AirPod Pro Microphone Call Quality

I had this problem when using the AirPods Pro with my MacBook Pro. On the iPhone the quality wasn't great, but people could understand what I was saying. While having work calls with my computer I could not use the AirPods Pro, they said I sounded like a robot. It worked just fine the 1st couple of weeks. I tried re-pairing, restoring them to factory settings and it don't not work. I called Apple Support and they told me to reset the Reset NVRAM or PRAM on my Mac (https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204063) and that worked. Audio quality on the mic is now perfect.

When did this issue start? Did it begin with updating to iOS 15? Was there any other event or recent change that may have triggered it, that you can think of? To me it sounds as if it is software related.

Does the issue occur when paired to other devices or only your iPhone?

If the issue persists, I recommend contacting Apple Support to possibly set up service within LW or a Service Program, if they determine it to be the best resolution.

I personally have not experienced this issue with my AirPods Pro just yet, and I am running iOS 15.1.1 as well as firmware 4A402.

https://support.apple.com/airpods-pro-service-program-sound-issues

I experience this same problem with my airpods pro on both my macbook and my iphone.

I spoke to support who advised me through a reset and through removing the tips of the airpods; neither of which solved the issue.

The support rep pointed to this repair program, but was not sure if it covered the microphone: https://support.apple.com/airpods-pro-service-program-sound-issues

As such he could not confirm whether or not i would have to pay for a repair or replacement (I am out of the 1 year warranty). It looks like this is a widely experienced design/manufacturing problem and should therefore be covered by apple regardless of warranty status.

I have asked the support rep to escalate this issue and look at creating a repair program for it with his superiors.

Has anyone had any contact with apple on behalf of everyone experiencing this to discuss a repair program?

Dear Syrcle & all other users who has raised AirPods Pro microphone call quality issue, 1st of all make sure you have purchased your pods from official sources.

Try to check model number of your pods. Go to settings/Select your pods/Find model number

For AirPods Pro (2nd generation) with MagSafe Charging Case (USB-C) Model number are A3047, A3048, A3049

Model AirPods Pro (2nd generation) with MagSafe Charging Case (Lightning) Model numbers are A2931, A2699, A2698

If your Pods model numbers are not matching with model number given above then I am sure, you are using clone/master copy of AirPods Pro.

Refer Apple support official website for more information: Identify your AirPods - Apple Support (IN)

Thank you for your time in reading this.

[Edited by Moderator]

Where you in a loud place? did you use the ANC?

This is insane guys. How's possible?

I tested a call in a mild noise club (around 75DB) and the person on the other side didn't have problems in hearing me.

Who DO NOT have this problem can specify more details?

1. call location (noisy? kind of noise, db if possible etc)
2. mode on the APP (transparency, ANC)
3. AirPodsPro firmware version

i firmly believe that on this point there aren't bad units. If the device works works for all, no doubt about that.

Interesting. Read the other posts. We've run through 4 pairs and all still having interference issues. Latest one (last week) yielded same results on Pro iPhones. I returned my pair last night until there's a fix and will repurchase then. (Genius said they've had several reports at their location of similar issues.)

Here's the checklist of what our team did to try and troubleshoot the issue as we tend to take the side of human error. We compared notes when finished and concluded it isn't user error.

1. Potential is electro-magnetic interference
2. Firmware: AirPod Pros
3. Firmware: iPhone 11 Pros
4. Software: iOS
5. Hardware: AirPod Pros

Tests we ran through:

• Turn off noise cancellation
• Ensure battery on iPhone 11 Pro is fully charge
• Ensure AirPods are fully charged
• Test with single AirPod and with both
• Restart iPhone
• Update iOS
• Test with different iOS incremental releases
• Test with multiple iPhone 11 Pros/Max repeat settings, charging, and releases to ensure consistency with testing scenarios
• Check log files
• Check log files for appropriate bluetooth codec being called (developer tools)
• Try with different carriers and and different numbers
• Test with AirPods in ears before making call.
• Try with phone close and increase distance. Does interference increase.

We have tested them while swimming or diving but that would be interesting. AirPods are terrific. Comfortable, sounds amazing and fast pairing with multiple devices. I believe this is a temporary issue that will be solved. Short term may be through adjusting codec, power, channel separation, etc. One factor of course is that these are bluetooth devices that have a 3rd party involved in setting the standards. Voice calls have a much lower range to begin with so packet size is smaller for handling network connections than music. I'm sure engineering is working hard to figure out where the responsibilities lie in fixing the interference for the long term while seeing what can be done through software to improve usage in the short term.

Ok I think I might have solved the issue for the mic within the iPhone.

1. Go to the Bluetooth settings on your AirPods Pro- turn off “Automatic Ear Detection”.
2. Click on “connect to this iPhone”- switch “automatically” to “when last connected to this iPhone”.
3. I also switched my microphone from “automatically switch AirPods” to whichever worked best (record on voice memos to see which one works best)

For Macs tho it’s the same old trick. Can’t have the background noise blocked but at least it’s better than the muffled mic. Go to bluetooth for the AirPods pro - open sound preferences, input- switch Airpod’s Pro to “Internal Microphone”.

Hope this works for y’all!

First thanks to all who replied in this topic.

I tried all the tipps but it does not work. The voice quality is just to low to use them for calls/voice messages/..

• reset the airpods (pressing the button on the back of the case for 10s or so + reconnect)
• switch between transparent/noice cancelling/off
• switch airpod mic only left/right
• turn off noice cancelling of phone

I am now sending in my airpods pro for the 3rd time.

1st time answer: the cannot be checked because I did not also send the case

2nd time answer: we checked 10 things which have absolutely nothing to do with your problem and could not find an issue

3rd time: tbc

I am really unhappy with the technical support. There is not even a way to send this thread as a means for the support to understand the problem. My feeling is that they don't have any interest in understandning the root cause. They just do their checklist and behave like robots. That is how you lose customers who have problems which their products which would be rather easy to correct if the support would have its brain on.

1. Ensure you are updated to iOS 15.1.1.
2. Settings > Bluetooth > Airpods Pro ”i” icon > disconnect. After disconnecting, select Forget Device.
3. open the Find My app on iPhone > Devices pane > Airpods Pro > Remove from Account.
4. Place the Airpods back into the case and connect the case to the charger.
5. on your iPhone go to Settings > General > Transfer or Reset iPhone > Reset > Reset Network Settings.
6. open the lid of the charging case, keep it open with the AirPods inside, and press and hold the button on the charging case. It will flash Amber and then start flashing White.
7. once flashing white, release the button and attempt the pairing process again to the iPhone.

hope this helps!

There are 2 parts to the recall. ANC is the 2nd part.

"Apple has determined that a small percentage of AirPods Pro may experience sound issues. Affected units were manufactured before October 2020.

An affected AirPods Pro may exhibit one or more of the following behaviors:

• Crackling or static sounds that increase in loud environments, with exercise or while talking on the phone
• Active Noise Cancellation not working as expected, such as a loss of bass sound, or an increase in background sounds, such as street or airplane noise"

I have the same issue on my airpods pro gen 1 and gen 2. No solution yet, below are the steps which I had performed:

1. factory reset the airpods
2. verified the recommended software options on ios
3. for the gen 1s I took it to the service centre they just refresh the airpods firmware
4. upgraded from gen 1 to gen 2, issue is still the same
5. the indoor call quality is good on the cellular or on FaceTime. But the outdoor call quality is horrible the caller can hear my environment noise but not mine.
6. tried a 50$ airbuds and it worked better then airpods
7. for now I have logged a case with apple repair to get my gen 2 checked

Tried the re-pairing and it did not work.

Choosing just the left AirPod microphone makes a big difference for me. Before it was weirdly muffled and had strange artifacts.

Worth trying. Test it on voice notes.

Had the same issue. Changed from Airpods Pro 1 to Airpods Pro 2... issue still there.