Powerbeats Pro Connection problems

I have this same problem, and I think I figured it out. The issue is that the earphone is intermittently not charging in the case. Here is how I figured t out. I read these comments and thought I should try and update my firmware. I went to the beats page to do that, but it wouldn't move past the page where it asks you to connect the case with both earphones inside. However I did have both earphones inside the case. This was the first clue.

I then started to suspect power, so I unplugged the case and opened my iPhone to the first page where the battery levels are displayed. I normally would see three battery levels: one for the case, one for the left earphone and one for the right earphone. However, I only saw two - the case and the right earphone.

My theory was that the reason I couldn't get the left to connect wasn't a connection issue per se, but instead it was the fact that the left earphone had 0% battery, and was dead. I tested this by carefully placing the left in the case and left it for 30 mn or so, and then checked the phone battery levels again. This time the left showed with 3% charge. I lifted it out of the case and placed it in my ear and it connected. It then gave a weird tone and shut down again, likely because the battery level was so low. I then left it for 8+ hours and when I came back, it showed on the iPhone at 100% battery and connected fine after that.

I have two use cases:

1) it won't connect initially, but when I put it back into the case and remove it again, it then connects fine. My theory for this use case is that it still has a charge, but when placed in the case the last time I used it, it didnt connect to the case and therefore "timed out" somehow or lost sync with the right earphone. This can be tested by taking both out and listening to them, then only place one back in and leave it that way for a while. When you come back I will bet that the one you left out of the case will not initially connect, but will connect when placed back into the case and removed again as that causes the earphone to sync up with the other one again.

2) It wont connect at all. In this use case, my theory is that the earphone did not connect to the case properly when it was last placed in there, and enough time has passed from the last time I used it that the battery has drained completely so it wont connect at all. Leaving it then in the case for "30 minutes" or so might give it enough charge to work again after that, as some posters in this thread have experienced.

I am having these replaced and hopefully that will clear it. I am not sure if it is a problem with the left earphone itself not connecting to the case for power, or if it is the case itself that has the connectivity issue. Hopefully replacing both will solve it. I certainly will be paying close attention to the battery meter in the iPhone to determine if I am getting a good earphone/case connection going forward...

I have had intermittent connection and charging issues since I bought mine over a year ago. After sending them in for repair twice, and having the problems continue, I set to examining the issue myself. I believe the issue resides in an interference problem between the case and the part of the earhook as it connects to the body of the headphone. If this part (right as the earhook attaches to the body) is a bit too far forward, that is taking up a bit too much room in the case’s corner pocket, the whole earpiece slides out very slightly and creates a slight offset in the connection of the charging prongs to the cups on the earpiece. This is just enough to cause an unreliable connection and constant switching as the case is handled, or battery drain if it disconnects. This causes most of the issues with connection when the headphones are take out. To solve this, you need to make sure to push the very start of the earhook down (toward the earpiece) and back ( away from the face with the rocker switch and toward the rest of the hook). This creates more space in the pocket of the case to prevent that slight spring effect offset and gets a solid connection between case and earpiece. The only way to verify this is with the battery widget showing left and right ears separate so you can see both charging consistently when you put them in. Once adjusted, they charge and connect more consistently. Hope this helps

For what it's worth - i've been making sure that both earpieces are correctly situated in the case when i put them away. There is a widget that can tell you if both of the earpieces are charging when in the case; widgets are can be found when you swipe right from the home or lock screen. Since i've started to double check that each earpiece is showing the charge sign (being a lightning bolt) i haven't been experiencing the "dead" earpiece issue. Sometimes the earpieces look like they are sitting in the case correctly but they don't show to be charging; if you shift them around to get a little click, and then you see it start to charge.

Like i said, not sure this is the issue, but i haven't had a problem yet. Beats might be have gotten a little to clever with the way they charge the individual earpieces - and they aren't always perfectly on 100% of the time.

That's all i've been able to isolate for the time being.

Just an update - Ever since I've been making sure that my earphones are connected and charging, using the battery widget on my iPhone, i haven't had a problem. If i see that only one side is charging, i take the other out and place it back in making sure to hear the click of the connections and then seeing that both earpieces are charging, at which point the charging icon changes to just show my Powerbeats are charging, not showing ear individual earpiece.

The other thing i noticed was that there was a little buildup of corrosion on one of the metal contacts on an earpiece. I scraped it off to temporarily clean it, and hopefully allow for a better connection. I'm guessing that when you work out, the sweat can't be great for metal... now i quickly rinse off the earpieces after a workout and pat the metal connectors dry.

I had an issue yesterday where i was going to go for a run and my Apple watch wouldn't connect to the Powerbeats. I'm guessing that's because my iPhone had made the connection first in the apartment - and then i left my phone to go for a run. I was getting frustrated and tried the last thing i could think of - turn off, then turn on the Bluetooth on my watch and see if i could connect. Glad that worked, otherwise if would have been another setback.

Anyway - as i said, i have not had the connection issues / dead earpiece issue since i started to vigilantly check that the earpieces are both connecting. Good luck out there.

So what I have found regarding this issue is the following:

One ear bud in my case the left was dropping out even after apparent charging.

The solution was to make sure that BOTH earphones are charging even tho it may seem they are both in position and connected my left was not. I had to constantly fiddly to make it charge. In the end it seems pushing the earphone down onto the connection plates seems to work.

I agree with this and posted a while back the problem with the device (for me) is that there isn’t 100% certainty that the contact is correct to charge. Use the battery widget on your iPhone to put one ear in the charging case first to see if it registers- if yes, then move on to connecting the other. When both are connected the individual earpiece icons go away and it will say the case is charging. I really have not had many issue after figuring out that even if you think the device is making good contact with the charging contacts, you might have to fiddle with the position.

Charging issue causes the connection issue as I laid out in my original post. Headphones go back into the case and only one mates to the case to charge. The other one that is not charging eventually times out and goes into some sort of suspend mode. Later you take the headphones out of the case and the one that was suspended doesn’t connect. Back in the case and if it mates this time, when you take it out it wakes up and connects. That is connection error scenario one.

Connection error scenario two is it stays un-mated to the case and eventually runs out of battery and goes dead. Take it out and it doesn’t connect. Put it back and take it out again and it still won’t connect because it has no charge. Put it back and make sure it mates with case and leave it for a while and when it charges enough it will connect again.

Bottom line, connect issue is the charge issue...

Interesting, yes, possibly a third. What I have been doing is opening up the battery screen on the iPhone before touching the powerbeats and taking notice of what is being displayed. Then I open the case, and watch to see what charge status shows on the phone. I then take both out of the case and see if they both show up on the iPhone charge status. If both show on the charge status page, then I have found that they have been connecting reliably 100% of the time. If only one shows, then the other will fail as per the two scenarios I noted in my last post.

If in your third scenario you are seeing the case, the left, and right headphones all clearly displayed on the iPhone screen after you lift them out of the case, then I would assume they have a connection to the iPhone at that point, and the issue is not the failure scenarios related to charging I noted. I think lifting them out of the case and observing the charge status is an important test to make sure it is the headphone, and not the case, reporting charge status to the iPhone.

Probably a bad connection. The magnet attachment is not perfect. Use your iPhone widget to check that both ear pieces are charging. Put one in the case at a time.

They won't give you a refurbished pair, they only do that hone they are out of stock so you should just make an appointment at the Apple Store and swap then for a new pair.

My two cents. My left ear piece was not working while using on my iPhone. It was fixed when I turned off Bluetooth on any other device that were also paired.

After all this troubleshooting I went back and did it all again an it got my PowerBeats Pro to connect to my MacBook Pro and my iPhone.

The one thing I did differently is that I noticed that in the Apple troubleshooting I saw somewhere it said to check the Sound control panel in System Preferences. I knew that when my PBP worked the first time that they showed up there, and when they did not work they didn't show up there but I decided to take a look.

I opened mu PBP and I had just reset my PBP using the button in the case, but I mention it in case resetting them helped. I left the case open. I opened the sound control panel and saw nothing in there but I had noticed that something in my menu bar changed but I didn't know what it was since I was not looking directly at it. On a hunch I click on the Bluetooth icon and the PBP appeared, but instead of showing "connection rejected" as usual, it just showed the connect button.

I clicked connect button and it connected.

I then looked at the sound control panel which was still open and I could see my PBP there, I clicked on them and it worked.

I hope this helps somebody out there with this same weird problem.

Unfortunately there is no way to fix it. No matter what we do. Only option it return it to apple for replacement. Just returned mine and already been approved for replacement. But ill have to wait atleast a month for the new pair. I just hope it wont have the same issue. Becus apple does not care. Thisis an obvious deffictive product. They should already announced a recall but not even a comment regarding this issue.

My second earbud didn’t connect no matter how many resets. So I had a bright idea, what if I reset twice back to back. It did the trick! Now my earbuds are working and pairing like before!. Hopefully this helps you guys!

Sometimes both sides won’t be completely connected to the inside of the charging case and I experienced the left one being dead or close to dead on a daily basis. Where it says other devices like your watch, batteries, etc ; make sure that both pieces are magnetically connected with no trouble closing the case. You should be fine then.