How to fix AirPods Pro 3 noise issues?

Have the same issue. Constant low level noise, which I assume is connected to ANC. There is no option to turn this off! Only ANC, Transparency or Adaptive. In the dead of night, listening to podcast quietly, the hiss is louder than the spoken word! Totally unacceptable.

Gaurantee Apple will not acknowledge unless it gets picked up by a media outlet.

There is no pattern of specific "defective devices" and so Apple will not acknowledge that their ANC programming is suboptimal for a subset of customers with specific ear physiologies (even though this was not an issue for APP2s). For this reason, it will be avoidance (again, unless picked up by media).

I too have this problem with Airpods Pro 3. They make a clear hissing noise in Noise Cancellation, Adaptive, and Transparency modes. It disappears in Off mode. I've tested the acoustic seal repeatedly; it's OK. And the firmware is the latest version, 8A358.

I never experienced anything similar with Airpods Pro 1, from which I have upgraded.

Yesterday I bought a couple of AirPods Pro 3, one for me and one for my father. I tested both myself, and in both cases, I experienced the same problem. A white noise sound was audible while any active sound mode was enabled (e.g., transparency, noise cancellation). I returned to the Apple Store, and they replaced one of them to determine if it was a problem with the product. However, when I tested them at home, I experienced the same white noise sound. I just bought a new AirPods Pro 2 on Amazon to make a comparison, but if the 2 works well, I will return the 3 to the store. I'm tired of trying unfinished Apple products 😩 This year, between the scratchable Chameleon iPhone and the Liquid Glass operative system, I have the feeling that we are just paying to experiment with a what-if Apple experience.

My AirPods Pro 1 had the design flaw that caused them to produce a cracking noise. I have had enough bad experiences with noisy headsets for a lifetime. I want something that sounds good and makes no noise. So, if I have to stick with the 2 until you release a functional AirPods Pro, I will wait. You are not particularly customer-friendly when the solution involves replacing the poorly designed headphones every year, or when the noise reappears, rather than replacing them once and for all with an AirPods Pro 2.

I finally returned my 3 and bought a 2. The noise was hurting my ears, and after removing them, I still had a residual noise in my head. I noticed something, though. Some noises started after doing a hearing test. Maybe that did something to the noise cancellation system 🤔

The “off” option can be put back; scroll down at the airpod pro 3’s settings screen (accessible via bluetooth or the airpods option in “settings”). Scroll way down to “listening modus off” and switch in on; the “off” option is back.

I've not used the 'Off' mode yet, but it seems a bit silly to buy these earphones and not use the various modes. But I'll give it a try tomorrow. The squealing occurs in both left and right ear. It also appears when changing modes. Whichever way I put the tips in (firmly, twisting, not twisting, lightly, etc, etc), the squealing occurs. Funny thing is, they start out OK the next day, only to squeal again a couple of hours later. Like I said before (user name 'trueblue53'), I'm on my third pair now. Puzzling.

Hi everyone,

Got exactly the same issue

Ocean like static white noise while in transparency mode,and way more marked on noise cancellation mode.

Done all the trouble shooting and nothing changed,noise still there.

Just finished to talk with the apple support, they booked me a genius bar appointment,that will probably end in a replacement,as bought them quite recently. Also it seems to be an unknown issue to apple related to the pro 3 gen.

Same problem here.

I came from the AirPods Pro 1 and needed to replace them to improve ANC and battery life.

I tried the new ones quickly during my lunch break at the office yesterday and they seemed spectacular. But the moment I got home, wearing the AirPods with the music stopped and only a few background noises, my worst nightmare began… white noise. I know I have fairly sensitive ears, but I had never experienced this issue with the AirPods Pro 1, otherwise I would have thrown them away years ago. I tried not to think about it, maybe I was just tired… but once I was in bed listening to Audible at a fairly low volume, I couldn’t stop focusing on the white noise. It got to the point where I put the AP3 away and went back to the AP1.

I spent the whole morning on forums and I see this isn’t an isolated case. Of course, in ‘off’ mode the noise disappears, and I’ll probably use that setting at night, but I’m still undecided whether to hope for a firmware update or just return them and say goodbye. The sound quality is definitely better, and the sleep detection feature that stops playback when you fall asleep is exactly what I need. But since I already suffer from tinnitus in one ear, I really don’t want to know what it would feel like to have it in both…

UPDATE:

Quick update… I started playing around a bit with the positioning of the AirPods and it seems, again, it SEEMS that the white noise disappears when the earbuds don’t completely seal the ear canal opening. Can you let me know if I’m going crazy or if this is actually the case?

Thanks!!

I tried without eartips, it seems a bit less noise, but still hear it.

In my airpods I hear this noise in every mode contact, adaptive and noise reduction. It only disappears at the moment when I'm starting hearing test, after theese questions aboiut age, and health the noise disappears

I have AirPod pro 2 & 3 both bought new from Apple. The AirPod 3 are worse in two ways: 1) they are less ergonomic; they are longer and jut out the ear until I push them to be more flush, and 2) they keep making robotic noises and distorting what’s playing while trying to noise cancel. The 2s did this once in a while but the 3s do this ALL THE TIME. Multiple times whenever I am out walking with them. They better do a software update to fix this :/

Something I’ve noticed about the Hearing Test trick:

Even though this workaround removes the static, I did notice that the ANC strength feels reduced afterward. It’s still clearly active (and much stronger than the Off mode), but it does seem a bit weaker than the default ANC before doing the trick.

It seems like something about the ANC initialization after the Hearing Test resets whatever is causing the static, but also slightly alters the ANC and reduces it.

Very weird and should be fixed by Apple.

i thought it was just my feedback they were deleting. Ridiculous. I returned mine and got the AirPod pro 2 gen 2. Far better

I have the exact same issue with my 3 day old AirPod pro 3’s. Low level hiss/white noise. I’ve commented here to make a record of this issue with apple and link to this thread.

the hiss is there regardless of mode weather ANC is activated or not.

these things ain’t cheap, let’s hope there’s a fix soon as it’s rather annoying and kind of defeats the whole noise cancelling experience.

Same for me. AirPods Pro 3 bought yesterday. Made in Vietnam. White noise in both the left and right earbuds. Clearly audible in a quiet room, clearly audible with quiet music or a podcast. The first time I noticed white noise was in the AirPods Pro 2, but it was much quieter compared to the third generation. The first-generation AirPods Pro were completely free of noise; when I bought the AirPods Pro 2, I noticed white noise for the first time. In the AirPods Pro 3, the noise is the loudest of all three generations. So loud that it’s disturbing when listening to podcasts in a quiet room. I am very dissatisfied with this!