AirPods disconnects on calls

I'm also having this issue, iPhone 6S+, Apple Watch 2, Airpods.

Resetting the iPhone is, I think, useless... I had just activated a new 6S+ and did a clean setup, no restores from backups and very few Apps installed.

In my experience unpairing the Airpods from the iPhone, then repairing them results in a period of them working as expected. Usually until I don't use them for a while, like overnight.

After a while they will never connect to the Watch, unless I put the Watch briefly in Airplane mode. Afterwards everything works fine again for a while.

MBP (15" late 2013) also has problems sometimes switching to them. Have to manually connect them almost every time.

In a call, using both pods will disconnect after about 20-30 mins into the call.

Ironically, connecting them normally as a Bluetooth device to a MS Surface worked perfectly. This gives me hope the issue is software related to how W1 handles the handoff.

I have the exactly same issue with iPhone 6s and Apple watch s2 all in latest updates.

After going through all the methods, I believe the Apple watch is the cause of the disconnection issue. Just turn off the Apple watch and confirm it has been disconnected from my iPhone, no phone call dropping, no popping noise while playing music...All problem solved.

I am even wondering if some of the power draining issues are also related to apple watch.

But at least, this finding makes me believe it's a software coordination problem that can be fixed with updates.

I have worked with Apple Support and we have been able to recreate the issue during the call. They installed diag profiles on my phone and the watch. The profiles generated diagnostic logs which we uploaded to my support case#.

The logs will be reviewed by the development and hopefully will allow them to determine the root cause.

I encourage everyone here to do the same because more logs they have more like they will be able to find and fix the root cause.

I went through the same process with an engineer from Apple as a follow-up from my session with Apple support a few days prior. He called me Monday night and I spent an hour on the phone answering questions, loading profiles to log wifi & bluetooth, and then sending them the logs. I had many AirPod dropouts during the call, and two while we were logging.

His recommendations were pretty much the same as in this thread: using one AirPod for phone calls, or using only one microphone (bluetooth-airpods-info), and even turning off the watch while using the AirPods with the iPhone. In my original support call, they authorized me to swap my current AirPods for a new pair at the Apple Store. As expected, same issues with the new ones. Although I get very few drops on calls if I use one AirPod.

I still get clicks and pops on Skype when connected to my MacBook pro.

Hopefully they will figure all of it out soon.

Update : Just got off with Apple Support. They suggested un-pairing, re-pairing, resetting etc. etc. I told them that I did all of that and they escalated to a Senior Advisor. She advised that I set up a genius appointment and set one up for me today at 2:15pm EST so we shall see what happens and I'll update after the appointment.

Btw - Airpods disconnected multiple times while on the call with Apple Support.

Helle,

This broblem you can solve

First be sure you are using orignal airpods

First go setting from general scroll down to find rest selcet (rest all my setting ) after mobile working again,it will working again for all airpods if this problem come again you need to change your Air pods It will be ok.

Well just returned from Genius Bar appointment and they ran diagnostics etc. Also I was able to replicate the issue on a call in front of the Apple Employee. He recognized there was an issue and said they would replace. Problem is they wanted to take my Airpods and mail them in and he had no idea when a replacement pair would be ready. I told him I did not want to do that. He noted the case and said once they have stock I can come in and swap out. We did a reset of all settings and as soon as I went to my car I received a call and they cut out again.

Here's the interesting thing. We connected them to a demo iPhone in store and I was on a call for over 10 minutes and they did not drop the connection. So I tried making another call in car with my Apple Watch turned off as that wasn't paired to the demo phone and it still happened.

I guess I'll just do the one AirPod thing until either a software fix is issued or I can swap out although I'm not totally convinced it's a hardware issue at all.

I am having this exact same problem. I have an Apple Watch and an iPhone 6s. This is a big problem for Apple. The users on this thread own the Apple Watch and AirPods. We are Apple's biggest fans and most important first adopters. They need to address this issue immediately. Apple obviously didn't do proper testing before they released this product. There is really no excuse for this. If they don't get this fixed by end of January, I will certainly reconsider any future Apple purchases.

I've found a fix, at least worked for me and have had phone calls up to 45 minutes without having any disconnect.

I changed the double tap function from Siri to play/pause, turned off the ear detection option and fixed the microphone to one side only (right side in my case). I don't really know if all three actions need to happen at the same time, but I will start making the adjustments one by one and try to detect which one is fixing the issue or I will confirm that the three changes need to happen altogether.

Hope it helps to fix your AirPods as well

I was losing connection with a pair of AirPods, and Apple suggested replacing them, which I did. The new ones have the same problem, and I lose connection with the phone during calls just as everyone else here has described. I have turned off my apple watch and I still lost connection in a phone call when both AirPods were being used.

I am having the same problem. I try and use the airpods for calls and they disconnect constantly. I have an iPhone 6s+, Apple Watch series 1, and the AirPods. They work fine when connected to my iPad for Netflix, but forget using them for calls! The audio switches back over to the iPhone constantly, and I have to manually force it back over to the AirPods. Apple better get this worked out ASAP!

I tried working this out with Apple Support over chat last night, and they tried the reset, re-pair thing with me too - no change. I am now seeing from this thread that replacing them isn't going to do me any good. They should not have released them if they weren't ready.

A question for everyone experiencing this problem. Are these two issues actually the same problem?

My calls are dropping and the iPhone says "Call Failed". The AirPods themselves do not seem to disconnect from the phone. Maybe it's just semantics but a lot of users here are saying the AirPods disconnect and I am assuming thereby disconnecting the call.

Hardware:

iPhone 7+

Apple Nike Series 2 Watch

Airpods

Same happened to me today. I was on an hour long conference call, mostly on mute. The AirPods disconnected from iPhone 6s Plus three times (15 minutes in, then 35 minutes in, then 40 minutes in).

I couldn't figure out why it happened. Had to put them back in the case and open the lid. That allowed me to reconnect. I figured it was because of me being on mute but that's just a guess.

I've had no problems when listening to music or watching long YouTube videos.

Two separate issues.

On another note, here is another issue I documented for the Apple specialist I've been working with:

-Listening to music in the Apple Music app

-Double tap AirPod to engage Siri.

-Tell Siri to "call John Doe"

-Siri confirms and says "Calling John Doe"

-iPhone completely locks up and goes back to music screen

-Music does not continue and phone remains frozen. No touches of screen etc does anything.

-after about 15 seconds, Airpods do the disconnect "ding"

-AirPods reconnect with connection "ding "

-Phone screen finally unfreezes and flashes to call screen and hangs up.

-Call log on iPhone shows call was made.

Yep - same issue happening to me. Both AirPods work perfectly while listening to audio.

But on calls, they disconnect frequently (like every 2 minutes or more) and the audio unexpectedly switches back to the phone.

Haven't tried 1 AirPod, I bought them in the packaged pair so 2 need to work in all scenarios.