If Your AirPods Max Aren’t Responding, Try This (Literally) Cool Fix
I couldn’t wait to listen to new albums from Sloan and Taylor Swift, but I had to get something out of the way first.
I actually had to put my AirPods Max in the freezer. If this sounds strange, it is. And yet, it allowed me to listen to The Life of a Showgirl. At least for a while.
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The three amber lights of death
I bought my AirPods Max in 2021 and have used them almost every day since. After becoming increasingly frustrated with other Bluetooth headphones that required manual connection to different devices, I felt justified in spending $500 on headphones that, for the most part, worked as expected. Plus, the over-ear design is more comfortable for me for extended periods of time than having AirPods Pro stuck in my ear canals.
Lately, however, my AirPods Max have been having issues, requiring a reboot to activate. This involves holding the noise control button and digital crown for several seconds until the light flashes orange. (Dear God, Apple, why couldn’t you include a simple on/off switch?)
To restart AirPods Max, press and hold the Digital Crown and the mode button for several seconds.
Then, one day, this ritual of pressing a button no longer worked.
It’s time for the headset’s nuclear option: factory reset. This involves the same combination of button presses, but for about 15 seconds, after which the light should flash orange once, then white.
There was no white. Instead, the light flashed orange three times and turned off.
An online search turned up mentions of the “three orange lights of death” and a bizarre solution that made me think the AI had hallucinated an outcome: put them in the freezer for 30 minutes or more.
A refreshing solution
Being the type of person who tries to take care of their electronics, the idea of throwing away $500 headphones with frozen peas seemed decidedly risky and, at the very least, unscientific. But further research online revealed that the fix actually worked.
So they went into the cooler, wrapped in the case that came with them. It’s unclear whether the case is necessary, but its built-in magnets serve to put the AirPods Max to sleep when not in use or charging, so it seemed like a reasonable option.
Yes, I put my AirPods Max in the freezer.
The advice online suggests letting them cool for at least 30 minutes, but I ended up leaving them for over an hour just to be safe.
When they came out, I removed them from the now hard case, put them over my ears, and sure enough, I heard the chime that indicates successful Bluetooth pairing with my device. Aside from wiping them down to remove condensation – and dealing with cold ears for a few minutes – the headphones worked exactly as they should.
I froze my AirPods Max to try to revive them.
Why would freezing AirPods Max work?
Listening to my new tracks, I couldn’t help but wonder why this low-tech solution worked. Speculation I’ve read (namely a Reddit post from MuesliCrunch) suggests that the thin wires carrying the energy can crack over time, especially after hundreds or thousands of pivoting of the earbuds (as they rotate 90 degrees to fit flat in their case). This microscopic crack can cause connection issues.
By freezing the AirPods, the cold can cause the lining around the wires to contract, temporarily pushing the cracked sections together.
Plan B: Clean the contacts
Another possible solution I’ve tried is to remove the headband and clean the contacts, which look like small versions of Apple’s Lightning pin connector. First, I had to remove the magnetic earbuds and retrieve a SIM card removal tool. (This is the small oblong metal part that would have been included with your smartphone, although Apple stopped including them in its models starting with the iPhone 14, after replacing the SIM card tray with the eSIM.)
Another thing to try is to delete the post and clean the contacts.
Then I pushed it into the small hole near the stem and lifted the connector up. I took a cotton swab (you can use a cloth) to wipe the contacts with alcohol. The message came back for me, although some people say you might need a slight twisting motion to fully engage it. I dutifully cleaned the contacts, but I’m not sure what difference it made in my case.
The AirPods Max connector looks like a mini version of Apple’s Lightning connector.
Is freezing AirPods Max a long term solution?
Unfortunately, several days after my initial elation with the freezing method, the AirPods Max reverted to their unresponsive state, confirming that the cooling technique is only a temporary solution.
The headphones are out of warranty, so now I have to decide if it’s worth buying a new pair (which features the same technology as my current pair, but with a USB-C port instead of Lightning). I might also look for another headset. Or, I could continue to give my pair the cold shoulder until Apple finally decides to update them to a second generation.
In the meantime, I’m keeping some free space in the freezer to attempt another round of resuscitation. I will remember to remove the magnetic cups before placing the headphones in them. This way I can relax right away while listening to music without my ears getting cold as well.
Apple did not respond to a request for comment.
