Condensation in the Airpods Max

I can confirm that this is a serious issue and the condensation WILL eventually cause the Airpods to become non-functional. I've just had my 3rd pair of Airpods Max fail because of the continual condensation. This pair have lasted the longest of all 3, but that is only 3 weeks. The previous 2 pairs lasted 5 days, at the most before the noise cancellation button becomes non-functioning, the ear detection sensors will not work and eventually they become a brick only responding with the LED light when you plug them into a charger but never being discoverable by any bluetooth device or even playing any sound when wired.

I've spent about half of my 3 months of ownership waiting for them to be repaired, waiting for a replacement, or having them sit dead and useless. I will say these are the most outstanding headphones and ANC I've ever used, which makes their disastrously and borderline incompetent design flaws so much worse. I'm not sure what I'm going to do because this is the 3rd pair that have failed in 3 month and I know that I'm going to have to wait 10 or so days to ship them off and wait to get them or another pair back and I spent so much money on them. I wish Apple would recall them and admit they made a drastic mistake reliability-wise.

Honestly 3 pairs it took me 3 months returning one pair but asked for a refund. Send them back and go with the Sony XM4’s that’s what I’ve done and have used them everyday battery lasts 10 hours extra even though I never got to drain the Barry of my AirPods Max. This issue is the worst from Apple and the fact they continue to sell them is just ridiculous.

Sorry I thought I replied too a comment. I was offering an alternative. I agree AirPods max are the best I’ve owned. Xm3 been through 3 sets, I liked them more than the xm4 which are too clever for me and I have had multiple issues with xm4’s. The Bose 700 I have had for a very long time with no issues and they have been very well worn. Bose Quiet comfort 2 lasted 1 week and were returned.

I'm about to return my THIRD pair of AirPod Max's for this same exact issue. The ANC/Transparency button starts to fail around day 22 kicking off randomly without touching it. By day 25 they start to go crazy with them constantly randomly turning on and off transparency mode and no amount of hard or soft resets fixes the issue. I'm convinced the condensation is causing the button failure and creating a short. I'm going to try my fourth pair and this time I'm going to store them with silicon packets overnight to see if I can prevent it from happening again. Thank goodness Apple has been willing to give me an extended 30 day return window each time.

wow.... lol three times?? Move on dude! Ive heard of being self abusive etc but really... you are unhappy with a product not once, not twice and not THREE times!! Going for your fourth or are you just going to move on and shut up, cause you sound really dumb about now. Just saying ... wow

You better sell it to other people since apple doesn’t look like they will recall it. I think it’s a loop. If you have condensation issue, no matter how many APM you get, the issue will come back again. I send it back to apple store and they fixed it, now sending back to me, but I already sold it to other people.

Also experiencing the same issue with APM's bought a week ago. This is my second pair after the first pair were returned in under 2 hours of purchase for a different reason (bluetooth connection kept dropping within 10 - 15 seconds of use).

I also own Sennheiser Momentum 2's (wireless Over ear) and have owned these for around 4 to 5 years. The Sennheisers do not seem to 'heat up' under the ear pads as much though to be fair it would be difficult to tell whether condensation has occurred due as the ear pads are not as easy to remove and the headphone backs are plastic.

I can say though having used the Sennheisers outdoors on hot days (25c +) there has been a moisture build up on the surface of the ear pads though to date this has not created any noticeable issues.

Hope that we don't have permanent long term issues with the APM's as they are a very significant outlay.

It is such a simple fix…. Return them!! Thats it!! If you are out of the return period and within warranty …. Guess what? RETURN THEM FOR A FIX! Why are you people so end all with these. Cans?? Return them and go get something else!!

I suppose some people really enjoy them and are wanting to get a sense of whether the issue is widespread enough that an actual fix is likely. As for me, I used points and cannot return them. Otherwise I totally would and would wait for the next version.

Not meaning to sound like snide, but I’m curious why you’re roaming the thread if it’s a no-brainer?

So I’ve had these for about a month now and haven’t seen any condensation even after wearing for over an hour at a time. And I’m the sort who tends to sweat fairly easily.

Now before anyone gets upset, I’m not denying that this is a legitimate issue, only pointing out that it seems to be based on the conditions in which you use them.

Given their size, weight, and the fact that they're not at all water-resistant, it’s evident they were not really designed for use during any sort of exercise, nor in very warm/humid conditions. I can imagine how disappointing this must be for those who expected otherwise, and it’s fair to suggest that Apple should look into tweaking the design to provide better ventilation and/or some moisture resistance. Perhaps the fix would be to offer an “active” version of the earcups. But barring that, the alternative is just to return them and seek out another headset more suitable for your individual needs and preferences.

That's the problem, the problem is not widespread enough at the minutes. Some class actions are being prepared/explored in the US on that matter - I made a comment about it and Apple removed it - lol.

Yet if you google it, you will find that in the US this is being explored - although based in the UK, I have been actually contacted.

This is a quote from Forbes back in January 2021: "Given the potential for this condensation problem to impact the longevity of the headphones and cause additional expense for a product which is already ultra-premium, the smart move would be to wait and see how this plays out."

Just like I said: the sound quality is outstanding. But, my advice on those: only buy them if you are willing to commit to conduct a periodic (daily or weekly) maintenance on this device. I mean, at the end of the day: it is just (expensive) headphones - it does not worth the hassle.

Presumable, the 2nd generation should be better (if there is any...). Skip that one.

Hello all,

so I went to my local Apple Store here in Western Australia raising this problem with them. The specialist that served me was unaware that this was a problem, but after talking to his team leader, he told me that there was some internal and external reports that indicated that this was becoming a common complaint. Whilst there, I raised my concerns of the fact that the headphones are not certified water resistant and that I was also obviously worried about my safety using them as they are electrical equipment after all and directly placed on direct skin on the body. I asked them to do a hardware check to make sure that the water was not getting into any exposed wires. They did the hardware test and told me that the condensation water had not reached any wired part and that I was safe to use them as it was only appearing in the topical part of the headphones. They told me that to watch out for ear detection sensors, but told me that if water damage does happen to my headphones in the future because of the condensation, they would have notes on my account showing that it wasn’t my fault.

Ended up returning mine. Not happy to pay $899 AUD for headphones that I need to purchase additional insurance (apple care) for or have notes on a report I’ve made in case they get destroyed by ‘water’ when Apple so far have not acknowledged the problem.

Will wait for something else I think. 

I put on the headphones and after half an hour my whole ear is water. AirPods Max