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- Hacker News
- I've been on ~4-5 flights since upgrading to the Airpods Pro 3 from the 2 and haven't experienced this, though I had occasionally experienced a similar whine on my Pro 2 that seemed to have been resolved in a software update sometime back.
I am surprised by the general negative sentiment for the 3s in this thread. They've felt like a straight and clear upgrade to me. Better fit, better ANC, and much improved battery life. I typically wear mine almost all day so comfort is hugely important to me.
by MrDrone - I've flown twice with my new AirPods Pro 3, and both times I had this exact experience; high pitched and loud feedback. They were properly cleaned, and had a "good seal" according to the settings wizard.
Glad to see I'm not the only one at least, and hopefully this will be possible to fix as a software update, rather than having to replace the AirPods.
by torarnv - Something interesting occurs to me. Many of the anecdotes about the squealing on flights says the noise goes away when yawning. Yawning lifts the soft palate and equalizes ambient pressure behind the eardrum in the sinuses. Air pressure is lower in a pressurized airplane cabin than on the ground and is usually more dynamic as well. I wonder if an air pressure gradient forms in the ear canal when in the air that exacerbates the ANC feedback issues that users (myself included) are experiencing on the ground. I feel like there must be some interaction between the multiple microphones due to vibration transmitted through the body of the Airpods.
Since it seems to be an ANC issue it should be fixable in software.
by Fwirt - I had to return my AirPods Pro 3. I upgraded from AirPods 4 with ANC and they were worse in every department I could see. I assume battery life is better, but I've never ran out of battery anyway.
I've never much got on with in-ear rubber tips, and these were no different to any I've tried, despite reviews stating they were super comfortable.
My left ear is also worse to get it fitting right than my right ear. I have tried every size provided, none seem right. A grimace in the gym is enough to unseat even the most secure fit/seal, in either ear.
My main gripes specifically with AirPods Pro 3, which I've not seen in any other review;
- Because the rubber tips vary in size, the case has to accommodate the largest. This means if you're using small tips, there's a lot of spare room, which means the AirPods can easily be mis-seated, breaking the charge connection.
- The case is substantially bigger than AirPods 4 with ANC. I would say ~40%.
- The volume swipe on the stalk action is very tricky to trigger.
- Any stalk action is a bad idea when it's so easy to unseat them. I skip songs with a double press regularly, and nearly every time I had to push in and rotate after.
by jamies888888 - A wild guess as to what is happening. I haven’t actually tested this hypothesis so I could be completely wrong.
In feedback systems, the gain is a function of frequency, and typically decreases when going from low frequency to high frequency. This is often accompanied by a phase delay.
So if the overall gain of the system is high enough, there will be some high frequency where the gain is 1, and the phase is 180 degrees. This would result in positive feedback, amplifying noise at that frequency.
Maybe that’s what’s happening in the latest AirPods? If Apple is aggressive cranking up the gain of the noise cancellation system, there’s some high frequency where the noise gets amplified rather than suppressed.
The solution would be to either reduce the gain (which reduces the noise cancellation), or to add some differential gain in the system which pushes out the unity gain frequency to higher frequencies.
by spot5010 - Interesting. I have roughly 50,000 flight miles on the new AirPods Pro 3, and while I do prefer them to the 2s, I too have some annoyances with the left AirPod. In my case it never feels like it fits my ear canal quite right, to the point that I thought I might want different size tips - after trying all the tips, that's not it. The seal is in fact good, but the different feel is noticeable.
The noise cancellation also feels a bit more variable - when it's good it's significantly better, but sometimes I get cycles or loops where the algo doesn't seem to be working right.
I was mulling over getting custom tips, but it's a good reminder it might just be easier to downgrade.
by vessenes - I frequently use my AirPods Pro when working in my shop. Previously the APP2 did a great job of reducing loud tool noise and I could mostly still listen to music or podcasts at reasonable levels.
With the APP3, they are largely the same except with the louder tools (circular saw, cordless grinder) they produce a horrific feedback instead of canceling the noise. So much so that I switched back to my APP2 (which do not have this issue in back-to-back testing).
This REALLY irks me, as the APP3 are what forced the upgrade to iOS 26 (which is terribly misguided and under-baked), so I'm stuck with all of Apple's foibles and none of their wins.
Feel like I got punched in the gut and my lunch money stolen. Not a good feeling Apple.
by seemaze - I have this happen outside of flights. Cupping your finger over the ANC mic is enough to trigger it.
The new tips (that’s my guess, at least) also transmit vibrations into your ears much more than the old tips or third party memory foam tips. This results in a popping noise when walking or moving around, and a horrible thumping sound when running with them in. I think the latter is partially caused by the “reduce loud noises” feature incorrectly identifying vibrations from heel strikes as loud noise.
I’m glad I’m apparently not the only one experiencing these issues. I hope they’re software fixable. I filed a bug report, but radio silence on that, of course. I would sing the praises of the second gen AirPods Pro to anyone who would listen, but the 3rd gen have been a huge disappointment. I had to buy a different set of headphones for running, whereas the second gen were my daily drivers. And I’ve been through three pair of the third gen, so it’s not a one-off issue.
by el_benhameen