What does it mean when AirPods Max blink amber 3 times?

I'm not trying to be a jerk; I know what the issue is but can't/won't say on Apple's own support site, and I've successfully repaired units that have this exact issue (intermittent operation for weeks, works after cleaning for weeks, freezer work for a few days, then three flashes and nothing works after that). The root issue is definitely not "normal" levels of moisture; the inside cups - even the pinholes - are very well sealed. The repair is very involved and requires disassembly, but I will say this - do whatever you can to make your out-of-warranty headphones work again - freezer, charging overnight, reset while wearing, incantations - then never (and I mean never) rotate the cups again.

Keep them straight and charge them straight, hide your case and don't worry about battery drain. If you really want to put them to sleep outside of their case, grab a couple of weak magnets and watch the video where to place them. Did I mention not rotating the cups? I'm sure v2 will not have this issue, but for everyone who currently owns a pair, once you start having this issue, you have a limited number of rotations remaining.

Sincerely hopes this helps.

Thanks I sent mine in for repair last week and they claimed corrosion on the headband connectors was the issue. So I had them sent back un-repaired and cleaned them myself. Now I'm having the exact same issue, but they dont connect at all... It's such a shame. I love apple products, but this was a stain and leaves me extremely disappointed with build quality.

I had a problem, cleaned them myself, and everything was okay for a few weeks. Then I started getting bad behavior again, they'd keep going back to acting dead. Just a pair of earmuffs. I cleaned and cleaned, reassembled disassembled a few times just hoping. Started twisting them from folded position and back hoping to clear some gunk or work a connection back in to place. Finally, they work again (for now?) after plugging them in to a USB cable attached to a macbook (probably unrelated?) and then the ANC reset _just worked_

I didn’t do the freezer trick. I charged mine all day and the next day they mysteriously worked again. I did go to the apple store and they told me they didn’t offer a repair and I almost threw them away. Hopefully yours will work again in some hours or day(s). Don’t lose hope!

Argh that’s annoying. I know the feeling. Then the anxiety when you put them on and nothing comes on when you know it’s supposed to come on. So I actually noticed letting them die actually puts my APM in this weird amber three blink death spiral. So I just don’t let them die anymore. I just always plug them in around 10% and charge them in the case. And put them back in the case when not using it. So maybe try not letting them die?

Weird. I went to the Apple shop. They said that they don’t repair them only give you new ones IF you have the warranty (I don’t). Came back home heartbroken. Today I try turning them on again and they work…. 🎡

I think the cold temperature simply forces them to turn off fully. It would be consistent with the many people who say after leaving it for a while say three days they come back to life. So just on and off is what’s happening. Apple charging 300$ to turn them off and on makes no sense. Might as well fridge them. If they had just built in a shutdown button this wouldn’t be happening. My APM have been working since I posted the half an hour fridge event …

missed my 2 week reminder, but to follow up. The freezer trick is very temporary for me, have not managed to get a two day stint from my Maxs so they basically live in the freezer/fridge until I cave and pay the $300 service fee have them fixed 🥶

Thank for the update. The fixes are also temporary for me. Having said that the gaps are getting longer. I’m on a few weeks now. Just out of interest: do you ever let your APM die completely before charging them?

Same here. Freezer worked. But had to do it each time I wanted to. Use it . No longer works. Apple knows it’s their fault but they couldn’t care less. I hope the same thing happens to vision pro users that plunked down 4-5k. Apple has the upper hand. Once you are I. Their eco system you are unlikely to leave and that’s what they are counting on. A 3 trillion dollar company certainly has the resources to fix or replace their defective products

Same thing has happened to my airpods starting a month after my applecare warranty died. They constantly keep bricking and I have to constantly resort to the freezer trick. I've learned my lesson with relying on this trash company to do good by the people dropping serious money on their defective high-failure rate products. I will not be buying whatever trash updgrade they make to the Airpod Maxes - Imagine dropping 600USD twice for headphones that stop resetting after a year of use with their cheap, god awful trash case. To anyone who reads this, buy bose headphones. Buy sennheisers. Buy Bang and Olfusens. Buy Sony's incredible xmp lineup. You stand a very high chance of looking like a fool who wasted almost $1000 of garbage technology. If you just MUST throw away your hard earned cash for no reason, get yourself an Airpod Max and make sure to swap it out for a new one before the warranty expires.

I have the same issue, no warranty so they guys at Apple store they offered to pay almost 70% of the original price to have a replacement with only 3 months of warranty.

I mean Apple what are you doing? how come you are becoming this bad company which you are not even caring about loyal customers such as me, I mean I bought over 10 iPhones and almost every product you have!!! Talk about loyalty.

I'm so much sad because my Airpods are in perfect condition physically even the band is almost new (shinny connectors at least with no corrode not even dust on them).