In December, Apple launched AirPods Max, its Apple-brand headphones that join AirPods and AirPods Pro. Since launch, an increasing number of MacRumors readers who bought the AirPods Max complain about the battery consumption that seems excessive.
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Complaints range from high battery consumption while the headphones are in use to significant battery loss when the headphones are expected to be inactive. MacRumors the VL_424 reader explains:
I have been using the Max on my AirPod since the day of launch, in the last few days I had a big battery consumption.
For example, last night I took the headphones out of the case with 85% of the battery, used them for about 15 minutes, put them back in the case.
This morning, I get a notification through my iPhone that there were only 5% left. I wasn’t even trying to connect to AirPods, I was broadcasting it to the room’s HomePod. It is strange that the AirPod Max were even awake, as they were still sitting in the cabinet. Is anyone else having problems like that?
Many of the complaints have suggested that AirPods Max are not properly entering a low power mode and, without the power button, there is no way to force them to save battery. When AirPods Max was first launched, there was significant confusion about how low-power modes worked when AirPods Max were in and out of the smart cover included with the headphones.
Apple in a support document clarified that AirPods Max are designed to go into a “low power mode” after five minutes after being left standing (not put in a box). If untouched, the AirPods Max should remain in low power mode for three days, after which the headphones go into an “ultra low” power state that cuts off Bluetooth and Find My.
When placed in the Smart Case, the irAirPods Max are designed to go into low energy mode immediately instead of waiting for five minutes and, after 18 hours, to enter the ultra-low energy state mentioned earlier.
Given Apple’s description, battery consumption should be minimized when AirPods Max are not in use inside and outside the case, but there may be a problem with the low power mode due to battery problems that some users are experiencing.
Many MacRumors readers see high levels of battery consumption overnight, sometimes in double-digit percentages, but most are seeing approximately 10 to 12 percent of battery consumption per day when headphones are not in use. There have also been reports of some users who have seen their headphones completely empty throughout the day. In MacRumors DaSal reader:
The standby battery life is really poor. I’ve only had them for about two weeks and it just so happened that I wanted to use them only to find that they had completely emptied overnight. You can’t really store them at 30% and assume that you can use them the next time you want.
Some users believe that the problem may be related to AirPods Max not disconnecting from devices when placed in the case or when entering low power mode. In MacRumors Broken Hope reader:
It seems to be a problem for them not to disconnect from all devices properly.
I took mine yesterday, used it with my phone, was annoyed because my Mac kept saying that irAirPods were around and turned off the automatic connection on my Mac, when I put them aside for the night, my Max were still showing up on Mac battery widget, thinking it was a failure, I went to work, came back and my Maxs sold out to 27% since last night.
Without the option to shut down, it looks like the irAirPods Max will drain a little overnight, even in low power mode, but given the number of reports on excessive battery consumption, it looks like there may be a software bug that Apple will need to settle in the future.
Like AirPods and AirPods Pro, Apple is able to send firmware updates for AirPods Max, but so far, there have been no new firmware releases.