Level 1

35 points

AirPods Pro Ear Tip Fit Test fail (seal is actually good on both sides)

Ear tip test for me got passes on both ears straight away and multiple times with both medium and large tips on first couple days after I got them

However, since then, the left consistently fails the test when I check despite the left bud being just as sealed as the right one with identical sound as the right whether ANC/transparency/off selected. Medium and large tips have same result - left fails the tip test every time. Tried un-pairing from iPhone, resetting the pods the setting up again, but no different.

My thoughts are a glitch in the code for the ear tip test that goes wrong after a few days and a future release will solve.

Contacted Apple Support yesterday who had agreed they have seen reports of this already. They got me to send them a full set of logs from iPhone for analysis then will get back to me once their engineering team takes a look.

Very happy with product generally and no problem with function or sound quality.

But something to keep an eye on...

iPhone XS Max, iOS 13

Posted on Nov 8, 2019 8:30 AM

Top-ranking reply

indybeats

Level 1

28 points

Posted on Dec 17, 2020 10:35 AM

I can confirm the Loctite Fun-Tak solution worked for me. I now have the good seal on Fit Test for first time since week 1 of owning them. I had the same deal as a lot of people on here - the fit test worked for the first few weeks, then failing each time I've tried since then. (I've had them about 3 or 4 months now). I picked up some Loctite Fun-Tak and went to work.

It was a trial and error, as I didn't know how much I had to press and pull, I used the magnifier on iPhone to check my progress. I finally ended up with a 100% clean sensor screen, and the fit test started working. What I found best was covering the sensor with the putty, apply some pressure, and quickly rip it off (like a stuck band-aid). I also did some rapid-fire dabbing as well. A combination of those techniques cleared the crud out. (note: don't press so hard that you get putty stuck in the grooves... I did that at first but was able to get it back out).

For a comparison, like I mentioned above, I used the Magnifier tool on iPhone to view a "before" and "after". Note that you can't see any of this with the naked eye, you really need to magnify it. Here's a before and after. (The "before" looks pretty gross - the grooves are filled with dead skin, oil, wax, whatever it is). The "after" shows them very clean. I shower every day and wash my ears out just like everybody else, but this shows it may be time to start Q-Tipping each day as well, to further my effort in keeping the AirPods clean.

Before: Note the crud stuck in the sensor grooves/dimples, and also around the perimeter:

After: Note the entire sensor is clean:

For those of you doing the "suck out the crud" method, after seeing this you may think twice about that now :D

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Similar questions

116 replies

palurie

Level 1

8 points

Aug 18, 2020 6:19 AM in response to Dell_K

I have the identical issue, where the Left pod fails consistently, despite repeated testwith different tips.

Iwt worked perfectly when I set them up, and now the left always fails the test.

Aug 20, 2020 8:07 PM in response to solodb

Super! Another Blu Tack success story! Apple should really include a wad of Blu Tack with each set of AirPods Pro 😜

Oct 5, 2020 4:08 PM in response to Dell_K

Whatever troll. It works fine and I am just trying to be helpful so if you don’t have anything positive to say, you’re just a troll

Oct 6, 2020 4:37 PM in response to Changren Yong

Trolling...

Oct 6, 2020 4:38 PM in response to solodb

Maybe I’ll try the BluTack. I have never seen it.

solodb

Level 1

4 points

Oct 6, 2020 5:51 PM in response to Peteyrock

Office supply stores, I got mine on Amazon.

It’s used to non permanently stick things to walls. :)

Costs about $7

Daar1

Level 1

12 points

Oct 14, 2020 6:02 PM in response to jcadamsjc

I tried and it worked. Have been dealing with this for weeks now they passed the test.

thx

Oct 15, 2020 11:18 PM in response to Peteyrock

Okay stinks. Can you print that?

Dec 8, 2020 4:30 PM in response to jcadamsjc

Worked like a charm. Had a bit of a laugh actually as my air pods have gone in for replacement 3 separate times. Was glad for a fix that didn’t involve visiting the Apple store so soon

Jan 16, 2021 7:19 AM in response to jcadamsjc

Amazing, thanks! I live on a mountain and had been traveling in the foothills. After I read this all I had to do was yawn and let my ears pop and it worked!

Harry769

Level 1

4 points

Jan 31, 2021 12:27 PM in response to jcadamsjc

My goodness, it worked for me too. Been having trouble with the fitting for past few weeks. Wallah!

Feb 1, 2021 12:00 PM in response to tmcmorrow

What methods have you tried that didn't work?

solodb

Level 1

4 points

Feb 1, 2021 1:30 PM in response to Changren Yong

Just don’t press down to hard while using the BlueTack, it may leave bits of itself down in the material under the outer grill. Very difficult to clean out. Light pressure is all you need.

86hawki

Level 1

25 points

Nov 26, 2019 11:45 AM in response to Dellski

@Dellski, that's what I thought.

It seems overly burdensome to have to clean them virtually all the time. You shouldn't have to do that. Perhaps once after every 7-10 uses is more reasonable. You probably have to clean your ears more than a baby too 😱.

Good luck!

Dellski

Level 1

8 points

Nov 26, 2019 11:54 AM in response to 86hawki

Seems to me that they are very much handle with care; especially if hands wet at all or sweaty.

I’m beginning to wonder if the moment mine went was a day at the gym when someone went to ask me something, I merely took out the left one to listen then when fitting the left back in, a slightly sweaty finger may have accidentally ‘pushed’ some sweat into the grill killing the left external microphone.

I didn’t notice at the time as I think I maybe have had ANC off.

If so, that grill is a massive and terminal weak spot.

Be careful in similar circumstances is my thoughts on it.

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AirPods Pro Ear Tip Fit Test fail (seal is actually good on both sides)