I'd been looking forward to listening to new albums by Sloan and Taylor Swift, but I needed to put something on ice first.
In fact, I needed to put my AirPods Max in the freezer. If that sounds strange, it is. And yet it 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 AirPods Max in 2021 and have used them nearly every day since. After becoming increasingly frustrated with other Bluetooth headphones that required manual connection to different devices, I felt justified in spending $500 on headphones that, for the most part, work as intended. Plus, the over-ear design is more comfortable for me during long stretches than having AirPods Pro jammed into my ear canals.
Lately, however, my AirPods Max have had some issues, requiring a reboot to activate. That involves holding the noise-control button and the Digital Crown for several seconds until the indicator light blinks amber. (Dear heavens, Apple, why couldn't you include a simple on/off switch?)
Then, one day, that button-press ritual no longer worked.
Time for the headphone nuclear option: factory reset. That involves the same button press combination, but for around 15 seconds, at which point the light should blink amber once and then white.
There was no white. Instead, the light blinked amber three times and went dark.
Online searching revealed mentions of the "three amber lights of death," and a bizarre fix that made me think AI had hallucinated a result: Put them in the freezer for 30 minutes or longer.
A chilling solution
Being the type of person who tries to take care of his electronics, the idea of tossing $500 headphones in with frozen peas sounded decidedly risky and, at the very least, unscientific. But further online research revealed reports that the fix actually worked.
So into the icebox they went, wrapped in the case they came with. It's not clear if the case is necessary, but its built-in magnets serve to put the AirPods Max to sleep when not in use or charging, so it seemed like a reasonable option.
Online advice suggests letting them chill for at least 30 minutes, but I ended up leaving them in for over an hour just to be sure.
When they came out, I removed them from the now-stiff case, put them over my ears, and sure enough, heard the chime that indicates a successful Bluetooth pairing with my device. Aside from wiping them down to remove condensation -- and dealing with chilled ears for a few minutes -- the headphones worked just like they should.
Why would freezing AirPods Max work?
As I listened to my new tunes, I couldn't help wondering why this low-tech solution worked. Speculation I've read (namely, a Reddit post by MuesliCrunch) suggests that the thin wires carrying power can crack over time, specifically after hundreds or thousands of swivels of the earcups (since they turn 90 degrees to fit flat into their case). That microscopic crack can cause issues with the connection.
By freezing the AirPods, the cold can cause the lining around the wires to contract, temporarily bringing the cracked sections together.
Plan B: Cleaning the contacts
Another possible solution I tried involves removing the headband and cleaning the contacts, which resemble small versions of Apple's Lightning pin connector. First, I had to pop off the magnetic earcups and grab a SIM card removal tool. (That's the little oblong metal piece that would have been included with your smartphone, although Apple stopped including them in its models starting with the iPhone 14, after replacing the SIM card tray with eSIM.)
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 contacts with alcohol. The post snapped back in for me, though some people say you might need a slight turning motion to get it to fully engage. I dutifully cleaned the contacts, but I'm unsure how much of a difference it made in my case.
Is freezing AirPods Max a long-term solution?
Unfortunately, several days after my initial elation with the freezing method, the AirPods Max returned to their unresponsive state, confirming that the cooling technique is only a temporary solution.
The headphones are no longer under warranty, so I now need to decide if it's worth buying a new pair (which features the same technology as my current pair, but with a USB-C port instead of Lightning). I could also search for an alternative set of headphones. Or, I could continue giving my pair the cold shoulder until Apple decides to finally update them to a second generation.
In the meantime, I'm keeping some space in the freezer clear to try another round of resuscitation. I'll remember to remove the magnetic cups before placing the headphones there. That way, I can chill out to music right away without my ears getting chilled too.
Apple did not respond to a request for comment.
