Airpods case battery drain

Under my first pairing (on the 28th), I often saw a 1% per hour drain on the case with the pods in and charging. This might give one 100 hours standby time or about 4 days.

Yesterday, I fully charged the case and AirPods, reset the case/pods, and re-paired the trio per the steps under the "If you can't set up your AirPods" heading at the bottom of the following Apple support page:

Use your AirPods - Apple Support

Over the 22 hours since re-pairing, I lost 6% (100% down to 94%).

This would suggest 0.27% per hour? and "could" translate to 370 hours standby or about 15.4 days sitting in the case, unused. That seems reasonable, but I question whether constantly topping off the battery in the AirPods is good for the longevity of the tiny battery inside each AirPod and wonder what capacity will be like at the end of a year (less than the 80% warranted for iPhone batteries?).

I won't have an opportunity to use them until tomorrow so I'll let them sit overnight and see how they look then. I wonder if even checking them once is enough to put the headphones into a battery draining, runaway Bluetooth search cycle.

As I'm an hour from an Apple Store, I'll probably keep these and wait for Apple to comment, in their characteristically passive manner, via a firmware update ("resolves charging issues experienced by some users").

I'd like to gather some information:

• can anyone confirm that your case's battery life improved significantly after you got replacement AirPods or
• did it work for anyone to let the case and both AirPods drain entirely (so that they're off) and then charge them again to get rid of the battery drain issue?

Unpairing them when not in use (as @volinur stated) does in fact really help, but in the long run this workaround is a little annoying... 😟

Thanks! =)

I have found that since the firmware update this problem has gone away for me now. If you are still having the problem check that the firmware has updated to 3.5.1.

How to update Apple AirPods

To get any available updates for Apple's AirPods:

• Place the AirPods in charging case.
• Case must be plugged into a charger.
• The case must be linked to an iPhone nearby and connected to Wi-Fi.

How to check AirPods' installed firmware

• Open the Settings app on your phone.
• In the Settings app, go to General > About > AirPods. (Note: AirPods will only display in About when connected to your iPhone).
• From there, look for "Firmware Version" and check the number to see if you have the latest version (which is 3.5.1, as of 1 February 2017).

Mine drain the case about 20% a day doing nothing, and don't show up in the battery widget. Here's my useage log so far last few days....

Thurs 1330 - AirPods 98 / case 100

Fri 0500 - AirPods 100 / case 97

Fri 0600 - AirPods 97 / case 97

(used for 30 min, music)

Fri 0630 - AirPods 89 / case 96

Fri 0800 - AirPods 100 / case 87

Fri 1200 - AirPods 100 / case 81

Fri 1600 - AirPods 100 / case 75

Sat 0700 - AirPods 100 / case 72

Sat 0930 - AirPods 100 / case 65

(used for 140 min music, 10 min talk)

Sat 1200 - AirPods 47 / case 64

Sat 1330 - AirPods 100 / case 44

Sat 1830 - AirPods 100 / case 38

I get drops of 3-4% only over long periods of time too. But it always seems to average out to about a 20% drain per day in standby time, plus whatever drain id expect from the useage. I think it's just the battery meter not being very accurate, especially right after a full charge.

Thurs 1330 - AirPods 98 / case 100

Fri 0500 - AirPods 100 / case 97

Fri 0600 - AirPods 97 / case 97

(used for 30 min, music)

Fri 0630 - AirPods 89 / case 96

Fri 0800 - AirPods 100 / case 87

Fri 1200 - AirPods 100 / case 81

Fri 1600 - AirPods 100 / case 75

Sat 0700 - AirPods 100 / case 72

Sat 0930 - AirPods 100 / case 65

(used for 140 min music, 10 min talk)

Sat 1200 - AirPods 47 / case 64

Sat 1330 - AirPods 100 / case 44

Sat 1830 - AirPods 100 / case 38

Sun 0900 - AirPods 100 / case 34

I Am having this problem too. I initially noticed it on my first pair of AirPods and was able to have them swapped out through a return at a store. the second pair seems to be exhibiting the exact same issues. The AirPods themselves are fully charged but the case drains substantially. Here are my case charge percentages over the last few days:

Friday 8:23 pm - 100% - AirPods at 99%

Saturday 6:57 am - 100% - AirPods at 100% - at this point I thought things were looking good

Saturday 2:10 pm (no usage) - 77% - AirPods 100%. 23% drain with no use over about 7 hours

Saturday 3:52 pm (no usage) - 67% - AirPods 100% and 95%. Another 10% drain in under 2 hours

Saturday 9:51 pm (no usage) - 54% - AirPods 100%. 13% battery drain in 6 hours

Saturday 10:58 pm (no usage) - 53% - AirPods 96%. 1% drain in an hour

Sunday 7:56 am (no usage) - 47% - AirPods 100 - 6% drain over 9 hours

Sunday 10:33 am - I fully charged everything to see what would happen.

Sunday 2:51 pm (no usage) - 90% - AirPods at 100%. 10% loss in 4 hours 20 min.

Sunday 7:50 pm (no usage) - 83% - AirPods at 100%. 7% drain in 5 hours

Considering this this is my second pair exhibiting strange case issues I'm not sure what to do. I think I'll contact AppleCare again and see what their recommendation. On top of actual case drain issues it is odd to see the large differences in drain over similar time periods. I had 6% drain overnight for 9 hours and 23% over 7 hours.

I will be sure to continue to share but I just reset the AirPods by holding the button until I saw them flash amber. We will see what happens. I'm currently at 81% and 99% on the Airpods on Sunday at 8:25 pm.

Thanks for sharing. I think you should probably run them down to zero before u recharge. That batter percentage seems really inaccurate. I sometimes go 10-15+ hours where the case battery % barely changes. Then it plummets like 10% in an hour.

On average, a 25% case battery drain each day for standby seems about the norm. Minus any actual useage of course too.

Here's what my full charge to no charge looks like. I'm gonna charge it up again and do a similar test, this time with automatic ear detection turned off.

Thurs 1330 - AirPods 98 / case 100

Fri 0500 - AirPods 100 / case 97

Fri 0600 - AirPods 97 / case 97

(used for 30 min, music)

Fri 0630 - AirPods 89 / case 96

Fri 0800 - AirPods 100 / case 87

Fri 1200 - AirPods 100 / case 81

Fri 1600 - AirPods 100 / case 75

Sat 0700 - AirPods 100 / case 72

Sat 0930 - AirPods 100 / case 65

(used for 140 min music, 10 min talk)

Sat 1200 - AirPods 47 / case 64

Sat 1330 - AirPods 100 / case 44

Sat 1830 - AirPods 100 / case 38

Sun 0900 - AirPods 100 / case 34

Sun 1100 - AirPods 100 / case 29

(used for 120 min music)

Sun 1300 - AirPods 63 / case 27

Sun 1430 - AirPods 100 / case 5

Sun 1530 - AirPods 95 / case 2

Sun 1630 - AirPods 94 / case 0

Sun 2030 - AirPods 72 / case dead

Sun 2130 - AirPods 63 / case dead

Sun 2230 - AirPods 55/68 / case dead

Mon 0200 - AirPods 33/52 / case dead

Mon 0600 - AirPods 11/36 / case dead

* charging *

Here is an update:

I managed to drain everything yesterday and get it fully charged. When they were fully charged I reset them by holding the button on the case until the light turned amber. I left the AirPods out of range of my devices over night. Things looked good as I went to bed with 94% battery in the case and woke up with 88%. Fast forward to this morning where the AirPods have been in my pocket next to my phone and I went from 88% to 72% in an hour with 4 minutes of use of the AirPods.

I suspect what is happening is that the AirPods are somehow trying to search for a signal to connect to while in the case or not fully disconnecting. My next step is to turn off bluetooth on my devices and see if that does the trick.

I've just been chatting to support after trying everything i can think of..re-pairing, complete discharge cycles and re-pairing, bluetooth off at night etc and I'm still in the scenario after listening for an hour at a time for four commutes (4 hrs total listening over two days) the case is down to 30%... When not in use I'm still seeing a discharge rate of about 1.6-2% per hour. They were going to arrange a replacement but can't do a mail replacements currently.... There is a 6 week order time in the UK at the minute so i doubt if a stores going to have replacement but i'll have to find out tomorrow. Fun and games ahead.. If I get a replacement set I'll shout up if the experience is any different.

He All,

Just wanted to share that I was worried too and let the full case and pods stay overnight for 11 hours away from my phone (on a different floor). In the morning just 1% of the case was lost, keeping 99% of its charge. Pods at 100%. So that is acceptable. I did do a reset as per advice to reconnect the pods to the phone again. Thought to share with you out there.

I have a solution! (temporary one, at least!)

AirPods at 100% of each measurement. Both AirPods and Case fully charged at 1:00PM January 4th. No usage.

Case 86% Time 6:55PM, January 4th

Case 79%. 7:24AM, January 5th

Case 74% 9:20AM, January 5th

Case 54% 1:03PM, January 5th

Case 52% 1:37PM, January 5th

Case 51% 1:48PM, January 5th

Case 50% 2:43PM, January 5th

Case 44% 4:03PM, January 5th

Note, slight usage between 1:00PM and 2:00PM to check airpods. Probably 20-30 minutes of total use.

NOW HERE IS WHERE THE CHANGE COMES IN.

What I decided to do, when leaving the case/pods in idle time for a long duration, was to de-sync my case from the phone. Just holding down the button on the back so that when you open case you have to connect them to the phone/device again. I de-synced mine at 4:03PM just curious if not having them connected would stop the drain. Here are my measurements now!

Case 43% 7:10PM, January 5th

Case 42% 10:33PM, January 5th

Case 42%, 7:16AM, January 6th

Looks to me like a software bug. I hope this helps other who have case drain and plan to leave their case/pods in idle for long durations. Please share this around so people can get ease of their mind. Cheers!

Thanks for your insights! I may try that too. I already got replacement AirPods, but the problem remains (altough it didn't seem so in the first place). I really don't think that this is a hardware problem. The only question is if the AirPods are capable of being updated and if Apple is able to address the problem properly so that we can get the most out of our AirPods.

I'm not quite sure if I should return mine again, because I'm certain that the third pair would have the battery drain as well. I will definitely check my charging case regularly the next days, just to see if the problem persists after a few charge cycles. If not, I will definitely try your solution and give you some feedback 🙂 Maybe this helps the majority of users, at least until Apple can provide a proper solution!

This mirrors my experience too. The drain happens when the AirPods are close to my phone. Presumably the AirPods are still trying to stay connected. Keeping they away from the phone and hitting the button on the back seems to work for me too. If I don't do this I still notice the battery drain. Thanks for the tip. I'll keep trying this until a fix is released. I agree it seems like software.

Serious question, and don't mean to sound snarky in this question, but is this really that big of a problem? I have to charge my phone every night. I have to charge my watch every night. Is it really that big of an issue to have to charge the AirPods case every 2-3 days, depending on your use? I have a combo iPhone7 and watch charger on my nightstand that has an extra USB charging port on the back. I just plug my AirPod case into that every night, and each morning I grab all three before I walk out the door.

Also, after forcing the case to reset I am seeing significantly less battery drain. Still 10-15% per day, without using the AirPods. But for me, it's really a non issue, as I'll still have a full charge each morning.