The next battery issue brought to light against an Apple product — after the 2016 version of the MacBook Pro became the first MacBook to fail in getting a recommendation from Consumer Reports due to battery life problems — involves the newly released AirPods.
Some users are complaining about battery drain issues on the charging case that comes with the AirPods, which only recently started shipping out to customers.
AirPods Charging Case Battery Drain
The charging case of the AirPods comes with its own battery, and when the AirPods are placed inside the case, they will be charged up. According to Apple, the charging case can hold a charge worth 24 hours, but some users have reported that they have experienced rapid battery drain on their charging case even though the AirPods are fully charged and there is not much Bluetooth activity happening.
One of the AirPods owners who experienced the issue was Redditor severinskulls, who wrote in a thread in the Apple subreddit that when he had his AirPods and charging case at full charge before going to sleep, he would wake up to see that 15 percent to 20 percent of the battery of the charging case was drained.
Other users, however, are claiming to have noticed drains reaching as much as 40 percent, which is a massive problem for a charging case that would serve as the backup source of power for the AirPods.
What Can Apple Do To Fix The AirPods Charging Case Battery Drain Problem?
Apple is not known to be a company that quickly fixes battery problems in its products as evidenced by the bug currently experienced by iOS users that see their devices suddenly shutting down even while having more than 30 percent battery charge. Apple was expected to fix the problem with the iOS 10.2 update, but it seemed that the bug became even worse for some users.
Fortunately, it is a different story for the battery drain issue of the AirPods charging case. For severinskulls, after visiting an Apple Store and getting a replacement for his charging case, the switch seemingly fixed the problem. When he went to sleep with a 100 percent charge on both his AirPods and the charging case, he woke up to see that the battery level on both of them were still at 100 percent.
How Widespread Is The AirPods Charging Case Defect?
It would seem that AirPods charging cases that see their battery levels draining rapidly is a defect on the charging case itself, and a quick replacement from Apple will solve the problem.
It is unclear, however, how widespread the defect in the AirPods charging case is, though there is speculation that the issue is due to a problem experienced by the charging case on its initial charge cycle. Many users have reported that the battery of their AirPods charging cases are working fine, so if you are among the unfortunate customers to get a defective one, send in your AirPods charging case for a replacement.
