iOS 10 and further... I've now had 4 iPhone 7 replaced because of this! my BMW i3 drops the calls.... I blame iPhone 7 and iOS 10 for this

 

[roar08]

At present, the issue appears to be limited to iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus devices, with several users reporting no such problems after upgrading to an iPhone 7. MacRumors was also unable to replicate the problem on Apple's latest handset.

Not sure if this is the exact issue, but my Airpods lose their connection on calls, defaulting to my iPhone 7 for audio. My phone is also paired with a series 1 Apple Watch. I can subsequently select the Airpods as the audio source and they work again. This has happened maybe 2-3 times in the past 3 weeks. Outside of this, the Airpods are great. I have a number of different high end earbuds and headphones (e.g. Sony MDX-1000) and I was *very* surprised at the quality of the Airpods for listening to music. Audio quality during calls is also very good.

 

[Analog Kid]

Biggest problem I've had is my audio gets horribly garbled and out of sync from my nMP to the AirPods. I think it's a Sierra problem though because the only way to fix it seems to be rebooting-- connecting and disconnecting doesn't seem to make a difference. I'm hoping today's update will address it.

I noticed soon after getting my AirPods that when I would listen to music in a nearby park, I would get frequent drops in connectivity. It wasn't that the AirPods completely disconnected from my iPhone, it was an issue that sounded more like something was intereferring. I contacted AppleCare, and they created a case that got forwarded up to engineering. Someone from there contacted me and gave me a series of steps to try. What we found out was that if I shut off wifi while in the area where I was experiencing the problem, the issue goes away. Perhaps this a good thing to try for these users. One thing to note is I had exactly the same issue with some Power Beats 2 headphones on my iPhone 6. I have an iPhone 7 now. Apple's support communities are great, but I suggest contacting AppleCare. The more cases the engineers have to investigate, the better. I don't mind shutting off wifi when I'm out walking in the park listening to music.

Open fields are a tough environment for something like this. Nothing for radio to bounce off of, so the only path is pocket to ears and very often your body is in the way.

The Braghi Dash has had similar complaints-- works ok inside, but connectivity is bad on the street.

I haven't taken mine outside much, but indoors the connectivity has been rock solid to my iOS devices and MBP.

 

[44267547]

Airpods. iPhone 7. Two failures. Sitting side by side.

Your posts on here are broken without any justification. You posted the same post last week without any evidence and your threads are indicative of this.