Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
My regular AirPods have an issue with cracking when making phone calls. I have had them replaced once and the replacement units have the same issue. My 2017-era AirPods do not have this problem. It is pretty annoying. Hopefully they launch a program for the regular AirPods as well, or they at least figure out how to fix it.
 
£170.

They assured me the replacement would not have this issue and would be of the fixed variety; an issue with a faulty component has been resolved (whatever that means).

In effect this is AirPods Pro Gen 2, it covers every AirPods Pro bought in the first year, i.e. Gen 1 are faulty.

Is it possible to check manufacture date of the AirPods Pro so I can check the replacement?
Same price as mine.

Is there any way to determine when a pair was manufactured. I'm just paranoid about getting old repair stock rather than the "Gen 2" as you call them.
 
  • Like
Reactions: freedomlinux
Per the repair program page:

"Apple has determined that a small percentage of AirPods Pro may experience sound issues. Affected units were manufactured before October 2020."

Definitely not all of them.
This is just a PR way of saying they have a problem, Apple is never going to come out and say every AirPod Pro is faulty.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
  • Like
Reactions: haruhiko
Well I reported this yesterday to Apple. so they are sending me new tomorrow. They will replace the pods, not the case. Also they will put hold in your credit card of around $200, so once you return the old ones they will remove the hold.
 
Thanks.
Just spoke to an Apple chat guy (lots of copying and pasting from him) and a service request was set up with a hold for 170 or so. Got email just now subject “We received your request for a replacement part” for left and right buds.

Presumably this is the Service Program and I’ll not receive pre-October buds?
That's what I'd assume. Otherwise they'd just be getting a second wave of complaints a few months in the future with more issues. Lets hope they are smart enough to give units made recently.
 
Did they test them, or did they just replace?
They ran a diagnostic on it, but besides that, I didn’t see them really testing whether there was crackling sound or not. But their standard procedure should include a checking of symptoms.. probably since it was only the first day of the program so they were not very familiar with it.
 
Last edited:
They ran a diagnostic on it, but besides that, I didn’t see them really testing whether there was cracking sound or not. But their standard procedure should include a checking of symptoms.. probably since it was only the first day of the program so they were not very familiar with it.
Thanks for the reply. Hopefully, getting the new pair solves the problems.
 
  • Like
Reactions: haruhiko
Both of my replacement AirPods Pro units are with “DC” as the 4th and 5th character of the serial number.
Tips: going to Bluetooth setting, tap the (i) next to the name of the AirPods Pro, tap on the serial number. It will change to the serial number of the earbuds instead of the case.
 
Had both of mine replaced for similar issues. Looks like I might need them replaced again before the 2 years are up. Seen as they’ve only just fixed them now. Lucky they charge $250, so they can probably replace them 5 times before losing money.
 
Meanwhile I believe/fear I must wait 1 year in life cycle of each new Apple product to be on the save side and to escape any troubles with Genius Bar or Apple support by phone... :rolleyes:
 
I purchased 3 different sets of ear buds because my Air Pod pros stopped noise cancellation. In one of the iOs updates, Apple allowed individual Air pods to be in noise cancellation mode even if the other is not, mitigating the problem to some extent. But I have not been happy with the product which I purchased when it just came out.
 
Apple should have allowed mailing it back rather than having people come to their store during a pandemic and wait in lines or risk getting Covid-19.
 
I hope you have used other companies Laptops and phones.
Samsung doesn't update it's phones after a year that fast and release new phones with new Android versions.
Hardware wise they charged me to fix bricked and non rooted Galaxy S6 in warranty with no water or a physical damage.

Laptops, I hope you have dealt with Dell, HP or Lenovo warranties.

If everything went well, I am sorry, I may be the only one unlucky with them and lucky with Apple.

Btw I was a hard core Android user and Windows user until 2015.

Your experience is comparable to mine (in 2010 I turned away from Microsoft Windows and Office, especially Outlook) and turned fully to Apple – but I kept my clear view:

Apple is to prefer in comparison to the other brands in Macs, Mac Books or iPhones, BUT you must be very cautious and selective, which product you buy at which period of its life cycle, e.g. since 2015 I did not buy Mac Book or Mac Book Pro (keyboard, flexcable, loss of ESC and... also in Phones no iPhone 6 Plus because of display disease and...) – just bought Mac Book Air till 2017 and iMacs over the whole period, because of these many quality problems Apple revealed often late and worried customers... the best is to wait about 1 year and read the blogs :D:p
 
Glad to see they are finally handling this. I haven't yet noticed this issue... yet (though I'll admit, every time I see a post about this I wonder if I'm just missing it or something). The only issue I have had is my left stim doesn't always want to make the "click" noise so I have to squeeze it a couple times to get it to work. The right one works just fine.
 
on a phone call, my airpods pro amplify all the background sound and not my voice, making them terrible for voice calls. I hoped the update would help but no change. Is this the same thing?
 
When returning the defective AirPods in the box they supply, do you include the rubber tip or not?

The replacement includes all three tips (the medium on the AirPod and the small and large attached inside the folded cardboard). What do I have to return?
 
I love my AirPods Pro for the convenience and the sound but goodness me have they been the most unreliable Apple product I've ever owned.

My BeatsX on the other hand, half the price and they just work. But they're not nearly as convenient.
 
When returning the defective AirPods in the box they supply, do you include the rubber tip or not?

The replacement includes all three tips (the medium on the AirPod and the small and large attached inside the folded cardboard). What do I have to return?
I didn't include the tips, they just want the airpod itself.
 
I didn't include the tips, they just want the airpod itself.
And they didn’t subtract that from the rebate amount on the credit card hold?

I didn’t think they’d want the tips, but the drawings include them, so I wasn’t sure whether not including them would cause Apple to charge me a few bucks.
 
I had one of my buds replaced (in person) in February for the crackling issue, and just yesterday noticed that the ANC was failing. I kept toggling it on and off, trying to see what was happening. So annoying.
 
I went to an Apple store 2 weeks ago about ANC and ear tip fit test failures and they told me to go fly a kite...

Took about an hour of being handed off to different reps (most weren’t aware of the new program) today on live chat but they are finally sending replacements.

They tried to charge me for out of warranty repair once and then said I wasn’t eligible and eventually said (quote) “It appears your AirPods were manufactured in October not before October like the repair program specifies.” Had to explain to them that it was for 2020, not 2019...

Oof, how far Apple support has fallen.
 
  • Like
  • Sad
Reactions: TD912 and katbel
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.