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AirPods users complain of battery drainage issues with the charging case

It looks like Apple’s recent battery-related woes aren’t limited to the new MacBook Pro. Reports indicate that some users are also discovering battery drain issues with the AirPods charging case.

The charging case that comes with AirPods has a battery of its own, and when you put your AirPods in that case, it will charge up the earbuds. Apple claims the battery in the case should hold 24 hours worth of charge, but some users are noticing drains of up to 40 percent, even when the AirPods are fully charged and Bluetooth activity is minimal.

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Apparently, Apple has even started handing out replacements to customers dealing with the issue. Redditor severinskulls wrote a post detailing the battery issue he was experiencing with an AirPod case that lost between 15 and 20 percent of its charge during the night. After making an appointment at the Apple Store, severinskulls got a new set of AirPods — and the new set didn’t lose any charge over night. What that means is that the battery issue definitely seems like a problem affecting a select few units rather than an AirPods-wide issue.

When the AirPods were first launched, first impressions of their battery life was positive, especially because of how fast they charge and how easy it was to check battery life on the iPhone. Battery life issues didn’t start surfacing until just recently, when AirPods were made available to consumers.

It’s not yet clear exactly how many users are affected by the battery issue. Some users suggest that the drainage could be due to a charge cycle problem that will improve over time, but others say that the issue hasn’t gotten better at all since they first started using the AirPods. Apple has yet to comment on the reports, but we’ll update this post if that changes.

Christian de Looper
Christian de Looper is a long-time freelance writer who has covered every facet of the consumer tech and electric vehicle…
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