Airpods Max only playing in one ear"

Resetting my AirPods Max by holding down both the crown and noise suppression buttons and then allowing them to reconnect fixes the problem temporarily, but it recurs several times per day, and seems to be related to certain motions of my head when wearing the AirPods. I don't recall this speaker cutout happening before spatial audio was supported. Turning off Bluetooth on my iPhone does not fix the problem -- it still occurs with my M1 MacBook Pro. It is always the right speaker that cuts out, and the balance setting still shows as in the middle.

This is where I am today as well. AirPods Max are only playing out of the left ear. I’ve reset them at least 8-9 times but to no avail.

I am at a loss as for what to do. I’ve scheduled a Genius Bar appointment for tomorrow. 🥺😟

I just had the same issue. It started this morning HOWEVER, it is at this time that I have found the solution. That solve all the issue you’ve experienced with your AirPod Max’s.

So what to do, for starter’s turn off Bluetooth on all the device you had connected them too.

next, you turn of your AirPods ( put them back in their Case. Let th then sit for at least 15 seconds.

Next hold the noise cancellation and volume dial until you see the amber light flash. It should flash 3 times. (You may see it try to connect to the devices at this time that is ok).

Lastly, remove from the case you’ll see white light flash 3 times and the original setup pop up on your phone as it did when you bought them. Set up and enjoy! 😊

Unbelievably this checking the balance in the Sound configuration for the Mac worked for me as well. I was having the only playing in the right speaker problem; I tried the factory resetting described above in this thread (turn off all the bluetooth, put them back in the case, hold the buttons until an amber light blinks, take them back out and reconnect to devices) and the factory reset caused the headphones to stop connecting to all my devices, lol. They would still work with the Mac, but were still only playing out of the right speaker. SO THEN I tried the sound configuration on the Mac and the balance was randomly set all the way to the right. So I set the sound balance back to the middle and it fixed it on the Mac AND it fixed the headphones' connection with all my devices. Unbelievabley weird but absolutely true.

HCGB Said:

"How do I fix my AirPods Max? They are only playing out of one ear.: This issue commenced when connected only with iPhone when I was leaving work. My iPad Pro was at home and switched off. It began with the right ear unresponsive to sound or noise cancellation."

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Then being circumstantial, report this to Apple.

Provide Feedback:

Do your Part: It seems this is a bug. So, it is best that you provide feedback on this is Apple.  Apple won't get back to you directly, but the more feedback they receive on this, the more they will know what is going on, and what needs to be fixed.

1. Go Here: Feedback - AirPods - Apple - Support
2. Select: "Bug Report" for the "Feedback Type"
3. Comment: on when you came across this issue, and how you have troubleshot it thus far. Include a link to this thread (https://discussions.apple.com/thread/253276765)
4. Proceed from there as necessary

HCGB Said:

"How do I fix my AirPods Max? They are only playing out of one ear."

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Verify the Balance:

1. Go to: Settings
2. Tap: General
3. Tap: Accessibility
4. Scroll Down: to Hearing
5. Adjust: the audio volume balance

"HCGB Said:

"How do I fix my AirPods Max? They are only playing out of one ear. [...]Nearly 11 months with no issues until today."

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Troubleshooting AirPod Connectivity Issues:

Where to go from here:

A. Troubleshoot the Pairing:

Disable Bluetooth on all but one device — the one device you want to synchronize with these with.

• Set up AirPods with iPhone - Apple Support
• Reset your AirPods - Apple Support

B. Troubleshoot the Connection:

Using this via these Apple Support links, troubleshoot this.

• If your Left or Right AirPod isn't Working - Apple Support
• Connect and Use your AirPods and AirPods Pro – Apple Support

C. Clear Out Earwax:

How to clean your AirPods and EarPods - Apple Support

If nothing above works....

D. Provide Feedback:

Do your Part: It seems this is a bug. So, it is best that you provide feedback on this is Apple.  Apple won't get back to you directly, but the more feedback they receive on this, the more they will know what is going on, and what needs to be fixed.

1. Go Here: Feedback - AirPods - Apple - Support
2. Select: "Bug Report" for the "Feedback Type"
3. Comment: on when you came across this issue, and how you have troubleshot it thus far. Include a link to this thread (https://discussions.apple.com/thread/253276765)
4. Proceed from there as necessary

So a quick update on my headphones. The problem got worse and then all of a sudden my iPhone stopped recognizing the headphones completely. I reset the headphones and that didn't work. I could still connect to my M1 Macbook Pro but again only one ear would work. So I reset the headphones again (factory reset) and tried again. Same problem. So I gave up for a few days and for some reason, now they are working again. And I also rebooted the phone several times. No other bluetooth devices were having any issues. My iPhone is the 13 pro max with all the latest updates. Same for my M1 Macbook which is running MacOS 12.1.

So right now, iPad M1 Pro, iPhone 13 Pro Max, sound in both ears. Macbook Pro 16" M1, sound only in one ear (the one with the control buttons on top).

You can also check if the sound preferences balance on your device is all the way to the right or left.

For me, this happened on my MacBook and I could only hear from one earcup until I went to System Preferences, Sound and saw that my balance was all the way to the right.

For your iPhone, it should be in Settings, Accessibility, Audio/Visual and you can adjust your volume balance to L or R.

"HCGB Said:

"How do I fix my AirPods Max? They are only playing out of one ear.: Ta! I’ve got a Genius Bar appointment in a few hours. Also, I have already gone through all the resetting options/ steps last night with an  Care representative but alas to no avail."

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Spread the Word:

👍 Thumbs up on the Genius Bar Appointment! Maybe it is a faulty device. Let us know how what the solution ends up being. Spreading the word on a solution would help many for certain.

dkow49 Said:

“Thanks for the links, but the question is in regards to the AirPods Max.”

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You are welcome.

The Word “AirPods”:

In my reply, I’m using the word “AirPods” in a more general sense —not of a particular model. It’s the same ordeal as when you use the word “Mac” to refer to all Macs, in a general sense. Basically, so that it can be a reference to all.

The balance slider is in the middle - this is under Settings > Accessibility > Audio/ Visual menu - General doesn’t have an Accessibility menu.

Just to clarify: this happens when connected to my iPad Pro M1 running 15.0.2 or  Watch Series 6 running 8.0.1 and iPhone 13 Pro running 15.0.2 as the audio source. AirPods Max are on firmware 4A400.

After a dozen resets AirPods Max are now randomly activating Siri (on all devices that they are connected to) and playing random songs as well as skipping forward. Nearly 11 months with no issues until today.

I had this issue while listening on my MacBook. I turned off my MacBook turned it back on and that resolved this issue. Hopefully it does for you too. My AirPod max's were playing on both earpieces on my phone.

So I face the same issue where every time I try to connect to my mac the balance goes to the right and when It connects to iPhone it's fine and every time it connects to mac I have to manually change the settings.

dnlapple Said:

"How do I fix my AirPods Max? They are only playing out of one ear.: This works for my airpods

pro max. I was having problem with it in my macbook pro 16 inch. Thanks!”

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You are welcome.