Apple launched AirPods Max in December, its Apple-branded headphones that join AirPods and AirPods Pro. Since its launch, a growing number of MacRumors readers who have purchased AirPods Max have complained about the battery consumption which 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 meant to be idle. MacRumors reader VL_424 explains:
I’ve been using AirPod’s Max since Launch Day, I’ve had a severe battery in recent days.
For example, last night I took the headphones out of the case with 85% battery, I used them for about 15 minutes, I put them back in the case.
This morning I receive a notification via iPhone that there are only 5% left. I wasn’t even trying to connect to “AirPods”, I was playing HomePod in the room. It’s weird that the AirPod Max was really awake because they were still in the case … anyone facing this kind of problem?
Many of the complaints suggested that AirPods Max going does not enter a low power consumption mode properly and without a power button, there is no way to force them to save battery. When the launched AirPods Max was first launched, there was significant confusion about how low power modes worked when the PAirPods Max was inside and outside the Smart Case included in the headphones.
Apple, in a support document, clarified that “AirPods Max” are designed to enter a “low power mode” after five minutes of being left stationary (not placed in a case). If untouched, AirPods Max are meant to remain in low power mode for three days, after which the headphones enter an “ultra-light” power state that interrupts Bluetooth and Find My.
When placed in Smart Cases, irAirPods Max are designed to enter low power mode immediately, rather than wait five minutes and, after 18 hours, enter the ultra-power state mentioned above.
Given Apple’s description, battery consumption should be kept to a minimum when irAirPods Max are not used both inside and outside the case, but there may be a problem with low power consumption, due to battery issues on which is encountered by some users.
Many MacRumors Readers experience high levels of battery discharge overnight, sometimes in double-digit percentages, but most see about 10 to 12 percent of battery discharge per day when headphones are not in use. There were also reports from some users who saw their headphones leaking completely during the day. from MacRumors DaSal Reader:
The standby battery life is really short. I’ve only had them for about two weeks and it has already happened that I only wanted to use them to find out that they were completely empty overnight. In fact, you can’t store them at 30% and assume you can use them the next time you want.
Some users find that the problem may be with the fact that irAirPods Max does not disconnect from devices when placed in the case or in low power mode. from MacRumors Broken Hope reader:
It seems to be a problem that it does not disconnect properly from all devices.
I took mine yesterday, used them with my phone, got annoyed that my Mac kept saying that irAirPods are nearby and turned off automatic switching on my Mac when I set them aside for the night of Max that they still showed in the Mac battery widget, thinking it was a problem, I went to work, I came back and my Max dropped to 27% last night.
Without a shutdown option, it looks like irAirPods Max will run somewhat overnight even in low power mode, but given the number of reports of excessive battery consumption, it looks like there could be a software error that Apple will must address it in the future.
Like AirPods and AirPods Pro, Apple is able to introduce over-the-air firmware updates for AirPods Max, but so far there have been no new firmware releases.