In December, Apple introduced the AirPods Max, Apple’s over-ear headphones that match the AirPods and AirPods Pro. Since its launch, the number has been growing MacRumors readers who bought the AirPods Max complain about the battery draining 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 inactive. MacRumors reader VL_424 explains:
I’ve been using my AirPod’s Max since launch day, for the past few days I’ve had a severe battery drain.
For example, last night I took the headphones with 85% battery out of the case, used it for about 15 minutes and put it back in the case.
This morning I get a message via my iPhone that there was only 5% left. I didn’t even try to connect to the AirPods, I was airplaying to the HomePod in the room. It’s strange that the AirPod Maxs were even awake because they were still in the trunk .. does anyone else have this kind of problem?
Many of the complaints have suggested that the AirPods Max don’t go into a power-saving mode properly, and with no power button, there’s no way to force them to save battery. When the AirPods Max was first launched, there was a lot of confusion about how low-power modes worked when using the AirPods Max in and out of the Smart Case that comes with the headphones.
Apple clarified in a supporting document that the AirPods Max is designed to go into a “power-saving mode” after five minutes of inactivity (not in a case). If untouched, the AirPods Max is intended to remain in power-saving mode for three days, after which the headphones will go into an “ultra-low” power state that cuts off Bluetooth and Find My.
When AirPods Max is placed in the Smart Case, they are designed to go into power saving mode immediately instead of waiting for five minutes, and go into the aforementioned ultra-low power state after 18 hours.
Given Apple’s description, battery drain should be kept to a minimum when the AirPods Max is not used both inside and outside the case, but there may be a problem with the low power mode, given the battery issues some users face experience.
A lot of MacRumors Readers see battery draining quickly overnight, sometimes in double digit percentages, but most see battery draining about 10 to 12 percent per day when the headphones are not in use. There have also been reports of some users seeing their headphones drain completely during the day. From MacRumors DaSal reader:
The standby battery life is really bad. I’ve only had these for about two weeks and it has already happened that I only wanted to use them to find out that they were completely drained overnight. You can’t actually save them for 30% and assume you’ll be able to use it the next time you want.
Some users think the problem may be related to the AirPods Max not disconnecting from devices when placed in the case or when power saving mode is activated. From MacRumors reader Broken Hope:
It seems to be a problem that they are not properly disconnected from all devices.
I got mine yesterday, used them with my phone, got annoyed that my Mac kept saying the AirPods were nearby and disabling auto-switching on my Mac, when I saved them for the night my Max’s were still showing in the battery widget on my Mac. Mac thinking it was a glitch I went to work, I got back and my Max’s have been draining to 27% since last night.
With no shutdown option, the datAirPods Max sAirPods Max seems to drain slightly overnight, even in low-power mode, but given the number of reports of excessive battery drain, it seems there could be a software bug that Apple must resolve in the future.
Like AirPods and AirPods Pro, Apple can push wireless firmware updates for AirPods Maxod, but there are no new firmware versions to date.