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I was looking forward to listening to new albums before Sloan and Taylor SwiftBut I needed to put something on ice first.
In fact, I needed to put the AirPods Max in the refrigerator. If this sounds strange, it is. However, he allowed me to listen to “The Life of a Showgirl.” At least for a while.
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The three amber lights of death
I bought my own AirPods Max In 2021 and have used it almost every day since. After I became increasingly frustrated with other Bluetooth devices Headphones That require a manual connection to various devices, I felt justified spending $500 on headphones that mostly worked as intended. Additionally, the over-ear design is more comfortable for me during long periods of having the AirPods Pro crammed into my ear canals.
However, the AirPods Max have recently been experiencing some issues, requiring a reboot to activate. This involves holding down the noise control button and digital crown for several seconds until the indicator light flashes amber. (Dear heavens, Apple, why can’t you include a simple on/off switch?)
To turn your AirPods Max back on, press and hold the Digital Crown and the mode button for several seconds.
Then, one day, the button-pressing ritual no longer worked.
It’s time for the headphone nuclear option: factory reset. This involves the same combination of pressing the button, but for about 15 seconds, at which point the light should flash amber once and then white.
There was no white. Instead, the light flashed amber three times and went dark.
An online search revealed references to the “three amber lights of death,” and a strange solution that made me think the AI had hallucinated as a result: put it in the freezer for 30 minutes or more.
A chilling solution
Being the type of person who tries to take care of his electronic devices, the idea of stuffing $500 headphones with frozen peas seemed extremely risky and, to say the least, unscientific. But further online research revealed reports that the fix actually worked.
So off they went to the ice chest, wrapped in the bag they came in. It’s not clear if this case is necessary, but the magnets built into it put the AirPods Max to sleep when not in use or charging, so it seems like a reasonable option.
Yes, I put my AirPods Max in the fridge.
Tips online suggest letting it cool for at least 30 minutes, but I ended up leaving it for over an hour just to be sure.
When they came out, I removed them from the now hard case, put them to my ears, and sure enough, I heard the chime indicating successful Bluetooth pairing with my device. Aside from wiping them to remove condensation — and dealing with chilled ears for a few minutes — the headphones worked exactly as they should.
I froze my AirPods Max trying to revive them.
Why does AirPods Max freeze work?
As I listened to my new tunes, I couldn’t help but wonder why this low-tech solution worked. Speculation I read (It’s a Reddit post by MuesliCrunch) notes that the thin wires that carry the power can crack over time, especially after hundreds or thousands of rotations of the earcups (since they rotate at a 90-degree angle to fit flat in their case). This microscopic break can cause connectivity problems.
By freezing your AirPods, the cold can cause the lining around the wires to shrink, temporarily holding the cracked parts together.
Plan B: Clean the contacts
Another possible solution I’ve tried is to remove the headband and clean the contact points, which are like small versions of Apple’s Lightning pin connector. First, I had to remove the magnetic ear cups and grab the SIM card removal tool. (This is the small rectangular piece of metal that would have been included with your smartphone Apple stopped including them On its models starting with iPhone 14, after the SIM tray was replaced with an eSIM.)
Another thing to try is to remove the post and clean the contacts.
Next, I pressed it into the small hole near the stem and lifted the connector out. I took a Q-tip (you can use a cloth) to wipe the contact points with alcohol. The post worked again for me, although some people say you may need a slight turning motion for it to fully engage. I dutifully cleaned the contacts, but I’m not sure how much of a difference it made in my case.
The AirPods Max connector looks like a miniature version of Apple’s Lightning connector.
Is freezing AirPods Max a long-term solution?
Unfortunately, several days after my initial joy with the freezing method, the AirPods Max returned to an unresponsive state, confirming that the cooling technology is only a temporary solution.
The headphones are no longer under warranty, so now I need to decide if it’s worth buying a new pair (which feature the same technology as my current pair, but with a USB-C port instead of Lightning). I can also search for Replacement set of headphones. Or I can continue to be cold with my husband until Apple decides Finally update them to 2nd generation.
In the meantime, I’ll leave some space in the fridge free to try another round of refreshing. I will remember to remove the magnetic cups before putting the headphones in there. This way, I can enjoy the music right away without feeling cold in my ears as well.
Apple did not respond to a request for comment.