Airpods (2nd gen) microphone not working even after troubleshooting

Hi there jesscollinns,

I understand that you're having trouble with your AirPods microphone not working. I'm sorry to hear that!

You've already tried a few troubleshooting steps, which is great. Here are a few more things you can try:

• Make sure your AirPods are fully charged. A low battery can sometimes cause microphone issues.
• Check your AirPods firmware. If there is an update available, install it. The latest firmware update as of now is 5E135. Learn more about the firmware updates here.
• Reset your AirPods. This will erase all of their settings and data, and may fix the microphone issue.
• If you're using AirPods Pro, make sure that the microphone is not blocked by earwax or other debris.
• Try connecting your AirPods to a different device. If the microphone works on the other device, then the problem is likely with your phone or computer.

If you've tried all of these steps and your AirPods microphone is still not working, then you may need to contact Apple Support for further assistance.

Here are some articles that you should refer to also…

• If your left or right AirPod isn't working - Apple Support
• How to clean your AirPods, AirPods Pro, AirPods Max, and EarPods - Apple Support

I hope this helps! Let me know if you have any other questions.

Best regards,

Kyleb_27

jesscollinns Said:

"Airpods (2nd gen) microphone not working even after troubleshooting"

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Troubleshooting iPhone Microphone:

A Few Links that May Help:

• If you Hear No Sound or Distorted Sound from your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch Speaker - Apple Support

• If the Microphones on your iPhone aren't Working - Apple Support



• Control Audio Playback on AirPods with iPhone - Apple Support

• Adjust Audio and Visual Settings on iPhone - Apple Support

• Adjust the Volume on iPhone - Apple Support

• Volume Output: If you Can't Hear a Person on a Call or Voicemail or if the Sound isn't Clear on your iPhone - Apple Support

• Volume Input: if your Microphone isn’t Working or People Can’t Hear you While you’re on a Call -Apple Support

Hi I have 3rd gen Apple air pods . When I make phone calls and I have my air pods in no one can hear me talking through the air pods; but I can hear them. Has anyone had this happen to them and what can I do ?!

I am in the same boat. Everything had been fine with my AirPod Pro 2nd Gen until firmware 6A300 Was released. Right after that release around September 12th 2023 I started having this issue.

It’s super frustrating that we all pay this kind of money now and this is the return on investment. Apple really needs to get it together.

To me I feel it should be easier for Apple to maintain their ecosystem as it’s nowhere near as widespread as say Android is across all device and models etc. it’s literally Apple hardware.

If anyone else is having these issues, I bet you money it’s firmware. I cannot wait for the next update as hopefully it’ll be resolved in the next version. Already two months with this issue and it really stinks to say the least.

I think I found a fix.

I also ran into this issue on Apple AirPods 2 (A2031) 6A300 today. Re-pairing didn't work for me off the bat, but after re-pairing, I went into the settings and set and re-set all the different settings such as "double tap on airpod", "Connect to This iPhone", and "Microphone". I'm not sure which settings actually fixed it, but it works for me now!

Same problem, fixed it by mistake.

Short Story:

• I removed (while trying to clean with a needle) the membrane protection the lower microphone. It fixed the problem. Repeated it with second pair and it was fixed too. Do not know if the membrane protects the electronics, so far no impact on both pairs.

Long:

We have in total 3 pairs.

Pair 1 was the first and after long usage the microphone started to went down from time to time. Though it was bad luck and bought a new pair for me and a new pair for my girlfriend. Pair 1 I further used as music only device for doing sports. Pair 2 lost the mic ability very fast completely and I put on the music only graveyard and decided to buy JBL in future. Now Pair 3 (the ones from my girlfriend) also started to loose mic ability from time to time. Asked ChatGPT about and the AI suggested simple cleaning. So I took Pair 1 as test and started cleaning with Q-Tip and a needle to really get rid of all dirt. Instead of just dirt I damaged the cover fiber mesh. Since they was already not longer in use (as explained) I decided to remove everything also the membrane below the mesh. It worked. Repeated with Pair 2 and it also worked there. Now testing them daily to see if the missing membrane has any downsides but so far nothing.

If you have already applied these troubleshooting steps you mentioned, I can suggest some more like:

• Turn off noise cancellation and see if that fixes the microphone.
• Toggle On and Off the Automatic Ear Detection.
• Update your AirPods firmware and your device software to the latest version.
• Reset Your iPhone’s Network Settings
• Forget your Airpods and Reset them and then reconnect again.

For detailed steps you can check this guide: 11 Steps to Fix Airpods Microphone not Working (skip the steps you already applied). After applying all these steps and are still facing the issue then I guess your airpods microphones have hardware issues.

I had same issue and nothing fixed it. Was messing with the settings and turned on live listen. It’s under the background sounds. I could hear myself and then once I turned it off my mic worked. Hope it works for you

3 years this has been going on through 3 AirPod Pros and 3 phones! I knew it was a software issue as they worked fine on non iOS devices.

I could not find “Live Listen” under settings (using seadch) - however, here is an article for where to find -

Use Live Listen with AirPods or Beats – Apple Support (UK)

I suspect that, at some point in the past, something had set the mic volume to 0 and turning on “Live Listen” automatically sets it to an appropriate level. Once you turn off “Live Listen” (after you can hear yourself) it remembers the new volume!

Honestly this ruined my phone for the last 3 years! I had to constantly remember to manually switch the audio from AirPods to Speaker/iPhone and it caused loads of embarrassment and stress at the start of every call - and Apple support has been disgustingly useless.

My AirPods 2nd gen microphones haven’t been working for months and I tried ALL the troubleshooting steps. I just tried connecting them to my Samsung Galaxy S20 instead of my iPhone 13 and they worked PERFECTLY. So the problem is with the connection with iPhone, NOT the AirPod hardware.

Thank goodness I didn’t buy another pair.

An odyssey awaits you !

With headaches and loss of sleep and time!

These are now my third Airpods pro 2 !

1)

The first time I encountered a problem with my Apple headphones was quite frustrating. I had driven for an hour to the Apple store, found parking, and explained the issue with my headphones. Fortunately, the staff at Apple agreed to replace them for me. However, this was only the beginning of my troubles.

After only two weeks, the new right earphone stopped charging. I found myself back at the Apple store repeating the same process. This time, they replaced both headphones and the case. Unfortunately, the problems persisted. Two months later, the case had inflated...

At this point, I was grateful for the accommodating nature of Apple, as they replaced the case for me. However, the refurbished nature of the replacement caused even more problems with the Bluetooth connection.

Thankfully, I had purchased the headphones from Amazon, and they came to my rescue.

Amazon not only took back the headphones, including the replacements from Apple, but also refunded me the money. This allowed me to purchase new Airpods Pro 2.

At the beginning of the year the same issue with the new Airpods 2 and now again ! Same game Amazon take it back and gave me money to buy new one !

The END:

I don't know why they are so vulnerable ! maybe firmware updates have broken something or the system ... who knows..My mum has been using the first generation of airpods for 4 years without any problems!

I currently use my 6-year-old headphones for phone calls and the Apple headphones for listening to music.

I am super disappointed! I have been a loyal Apple customer for 10 years but the service and quality of your products has deteriorated so much ...

Super-frustrating is the word!

My AirPods 2nd generation also lost the use of the microphone around September. Almost certainly due to the 6A300 Release.

I’ve verified this in different applications: keyboard dictation, mobile phone, messenger phone, audio recorder.

I’ve also tried changing the settings to use the left or right microphone instead of automatic, all to no avail.

The odds of both microphones failing due to mechanical reasons at exactly he same time are tiny. It’s a firmware fault.

I’ve also discovered that the microphones on my AirPod version 1 (firmware 6.8.8] no longer work. So despite charging perfectly, ALL 4 microphones stopped working in September. That is NOT a coincidence.

I just tested my airpods by connecting to a Windows 10 pc (using bluetooth - obviously) and the airpod microphone worked perfectly.

So my Apple Airpods do not work with Apple devices (iPhone/Tablet) but they do work with a Windows PC!

Clearly, there is nothing wrong with them mechanically. It is the Apple software at fault 😡

These are just headphones ! why such cumbersome solutions ! WOW

i just use my 6 years headphones and don't buy any more from you !

before I have to study troubleshooting to reset headphones ! HEADPHONES ! damm

If trouble shooting doesn’t work at the bottom of each AirPod there is wire mesh under the mesh is a dap of glue. Get those two out and more than likely you will be back in business idk who decided putting glue over a mic was a good idea but goodluck