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AirPod Pro Microphone Call Quality

Since using the Airpod Pros this week and on calls people have been commenting on how they are having a hard time hearing me. This is something that never happened with my regular AirPods. From what I can gather it sounds like the external noise cancellation or noise reduction algorithm is getting confused with the noise outside and my voice and effectively cutting out or reducing my voice and boosting the background noise.  

Are others running into this problem? The common complaint I’m getting when talking on the phone with the Airpod Pro is that the background noise is too loud.

Posted on Nov 2, 2019 5:58 AM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Nov 4, 2019 6:27 AM

Yes it is happening to me as well!! People say I am muffled and cannot hear me very well. 😡

I paid a lot for these and to have the Pro name there should not be any muffling when using the mic to talk!!! Come on Apple..........

782 replies

Jan 20, 2021 6:12 AM in response to amanfromgreater noida

Errrr I’m totally gutted. Just purchased these as my original AirPods have given up. Thought I’d treat myself and got the pro’s.

I so wish I’d read this forum first. So so gutted. Mine are as useless as everyone else’s with the mic. Such a lot of money for a product that does not meet upto to it name. Pro!!!! Who are they kidding. Chinese copy’s probably work better than this? Come on apple. Sort it out please. Restore your reputation

Jan 23, 2021 6:28 PM in response to DanielMichael

My Initially bought airpods were not working well for calls outside so they sent me replacements, since my first ones were manufactured on Oct 2 and they are recalling pre-Oct airpods. The replacements were no better. I have a third pair on it’s way. At what point do we just say the product is crap and no number of replacements will fix it?


Jan 26, 2021 10:09 PM in response to Syrcle

Same problems here. I am on my THIRD pair of replacement Pros with zero improvement. Purchased April 2020 and latest pair received here in NYC just this week. All the replacements show a manufacture date of Oct 2020 or earlier (I have read reports that those manufactured LATER than Nov 2020 may be of some kind of updated hardware that would provide a fix, but have no way of telling). Anyway, have tried all the usual repair/forget/single ear noise cancelling/etc options and zero fix. On phone calls the Pros pick up and amplify even the quietest noises making them downright offensive to the caller on the other side of conversation. Totally unusable for work, much less talking to friends. And outside??? Forget it! Slight breeze sounds like a gale, cars going by sound like a roller derby and forget about subways and train use. I will say that the reps at the Apple Stores are always nice and happily provide a replacement, but what good is it? Now I read the AirPod Max has even bigger issues with background noise! How can Apple not fix this? Can it even be fixed by a firmware update or are we truly and totally stuck here with worthless products that can’t make calls??

Jan 27, 2021 9:29 PM in response to Syrcle

A little over year later since this thread was created and we are still experiencing the same problem...


I bought my first pair from Amazon on October, came out faulty. Got replacement. Second pair also faulty this time I just got refund. Third pair was given to me as a gift on my birthday on December and also faulty. I thought there will be a difference between Amazon purchased and Apple store purchased but no. And I tried everything that you can find on the internet from cleaning the AirPods Pro, the case, to disconnecting, to rebooting, e v e r y t h i n g. After days of trying I finally went to the Apple store. They gave me a replacement for both AirPods left n right. I come back home and the mic STILL SOUNDS STATIC N MUFFLED. I did the testing with voice memos but sound so bad I rather just not use them for calls. What’s the point of having expensive pair of AirPods Pro if they are all faulty?


I think it’s time for a new firmware update ASAP if you don’t want to lose any more customers because I’m exhausted of trying and failing all the time...

Jan 29, 2021 8:14 AM in response to Syrcle

I've also had serious problems with my Airpods Pro. Even claimed there was a fault and got a replacement pair. Still not working.

Now I've asked around with my friends and acquaintances also owning Airpod Pros. Several have stuffed them in a drawer as they're worthless for calls in non-super-quiet environments.


I still use mine as they're expensive to replace, but I can't speak on the phone unless I am in super quiet environments. And I thought Apple would have fixed their issues, but a friend bought a new pair last week and called me up today and pointed out that the same problems I had described occured for her as well.


I've got approx. 10 friends with the Airpod Pros and all of them have serious issues using them. Apples brand is about just making stuff work. But these don't work. The Apple Airpods Pro are ****.


I bought mine in september 2020. And my friend experiencing the same problems bought her new ones in january 2021.

Jan 29, 2021 3:14 PM in response to LinetteV

yeah this haa been around, but thank you. i have had 3 replacements and all the same issue. the replacements are not manufactured any differently as of yet so you are just swapping one bad for another. i had read someplace that perhaps those manufactured after Oct 2020 has some kind of hardware fix, but i have yet to see a pair made then so i have no idea.

Jan 30, 2021 4:27 AM in response to Syrcle

I had the same problem with zoom, MS teams and google chat. Experimenting before a zoom call, I noticed that the sound only went bad when I switched the input sound source from 'internal microphone' to airpods. Switching back seemed to solve it. This article suggests that it's a problem with the bluetooth algorithm (makes sense) but very surprised Apple haven't created a fix for this yet!

https://audacious.blog/2017/airpods-macos-call-quality-fix/#:~:text=The%20Fix%3A%20You%20need%20to,quality%20takes%20a%20noticeable%20hit.&text=Call%20participants%20sounded%20hollow%20and,sounded%20the%20same%20to%20them.

Feb 1, 2021 9:54 PM in response to Syrcle

Just this week my airpod pros have stopped working over calls. No one can hear me on the other end but I hear everything on theirs. Can someone from apple support please help us since this has clearly affected a lot of people. Y’all products are not cheap by a long shot but they have the MOST problems. This is so frustrating especially when them Samsung’s starting to look mighty appealing. Trying to stay loyal but this is becoming a headache. I can only listen to music. This SUCKS

Feb 7, 2021 3:43 AM in response to ajeyams

In order to finally have some reliable data about this problem, I recorded my voice while walking outside, using both my AirPods Pro and a second phone, and made a video with the detail (4 minutes): https://youtu.be/LSy-mserlGE


It seems clear that the issue is real and is not due to an arcane bug or setting (firmware version, transparency mode, forgetting and re-pairing). Noise cancellation drowns out your voice when it's windy, and there is no way to deactivate it. Using your phone when you are outside is currently the only fix I can see.

Feb 11, 2021 8:59 AM in response to lyes82

My Airpods Pro have the exact same issue and I'm sure this was not happening several months ago. (Around mid year last year). I went to an Apple Store around November 2020 with this issue and I got replacement pods which when we tested in the store seemed fine (hard to test since Apple Stores are empty due to COVID). Back home after a few days the problem appeared but I still though it was an isolated problem so I bought a pair for my wife. Hers have this issue since day 1. They work well when listening to audio but on calls the other person hears every background noise louder than the voice itself.


Yesterday I spoke to Apple Support and they sent me a replacement pair after having to pair a safe deposit of $200 per pair. I just received both replacement pairs and the problem persist. Now I have to go to a UPS store to leave the replacements so I get the $400 back.


This seems like a design flaw or firmware issue. It's a huge design flaw and needs to be addressed by Apple and Airpods Pro should be recalled and compensate users. I spent a lot of time dealing with support, going to the Apple Store and now having to go and return the replacement pods because the problem has not changed at all. A HUGE disappointment on quality control.

Feb 16, 2021 1:05 AM in response to Chompas

This is SO exactly what I have been going through. I was lying in bed yesterday talking to a friend. Way off in the distance on the freeway I could hear an ambulance. My friend said it sounded like it was in the room with me. I have had two sets of replacements sent and nothing changes. Their product is junk or the firmware is junk. What is the worst is that they don't acknowledge there is a problem. It's a disgrace. 4952 people have said they have this exact problem.

AirPod Pro Microphone Call Quality

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