As it has been mentioned by many others before, it has nothing to do with climate or humidity levels. The aluminum itself causes this: it is colder than the surrounding air or your body temp. The condensation is caused by your body temp. The moist warm air hits the aluminum casing and the temp difference causes the air to condense on the inside. It’s just physics.
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Is AirPods Max 'Condensation Death' a Widespread Issue? Report Offers Conflicting Evidence
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Mildly warming (22°C) them up on a pad for a few hours has removed/fixed the issue, multiple times. Maybe others could try this and see if it makes any difference.
I used to wear them a lot daily until I got AirPods Pro 2nd Generation last fall. I stopped using them altogether since that mesh had stretched too much and now the metal band is too uncomfortable on my head. However, up until last fall, I would say they were on my head almost daily from 2 to 4 hours at once. There were also long-haul flights where I would have them on for 8-10 hours non-stop. I have never had any sound issues with them.
considering Apple never fixed the Mac Mini's WiFi and Bluetooth interference issues in over a decade makes me doubt they will change anything
Day one units still going strong. Use them most nights for movies on Apple TV and on the treadmill for 30-45 mins each day.
My AirPods Max (V1) started crackling in the right ear, which was a warning sign.
I started looking on-line and found the condensation issue. I only watch TV for a few hours at night, so no excessive heat generated by me.
Following the advice of a few people I removed the head band and cleaned the contacts. A Digital Microscope clearly showed the corrosion at the end of the headband connectors. I'm assuming the other side of the connector in the ear cups are also corroded but I can't get to that part. I tried a thin cotton bud, which cleaned some of it out.
When I hold down the buttons, I get as far as 3 amber lights and no pairing white lights.
I've had them for just under three years. I now know how lucky I've been compared to a lot of people but I still think it's not to much to expect them to last a lot longer than that!
The other issue is the headband stretching out. I realised I was getting two grooves in my head from the bars on the headband!
Did no-one at Apple see this problem during the design phase?
I think they simply put form over function on this one!
So what now, do I buy new ones, knowing they will probably have the same issues? No.
I loved the integration with all my Apple devices but now I guess I'll have to look elsewhere.
Sorry Apple, you let us down on this one.
I'll be keeping the AirPods Max in the hope that Apple admits its design flaws and offers to repair them.
I know it's a slim chance but can anyone say "Butterfly Keyboard"?
I started looking on-line and found the condensation issue. I only watch TV for a few hours at night, so no excessive heat generated by me.
Following the advice of a few people I removed the head band and cleaned the contacts. A Digital Microscope clearly showed the corrosion at the end of the headband connectors. I'm assuming the other side of the connector in the ear cups are also corroded but I can't get to that part. I tried a thin cotton bud, which cleaned some of it out.
When I hold down the buttons, I get as far as 3 amber lights and no pairing white lights.
I've had them for just under three years. I now know how lucky I've been compared to a lot of people but I still think it's not to much to expect them to last a lot longer than that!
The other issue is the headband stretching out. I realised I was getting two grooves in my head from the bars on the headband!
Did no-one at Apple see this problem during the design phase?
I think they simply put form over function on this one!
So what now, do I buy new ones, knowing they will probably have the same issues? No.
I loved the integration with all my Apple devices but now I guess I'll have to look elsewhere.
Sorry Apple, you let us down on this one.
I'll be keeping the AirPods Max in the hope that Apple admits its design flaws and offers to repair them.
I know it's a slim chance but can anyone say "Butterfly Keyboard"?
Let’s hope the EU forces Apple to allow smooth integration with 3rd party headphones! Sonos Ace are incredible, cheaper, and have all the same features as AirPods Max except the platform integration.
I was looking at the Sonos Ace. I've got an Arc. I'll go check out some reviews. Thanks.
Had mine since day one and still going strong. Used mostly for Apple TV in the evenings, so a good few hours of use per week since I bought them. I used to be paranoid about condensation but after checking often and seeing none I don't bother.