First day of use and out of nowhere I start getting a high pitched noise from my left AirPod. The sound comes when either changing listening modes, or adjusting it in my ear. Others have had this issue and even when getting a replacement pair it does it again. Software bug or warranty?
Through further experimentation and other feedback on the Apple community I think I have figured out the common issue and HAVE A TEMPORARY FIX until Apple resolve this.
I have been experiencing the issue 2 hours+ into a bike ride. Another user mentioned moisture, and they experience it after a shower – that got me thinking. The new silicone/foam ear tips create an excellent insulated seal between the hot moist inner ear canal and the external dry / colder air. This is especially true for those on Plane flights where the airconditioned cabin is dry and generally colder than the temperature within in the ear. This temperature difference, moisture on one side and excellent seal with hydrophobic coatings is the perfect trap for condensation to form.
There are two layers of mesh together – one black on the AirPod and one white on the Air tip. My hypothesis is that water vapour is hitting this colder mesh surface and forming microscopic condensation which is trapped between the two mesh layers and interfering with the sensors that are driving the ANC systems.
I experimented on a 5-hour bike ride in the weekend. After 2 hours the noise started so I removed the air tip, wiped the black mesh part of the AirPod, with a microfibre cloth dried inside my ear with another cloth, waved them around in the air to dry out, put the ear tip back on and the issue went away! I followed this procedure every hour for the remainder of by bike ride and this fixed the problem! Not ideal but at least it is a temporary fix until Apple figures this out…
Others have also reported rotating the ear tip 180 degrees provide a fix – I think this is because in doing so they have released the moisture / dried the mesh which may have been minor at that stage – nothing to do with the rotation, but rather just the act of removing / drying and putting back on...
Through further experimentation and other feedback on the Apple community I think I have figured out the common issue and HAVE A TEMPORARY FIX until Apple resolve this.
I have been experiencing the issue 2 hours+ into a bike ride. Another user mentioned moisture, and they experience it after a shower – that got me thinking. The new silicone/foam ear tips create an excellent insulated seal between the hot moist inner ear canal and the external dry / colder air. This is especially true for those on Plane flights where the airconditioned cabin is dry and generally colder than the temperature within in the ear. This temperature difference, moisture on one side and excellent seal with hydrophobic coatings is the perfect trap for condensation to form.
There are two layers of mesh together – one black on the AirPod and one white on the Air tip. My hypothesis is that water vapour is hitting this colder mesh surface and forming microscopic condensation which is trapped between the two mesh layers and interfering with the sensors that are driving the ANC systems.
I experimented on a 5-hour bike ride in the weekend. After 2 hours the noise started so I removed the air tip, wiped the black mesh part of the AirPod, with a microfibre cloth dried inside my ear with another cloth, waved them around in the air to dry out, put the ear tip back on and the issue went away! I followed this procedure every hour for the remainder of by bike ride and this fixed the problem! Not ideal but at least it is a temporary fix until Apple figures this out…
Others have also reported rotating the ear tip 180 degrees provide a fix – I think this is because in doing so they have released the moisture / dried the mesh which may have been minor at that stage – nothing to do with the rotation, but rather just the act of removing / drying and putting back on...
Ok, I’ve had this since day one of release on the AirPods 3, and a replacement set was identical. It happened all the time (haven’t taken them on a flight)—weird background noises, worse when in full noise cancellation mode, awful high-pitched squeal when adjusting them in my ears, same in both left and right, no difference when switching tips. Today I updated to firmware 8B30 and it all seems to have been fixed as far as I can tell so far! I’ll be monitoring how it goes over the next couple of days, but so far so good!
I’ve been experiencing this issue only with my left AirPod. In my case, switching to a larger ear tip solved it. It seems like my left ear canal is slightly larger than my right one, and the original M tip didn’t seal properly, which caused a high-pitched sound.
Try the new firmware update 8B30. Fixed all the problems for me, which I’d had on two separate sets since day one of release.
I'm also affected by the issue, bought it in a local shop and they send it to their repair center where they couldn't reproduce it. As I got them back the issue was gone but now after two weeks I'm having the issue with the other side.
Disabling features or rotating the ear piece 180° didn't fixed the issue.
So far I found a fix on my side, but this might not help everyone (Would be nice if you give a feedback if it helps you too):
On my side the issue seems to be moisture related, the issue occurs when I got out of the shower and later go for long walk (There's still some moisture within the ear). It seems that the moisture gets into the AirPods and causes this high pitched noise (or the electric reacts to it?)
Not using your AirPods for a longer time within the charging case don't fix the issue for me, as maybe the moisture can't dry in this closed and tiny space. I let the AirPods within the charging case but left the case open. After 1-2 hours the issue is gone and I can use the AirPods again.
Possible fix, you can try. I had this issue as well, went to apple they said AirPod is okay but still changed it, the same problem with new one.
On reddit I saw suggestion to turn tip 180 degrees what didn’t help.
What helped was turning it 90 degrees, yes it’s hard to put ear tip on like that, but after that whistling is gone and for 2 days I have been working good. Even the squeaking when pushing it in ear seems to be gone.
Just sharing my experience maybe it will help to someone. 🙂
UPDATE: I just got off the phone with a senior Apple advisor as my case is still open. She informed me this is now a recognized issue and the Apple Engineers are working on a fix.
They will be releasing a firmware update in the near future.
agree with the "sound gets super loud at moments", which is why i returned mine to apple store. then i bought a new pair from amazon, and this new pair does not have the issue. so it was just the first pair i bought from apple store that had what i believe was a hardware issue.
I believe this is an issue related to air pressure. When taking a flight or driving at an altitude of 3000 meters (air pressure approximately 0.7-0.75 bar), enabling noise cancellation consistently produces a high-pitched noise. However, the noise cancellation function working perfectly when riding the subway at sea level.
I have had the AirPods inspected at an Apple Store, and no hardware issues were found. I am currently awaiting for a firmware update.
Try pulling off the silicon ear bud, rotating it 180º, but it back on. Does that help? It helped another users for a similar noise problem.
Yes, that is because whatever is causing the noise interference (moisture / Altitude / wind / air pressure / long duration noise appear to be the current suggestions from the chat) is interacting with the listening mode features resulting in the feedback / high pitched noise. Therefore if the Transparency / Adaptive / Noise cancellation modes are all off, the issue appears to go away.
To me this suggests the issue can be fixed with a firmware update - as when the listening mode firmware is not functioning the problem appears to goe away...
If replacing them still exhibits the issue then it may be a software bug. No one on here can say for certain until Apple announces being aware of an issue and plans to address it. But you’re in the return/exchange period so it won’t hurt to take advantage of it and see if it helps
I had this same issue with my right earbud roughly 4 weeks after using them. Eventually Apple replaced the right earbud and the issue has not returned. Also, I haven't been on a plane, my issue was feet flat on the ground.
Brought mine back to the Apple store - tech said they have seen quite a few come back. They swapped out the one causing a problem. Since mine only happened on an airplane it is hard to know if the issue is resolved until I fly again.
High pitched noise on AirPods Pro 3
