AirPods are one of the most popular Apple products, and they’re known for their long battery life. But recently, people have been reporting that their AirPods are not charging properly. The problem is that the AirPods use a special type of battery called a “battery case.” When you charge your AirPods, the battery case tries to keep the power going even when there’s no need to. But sometimes it can’t keep up and the AirPods stop charging. This problem is especially common with AirPods that have been used in direct sunlight or in cold environments. If you’ve had your AirPods charged in direct sunlight or in cold environments, it’s best to take them back to an Apple store or try to fix the issue yourself.
First, Ensure Your Charging Case Is Charged
One reason your AirPods aren’t charging is that your charging case has run out of battery charge. This happens when you’ve used all the battery juice on the case, and it has no more charge left on it to supply power to your AirPods.
You can check your case’s current battery level by placing your AirPods in it and bringing it near your paired iPhone or iPad. Your phone will show the battery charge left on the case.
If your case is indeed out of battery juice, put your AirPods in it and plug it into a cable or wireless charger. If your case won’t charge, make sure the charging cable isn’t damaged or check your wireless charger for any issues if you use one.
Clean the AirPods and the Charging Case
If your AirPods or the charging case has any blockage, likely due to the dust, your AirPods won’t charge. This is because the dust or other items block the case from sending the power to your AirPods.
In this case, clean up your AirPods and your charging case. This will ensure the AirPods touch the base of the case where the power is drawn from.
Update Your AirPods’ Firmware
Like all other Apple devices, your AirPods use firmware to provide you with various features. Apple pushes out updates to ensure your AirPods have the latest features and bug fixes.
When your AirPods won’t charge, it’s worth running a firmware update to see if that fixes the issue. You can check out our guide on how to update AirPods to learn how to do that.
The update process basically involves putting your AirPods in the charging case, connecting the case to a power source, bringing the case near your paired iPhone or iPad, and ensuring your phone is connected to the internet. Your phone will then automatically find and install the latest firmware on your AirPods.
Reset Your AirPods
You can try unpairing and re-pairing your AirPods’ connection with your iPhone to see if that resolves the charging issue, as this causes your AirPods to return to factory settings.
You can do that by first opening the Settings app on your iPhone and then tapping “Bluetooth.” On the “Bluetooth” screen, next to your AirPods, tap the “i” icon.
Choose “Forget This Device.”
Select “Forget Device” in the prompt.
And that’s it. Your AirPods are now unpaired from your iPhone.
To pair your AirPods with your iPhone again, then on the back of your AirPods case, tap and hold the Setup button and bring the case near your iPhone. Follow the on-screen instructions and your AirPods will be reconnected to your phone.
RELATED: How to Pair the Apple AirPods Pro With Any Device
Check the AirPods and the Charging Case for Physical Damage
Your AirPods or the charging case may be physically damaged, resulting in your AirPods not getting charged. If you’ve dropped either of these items from somewhere, or they’ve had another physical impact, that may be why they don’t work.
You can inspect both of these devices carefully and see if they’re broken. You may want to look inside the charging case to ensure everything is in place.
If you find that your AirPods or your case is damaged, check to see if that’s covered under warranty. You can contact Apple to get more information about your warranty details as well as what to do in your situation. The Apple support team will do their best to help you out.
Think you’ll need a new pair of AirPods? Consider checking out our guide on which AirPods you should buy.
RELATED: Which AirPods Should You Buy?
