The Daily Observer London Desk: Reporter- John Furner
Apple fans are calling for a high-end device to be ‘recalled’ due to sound quality and connectivity issues.
Users voiced their concerns on social media after purchasing the $500 AirPro Max, which they said is plagued with crackling noises and power failures.
One customer urged Apple to recall the headphones after she purchased two faulty pairs, neither of which connected to her iPhone.
While another said they experienced a ‘fatal flaw’ with the headband, which ‘started sagging and physically hurt [their] head.’
Apple’s support page has also been flooded with complaints about the device connecting to their iPhone, but with no sound, and the AirPro Max not detecting their head.
Users expressed even more outrage when they contacted Apple about the issues, which told them it would cost hundreds of dollars to fix.
‘I have a lot of Apple products that ‘just work,’ David McQ posted in the Apple Support Community.
‘This is the only one I’ve had that does not. It’s very frustrating and I’m mad because these cost a lot of money.’
Apple has come under fire for issues plaguing one of its high-end devices
Users are sharing their frustrations online, with one urging Apple to recall the product
Apple released the first generation of AirPod Max in December 2020, touting its active noise cancellation to block out unwanted sounds from outside, as well as spatial audio and ‘adaptive EQ.’
Adaptive EQ automatically tunes the low- and mid-frequencies of the music to the shape of an individual’s ear –for better quality.
Greg Joswiak, Apple Senior VP of Worldwide Marketing, said in 2020: ‘With AirPods Max, we are bringing that magical AirPods experience to a stunning over-ear design with high-fidelity audio.’
And Apple released AirPod Max 2 this past September, which came in new colors and with a USB-C for charging.
But some customers appear to be dissatisfied with their purchase.
One Redditor, who owned their pair since February 2023, shared: ‘Sadly they have one fatal flaw which is the headband.
‘After a while it started sagging and began to physically hurt my head, I got a silicon cover as others recommended but it just doesn’t feel as good as they were out of the box.’
Another Redditor highlighted they have experienced two issues with their eight-month-old AirPod Max.
The AirPod Max costs at least $550, leaving users frustrated that their headphones are plagued with issues
The users shared that the headphones do not connect all the time, saying it happens ‘maybe twice a week.’
‘The automatic head detection doesn’t work, however my phone says they’re connected. No sound, no transparency, no cancellation. [The] buttons work and make sounds, but it’s an error beep,’ the post continued.
‘So far, the only fix is to completely reset them by holding the crown and noise cancellation button at the same time for 15 seconds. Annoying, but a fix.’
The other problem they noted was the sound can be isolated ‘isolated entirely to the right side, and will play extremely loudly.’
Apple released the first generation of AirPod Max in December 2020, touting its active noise cancellation to block out unwanted sounds from outside. But many customers reported they can not connect the device to their iPhone
Connectivity issues appeared to be the major problem among unhappy customers
‘About as loud as someone screaming directly into your ear,’ the shared.
C.Hrushai shared on Apple’s support page how they were able to solve their AirPods Max problems.
‘After a frustrating few months with my out of warranty AirPods Max (Audio stopping on the right earphone before disconnecting and resetting; attempting factory resets to no avail; buttons not working; etc.), I think I’ve finally got them in good working order again and wanted to share the steps I used to do so,’ reads the post.
They continued to explain that users should go to the Bluetooth setting of their device and select ‘Forget’ the AirPods Max.
‘Do not reconnect them if prompted,’ they wrote.
‘Shutdown all devices (iPhone, iPad, Mac, etc.) that are signed into the iCloud account the AirPods Max were associated with,’ the post continued.
‘Factory Reset the AirPods Max by holding down both the Noise Control and Digital Crown buttons for 15 seconds.’
They then said to ‘remove the headband from the drivers and clean the left and right terminal connectors on the headband with isopropyl alcohol.’
Users should restart devices while signed into their iCloud account, perform a hard reset on the AirPods Max by holding down both the Noise Control and Digital Crown buttons for five seconds until prompted to connect the AirPods to a device.
.Your headphones should now be connected and visible across all devices. Try playing audio from a connected device,’ the post concluded.
