AirPods 3 High Pitched noise.

Same for me, I have exchange 3 times and end up refund in 14 days. I got a pair of Airpods pro afterward, when there are discounts, turns out even cheaper than the price I got with Airpods 3 and no bugs anymore, with noise cancelation, I am quite happy about it

Update: I just received my 3rd pair of AirPods 3 and I am happy to report that my 3rd pair does not have the high pitched noise!

The latest pair was shipped from Amazon on March 4, 2022 so it's possible they have gotten through the initial batch which had some defects? Or just dumb luck but they were received with a previous fw version (sadly I don't remember the exact fw version but it was NOT 4C170). They did not have any noise out of the box. They were then updated automatically to the latest 4C170 fw and I did not notice any difference...still no noise.

So it is absolutely a hardware issue, so I would try again maybe now the latest batches have the hardware issue sorted.

Hi everyone, I responded at the start of this thread so wanted to report back because I figured Apple would fix this in due time. I recently got AirPods 3 again and am also happy to report that the high pitched noise problem is not there. They sound great, work great, and are dead silent when in my ears with no music playing. I’m unsure if older models would still have this out of the box and it has just been a software bug thus far but rest assured if you buy a set they will very likely not have this problem now as I bet Apple is preloading the new firmware and/or has sold through all the old stock at this point. Take care all and enjoy your AirPods!

Glad you got yours sorted! I can say it is not entirely firmware related. My 2nd pair had the latest FW installed and had the noise. My 3rd pair with the same FW the issue was fixed so I believe it is hardware related to the initial batch of them that were produced.

I just received my airpods 3, FW is 4C170.

I hear a high pitched noise from the right airpod. I can hear it EVEN with background sound (e.g. rain) at 1%. Setting background sound at 0% DOES NOT fix the problem for me. I can still hear the pitch.

Right airpod battery life is really short.

So still on April 19th Apple is selling a defective product (fw didn't fix it).

Purchased today (4/24) from Apple Store in Soho, NYC. This is my second pair—I returned the first one some time ago when no acknowledgment of what’s clearly a hardware problem was forthcoming. To my despair, the pair I just got (with the most recent firmware) is also defective in the right earbud, even after trying the background noise “hack.” The store clerk told me that she had no way of knowing whether these came from a new or an old batch of AirPods. How can that be? The serial numbers reveal nothing? This is infuriating, and such a massive waste of time—another hour-long round-trip to a store for no reason. Apple really sucks for not fixing or even really acknowledging this problem.

Apple can identify the batch by the serial number but they will never tell you this.

I can confirm that now, even using the background "noise" hack the problem is not fixed. I can hear the high pitched noise even during a call.

Today I'm sending my airpods back to Apple service as they told me to do. I hope they will replace my airpods with a new working kit. I hope they won't tell me that "there is no problem" or I'll put a high sensitivity microphone near them and I'll record the noise after turning on the proximity sensor :-D

Last update: I contacted Apple Support and I fixed the problem with them.

They told me to bring my airpods to Apple Premium Reseller. However, there were not able to identify the problem. They run some tests but they told me that everything was ok. It was not!!

So Apple Support told me to ship airpods to Apple Care (not Premium Reseller). I received my airpods back in 2 days. now they work perfectly. No more noise.

I think they totally replaced them (airpods cannot be repaired right?)

Same issue. Very high, but obviously audible, frequency noise in the right bud. Only audible when nothing is playing through the AirPods. Connected to iPhone 12 and Mini 6.

Exactly the same here!

Only the right airpod strangely...

Kind of takes the edge off buying a new product a bit!

Hopefully this will get a fix, or a recall?

Contacted support and they offered to service the product or refund. I declined to see if this may get resolved by firmware.

That's good to hear that they are willing!

I'm in the UK, but bought them from the USA. So I'm hoping this won't affect me in terms or returns or fixes?

I’ve got the same thing but the ringing is coming out of the left bud for me

It’s great they offered a refund but I’m in the same boat. I don’t want a refund. I want a fix!

Exactly same issue here. I contact them and they have me to do a replacement. But if this issue happens to a lot of ppl, replacement may not help. :(