AirPods sound quality issue

Recently, the issue that is most troubling is that the AirPods disconnect from my iPhone during calls. It seems to be random. Its very frustrating. This doesn't happen when connected to my MacBook Pro. I've had to go back to my regular headphones for phone calls though.

I just received my AirPods and have this issue too. I was hoping to use my AirPods as my sole wireless headset but I immediately received complains on skype quality from my team when connected to my mid 2012 Retina MBP. I can hear the degradation on my end as well.

Thankfully I found this discussion. Using the trouble shooting steps from this thread I could see the bluetooth codec change from AAC to SCO when using Skype. I can make the same thing happen using Siri on my Mac. As soon as the Mac starts using SCO, the quality decreases significantly. However, the AirPods sound great using Skype with my iPhone 7. Accessing the AirPod's microphone seems to be the trigger that changes the codec and results in horrible audio quality.

I am hoping this issue can be resolved in software. I understand the quality might not be as good on the older Mac compared to my iPhone7, but the continuous pops make the AirPods unusable for two way communication on my Mac. Bluetooth headsets have been around for years. It shouldn't have to be this bad when used with my Mac.

Today I got a new pair of AirPods but they have the same issue with the sound quality during calls. Actually it is even worse because these AirPods have the "white noise" during the whole call, not just when the other person speak. This issue must be taken seriously by Apple or they cannot market them to be used for calls only listen to music!

The same problem I have. Today I bought The AirPods and they sound great while listening to music but the sound is horrible when using Siri or making a call. What's next?

El mismo problema tengo yo. Compré hoy los AirPods y mientras escucho música todo perfecto, pero Siri y las llamadas tienen ruido de fondo.

On Mac, if you go to System Preferences > Sound > Input and change the mic to the internal mic, rather than the AirPods, it fixes the problem temporarily. The downside is that you have to do this every time you connect the AirPods, or whenever you wake the Mac up... so this is definitely not a long term solution, it only works when you need it to.

I've had no issues with using my AirPods on my iPhone or Apple Watch, however the Mac issues are getting beyond tolerable....

I did Online Chat with Apple Support and after a while the Senior Advisor was able to reproduce this with a pair of Beats X as well. Using the same steps outlined. I've sent in the logs they requested and waiting to hear back.

Hi, everyone. Having an issues with brand new AirPods as well. And it is caused by switching to SCO coded on a macOS Sierra if input source is set to 'AirPods'. Have chatted with support yesterday, performed tons of different tests without any effect.

I've contacted support today once again and spoke with Senior Advisor Travis. And he said next (after offering me to return or replace them):

Travis

The issue is with the firmware for the AirPods. We hope to release updates for them soon, but they are not currently available and we do not have a time for the release of the new firmware. If you don’t want to wait for a firmware update which will resolve this issue you can still return the AirPods for a refund as you’re in the return period.

By the Travis' manner of talk that could be just an excuse to get rid of me, but, well, hope dies last. It is quite frustrating that the product such good itself and designed to fit perfectly into the Apple's ecosystem is affected with such flaws.

Apple support via chat wants me to get my AirPods "serviced". Phone calls (cell & voip like skype) on iphone 7 plus and macbook have a hisssssssssss. Phone calls only. Music (app), Spotify, Audible, Podcast all perfectly clear. People I call on phone say I sound clear, so the hisssssss is only on my end. We unconnected and reconnected. Unsure what "serviced" means. For $159 retail cost, I think it more effective to swap them out.

So I went to Apple Store and connected my AirPods to different MacBooks and iPhones on display. The sound quality issues when making calls or using Siri only occurred on older models of MacBooks. I believe this is either something to do with older hardware limitations or Apple is subtly limiting quality on older hardware for performance or other purposes.

For those curious, I have no major issues (except some minor static during calls and texting) when connected with my iPhone 6s or iPad Pro. I do have issues when connected with my MacBook Pro (late-2013) with really grainy quality sound when using Siri or making calls.

The only MacBook on display in the Apple Store that had the same issues was the MacBook Air - since I believe that's the only displayed product Apple has that hasn't been fully upgraded by now. iPod's Siri worked fine with the AirPods.

I'm having a sound quality issue as well. The AirPods sound great on everything except when I play Starcraft 2 on my Mac. It seems like the AirPods go into "call mode". The sound quality is low and theres a lot of hissing and popping. Anyone know how to fix this?

Hey,

Just received my pods yesterday 6/15 and had the same call quality issue for the AirPods which had been magically updated. Brought them to the apple store for an exchange - the new pair are perfect. Sounds to me they are having a quality control issue.

Hey everyone, if you are having phone call issues (crackle and hiss) and music sounds fine, don't waste your time trying to correct, Apple had no problem replacing the AirPods within 10 minutes of a visit to the apple store. If for some reason they ask you to come back in a week to speak to a specialist, just say you would like to return your AirPods and come back at a later time to replace, ideally you would like to replace them today. They will agree.

Hey,

Just received my pods yesterday 6/15 and had the same call quality issue for the AirPods which had been magically updated. Brought them to the apple store for an exchange - the new pair are perfect. Sounds to me they are having a quality control issue.

Hey everyone, if you are having phone call issues (crackle and hiss) and music sounds fine, don't waste your time trying to correct, Apple had no problem replacing the AirPods within 10 minutes of a visit to the apple store. If for some reason they ask you to come back in a week to speak to a specialist, just say you would like to return your AirPods and come back at a later time to replace, ideally you would like to replace them today. They will agree.

Still an issue on the latest 15" MacBook Pro and AirPods 3.7.2. No fix in sight.

Underlying issue:

Output sound only, AAC codec is used. The moment the AirPods mic is activated, it switches to SCO and the sound quality goes TERRIBLE. This seems to be handled much better on iOS but seemingly won't get fixed on MacOS.

Hi,

in the past when using AirPods with my home 2008 iMac, or my work 2012 Mac Pro, I have had poor sound quality when using the mic (in fact the AirPods were unusable). However, when using the AirPods with a new 2017 iMac I just purchased, I have no problem at all. On Skype the people I am talking to say I sound fine, and they certainly sound good to me. So if you are using the latest 15" MacBook Pro and the most recent OS, and are still having problems, I would go in to an Apple store if possible and have them either fix it or replace your AirPods. Given the comment by Zomp above, it sounds like there could be a hardware issue with your pair of AirPods. Good luck!

@andyf - it's not that I have poor sound quality. The quality with output sound *only* is perfectly fine (using the AAC audio code).

The issue is that when the AirPods mic is activated, the codec switches to SBC and the quality is terrible.