AirPods represent a quintessential Apple product as far as they work, and they’ve only gotten better since their initial release in 2016. Over the past few years, Apple has slowly but surely iterated on the design, while simultaneously introducing new models and adding smart new features, like Spatial Audio and the ever-improving Active Noise Cancellation. Overall, Apple AirPods are arguably one of the company’s smoothest products. Still, from time to time, you may notice that one AirPod is losing battery much faster than the other. This actually happened to me recently. I was at the airport during a layover of a few hours. I played my music and at one point I noticed that one of my AirPods had 74% battery left while the other was down to just 13%.
If this situation has ever happened to you, it’s not necessarily a coincidence or something caused by a faulty battery. Interestingly enough, the way you use them could be the cause. Specifically, if you have a habit of using one AirPod while leaving the other in the case, you risk inadvertently degrading your AirPod’s battery. Indeed, that’s exactly what happened to me at the airport. I left one AirPod and put the other in the charging case because I wanted to be able to talk with my friends, make sure I caught important announcements, and even chat with airport store staff if I made a purchase. And sure, I could have used Transparency mode, but sometimes it seems rude to have a conversation with someone who owns both AirPods. So while removing an AirPod can sometimes be convenient, it can have a negative impact on your battery life.
The Science Behind AirPods Battery Life
If you charge one AirPod more than the other, that AirPod actually goes through more charge cycles. And the more charge cycles it goes through, the more its overall ability to hold a charge begins to degrade. Indeed, that’s why Apple offers an iPhone feature called Optimized Battery Charging, which reduces battery degradation by charging your iPhone to 80% and only increasing it to 100% before you wake up or need it.
Batteries age faster when left at 100% for long periods of time, and the science behind this has been covered in various peer-reviewed journals. Specifically, academic research has shown that a fully charged lithium battery experiences mechanical stress at and around the electrodes, which can lead to the deformation and swelling often seen with old batteries. Simply put, maintaining a battery at a high state of charge for extended periods adds even more stress to the battery.
So all that to say this: If you’re constantly using one AirPod while the other is in its case, you’ll eventually notice inconsistent battery performance. You can reduce the impact of this issue by making sure to always use both AirPods at the same time. If you have AirPods Pro, be sure to use Transparency mode if you want to know your surroundings. If you have regular AirPods, make sure to remove both AirPods when trying to have a conversation. The key is to treat AirPods as a pair and not two separate earbuds. Doing so will ensure that the batteries maintain a similar level of performance throughout their lifespan.