You’re walking down a busy street, the wind is kicking up, and you’re trying to listen to that one podcast you love, but you can’t hear a thing. You crank the volume on your iPhone until the slider is maxed out in the red. Nothing. It still sounds like the host is whispering from across a football field. It’s infuriating. You spent over two hundred bucks on these white plastic stems, and now they’re performing worse than a pair of wired earbuds from a gas station.
Low volume is the single most common complaint among AirPods users, whether you're rocking the original Gen 1s or the beefy AirPods Max. Honestly, it usually isn't a hardware failure. Most people assume the drivers are blown and start eyeing the Apple Store for a replacement, but that’s a waste of money. Usually, the issue is just a buildup of gunk, a software glitch, or a hidden setting buried deep in iOS that’s "protecting" your ears a little too aggressively.
The Most Likely Culprit: Earwax and Physics
Let’s be real for a second. Ears are gross. They produce wax, oils, and sweat, and your AirPods sit right in the line of fire. Over months of use, a microscopic layer of debris builds up over the black mesh speaker grill. It doesn't take much. Just a thin film of oil can trap sound waves, making the output feel muffled or distant.
Cleaning them is the first step to fix quiet AirPods, but you have to do it right. If you go at it with a wet wipe, you’re going to push that wax deeper into the mesh, essentially sealing the speaker shut forever.
Instead, take a dry, soft-bristled toothbrush. Lightly—and I mean lightly—brush the mesh. You want to flick the debris out, not press it in. Some people swear by using a small piece of Blu-Tack or "cleaning putty." You press it onto the mesh and pull it away, and it lifts the wax right out. It’s weirdly satisfying and incredibly effective. If you see a dark, shiny spot on the mesh, that’s wax. Get it out.
The "Suck" Method (Yes, Really)
This sounds insane. I know. But if you look at enthusiast forums like MacRumors or Reddit’s r/airpods, you’ll see long-time users suggesting you literally suck on the large speaker mesh. Put a clean thin cloth over it first if you're squeamish. The idea is that the vacuum pressure clears the internal airway. AirPods rely on airflow to move the drivers; if the vents are clogged, the sound pressure drops. It’s the "last resort" fix that works surprisingly often.
Check Your iPhone’s "Safety" Settings
Apple is terrified of you suing them because you went deaf at forty. Because of that, they’ve baked in a feature called "Headphone Safety." It’s a noble idea, but it can be way too overprotective.
🔗 Read more: Calculating Age From DOB: Why Your Math Is Probably Wrong
Go to your Settings. Tap on Sounds & Haptics, then Headphone Safety. See that toggle for Reduce Loud Sounds? If that’s on, your iPhone is actively monitoring the decibel level and "capping" it. If you have it set to 75 or 80 decibels, your music will feel incredibly quiet compared to what the hardware can actually do.
Try turning it off or sliding the limit to 100 decibels. The difference is immediate.
The Volume Sync Glitch
Sometimes, your iPhone and your AirPods stop talking to each other correctly. They get "out of sync." Your phone thinks it’s sending 100% volume, but the AirPods think they should only be outputting at 50%. It’s a digital handshake that went wrong somewhere along the line.
Here is the weird fix that actually works:
- Put your AirPods in your ears and start playing music.
- Turn the volume all the way down to zero.
- Go into your Bluetooth settings and Disconnect (don't forget) the AirPods. Keep them in your ears.
- Continue playing the music on your iPhone’s actual speakers. Turn the phone volume to zero.
- Reconnect the AirPods.
- Turn the volume back up.
This basically forces the Bluetooth stack to reset its "zero point," and usually, the full volume range returns.
Low Power Mode is Secretly Sabotaging You
We all do it. Your phone hits 20%, the pop-up appears, and you hit "Low Power Mode." While Apple says this just stops background refreshes and mail downloads, it also affects audio processing to save battery. On some firmware versions, it limits the maximum output of Bluetooth devices.
💡 You might also like: Installing a Push Button Start Kit: What You Need to Know Before Tearing Your Dash Apart
If your AirPods feel quiet, check if your battery icon is yellow. Turn off Low Power Mode and see if the punch returns to your music.
Equalizer (EQ) Settings
If you use Apple Music, you might have an EQ setting enabled that’s flattening your sound. Go to Settings > Music > EQ. If it’s set to "Late Night" or "Small Speakers," it’s intentionally compressing the dynamic range to make loud sounds quieter and quiet sounds louder. For the loudest possible experience, set it to "Off" or "Flat."
Interestingly, the "Late Night" setting is designed to make quiet dialogue easier to hear in movies, but it absolutely kills the "oomph" in a heavy bass track.
The Firmware Factor
Unlike your iPhone, you can't just hit a "Update" button for your AirPods. They update whenever they feel like it, usually while charging near your phone. However, firmware bugs happen. Apple released a few versions in the past that accidentally messed with the Transparency and Noise Cancellation balance, making the overall volume feel lower.
To check your version:
- Connect your AirPods.
- Go to Settings > Bluetooth.
- Tap the "i" next to your AirPods.
- Scroll down to Version.
If you aren't on the latest version, leave your AirPods in their case, plug the case into power, and leave it next to your iPhone for 30 minutes. It should force the update.
📖 Related: Maya How to Mirror: What Most People Get Wrong
When It’s Actually a Hardware Problem
If you’ve cleaned them, reset the Bluetooth, toggled the safety settings, and they’re still quiet, you might be dealing with a hardware failure. Specifically, the "AirPods Pro Service Program for Sound Issues."
Apple acknowledged that some AirPods Pro manufactured before October 2020 had issues where they’d lose bass or have a crackling sound. If yours fall into this category, Apple will often replace them for free even if you’re out of warranty. It’s worth a trip to the Genius Bar.
Also, consider the "Balance" setting. If one ear is quieter than the other, go to Settings > Accessibility > Audio/Visual. Look at the Balance slider. If it’s even slightly to the left or right, one side will feel "broken." It happens more often than you’d think—usually because a cat stepped on the phone or it shifted in a pocket.
Actionable Steps to Restore Your Volume
If you want to fix quiet AirPods right now, follow this specific order:
- The Physical Purge: Use a dry toothbrush or cleaning putty on all the black mesh areas. If you can see the "holes" in the mesh, you're good. If it looks like a solid dark surface, it's clogged.
- Disable Limits: Navigate to Settings > Sounds & Haptics > Headphone Safety and turn off "Reduce Loud Sounds."
- Hard Reset: Hold the button on the back of your AirPods case for 15 seconds until the light flashes amber, then white. Re-pair them to your phone.
- Check Accessibility: Ensure the L/R balance is dead center in the Accessibility settings.
- Test Source: Try a different app. Sometimes a specific YouTube video or a low-quality Spotify stream is the problem, not the hardware.
If none of these work, and you've tried the "sync reset" mentioned earlier, you are likely looking at a degraded battery or a dying driver. Lithium-ion batteries in AirPods don't last forever. After two or three years of daily use, the voltage they can provide to the speakers drops, which can lead to lower max volumes and shorter life. At that point, the cost of repair usually equals the cost of a new pair.