AirPods Pro 2 - microphones muffled and Hey Siri not working - my experience

I wrote this up as a blog post and share it here to help others

AirPods Pro 2 failure – a visit to the Genius Bar sorted it out promptly and I learned a bit

I was in Sydney for the day yesterday doing personal things. While there, I went to the Apple Store for a Genius Bar appointment.

My AirPods Pro 2 (APP2) developed a fault. I thought it may have been due to OS26 as it only started recently.

I spent an hour on the phone with Apple Support, last week. We tried everything. In the end, the nice guy gave up in frustration, like me, gave me a case number and said ‘bring them in’.

So what was the issue? There was no problem with the speakers as in audio playback quality. The issue was with the mics.

When using the mics ONLY on iPhone 17 and iPad Pro 4 with Apple Voice Memos, the audio was VERY muffled.

BUT… with the Instagram iPhone and iPad app, it was ‘studio quality’.

AND… on my MacBook and Mac Mini using Apple Voice Memos, it was ‘studio quality’ via APP2.

AND AirPods Max-C, AirPods 2 and Apple Wired C were all excellent quality on iOS, iPadOS and MacOS, using Apple Voice Memos.

I tried alternate apps like “Just Press Record” and “What’s App” on iOS and iPadOS and it was slightly better but not “studio”. However, as I said, Instagram on both iOS and iPad OS was 10/10. Confusing, huh?

Oh, and one more thing…. “Hey Siri” via the headphones on APP2 didn’t work, at all to Watch or iPhone 17.

So of course, on the day of the appointment, I read on MacRumours…

“Apple today released new firmware designed for the AirPods Pro 3, prior-generation AirPods Pro 2, and the AirPods 4 models. The firmware has a build number of 8A358, up from 8A356.”

I got to Apple Store early, as I was on the road, and forced the update, hoping that might be the fix. Sadly no.

The Apple Genius came out, I explained what’s above and he was a bit miffed. He said he had seen situations where microphone/s in the headphone have failed and because they’re so closely integrated into the OS, the app and the headphones may fail together but still work with other apps, as was the case with me (the Instagram app).

He then got a pair of APP2 from back of house and they worked fine.

Then he clicked a few things in settings on my iPhone and my list of available Apple devices with me popped up on his iPad Mini. (My iPhone, Watch, iPad and APP2). He selected APP2 and, boom, both microphones came up in red as “FAILED”.

Both earphones were promptly replaced and I left the store with two new APP2 buds (but my original case) and the microphones and Siri are working just fine.

It was all a pretty cool ending to an annoying experience.

9 October 2025