To be sure, this issue will likely only affect a small percentage of AirPods users — most of them likely use their AirPods with the new iPhone 7. Still, Apple is looking into claims that AirPods drop phone call audio, so its likely that a solution will be launched in an update soon.
According to a thread on Apple’s support website, users are experiencing the issue in varying degrees — some report having the issue only once every hour or so, while others find it happening once per minute. In the majority of cases, it’s only phone call audio that’s being cut while music continues to play normally.
The issue is also largely limited to the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus, although some users of the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus are also reporting problems. A few of the comments suggest that in some cases an Apple Watch was also connected to the phone, which could make the problem worse, however other comments show that Apple Watch connectivity isn’t the root cause of the issue, as some users who don’t have an Apple Watch connected are still experiencing the problem.
According to a report from MacRumors, users have spoken to Apple engineers about the issue, and even replicated the issue for staff — so Apple is well aware of the problem and is likely working on a fix.