If the photos are real, that's quite a bit of condensation build up. I wonder if the aluminum plays a role, ie. a cool surface near a warm surface, depending on the environment? I'd be jumping on a black mold allergy class action lawsuit right away. 
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Is AirPods Max 'Condensation Death' a Widespread Issue? Report Offers Conflicting Evidence
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I wear mine out to exercise 3-4 days a week when I walk, in Texas heat. I sweat quite a bit. I also don’t really baby mine.
They still work fine for the most part, and I’ve had them 2 years.
BUT..I have had to reset them more often recently than I use to. At times it will refuse to connect to any devices, which is when I have to perform the reset procedure. I’m not really sure that points towards water damage though. It seems more like a software/firmware bug.
They still work fine for the most part, and I’ve had them 2 years.
BUT..I have had to reset them more often recently than I use to. At times it will refuse to connect to any devices, which is when I have to perform the reset procedure. I’m not really sure that points towards water damage though. It seems more like a software/firmware bug.
maybe the answer is for apple to ban the sale of these AirPods to gross, sweaty ppl
Similar over here and they do get condensed when used non stop. I have had a couple replaced by Apple, lots of questions to try to get to the issue but no problems on that front.
Both failure cases where identical, it wouldn’t want to connect, the transparency/ANC button would don nothing, it would sometimes get into pairing mode on its own and other things.
Now I have a small piece of cloth nearby, if I sense that I have used them too long (an hour or so) in a heated situation or every time I take a quick break, I make sure to wipe them up as much as possible and put cups upside down on top of said cloth/towel.
I also avoid charging them for a couple of hours if they have had some sort of condensation.
Sometimes I still have to reset then (amber light), and there have been instances where I hear an electrical “snap” (like when touching the end of an analog cable mic plug) but it has lasted almost 2 years this way.
Shame if it really has been the condensation though, for the price these headphones should last decades… and I freaking love them: great audio quality with all the complete Apple ecosystem conveniences. I don’t even hear lag at all when editing random videos (with apple products) or playing games via Bluetooth
Two(2) things to consider about this issue. I've had them for almost 2 years, and I've had more replacements than I want to mention, but other then actual mechanical, or electrical sounding sparks and buzzes that cause the unit to literally fail.
Bluetoothd and Audiocored both have bugs.
If a connection issue arrises on your macOS:
1. Open Activity Monitor
2. Search for "audio"
3. Select all of the apple audio processes, some will be .sandbox.helper etc
4. Force quit them all, no issues, the real ones restart.
5. Open Terminal
6. Type "sudo pkill bluetoothd" and enter your password.
Once bluetoothd has restarted, wait a few seconds, or start a video or audio, and they will detect your Airpods Max. Otherwise connect to them from the Bluetooth menu, they may be missing from the Audio Menu.
Forcing the audiocored and bluetoothd to restart has resolved nearly all of my issues lately. This is unique, and I wish Apple support would instruct users how to do this, instead of simply "Restart your machine." You may have projects running that you need to keep working on, and to have your Airpods Max cut out on you in the middle is horrid.
The ear-pads themselves will hold condensation
If your storage area is relatively high in humidity your APM will fail in no time.
Edit: Asked Apple Care to replace my ear-pads and they sent me a second set, I swap them out keeping the "used" pair that gets up to as much as 78% humidity, drops to 36% in 4hrs. So I just swap ear-pads back and forth.
Buy a Ruggard Dry Box like you keep expensive camera equipment in, and use it to keep the humidity of your Airpods Max when no longer using them to 35% humidity or lower.
Bluetoothd and Audiocored both have bugs.
If a connection issue arrises on your macOS:
1. Open Activity Monitor
2. Search for "audio"
3. Select all of the apple audio processes, some will be .sandbox.helper etc
4. Force quit them all, no issues, the real ones restart.
5. Open Terminal
6. Type "sudo pkill bluetoothd" and enter your password.
Once bluetoothd has restarted, wait a few seconds, or start a video or audio, and they will detect your Airpods Max. Otherwise connect to them from the Bluetooth menu, they may be missing from the Audio Menu.
Forcing the audiocored and bluetoothd to restart has resolved nearly all of my issues lately. This is unique, and I wish Apple support would instruct users how to do this, instead of simply "Restart your machine." You may have projects running that you need to keep working on, and to have your Airpods Max cut out on you in the middle is horrid.
The ear-pads themselves will hold condensation
If your storage area is relatively high in humidity your APM will fail in no time.
Edit: Asked Apple Care to replace my ear-pads and they sent me a second set, I swap them out keeping the "used" pair that gets up to as much as 78% humidity, drops to 36% in 4hrs. So I just swap ear-pads back and forth.
Buy a Ruggard Dry Box like you keep expensive camera equipment in, and use it to keep the humidity of your Airpods Max when no longer using them to 35% humidity or lower.
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Mine have condensation just from wearing them around my 72 deg. (F) apartment. And, no, I'm not doing calisthenics with them on. Just sitting or at the most walking back and forth to do things.
The moisture must come from somewhere. Either your indoor environment is very humid or your head is sweating.
I haven’t notice any moisture on mine, although I tend to sweat. My indoors humidity is about 50%.
I’ll try wearing it outdoors where the humidity is higher.
It's simply natural body heat coming into contact with the (relatively) cold aluminum and condensing on it. If they had lined the inner area (around the drivers) with plastic, silicone, etc. then I doubt this would ever happen. It's not sweat. If it were, then the ear cups themselves would be wet, but they're dry as a bone.
I actually maintain and monitor the humidity in my apartment because of some expensive guitars I have. I keep the humidity around 35-40%
I should add I only see it after an extended period of wear (several hours or more). I try to take them off every couple hours for a few minutes if there's a day I need to use them extensively, just to be safe.
Wondering where the humidity comes from. It doesn't just appear out of nowhere. If you wear your AirPods for a very long time, you'll be the one generating that humidity. After two hours of wearing mine, my ears are burning, specially if it was a very good movie.
Idea: Try placing a piece of tissue or paper towel in the doughnut hole, and see how much moisture gets trapped by it..
I already explained this. It's your natural body heat warming the air between your ear and the driver over time, then that warmer air condenses on the cooler aluminum surface around the drivers. It's a design flaw. Never had this issue with any other pair of headphones I've owned before this. The ear cups themselves are dry. There's no perspiration occurring.
Yes. It’s not much the weight, as the springy mesh hammock thing goes flabby after a while, so the two bars that go over your head start furrowing grooves in your skull.
Fortunately you can get latex covers for the mesh hammock- eg. on Amazon that solve the problem. But you shouldn’t have to…
I just got off a chat with Apple about my AirPods Max - yesterday they suddenly seemed to fail, with a static sound and odd pops and whistles when noise cancellation or transparency was active. Under the ear pads was absolutely saturated with water droplets from condensation.
Oddly, whilst I was on the chat that issue seemed to rectify itself, but I get the feeling the ear cups still have moisture inside them.
I literally only ever wear them when at my desk - and I wear them all the time I'm at my desk. Other than that they are stored in the Smart Case. Any moisture that has built up is purely through natural condensation - not sweat or water ingress. I don't ever wear them outside, or when exercising.
Apple wants me to deposit £290 to send them back for repair - but IMO this is a design issue and the unit has failed during normal operation. I'm not sure what I should do - any advice? Has anybody had them replaced free of charge for such an issue?
Oddly, whilst I was on the chat that issue seemed to rectify itself, but I get the feeling the ear cups still have moisture inside them.
I literally only ever wear them when at my desk - and I wear them all the time I'm at my desk. Other than that they are stored in the Smart Case. Any moisture that has built up is purely through natural condensation - not sweat or water ingress. I don't ever wear them outside, or when exercising.
Apple wants me to deposit £290 to send them back for repair - but IMO this is a design issue and the unit has failed during normal operation. I'm not sure what I should do - any advice? Has anybody had them replaced free of charge for such an issue?
Good point, warm air doesn’t just condense, it’s water vapor that condenses out of the air. No water vapor, no condensation, regardless of how warm the air gets. We know that water vapor DOES diffuse through human skin constantly. It would be interesting to get a humidity measurement over time of the inside of the earcups.
I imagine it could vary widely from person to person (also depending on their head size and how sealed the cups are).My 15-month old APM bricked, displaying all of the issues mentioned in this post. It’s a relief to read this coverage after being told by Apple that it’s may fault, that I should have bought AppleCare, and that it’ll be $300 to fix. Now that I see how widespread it is, I know they’re full of sh*t. I hope Apple loses the suit, even though I expect no compensation for my bricked APM. In fact, I no longer expect to be treated fairly by Apple at all; I expect them to dick me over at every turn. My Bose’s lasted 12 years and I only threw them away in joy of owning APM. It’s an expensive mistake, but one I won’t make again.
It’s unfortunate that some people are having this issue. I’ve had APMs since release, and wear them 3-5 hours per day, minimum. I have not experienced this issue.
FWIW
Coachingguy
FWIW
Coachingguy
I've found that if I rotate between APM and my new Sony WH-1000XM5, which the Sony headphones are, in most ways actually a superior product (sound quality, much better noise cancellation), anyway other than the Apple integrations (Hey Siri, easy switching, etc), which are probably locked out by Apple deliberately though they claim it's from their custom W chip engineering, if I, say, use my Sonys 2 out of 3 nights, that gives the APM enough time to dry out with cups off... Then they are usable for a night... Not great news, but hey, f**k it, go Sony! If I had to pick just one pair, definitely go Sony!
I wonder are these issues geographical related? Humid climates like Ireland might have more issues. Less humid places like California for example, less issues. My current AirPods Max set started to experience pops and other issues experienced before (in other sets) and I had to restart/reset them. Thinking that it could be air humidity, I put them on a 22°C (72°F) plant heat pad/mat for a few hours and the issue went away for a few weeks. This trick has worked for me a few times in the last 2 months. Note: These headphones are only ever used indoors in my house. Never have been used outdoors. Running firmware 6A324.