Why are my AirPods Max not detecting my head?

This happened to me and I went to buy a new one thinking that the battery had expired, but the same thing happened after one month (the problem is that my country does not have a genius bar or apple store and no one knows how to fix it).

I have the exact same issue. It started about two months ago.

I cleaned the contacts on the headband, but unfortunately, it didn't help (I desperately tried multiple times).

They are out of warranty now, and sending them to Apple here in the Philippines is not even an option.

This has turned them into the most expensive paperweights I have...

Any suggestions on a fix would be welcome!

This fixed worked for me as well.

10min contact clean vs $300 apple service.

I'm having the same problem. Any help?

I have the same problem (I’ve had the problem for MONTHS, and it’s only gotten worse).

a while ago I took my headphones to Apple to get them fixed. They couldn’t fix them in the store so they had to send them out and they called me to come get them when they came back. The first time I did that and I got them back I tested them to see if the issue was fixed. It wasn’t, so we got them sent out AGAIN (I can’t remember if we had to send them back again 1 more time after that or if that was the last time). Then they (seemed) to be fixed and working again, but they weren’t.

They worked fine for a while, but after using them for a few weeks they started to glitch out randomly again. Just like it had before, over time it continued to happen more and more often and stay fixed/working for less and less time (before breaking/glitching again).

It also does this weird thing where sound would stop working, but only in the right side (and the buttons would stop working too).

Sometimes it also does another weird thing where it randomly makes this super loud crackling static-like sound (the sound either comes from both sides or just the right side, I don’t remember it ever coming just from the left side). It comes out of nowhere and always scares me so bad that I think I might have a heart attack.

Now whenever I connect it to my device it doesn’t detect my head and the sound doesn’t work either. Factory resetting it doesn’t fix the problem anymore either.

For now I’m stuck just not using them until I can bring them to apple again and get them fixed (and by “fixed” I mean “hopefully they’ll just replace them because nothing else has worked and I don’t want them to break again because the warranty is going to expire in a few months”)

I’m lucky because I got my AirPod maxes on a sale

Also, I’m in America and they’re cheaper here. At least it seems that they are based on what you’re saying about the price of them there, because (although they were still multiple hundreds of dollars to buy) they weren’t 1000 dollars (in fact I think that they’re about half of that amount). Although you may have just been exaggerating, in which case I might be wrong about them being cheaper here (plus I don’t remember the exact price of them here).

tl;dr: Try to make sure the hole on your headphone pads matches the sensors.

I had the same issue: The headphone doesn't react to what ever I press. No sound. No noise cancelation.

I noticed that's the head detection issue. I tried to reset it but the issue still exists. Today, one of my firends told me that's because the head phone pads were in wrong directions so it blocks the sensors. After I adjusted them, the issue was solved.

I do too. We took to Genius Bar and they couldn’t fix. Said I’d have to spend $300 to send them in to be fixed. I didn’t think that was worth it and now they sit in my drawer unable to use.

Definitely worked for me.

Way more reliable after doing this.

Worked for me 100% I experienced all the issues mentioned in the thread until I carefully cleaned the contacts with screen wet wipes. AirPods Max immediately started working as before. So happy now.

Make sure the ear cushions are not upside down. They fit this way, but then the head detection sensors are blocked and not aligned with the hole intended for them.

More than 2 years old?

Give them a clean.