Why do my AirPods die so fast?

The AirPods contain two tiny batteries that are charged with the charging case. The problem is that the batteries age much too quickly and the user has to expect that the capacity will quickly vanish. The problem is that repairs are impossible and replacements are expensive. You might ask yourself: Why do my AirPods die so fast?

The AirPods actually have a battery life of around five hours, but many users have experienced only four hours after a year of use. That would not be a problem yet, but those who are familiar with the chemistry of batteries know that the decline will be much faster in the future.

The earphones have now been around since the end of 2016 and thus there are also many customers with long-term experience. The maximum battery life of the AirPods in continuous use therefore decreases much faster than most users expect. After two years of use, only a quarter of the battery life is left, according to various reports.

Of course, a usage of only one hour per charge is unacceptable. Now you might think that it is normal for lithium-ion batteries to lose capacity and that you can swap them. But that is not the case. Apple does not offer a replacement program for the batteries, which makes financial sense.

I’m on my way home from work and the AirPods keep failing. 1 year 2 months old. The box is barely holding up either. Talk time has dropped from 1.5 to 1 hour max. I also had to adjust the system setting because the left earpiece was getting quieter.

Fix battery issues so that AirPods do not die so fast

In some cases, the AirPods may not disconnect from the iPhone when placed in the charging case and thus continue to consume power. A quick reset will help against this:

  • First, check if the AirPods are really charged and put the Apple AirPods into the case.
  • Close the lid and wait 15 seconds. When you open the lid, the status LED should light up white.
  • If this is not the case, press and hold the setup button on the back of the case until the LED lights up white.
  • Now press and hold the setup button for 15 seconds until the LED turns yellow several times and then turns white again.

If one AirPod dies faster than the other, that might help:

  1. Remove the connected AirPods from the list of Bluetooth devices on the iPhone: Settings > Bluetooth > AirPods > Forget This Device.
  2. Reset the AirPods by pressing the button on the charging case for a longer time.
  3. Reconnect the reset AirPods to the iPhone.
  4. Allow both AirPods to completely drain. Tips to make your AirPods die fast: Making calls, puts a heavy load on the battery, but even listening to music completely drains the AirPods.
  5. Let the battery of the charging case run completely empty.
  6. Put the discharged AirPods into the discharged charging case and let them both charge to 100%. This takes about two hours.

After that, the AirPods should at least discharge simultaneously. The author of the tip on Reddit claims that his AirPods did not die as fast after such an extreme reset than before. Several other users confirm his experience.

One possible explanation why the tip works is provided by the way the BMS (Battery Management System) works. This is responsible for battery indicators as well as general battery management. Unplugging the AirPods and completely draining the headphones resets this battery management system. Anything that gets tangled up in the system over time and causes an AirPod to show as empty, for example, is smoothed out by charging it from zero to a hundred. However, this trick will not change anything about the actual battery performance.

Extend the battery life of Apple AirPods so that they do not die so fast

AirPods battery life varies by model and generation, but whether you have AirPods Pro, AirPods Max, or first-, second-, or third-generation AirPods, you can extend the battery life of your headphones with the following tips and tricks, so that they do not die so fast.

Use AirPods at lower volume

Apple claims that the Airpods can be listened to for the following hours on a single charge at a volume of 50%:

  • AirPods 1st generation: 5 hours
  • AirPods 2nd generation: 5 hours
  • AirPods 3rd generation: 6 hours
  • AirPods Pro: 4.5 hours
  • AirPods Max: 20 hours

If you want to increase the battery life, you just have to use the headphones with a low volume. If you put the AirPods in the charging case for 15 minutes, the Bluetooth headphones will last another 3 hours. A charged charging case and charged headphones should provide 24 hours of runtime together.

Disable “Hey Siri”

The battery runtimes stated by Apple refer to the pure listening time when the additional features are turned off. However, as soon as you use additional features, this puts a strain on the battery life of the AirPods. Therefore, deactivate features that you do not use, such as “Hey Siri”. But beware: You will then also no longer be able to use “Hey Siri” on your iPhone.

  1. Open the settings on your iPhone
  2. Tap Siri & Search
  3. Disable Listen for “Hey Siri”
  4. Disable Press Side Button for Siri

Disable 3D audio

Apple wanted to take music to the next level with 3D audio with Dolby Atmos, but if you can’t really hear the difference or even find the 3D audio unpleasant, you should disable the feature. According to Apple, the battery life of the third-generation AirPods actually decreases by an hour should you use the 3D Audio feature all the time. However, only the third-generation AirPods, the AirPods Pro, and the AirPods Max have 3D audio.

Deactivate transparency mode and noise cancellation

If the battery of your AirPods Pro or AirPods Max is slowly running low, it is worth deactivating popular features such as transparency mode or noise cancellation. As long as the AirPods are connected to your iPhone, open the Control Center and press and hold on the volume slider. Now you can turn off the features and gain up to 30 minutes of battery life.

Use only one AirPod

Use only one of the in-ear headphones and put the other one back in the charging case. In the best case, this allows one AirPod to charge while you use the other. In the worst case, the AirPod in the case will not charge, but the AirPod in the case will not lose valuable battery life.