Whether you use the 1st, 2nd, or 3rd generation of AirPods, each charging process remains the same. Still, there’s one major dilemma bothering the owners of the Apple wireless earbuds – can you overcharge AirPods?
This guide will lead you through the AirPods overcharging matter and explain everything you need to know about it. If you are wondering if you can leave your AirPods charging overnight and if it’s safe to leave the charger on even after the earbuds are 100% charged, read on.
Is It Bad to Leave AirPods Case Charging?
It is not bad to leave your AirPods case to charge as it cannot overcharge. Lithium-ion batteries are designed with overcharging circuits that prevent the case from overcharging, causing damage to the battery.
The newer-generation batteries in Apple’s products have overcharging circuits built-in, but you shouldn’t leave it charging for several days.
You can see in my complete guide on Apple’s AirPods overcharging is never an issue.
Leaving your case charging for a day won’t harm the battery life, especially with the newer-generation AirPods Pro. The cover is designed to stop charging once it reaches 100%, so there’s also no point in leaving it plugged in any longer.
You can check the status of your AirPods case on your iPhone by holding the case close to your device. The software will do the rest for you, as you’ll be able to see the percentage of the remaining battery life of your case.
You can use the “Batteries Widget” to see how charged your AirPods and the case are. Apple’s experts also thought of this issue while designing the AirPods and their charging case. Because of this, you can use the optimized battery charging that learns from your daily use of your Apple devices.
You don’t have to worry if you forget to unplug your AirPods case or if you leave it charging for too long. However, you should still try not leaving the case charging for longer periods, like a few days repeatedly.
Is It Okay to Leave AirPods Charging Overnight?
It is okay to leave your AirPods charging overnight since the case will go into a trickle charge mode once it reaches 100% of the battery capacity. After that, the amount of charging cycles for the battery will reduce to prevent damage to the battery life cycle.
If you leave the case charging overnight to have fully charged AirPods and AirPods case for the morning will not damage your AirPods.
Suppose you wish to have the buds completely ready for listening to your favorite songs while on the move. It’s smart to place them in the case while charging. The newer generation of AirPods batteries can perfectly charge the whole night.
Some previous versions of headphones’ batteries were damaged when they were left through the whole night to charge. Still, the AirPods and AirPods Pro use lithium-ion batteries that can charge the entire night without any damage inflicted to the case or the battery itself.
You can read the article on how playing games affect iPhone battery to see for yourself that Apple’s batteries aren’t exactly immune to demanding actions you use them for. However, listening to music and using other functions of Apple’s earbuds won’t cause any damage to the battery, and neither will charge overnight.
Is It Possible to Overcharge AirPods?
It is not possible to overcharge your AirPods or the AirPods due to the advanced technology of lithium-ion batteries.
When designing the new type of battery, Apple included overcharging prevention to make things easier for the users. So, if you leave the case charging for too long, it will eventually reach 100% of the capacity. Then, it will shut down the supply of current that runs the battery.
Even if your AirPods are still plugged in, there’s no difference, and the battery remains charged without consequences or damage. Also, it will stay fully charged as long as the charger is plugged in.
Even if the AirPods are inside, the process is the same, and the case will continue to power the earbuds. It won’t affect the overcharging issue since the current is reduced when your earbuds are fully charged.
Still, although the AirPods can’t overcharge by continuous connection to the charger, other things could endanger your battery. So we’ll discuss them in a bit to help you fully understand how the battery cycles work.
For more information on correctly charging your AirPods case, you should read my detailed AirPods charging guide.
How Do I Stop AirPods From Overcharging?
To stop your AirPods from overcharging, you should use an MFI certified lightning cable to charge the AirPods case. The lithium-ion batteries are designed not to overcharge.
Unlike the early versions of headphones, AirPods can’t be overcharged by simply leaving it plugged in for longer periods. Even so, if you continuously remove the AirPods from the case while only charging them for a few minutes, some battery damage might occur.
It’s vital for the proper battery life span that you leave the AirPods charging for at least half an hour once they are empty. Even though five minutes would be sufficient to support listening to your favorite music for an hour or more, it’s not that wise to do it constantly.
You could charge the case previously and bring it with you for the AirPods to charge while you’re on the go. Besides, there are also other aspects that you should focus on to prevent any battery damage to your AirPods.
If you pay attention to details, you can preserve the battery life cycle for years, and your earbuds will serve you as proposed by the Apple certification. Let’s look into actions that might endanger your battery life span.
Prevent Any Contact With Heat Or Water
While it technically can’t be considered overcharging, leaving your AirPods charging near a powerful heat source could affect the battery. Whether it’s sunshine or the heat of your oven that produces immense warmth, it could drastically affect your AirPods battery cycle.
Being exposed to heat for too long will cause the case to stop charging properly or even start battery draining. Of course, no battery is designed to last forever, but your AirPods might work for years if you are careful enough as to where you keep them.
It’s even worse with water. The new type of Apple batteries in the AirPods are even more water-sensitive than the previous versions of the batteries. So keeping your earbuds in the case at all times can save the AirPods from contact with water.
The 3rd generation AirPods are water-resistant but trust me; you don’t want to expose the case or the AirPods to water.
Keeping your AirPods safe and protected is equally important as using the list of 6 ways to keep your MacBook protected that you can see on my site. In addition, if you notice battery draining, one of the things you can do is restart your case and charge the AirPods in full cycle.
How To Know If Your AirPods Are Charging?
When you replace your AirPods and open the case and see a red or amber light, the AirPods are charging. When the AirPods are fully charged, the light will be green when you open the case. When the case is charging, the light at the front will be amber.
You can then move to the mentioned Batteries Widget on your iPhone or other Apple device to see the remaining battery life. The convenient thing is that you can always see the percentages for each AirPods and the case individually. One AirPod died on me a few times while the other still worked.
How To Prevent AirPod Battery Draining
In case of battery draining, you need to be familiar with the steps to prevent further damage to the battery. If you are using your AirPods for a while, the battery could start to degrade over time.
Luckily, there are several steps to take to prevent this, and restarting your AirPods case is the first way to go. If the cells in the battery start to degrade, you can continue the case by putting the earbuds into the case and closing the lid.
Next, you should wait for a bit and then open the lid while clicking on the Bluetooth settings of your iPhone and clicking on the info option next to the AirPods. Then, by clicking on “Forget This Device,” you can remove the connection and move on with the restart.
The next step is to hold the setup button on the case with the lid still open, and you should do it until the amber light starts flashing. Afterward, it will flash white, and the restarting process will be complete.
You can then reconnect your AirPods and see if that fixes the battery draining issues. On the other hand, you should check if the connection works when you put the earbuds in the case, so carefully place them and close the lid. You could also clean the case from the inside, as this could be yet another issue that could cause battery draining.
Device software could start battery draining if you use noise reduction and other systems while using the AirPods. Hopefully, one of these factors could cause your battery drain, and you can fix the issue based on the exact nature of the problem.
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