AirPods Pro 2 Microphone Software Issue

I just spent 3 hours on the phone with Apple Support and was put thorough what I think is an insane process of troubleshooting with zero guarantee that they will resolve the issue. I own every version of AirPods, but I specifically called about the issues I’m having with the AirPods Pro 2. They have 3 microphones in each AirPod and Apple has been telling me it’s a hardware issue for awhile now.

I’ve done testing of the problem and have come to the conclusion it’s a software issue. My AirPods microphones work if I use the Voice app, a website that tests the microphone and a windows computer. All test perfectly fine. What doesn’t work is when I make or receive a phone call. The person I’m speaking with can’t hear me, but I hear them perfectly. No troubleshooting works. I’ve tried everything that Apple and others have recommended. I’ve been having the issue for 3-6 months. Always being told it’s hardware.

Tonight I was finally told that others are having the same issue, but they have no reasonable solution. Just a workaround that may work, but is crazy. The senior advisor wanted me to transfer the audio from my iPhone Pro Max to my iPad Pro and then back again. I said if it resolves the issue I would do it, but if the workaround was required for every call, I wasn’t interested. He said that it would have to be dine every time I made or received a call.

Also wanted to put something on my phone to log the issue as another option. I’ve had this problem for months and Apple has been trying to get me to just buy new AirPods or send them to Apple and have them put a $279 hold on my credit card.

I have no confidence that they wouldn’t just claim it’s hardware (even though I told them the microphone works in every other scenario EXCEPT when making or receiving calls) and charge me for the repair which would only give me a 90 day warranty and cost me the same or more than just buying the latest version with USB-C.

They want me to spend hours troubleshooting and testing various things that engineering suggested, but none are reasonable or permanent fixes. I’ve already wasted countless hours on this. I don’t work for Apple and I’m not willing to be a free beta tester for their workarounds or other unreasonable options.

They can’t and won’t promise that they will have a fix, and they don’t care that I’ve had the issue for many months. I feel like they just want me to buy new AirPods or wait indefinitely for a fix that may never come. They say their engineering team is aware that others are experiencing the same issue, but said it’s only been reported a few days ago. Since there are a total of 6 microphones and they work fine on Windows, and other apps, but just not when using the most important app I bought them for, it’s ridiculous that they don’t just replace them.

Ive been a loyal customer for 25+ years. I’m so disappointed in the way support treats customers. There has been a huge change. They used to be customer centric. Now they want to waste countless hours and not provide any reasonable solutions.

I will be contacting Apple Corporate on Monday, but I’m not hopeful.

Anyone else having the same issues?