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Being anal with batteries and owning airpods

D

dagmar10

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Sep 8, 2019
18
11
Anyone here anal with their batteries? For example with my iPhone I never charge past 80% or go below 32% and I do this religiously (iPhone 11 Pro Max bought at launch & still at 100% battery health). Now I'm considering AirPods from the MacBook Pro deal, but the way AirPods are designed with the case is that they will always be charging to 100%---and that is the biggest culprit to degrading battery.

Is there anyway to leave the case not charging and only charge when I plug it in? I basically want to control the charging for the earpieces. Anyone here have a work around?

Anyhow, this is just a musing of someone keen on preserving battery for that resale value on all my stuff and if I don't find any real answers for the AirPods I might just sell them after I get the promo.
 
I wouldn’t say that I’m anal about it, but it’s certainly a concern, one that I can do nothing about.

When AirPods are new out of the box, they’re not charged to 100%. The AirPods Pro I bought from Costco a few weeks ago were at like 70% out of the box, as was the charging case. It would seem apple has a way to disable charging after manufacturing.
 
Batteries handle 100% charge today better than ever. Most of my Apple devices have been on the charger and at full charge for their lives - for 2+ years they do really well. I've had Gen 1 AirPods and now I have Gen 2 AirPods.

There is no way to control the charge other than not putting them in the case which will drain them faster than putting them in the case - so imo that's more battery wear ( cycling ) than just leaving them in the case.

I would not worry about the AirPods - just use them, that's what I do. Sure they cost more than a wired pair but the benefits outweigh the cost for me on a massive scale.
 
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I'm a battery geek myself. The first gen airpods didn't fair too well when it came to battery degradation. The pro's have a different type of cell which I hope will handle the abuse better.

If apple would limit the top charge to 4.1v for a reduction of about 10% running time the batteries would last 2-3 times longer.
 
Don't get me started on AirPods batteries - mine died after 18 months - of course they're not repairable and therefore AirPods are effectively consumable/disposable. Not good enough.
 
johnhackworth said:
Don't get me started on AirPods batteries - mine died after 18 months - of course they're not repairable and therefore AirPods are effectively consumable/disposable. Not good enough.
Click to expand...

This is by design, and makes Apple a lot of money. If they were honest about it, they would say it's working as intended.
 
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Duncan68 said:
This is by design, and makes Apple a lot of money. If they were honest about it, they would say it's working as intended.
Click to expand...

That's an opinion. And I have a 2 year old pair of Airpods still going strong being used daily. Yes, you can tell a bit of battery loss but ... it is an ignorant statement to make that airpods die after 18 months and that's by design.
 
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BigMcGuire said:
That's an opinion. And I have a 2 year old pair of Airpods still going strong being used daily. Yes, you can tell a bit of battery loss but ... it is an ignorant statement to make that airpods die after 18 months and that's by design.
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I agree completely. My Airpods 1st gen are two years old also and I use mine daily. Battery performance has dropped slightly but they still work very well for my needs. I'd say they were well worth the cost ($6.05 per month) for the use I've got out of them so far and if they make another 6 months to a year I'd say $4-$5 per month is an excellent trade off for something considered "disposable"..
 
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BigMcGuire said:
it is an ignorant statement to make that airpods die after 18 months and that's by design.
Click to expand...

And wouldn't it make more sense for Apple to set the "self-destruct timer" for 1 year + 1 day from the date of purchase to ensure it wasn't covered under warranty? LOL! It is amusing to read the conspiracy theories people seriously believe.
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johnhackworth said:
Don't get me started on AirPods batteries - mine died after 18 months - of course they're not repairable and therefore AirPods are effectively consumable/disposable. Not good enough.
Click to expand...

According to Apple, they are repairable:

If your battery has a manufacturing defect and it's covered by our warranty, we'll service it at no additional cost. If your battery service isn't covered, we can replace your battery for a fee.
Click to expand...

AirPods Repair & Service - Apple Support (English)

Need to repair your AirPods? See your service options, their costs by coverage type, and how long they take.
support.apple.com support.apple.com
 
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You’re just going to have to charge your AirPods the way you specifically intend to charge them

Maybe looking into a smart switch outlet connector so you don’t gotta constantly watch them

Do whatever you wanna do don’t let other people tell you what to do
 
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