AirPods Pro Rattling Noise

Apple replaced my left airpods and after a week the right starting to do the same so I sent it back to apple and got replaced.. so don’t worry if these keep happens over and over just send them back to apple and they will replace everything for you.

I too have that unmistakable rattling sound in my right EarPod. I made an appointment with the closest Apple store and they replace the single EarPod post haste. They had ample supply of single left and right replacements. With that said now my left EarPod is rattling. Unfortunately the the left EarPod malfunctioned post the Covid 19 shutdown.

I've had mine for four months and the rattling is in the left Airpod starting about a month ago. I hear it when I tap on the left Airpod and with every step when I'm walking. Phone calls awful, when my voice hits the right frequency and/or decibel level, the resonance blasts a painful buzzing into my left ear canal. It happens even if the Airpods are disconnected, so it is apparently mechanical in nature. I just contacted Apple support and they're sending me a replacement. If you've had them for less than a year then they're still under warranty.

I got mine the week of release. Within about two months I heard a low rumbling sound when using ANC or transparency but I thought it was in my head. I also noticed that they always failed the fit check as well, so I went in to the Genius Bar. As soon as I got a replacement Pair the rumble went away. That lasted about two more months when the rumble returned. I went in again and got another replacement pair with the same results. This pair lasted two weeks before exhibiting the problem. This time I was shipped the replacement pair due to the Apple stores being closed, and they shipped a case as well. This lasted three days before I began hearing rumbling on just the right side. My ear tip check fails only on the right side as well. I am now on my fourth set and I’m going to have to request another replacement for the right side. When the rumbling starts I have to turn the mode to Off or else It will drive me crazy.

The replacement process has been easy and free, but there is a serious defect in the design of these things. The only thing I do that is uncommon is switch between multiple Apple TV’s, iPhone, iPad, MacBook Pro and Mac Pro multiple times per day. One time it manifested when I switched from using my iPhone to an iMac Pro. Once the rumble starts it never stops and it always fails the fit check afterwards. I have AppleCare with extended coverage, but I just want a product that works. I hope they fix this because my hope was to use these for years to come, not until the first rumble after AppleCare expires.

Contact Apple Support Chat and work through the troubleshooting process with them and if necessary they’ll send replacements as an advanced exchange (e.g. they will put a hold on a CC until you return the bad one(s)).

This happened to my right pod a few months ago. Stopped by Apple store and they replaced the pod, which fixed the issue. Now same thing has started in the replacement pod. Again, Apple is replacing that Pod and I expect the issue to be ‘fixed’ for now.

I am very confident that this issue is caused by an endemic design flaw. I had both my AirPods replaced previously (requiring two separate trips down to the Applestore) and I am now facing the issue with my left earbud so it will be the 3rd one to fail so far.....

I believe the cause of this defect symptom is physical damage on the diaphragm. This mode of failure is nothing new. It has historically been a problem with traditional “wired” earphones because manufacturers have no control over users; who quite often drive the volume of their amplifiers beyond the amplitude limit which the earphones are designed for. In the case of Apple AirPods however, such type of damage can never be caused by user-error. The earphones have built in amplifiers which should be self-regulating. What I suspect might be causing the damage being reported by so many AirPod users is the effect of unintended “feedback” which may occur if the user places their head on a pillow in either “transparency” or “noise-cancelling” modes. As a long term solution, Apple need to come up with a design solution to prevent users from damaging their product. In the meantime, they need to research the new issue and then be transparent enough to admit to the limitation and offer users practical advice on how to avoid damaging their AirPods. The unfortunate reality however, is that Apple will be very guarded about this and probably won’t admit there’s a design problem because they will be more fearful of potential harm to their reputation as well as a possible flurry of warranty claims.

My advice to Anyone facing this issue is that you MUST make a claim on your warranty now, to get your damaged AirPod replaced. Apple won’t entertain you once your warranty has expired and you will be left with a damaged product.

Thanks very much for alerting everyone to this. It’s utterly shameful that Apple took over a year to finally admit that there was an issue -which many users like myself had been insisting all along! Anyway, I’ve just booked my service appointment to get a replacement. This will be the 5th time my AirPods have been replaced, at least this time it will be on a non like for like basis.

I also had this problem and contacted apple support for help. They said they would send a replacement. But I also discovered that the rattling noise disappears when the airpods are on the off mode. Whereas they continue to rattle in the noise cancellation and transparency mode.

You can call or chat with support and they will replace them for free.

I had this exact same issue. Apple replaced both my AirPods for free. it seems to be a hardware issue.

It’s a one year warranty too. However, careful they don’t try to charge you $25/£25 under AppleCare+ if you have that. AppleCare is only for accidental damage caused by your carelessness.. not a manufacturing fault!

Apple swapped out both of mine via FedEx and it was very quick and convenient, so that's a positive for me.

That said, one thing I noticed while troubleshooting my issue was that at some point regardless of the size of ear tips I used, the fit test failed once I started having this issue.

Once I got the replacement AirPods Pro and ran through the initial setup process, the fit test passed every time. I ran the fit test with all three ear tip sizes, all passed for me. If I run the test with no ear tips installed on the replacement AirPods, the test fails as would be expected.

Hope this helps others with troubleshooting and Apple in identifying this issue and resolving it going forward.

I contacted support via chat and worked through all the troubleshooting with them. They offered either a store visit or FedEx option and I chose FedEx given current state travel guidance.

I’m in the U.S. if that matters at all.