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AirPods won't connect to MacBook Pro or iPad

Hi guys!


Just got some new AirPods today and they work great on my iPhone 7 Plus. I followed the instructions - held the lid open and connected the AirPods to my phone. The only problem is when I go to look for them on my MacBook Pro or iPad they aren't listed where they're supposed to be.


Not sure how to fix the problem but would love any suggestions on what might work to solve this. I often move from machine to machine so this was one of the main reasons I bought the darn things in the first place.


Thanks in advance!

Safari-OTHER, OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.2)

Posted on Feb 11, 2017 10:12 PM

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Posted on Feb 12, 2017 5:00 PM

Put the AirPods in your ears, you should hear the chime to tell you you've connected to your iPhone. Now, on your mac, do the AirPods show up in the volume menu bar when you hold option and click the volume icon at the top of your screen? If so, select them and they automatically switch over to your mac.


They do not need to be setup individually for each of your Apple devices as long as they all share the same iCloud account. They're automatically paired across all of your Apple devices the first time you set them up and you should be able to switch your output device on the fly. I do it all the time!

5 replies
Question marked as Best reply

Feb 12, 2017 5:00 PM in response to D7zero

Put the AirPods in your ears, you should hear the chime to tell you you've connected to your iPhone. Now, on your mac, do the AirPods show up in the volume menu bar when you hold option and click the volume icon at the top of your screen? If so, select them and they automatically switch over to your mac.


They do not need to be setup individually for each of your Apple devices as long as they all share the same iCloud account. They're automatically paired across all of your Apple devices the first time you set them up and you should be able to switch your output device on the fly. I do it all the time!

Sep 26, 2017 11:22 PM in response to D7zero

i use my AirPods to connect to a Win7 machine often and I have had this problem. What works for me is to got to bluetooth on my iPhone, select AirPods and then forget this device. Then go through standard reconnect procedurI can then just select AirPods on my phone, iPad and MacBook without a hitch.


Works for me every time...



Went to bed the other night and forgot I was still using my AirPods. AI..... AirPod Insomnia

Jul 27, 2017 4:45 AM in response to D7zero

I couldn't get my pods to automatically pair with my iPad and Mac. I tried everything suggested here. I finally tried pairing each device individually. That worked. So if the pods are only supposed to need onetime pairing with the cloud taking care of the rest, it didn't work for me. I'm running the latest software iOS 10.3.3.

AirPods won't connect to MacBook Pro or iPad

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