23 Jun 2025
10:35 AM — Watched some random YouTube video and saw this guy put his AirPods Max on the table with the case on. I saw my AirPods Max hanging on its stand, unused for the past 2 days and I remember 2 days ago I charged it full. I thought, maybe it's a good idea to put it back in the case. I own this AirPods Max for more than 2 years now, zero problem, and I never put it in the case unless I know I’ll be out of the house for more than 4–5 days, and have no plan to bring it out with me.
4:30 PM — I picked up my AirPods Max, pulled it out of the case, I wanted to re-listen to Haken’s Nil By Mouth (awesome song, by the way), after I watched Alex Rudinger's drum cover of that song. Usually, as soon as I put it on my head, it connects to my Mac, but this time, it doesn’t. I press the noise control button, nothing. I press the digital crown, nothing.
4:35 PM — With the AirPods Max still on my head, I checked the Bluetooth status on my Mac. It showed the AirPods as not connected. I clicked it, the spinning loader showed, then it disappeared without connecting. Alright, I thought, I’ll just listen on the speakers. I put the AirPods Max back on the stand.
8:35 PM — Picked up the AirPods Max again. I wanted to watch Netflix this time. Putting it on my head did nothing again. Pressing noise control and the digital crown didn’t do anything just like earlier. Checked Bluetooth status on my Mac and clicked the AirPods Max, exact same thing, nothing connected. I was a little worried at this point.
8:40 PM — Alright, maybe it's time to do a factory reset. So I pressed the noise control and digital crown at the same time. The light turned amber, blinked three times, and then started blinking white. On my phone, I saw the AirPods Max connection pop up. I pressed connect, and now it’s connected. Huff.
10:07 PM — Time to sleep. I put the AirPods Max back on the stand.
24 Jun 2025
9:47 AM — I picked up the AirPods Max from the stand, put them on my head, and here we go again. It doesn’t connect, exactly like earlier. I press noise control button and the light goes green. It means the battery is alright. I tried to reset, but it did nothing. This time I noticed it only blinks amber 3 times and stops—no white light after that!
10:16 AM — I gave up. Put it back in the case.
2:14 PM — Trying this all over again. Still not connected. Tried resetting a few more times. Still doesn’t work.
3:16 PM — Browsing Apple Community Discussions and Reddit. Found out many people have the same experience. Kept digging through Reddit posts.
3:28 PM — Found one Reddit post suggesting to put it in the freezer. No way I’m doing that. Even if it might work. No, thanks. I kept trying to reset—same result: only 3 amber blinks and then nothing. I also noticed after it stops, pressing the noise control button does nothing. Usually, when everything’s normal, pressing it will shows battery status, green for charged (>50%?) and amber if it’s low. Another post suggested removing the headband and cleaning the connection. Nope. Too lazy to do that.
4:04 PM — Found a video suggesting to reset while plugged into a charger. Didn’t work. Found some discouraging YouTube videos and Reddit posts saying it’s basically bricked. Some people even brought it to the Apple Store, got it fixed, paid a ridiculous fee, only for it to break again in a few days. I was panicked at this point.
4:48 PM — Found another post saying to put it back in the case, wait 45 minutes, and try connecting again. Tried it—doesn’t work. Still the same blinking amber light 3 times and stops. Another post said to put it in the case while charging, wait 45 minutes, and try again. Did that—still nothing. One other post suggested “forgetting” the device and removing AirPods Max from Find My app. Did both. Still doesn’t work.
8:00 PM — Kept resetting and resetting with no success. I almost gave up and was ready to accept that maybe it’s bricked. 😢 So sad. AirPods Max is basically my ultimate tool for "shutting up" the world, and it really worked. I loved it—before it got bricked 😢
9:40 PM — While putting the AirPods Max back in its case, I said my final goodbye (it's a shame) and went to sleep.
25 Jun 2025
9:00 AM — I saw my AirPods Max in the case lying lifeless. I thought, trying one last time won’t hurt. So I pulled it out from the case. While it was still in the flattened position, I turned it around so the inner cups faced upward. I pressed the noise control and digital crown at the same time to reset. The light blinked amber three times and stopped, just like before. BUT then I looked at my phone, and the AirPods Max connection window popped up! I hit "Continue" right away, AND IT CONNECTED! I thought: HOLY SHT.
I played something on Spotify, and it played normally. I tried putting it back on the stand, then back on my head, it connected automatically. I spent two days trying to figure this out, and now it just decides to work? Did leaving it in the case overnight somehow help "fix" it? Or maybe it’s the way I took it out of the case afterward? Not sure, but it kind of reminded me of the AirPods Pro that only charged one side.
So far, after it connected, I’ve tested putting it on and off, placing it on the stand, and it still works. One thing I probably won’t try, though, is putting it back in the case!