Apple clarifies AirPods Max power saving modes when not in use

When Apple introduced AirPods Max last week, it revealed that they don’t come with an on / off button, but instead enter an “ultra-low” power mode when inserted into the included Smart Case. That left a lot of questions about what happens to battery life when left out of the Smart Case and not actively used. However, today Apple has provided some somewhat surprising answers to those questions, suggesting that the Smart Case is not as essential for preserving battery life as many initially thought.

According to Apple, when the ‌AirPods Max‌ are removed but not placed in their Smart Case, they enter a “low power mode” after five minutes of being parked. If left untouched, they remain in this low-power mode for three days, after which the earbuds enter an “ultra-low” power state that disables Bluetooth and their Find location to help further retain the remaining charge. From Apple’s AirPods Max support document, updated overnight:

If you set up your ‌AirPods Max and leave them stationary for 5 minutes, they go into low power mode to conserve battery power. After 72 hours of not using the Smart Case, your ‌AirPods Max‌ goes into a lower power mode that turns off Bluetooth and ‌Find My‌ to further conserve battery power.

Apple has also clarified how the ‌AirPods Max‌ behave when placed in its Smart Case, and it turns out that the same two distinct low power states are involved, but enabled at different times. The first “low power mode” is activated immediately after insertion, but the “ultra low” mode is not activated until after 18 hours in the Smart Case.

If you put your ‌AirPods Max‌ in the Smart Case when you are not using them, they will immediately go into low power mode to conserve battery power. After 18 hours in the Smart Case, your ‌AirPods Max‌ enters an ultra-low power mode that turns off Bluetooth and ‌Find My‌ and maximizes battery life.

Based on this description of the ‌AirPods Max‌ power saving modes, it would appear that the earbuds enter the same “low power mode” when placed and left alone for five minutes as when placed in the Smart Case. However, the same “ultra-low” power mode that kicks in after ‌AirPods Max‌ have been left in the smart case for 18 hours, takes a full 72 hours to activate when left out of the case.

Before Apple provided the above information, testing by MacRumors suggested that the ‌AirPods Max‌’s battery drains only slightly faster when left out of the case, a difference likely due to the longer time it takes for the “ultra-low” power mode to activate when the headphones are not in the smart case. .

Leaving aside the seeming arbitrariness of these sleep mode activation times, the main conclusion is that, at least in the short term, you cannot get a real power saving advantage by placing ‌AirPods Max‌ in the Smart Case instead of just place them on a desk and don’t touch them. But if you don’t plan to use them again for the next 18 hours, then this is when you should put them in the Smart Case; otherwise, it will take three days for the “ultra-low” power mode to activate, at which point the battery is likely to drain. to be much more meaningful.

Given the confusion that has followed the ‌AirPods Max‌ power-saving features, some users have speculated that Apple might add a shutdown feature to the physical controls via a future software update. Is that something you would prefer over the current situation? Let us know in the comments.