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Some AirPods Max owners report condensation issue inside ear cups

It’s not an Apple product launch if the new gadget hasn’t been scrutinized on Twitter for various — what often turn out to be edge case — issues. As for the company’s latest AirPods Max, some owners of the high-end headphones are now reporting an issue with condensation inside the ear cups…

An AirPods Max condensation issue?

Condensation generally happens when a cold object is adjacent to warmer, humid air, and that appears to be what’s happening in some cases for AirPods Max owners. Unlike most competing headphones, AirPods Max are primarily made of metal, making it more likely that they will get cool enough to start picking up water from the warmer air inside the air cups — which will only get even more humid with sweat.

A handful of people have mentioned they’ve experienced the issue, and multiple people have reported that they’re seeing some of this collected H2O making its way inside the speaker holes to the drivers.

Some likely causes

Based on the reports we’ve seen so far, it’s likely this condensation is the nature of owning a pair of these mostly metal AirPods Max headphones, although it is somewhat concerning that some seem to be experiencing this issue without doing anything particularly unusual with their headphones.

The simple physics of the matter suggests that any humid, warm environment in which colder metal exists will result in some amount of condensation. So while no AirPods Max owners at 9to5Mac have seen this issue, it’s likely that the right combination of circumstances — a cold-enough room, using them during exercise, using them for a certain amount of time, humidity levels in the air — simply haven’t happened yet.

Are my AirPods Max affected?

You tell us! Let us know in the comments below if you’ve seen this condensation issue with your AirPods Max. Various AirPods Max owners on Twitter have reported the issue happening with models in various colors, so it seems more likely to be connected to ambient temperatures and usage circumstances than any one design flaw or particular model.

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Avatar for Stephen Hall Stephen Hall

Stephen is Growth Director at 9to5. If you want to get in touch, follow me on Twitter. Or, email at stephen (at) 9to5mac (dot) com, or an encrypted email at hallstephenj (at) protonmail (dot) com.