Apple clarifies the power saving modes of AirPods Max when not in use

When Apple introduced AirPods Max last week, it revealed that they did not come with an on / off button, but introduced an “ultra-light” power mode when inserted into the included smart box. This left many questions about what happens to battery life when they stay out of the Smart Case and are not actively used. However, today Apple has provided some surprising answers to these questions, suggesting that the Smart Case is not as essential to preserving battery life as many first thought.

According to Apple, when you take out the irAirPods Max‌, but don’t put them in your Smart Case, they go into a “low-power mode” after five minutes of being stopped. If left intact, they remain in this low-power mode for three days, after which the headphones enter an “ultra-light” power state that turns off Bluetooth and its Find My location to help conserve even the remaining charge. . From Apple’s AirPods Max support document, updated overnight:

If you adjust your irAirPods Max‌ and leave it on for 5 minutes, they will switch to low power mode to preserve battery power. After 72 hours of stationary time outside of the Smart Case, your irAirPods Max® switches to a lower power mode that turns off Bluetooth and indFind My® to further preserve battery charge.

Apple has also clarified how irAirPods Max behave when placed in their Smart Case and it turns out that the same two different low-power states are involved, but activated at different times. The first “low power mode” is activated immediately upon insertion, but the “ultralight” power mode does not start until after 18 hours in the Smart Case.

If you place your irAirPods Max‌ in the Smart Case when not in use, they will immediately switch to low-power mode to preserve battery power. After 18 hours in the Smart Case, your irAirPods Max into switch to an ultra-light power mode that turns off Bluetooth and “Find Mine” and maximize battery life.

Based on this description of the irAirPods Max‌ power-saving modes, it appears that the headphones go into the same “low-power mode” when put on and left alone for five minutes as they do when placed on the Smart Case. However, the same “ultra-light” power mode that is activated after leaving irAirPods Max‌ for 18 hours in the Smart Case takes 72 hours to start when they are out of the box.

Before Apple provided the above information, the tests performed by MacRumors suggested that the irAirPods Max‌ battery drained slightly faster when left out of the box, a difference that is probably reduced to the longer time it takes to activate the “ultralight” power mode when the headphones are not turned on. they find in the Smart Case.

Leaving aside the apparent arbitrariness of these sleep mode activation times, the main food is that, at least in the short term, no real energy saving advantage is obtained by putting irAirPods Max‌ on the Smart Almost instead of putting them on a desk and not touching them. But if you do not plan to use them again for the next 18 hours, then when you put them in the Smart Case, otherwise the “ultralight” power mode will take three days to activate, at which point it is likely that the battery runs out to be much more significant.

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