Charge your AirPods and learn about battery life

Learn how to charge your AirPods and their charging case, and how to get longer battery life for your AirPods.

Charge your AirPods

To charge your AirPods, put them in your case. Your case holds multiple, full charges for your AirPods, so you can charge on the go. To keep your AirPods charged, put them in the case when you're not using them.


AirPods and charging cases

How to charge your AirPods

You can charge your MagSafe Charging Case or Wireless Charging Case with a Qi-certified charging mat. Be sure to place your case on the charger with the status light facing up and with the lid closed. The status light should show the current charge level for 8 seconds. If you have AirPods Pro or AirPods (3rd generation), you can tap the case when it's on the charging mat to see whether your AirPods Pro or AirPods (3rd generation) are charging (amber light) or fully charged (green light).

Learn about the status light

status light on the front of the charging case

MagSafe Charging Case: The status light is on the front of the case.

status light on the front of the charging case

Wireless Charging Case: The status light is on the front of the case.

status light inside the charging case

Charging Case: The status light in your charging case sits between the spaces for your AirPods.

If your AirPods are in your case and the lid is open, then the light shows the charge status of your AirPods. When your AirPods aren't in your case, the light shows the status of your case. Green means fully charged, and amber means less than one full charge remains.

When you connect your MagSafe Charging Case or Wireless Charging Case to a charger, or place it on a Qi-certified charging mat, the status light will stay on for 8 seconds. If the light flashes white, your AirPods are ready to set up with one of your devices. If the light flashes amber, you might need to set up your AirPods again.

To charge your case via wired connection, plug the Lightning cable that came with your AirPods into the Lightning connector on your case. You can use a USB-C to Lightning Cable or a USB to Lightning Cable. Then plug the other end of the cable into a USB charger or port. You can charge your case with or without your AirPods inside. Charging is fastest when you use an iPhone or iPad USB charger or plug into your Mac.

To see the detailed charge status and charge level, see Check the charge status.

Check the battery percentage

You can check the battery percentage of your AirPods with your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, or Mac.

On your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch

Open your case lid with your AirPods inside and hold your case close to your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch. Wait a few seconds to see the charge status of your AirPods.

You can also check the charge status of your AirPods with the Batteries widget on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch. The charge for your case appears only when at least one AirPod is in the case.

On your Mac

  1. Open the lid or take your AirPods out of the case.
  2. Click the Bluetooth icon in the menu bar.
  3. Hover the pointer over your AirPods in the menu.

Learn about battery life

When the battery charge of your AirPods is low, you get a notification on the screen of your iPhone or iPad. You get notifications when the charge is at 20, 10, and 5 percent remaining.

You also hear a tone in one or both AirPods when the battery charge is low. You hear the tone one time when the battery charge is at 10 percent, and a second time right before the AirPods turn off.

If you think that your battery has an issue, learn about AirPods service and repair.

What you can expect with AirPods (3rd generation)

  • With multiple charges in your case, you get up to 30 hours of listening time,1 or up to 20 hours of talk time.2
  • Your AirPods (3rd generation) can get up to 6 hours of listening time (up to 5 hours with spatial audio enabled)3 or up to 4 hours of talk time on a single charge.4
  • If you charge your AirPods (3rd generation) for 5 minutes in their case, you get around 1 hour of listening time5 or around 1 hour of talk time.6

What you can expect with AirPods Pro

  • With multiple charges in your case, you get more than 24 hours of listening time,7 or more than 18 hours of talk time.8
  • Your AirPods Pro can get up to 4.5 hours of listening time9 or up to 3.5 hours of talk time on a single charge.10
  • If you charge your AirPods Pro for 5 minutes in their case, you get around 1 hour of listening time11 or around 1 hour of talk time.12

What you can expect with AirPods (2nd generation)

  • With multiple charges in your case, you get more than 24 hours of listening time,13 or up to 18 hours of talk time.14
  • Your AirPods can get up to 5 hours of listening time15 or 3 hours of talk time on a single charge.16
  • If you charge your AirPods for 15 minutes in their case, you get up to 3 hours of listening time17 or up to 2 hours of talk time.18

Learn about Optimized Battery Charging on AirPods Pro and AirPods (3rd generation)

Optimized Battery Charging is designed to reduce the wear on your battery and improve its lifespan by reducing the time that your AirPods Pro and AirPods (3rd generation) spend fully charged. AirPods Pro, AirPods (3rd generation), and your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch learn from your daily charging routine and will wait to charge your AirPods Pro or AirPods (3rd generation) past 80% until just before you need to use them.

Optimized Battery Charging for AirPods Pro and AirPods (3rd generation) requires an iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad and is on by default when you set up your device, or after you update it to iOS or iPadOS 15 or later.  To turn off the feature, open the AirPods case, then go to Settings > Bluetooth on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch. Tap the More Info button next to your AirPods Pro or AirPods (3rd generation) in the list of devices. Turn off Optimized Battery Charging.

  1. Testing conducted by Apple in September 2021 using preproduction AirPods (3rd generation) with MagSafe Charging Case and software paired with iPhone 13 Pro Max units and prerelease software. The playlist consisted of 358 unique audio tracks purchased from the iTunes Store (256-Kbps AAC encoding). Volume was set to 50%. Testing consisted of full AirPods battery discharge while playing audio until the first AirPod stopped playback. The drained AirPods were charged to 100 percent, then audio playback was resumed until the first AirPod stopped playback. This cycle was repeated until both the AirPods and charging case were fully discharged. Battery life depends on device settings, environment, usage, and many other factors.
  2. Testing conducted by Apple in September 2021 using preproduction AirPods (3rd generation) with MagSafe Charging Case and software paired with iPhone 13 Pro Max units and prerelease software. Volume was set to 50%. Testing consisted of full AirPods battery discharge with a cellular phone call until the first AirPod stopped playing call audio. The drained AirPods were charged to 100 percent, then the cellular phone call was restarted until the first AirPod stopped playing call audio. This cycle was repeated until both the AirPods and charging case were fully discharged. Battery life depends on device settings, environment, usage, and many other factors.
  3. Testing conducted by Apple in September 2021 using preproduction AirPods (3rd generation) with MagSafe Charging Case and software paired with iPhone 13 Pro Max units and prerelease software. The playlist consisted of 358 unique audio tracks purchased from the iTunes Store (256-Kbps AAC encoding). Volume was set to 50%. With Spatial Audio with Head Tracking enabled, listening time was up to 5 hours. Testing consisted of full AirPods battery discharge while playing audio until the first AirPod stopped playback. Battery life depends on device settings, environment, usage, and many other factors.
  4. Testing conducted by Apple in September 2021 using preproduction AirPods (3rd generation) with MagSafe Charging Case and software paired with iPhone 13 Pro Max units and prerelease software. Volume was set to 50%. Testing consisted of full AirPods battery discharge with a cellular phone call until the first AirPod stopped playing call audio. Battery life depends on device settings, environment, usage, and many other factors.
  5. Testing conducted by Apple in September 2021 using preproduction AirPods (3rd generation) with MagSafe Charging Case and software paired with iPhone 13 Pro Max units and prerelease software. The playlist consisted of 358 unique audio tracks purchased from the iTunes Store (256-Kbps AAC encoding). Volume was set to 50%. 5-Minute charge testing conducted with drained AirPods that were charged for 5 minutes, then audio playback was started until the first AirPod stopped playback. Battery life depends on device settings, environment, usage, and many other factors.
  6. Testing conducted by Apple in September 2021 using preproduction AirPods (3rd generation) with MagSafe Charging Case and software paired with iPhone 13 Pro Max units and prerelease software. Volume was set to 50%. 5-Minute charge testing conducted with drained AirPods that were charged for 5 minutes, then a cellular phone call was started until the first AirPod stopped playing call audio. Battery life depends on device settings, environment, usage, and many other factors.
  7. Testing conducted by Apple in October 2019 using preproduction AirPods Pro with Wireless Charging Case and software paired with iPhone 11 Pro Max units and prerelease software. The playlist consisted of 358 unique audio tracks purchased from the iTunes Store (256-Kbps AAC encoding). Volume was set to 50% and Active Noise Cancellation was enabled. Testing consisted of full AirPods Pro battery discharge while playing audio until the first AirPod Pro stopped playback. The drained AirPods Pro were charged to 100 percent, then audio playback was resumed until the first AirPod Pro stopped playback. This cycle was repeated until both the AirPods Pro and charging case were fully discharged. Battery life depends on device settings, environment, usage, and many other factors.
  8. Testing conducted by Apple in October 2019 using preproduction AirPods Pro with Wireless Charging Case and software paired with iPhone 11 Pro Max units and prerelease software. Volume was set to 50% and Active Noise Cancellation was enabled. Testing consisted of full AirPods Pro battery discharge with a cellular phone call until the first AirPod Pro stopped playing call audio. The drained AirPods Pro were charged to 100 percent, then the cellular phone call was restarted until the first AirPod Pro stopped playing call audio. This cycle was repeated until both the AirPods Pro and charging case were fully discharged. Battery life depends on device settings, environment, usage, and many other factors.
  9. Testing conducted by Apple in October 2019 using preproduction AirPods Pro with Wireless Charging Case and software paired with iPhone 11 Pro Max units and prerelease software. The playlist consisted of 358 unique audio tracks purchased from the iTunes Store (256-Kbps AAC encoding). Volume was set to 50% and Active Noise Cancellation was enabled. With Active Noise Cancellation and Transparency turned off, listening time was up to 5 hours. Testing consisted of full AirPods Pro battery discharge while playing audio until the first AirPod Pro stopped playback. Battery life depends on device settings, environment, usage, and many other factors.
  10. Testing conducted by Apple in October 2019 using preproduction AirPods Pro with Wireless Charging Case and software paired with iPhone 11 Pro Max units and prerelease software.  Volume was set to 50% and Active Noise Cancellation was enabled. Testing consisted of full AirPods Pro battery discharge with a cellular phone call until the first AirPod Pro stopped playing call audio. Battery life depends on device settings, environment, usage, and many other factors.
  11. Testing conducted by Apple in October 2019 using preproduction AirPods Pro with Wireless Charging Case and software paired with iPhone 11 Pro Max units and prerelease software. The playlist consisted of 358 unique audio tracks purchased from the iTunes Store (256-Kbps AAC encoding). Volume was set to 50% and Active Noise Cancellation was enabled. 5-Minute charge testing conducted with drained AirPods Pro that were charged for 5 minutes, then audio playback was started until the first AirPod Pro stopped playback. Battery life depends on device settings, environment, usage, and many other factors.
  12. Testing conducted by Apple in October 2019 using preproduction AirPods Pro with Wireless Charging Case and software paired with iPhone 11 Pro Max units and prerelease software.  Volume was set to 50% and Active Noise Cancellation was enabled. 5-Minute charge testing conducted with drained AirPods Pro that were charged for 5 minutes, then a cellular phone call was started until the first AirPod Pro stopped playing call audio. Battery life depends on device settings, environment, usage, and many other factors.
  13. Testing conducted by Apple in February 2019 using preproduction AirPods (2nd generation), Charging Case, and Wireless Charging Case units and software paired with iPhone XS Max units and prerelease software. The playlist consisted of 358 unique audio tracks purchased from the iTunes Store (256-Kbps AAC encoding). Volume was set to 50%. Testing consisted of full AirPods battery discharge while playing audio until the first AirPod stopped playback. The drained AirPods were charged to 100 percent, then audio playback was resumed until the first AirPod stopped playback. This cycle was repeated until both the AirPods and charging case were fully discharged. Battery life depends on device settings, environment, usage, and many other factors.
  14. Testing conducted by Apple in February 2019 using preproduction AirPods (2nd generation), Charging Case, and Wireless Charging Case units and software paired with iPhone XS Max units and prerelease software. Volume was set to 50%. Testing consisted of full AirPods battery discharge with a cellular phone call until the first AirPod stopped playing call audio. The drained AirPods were charged to 100 percent, then the cellular phone call was restarted until the first AirPod stopped playing call audio. This cycle was repeated until both the AirPods and charging case were fully discharged. Battery life depends on device settings, environment, usage, and many other factors.
  15. Testing conducted by Apple in February 2019 using preproduction AirPods (2nd generation), Charging Case, and Wireless Charging Case units and software paired with iPhone XS Max units and prerelease software. The playlist consisted of 358 unique audio tracks purchased from the iTunes Store (256-Kbps AAC encoding). Volume was set to 50%. Testing consisted of full AirPods battery discharge while playing audio until the first AirPod stopped playback. Battery life depends on device settings, environment, usage, and many other factors.
  16. Testing conducted by Apple in February 2019 using preproduction AirPods (2nd generation), Charging Case, and Wireless Charging Case units and software paired with iPhone XS Max units and prerelease software.  Volume was set to 50%. Testing consisted of full AirPods battery discharge with a cellular phone call until the first AirPod stopped playing call audio. Battery life depends on device settings, environment, usage, and many other factors.
  17. Testing conducted by Apple in February 2019 using preproduction AirPods (2nd generation), Charging Case, and Wireless Charging Case units and software paired with iPhone XS Max units and prerelease software. The playlist consisted of 358 unique audio tracks purchased from the iTunes Store (256-Kbps AAC encoding). Volume was set to 50%. 15-Minute charge testing conducted with drained AirPods that were charged for 15 minutes, then audio playback was started until the first AirPod stopped playback. Battery life depends on device settings, environment, usage, and many other factors.
  18. Testing conducted by Apple in February 2019 using preproduction AirPods (2nd generation), Charging Case, and Wireless Charging Case units and software paired with iPhone XS Max units and prerelease software.  Volume was set to 50%. 15-Minute charge testing conducted with drained AirPods that were charged for 15 minutes, then a cellular phone call was started until the first AirPod stopped playing call audio. Battery life depends on device settings, environment, usage, and many other factors.

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