Take Your Crackling or Static AirPods Pro Straight to Apple
AirPods Pro is one of the best Apple products. At $ 249 apiece, they’re not cheap, but they don’t seem cheap either. These tiny earbuds pack a tremendous amount of power in a small package, delivering great sound quality with some great noise control features. There is only one small catch; you may hear some static electricity or crackling sounds when using them. And if you do, you are not alone.
What’s the problem with the AirPods Pro?
Unfortunately, crackling and static are known issues with AirPods Pro. The annoying sounds taunting some users’ headphones forced Apple to publicly admit the problem. According to the company, the erroneous experience boils down to two main problems:
- Cracking or static sounds that increase in noisy environments, exercise, or when talking on the phone
- Active noise canceling does not work as expected, such as drop-outs in low frequencies or amplification of background sounds such as street or airplane noise.
These issues affect AirPods Pro released prior to October 2020. It was on this day that Apple fixed the defect and began producing headphones that were not affected by static electricity or crackling. So, unfortunately, if your AirPods Pro were manufactured before that date and you hear static electricity or popping sounds, your headphones are the subject of this article.
Can you fix the static electricity and popping noise of AirPods Pro on your own?
If you’re having these issues with your AirPods Pro, you may have tried fixing them yourself first. Whenever I have problems with the headphones, I first try to put them back in the case, reset them with my iPhone, or check if their firmware is fully updated. So if I heard static or crackling noise when using the AirPods Pro, I would probably tinker with the headphones right away.
Unfortunately, the problem is not with what the user is facing. Instead, it’s best to ship your AirPods Pro to Apple right away. Apple launched a service program to fix the affected AirPods Pro in October 2020, allowing users to get their headphones repaired two years after the purchase date. However, if you already know about the program, you might think it is too late, as AirPods Pro purchased in 2019 start to expire after that two-year period.
Fortunately, Apple has expanded its service program to cover affected AirPods Pro devices for three years after the date of purchase. This means that if you bought the earbuds in October 2019, you will be protected until October 2022, and for those who bought their AirPods Pro in 2020, it will be installed until 2023.
What will Apple do with the affected AirPods Pro?
When you take your AirPods Pro to Apple, they’ll look at both the left and right earbuds and then replace what’s affected (or both, if that’s all removed). Since Apple has fixed this issue in later versions of AirPods Pro, headphones that they replace shouldn’t be exposed to the risk of static electricity or popping in the future.
(This issue does not affect AirPods, AirPods 2, or AirPods Max.)