My left Powerbeats Pro earpiece stopped taking charge

Hi jaspal64,

It sounds like you're having trouble charging your Powerbeats Pro, and I want to help.

Check out this article that helps with charging:

Charge your Powerbeats Pro

If you're still having trouble, try to reset them:

Reset your Beats earphones

Let me know if that helps.

Thanks for using the Apple Support Communities.

I would suggest figuring out how to make sure the pods are "seated" on the charging contacts.

I "did" have problems and once understanding this is a poor design, the extra care taken to make sure the contacts are properly seated has created the case where the problem has yet to resurface.

Got mine back today from the premium reseller (Stormfront) who had sent them off to Apple after seeing and filming the fault in the shop. The staff member filmed that even the slightest touch on the earpiece when in the case could result in it no longer charging. I also demonstrated the put in bag walk around store and no longer charging. They sent the video clips into apple with the headphones.

Apple returned them today and said there was no problem and they stated couldn't replicate the problem. they said they have done a hard reset. Checked them and they worked so I wore them for 10 mins walk then put them in the case, very carefully, put case in bag and carried on my day. Got home, got case out of bag and lo and chuffing behold the left ear piece is not charging and is now at 87%.

Stormfront advised me that if there is a further problem Id be better off going to the Apple store which is 75 mile each way trip as the genius's have more discretion on what to do whereas resellers are just the middle man.

The Powerbeats have now been back to Apple 3 times in less than 12 months, both ear buds and the case have been replaced and they have been reset.

This has not fixed the problem which is a design flaw in that the case is not designed in a way that ensures the headphones remain on the charging pins at all time when in the case.

These are sold as a portable charging solution and is the explicit reason why I bought them. Sure some form of clip could have been incorporated into the case alongside the magnets in order to ensure charging happens continuously even when the case is closed and in a bag etc.

I contacted Apple Support over the phone and they were great. They are sending a replacement pair to me and will let me send mine back after (had to do a credit card hold). I personally don't think this will solve anything as I'm thinking this is more design and maybe software related but it certainly doesn't hurt.

I took it further up the food chain and eventually got put through to someone who personally took on the case and after a few weeks of back and forth with them, they got replaced under warranty.

sad thing is: that my wife sorted out with a replacement pair, my pair are starting to do the same thing now too

Hi jaspal64,

It sounds like you're still having trouble with your Beats. Thanks for giving those steps a try.

I recommend contacting support for further assistance with your Beats:

Contact - Official Apple Support

Good luck!

Thanks for using the Apple Support Communities.

It seems that people that have replaced theirs still suffered the same results later. This shows it's more of an issue in Design and not individual units.

Personally, mine works most of the time but often fails to charge and requires re-seating the contacts from airpod (Powerbeats Pro) to case. Jiggling, cleaning etc eventually works.

Recent issue is that there is no auto shutdown if you set the pods down and not put them back in the case. This usually results in a full discharge.

Does Apple monitor these customer threads (rhetorical)? Should we all send ours back at least once to get notice or in the queue for when there is a recall and reissue of an improved charging device?

Sure, I was just naming iron as an example. I couldn't find any reports of exactly what mix of metals Apple use for the contacts, but I'd imagine they include a percentage of copper or similar in order to improve electro-conductivity. The Powerbeats Pro are IPX4 rated for sweat and water resistance, not sweat or water proofing. They require cleaning frequently, especially after a workout.

I'm not disagreeing with your take on the situation, I'm just saying Apple have covered themselves well to ensure the customer is often to 'blame'. It's like guilty until proven innocent. Even if the seal around the contacts wasn't manufactured correctly on your set and water got in and stayed within the body of the headphone corroding from the inside Apple would say the headphones are water resistant and not waterproof, so they're not guaranteed to be sealed etc.

Sorry to see the hassle you're experiencing.

Like others I'm so glad to find out it's not just me that this is happening to. Over the past 6 weeks my right Powerbeats Pro headphone has come out of the case utterly empty of power 2 or 3 times.

The first time it happened I guessed it could be a contact problem so I now make sure it's seated correctly before closing the case, but that hasn't stopped the issue from occurring. What I don't get is that the earbud should auto-standby when its removed from your ear, so I don't understand how I have found my earbud apparently dead (no life and doesn't show up on battery % screen) after it was placed inside its case on Sunday midday at over 90% charge and taken out for a run at 8am on Monday morning. Even if the earbud wasn't charging it shouldn't be completely dead, surely? And if it is dead surely it should say 0% power?

And like others here, my iPhone hardly ever shows the battery meter info at the bottom of the iPhone X screen. I've relinked the earbuds but it makes no difference. They either work or don't. It's intermittent.

I have wondered if sodium in sweat remaining on the metal charging contacts could be causing a problem and resulting in the earbud to discharge - but I'm clutching at straws.

Also I've discovered once that the earbud was completely dead (not working or showing on the iPhone battery % screen) but after placing it back in the case for a few minutes it suddenly was working again and was at 100% power!? It's all a bit confusing.

It's such a shame as the headphones are otherwise excellent, but this is a pretty bid flaw. Especially considering the truly premium price tag.

Thought I'd upload a video to illustrate the problem and get a little more attention to our issue:

https://vimeo.com/user103439720/review/363356499/c3dc950cfe

Once one of the earbuds stops working, the reset routine no longer works... both earbuds need to register in the case, but due to the issue we are all experiencing I believe the dead bud won't register, thus "unpairing" your Powerbeats Pro results in a bricked device. (or at least, that is what happened to me on my THIRD pair with this identical issue)

Luckily, I stayed within the 14-day return window so I returned the third defective pair for a full refund. I'm holding out now for version 2.0. But... I *really* want these to work!! I'm trying to figure out where we could email the Apple/Beats support team so they can pass this issue on to the product engineering team... anybody have a link? Perhaps if we all email, then version 2.0 will be more robust against this issue?

(BTW the Apple store rep gave me the same story as many of you have reported: "Oh weird, we haven't seen any of these come back. Must be an isolated issue! (nope!!))

Just another Powerbeats Pro customer with the same issue...

The left earpiece doesn't always make sufficient contact with the charging case. I took mine to the Apple store Genius Bar, and it was sent away for repairs -- but returned quickly with a note saying they found nothing wrong to fix.

It's still happening once out of every ~ 5 charges. Uggh.

Same thing. After a month the left one won’t hold a charge. Just spent 45 minutes on the phone with Apple support, which is making me return the defective product then wait for a repair or replacement. Clearly they know this is a common defect. The fact that they won’t send a replacement first, which they will for some products, is very disappointing, especially for $250 earbuds.

With the ever-growing and already fairly extensive number of reported issues relating to the charging function of the Powerbeats Pro it's obvious that Apple have a legitimate design flaw on their hands. But short of starting legal proceedings against them what can disappointed consumer do? Almost nothing, unfortunately.

Apple, like the majority of tech focused companies today, absolutely refuse to accept liability. When they are responsible for a flaw and are forced to respond to it publicly it's generally actioned in an immensely quiet and purposefully poorly advertised manner in order to prevent their error from becoming visible on the public radar and damaging their brand. This was the case with the 2018 MacBook Pro T2 security chip that Apple supplied with faulty firmware. The farce lasted approximately six months and led to countless Apple laptops experiencing multiple unrecoverable kernel panics before automatically restarting and loosing all unsaved work in the process. I know this because I was one of the very many customers affected.

In my case Apple denied that they were aware of any firmware issues related to the T2 chip and, after half a year of stressful MacBook Pro usage, booked me in for a genius bar appointment on the following Saturday. I was unable to attend due to illness, but there was a silver lining to my man flu... that very weekend Apple quietly released a T2 firmware update that mostly resolved the catastrophic issue which, just a couple of days earlier, they had denied existed. Not to mention that, whilst the internet was awash with intelligent articles written by, or for, experts who had determined the T2 security chip was to blame for the unprecedented level of unscheduled restarts, Apple informed me that nobody had reported such a flaw and that I should uninstall each of my 100+ applications, one by one, followed by reinstalling the MacOS in order to weed out the cause of my new £4000+ MacBook Pro's issue. Hours spent talking to engineers and manager level tech experts at apple and the advice they supplied was a complete insult. I clearly wasn't going to do as they advised and, as I mentioned, the 'magic' T2 firmware update (that couldn't possibly exist if Apple weren't well aware of the fault) resolved the problem. This is how Apple operate and it's sad that they are no longer the company with integrity and care that they once worked hard to be.

When it comes to the Powerbeats Pro displaying charging issues Apple are clearly very aware of the problem caused by a primary design flaw. They know of the disappointment and cost it has and is causing customers, but they will do all they can to avoid greater exposure of the problem. So whilst they will fulfil their legal responsibility of accepting, checking and (it seems) returning customers faulty Powerbeats Pro, without a class action law suit etc. they almost certainly won't do anything to fix the flaw (I welcome Apple to prove me wrong). And with that in mind, sharing advice on how to try and avoid experiencing the problem is likely the best and only thing the vast majority of owners can do once the 14 days return window has expired.

That does look like water corrosion, and salt water (including sweat) can increase iron corrosion rate compared to fresh water by 5+ times, so 3 months of gym use could potentially lead to that type of corrosion on certain metals. But Apple promoted the Powerbeats Pro as sport headphones and should have used materials that can withstand standard workout sweat so that level of damage would seem unacceptable if the headphones have been cleaned regularly.

Every time I go to train I have to cross my fingers and hope my Powerbeats Pro earbuds work.

Left bud doesn’t charge sometimes.

Right bud doesn’t charge sometimes.

The pop-up window that’s supposed to appear when the buds are in the open case and you place the case near your phone to show their current charge almost never appears.

The process to reset the case / buds doesn’t want to work at the moment.

I’d like my money back and an apology from Apple for wasting so much of my time over the past six weeks.

[Edited by Moderator]