AirPods Pro 2 Robotic/Cracking Noise when in Calls (Iphone 16 Pro, IOS 18.3.2)

[knotty nimbus]

Hi everyone,
I am having this issue where my AirPods pro 2 start to have some weird interference noise whenever I am on a call. Most prominent, its when I am on Facetime, Discord, or MS Teams calls. It starts okay, but then suddenly out of nowhere, this cracking/robotic voice comes back.
I've taken both my Phone and AirPods ( Apple gave me a new pair of pods), but the issue still persists. I did not notice this being an issue since i bought my AirPods back in December 24, but now it is quite annoying.

[safe epoch]

Are both your iPhone and Airpods updated to the latest version?

& If you have multiple Bluetooth devices connected (Apple Watch, speakers, etc.), try disconnecting them and see if the issue persists since they may tend to connect to other devices like a Mac, etc.

Also I don’t know if this makes a difference, but if you have Headphone Accommodations on and use the custom transparency settings, they do tend to make your airpods extremely sensitive, I’ve had occurrences where they would static or make a “screeching” sound for no reason.

[safe epoch]

You can view and learn how to update your Airpods firmware on the Apple Support page

7B21 being the latest firmware, which you can ensure is updated in your airpods tab of settings. (Scroll to the bottom)

[knotty nimbus]

Yep, both phone and airpods are on the latest (18.3.2 and 7B21) firmware.
I've tried disconnecting everything, but the issue still persists. Headphone accommodation is off.

[lost acorn]

Does this happen on Wi-Fi and/or Cellular?

[knotty nimbus]

Happens on both wifi and cellular

[wise owl]

Try unpair and re pair -> then try a full reset -> if neither work call apple support

You could also try resetting network settings (does need you to sign in to your wifi's and stuff but no loss in terms of photos and stuff like that)

[knotty nimbus]

Yeah, i did try every type of troubleshooting above, still the same issue. Contacted apple support and trying to figure out the root cause of this issue. In case something solid comes up, will report back here.

[torpid parcel]

There is now a new version for airpods, so make sure they are on 7E93

[knotty nimbus]

I've updated to the newest version, and still having the issue.

[pearl ferry]

This issue occurs for me whenever I am connected to both my car and my AirPods . For some reason it does not like having an automatic connection to the car whenever close . I would advise to disconnect any other automatic connection while connected to the AirPods . Might be the fix you were looking for

[wise owl]

If this above and an update to your iphone to 18.4.1 I'd suggest contacting the support at this point

[knotty nimbus]

So far my expeirance with apple support is very standard and no solution provided whatsoever. I removed VPNs, I removed managed profiles, I did a factory resest and tried, still issue is there. Trying to do some live diagnostic capturing now to be sent to apple engineering team, but i think it will show no red flags. I will keep working on this issue.

[wise owl]

In my experience there isn't that many fixes, it's usually a hardware issue if it's not fixed by updating/resetting

[knotty nimbus]

Yeah, I have a similar feeling. Will try my luck with Apple Store again, as my phone is under limited warranty still.