Hearing a Mysterious Chime From Your AirPods Pro Case? It's a Feature - MacRumorsOpen MenuShow RoundupsShow Forums menuVisit ForumsOpen Sidebar
Skip to Content

Hearing a Mysterious Chime From Your AirPods Pro Case? It's a Feature

If you've been hearing a chiming sound from your AirPods Pro 2 case when the AirPods are charging, it's a feature that Apple added with the launch of Hearing Health last year.

airpods pro 2 botw
In a support guide, Apple says that the AirPods Pro may play a sound every so often while in the case to ensure the microphones and speakers are working as intended. From Apple:

To help ensure that your AirPods microphones and speakers are operating at their best (for example, to help provide high-quality hearing test results), your AirPods may periodically play a quiet chime when they're in their charging case.

Information on the mysterious chime was highlighted on Mastodon after Apple's unclear AirPods sounds were discussed on today's ATP podcast.

As noted on the podcast, Apple does not have an established guide that provides insight into the different sounds that the AirPods make, so it can be confusing.

The AirPods Pro will play a sound when battery is low or when the charging case is placed on a charger or plugged in. Some sounds can be disabled by connecting the AirPods to an Apple device, going to Settings, tapping on the AirPods icon, and turning off Enable Charging Case Sounds.

Related Roundup: AirPods Pro 3
Buyer's Guide: AirPods Pro (Neutral)
Related Forum: AirPods

Popular Stories

airpods pro 3 orange

AirPods Pro With AI Cameras Reach 'Advanced' Testing Stage

Thursday May 7, 2026 11:53 am PDT by
Apple's upcoming camera-equipped AirPods Pro are nearing completion and have reached an "advanced" testing stage, reports Bloomberg. The design is almost finalized, as is the feature set, and early mass production could begin soon. The AirPods Pro will have built-in cameras that will feed visual information about the wearer's surroundings to Siri. While there will be a longer stem for the...
Apple Card iPhone 16 Pro Feature

Apple Card Promo to Offer Free AirPods Pro 3

Friday May 15, 2026 8:59 am PDT by
Starting as early as next week, customers who sign up for an Apple Card at Apple's retail stores in the U.S. will receive $249 cash back when they purchase AirPods Pro 3, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. The promotion has yet to be officially announced by Apple, so exact terms and conditions are not available at this time. AirPods Pro 3 are priced at $249 in the U.S., so customers who...
airpods pro 3 pink

New Apple Card Holders Can Get Free AirPods Pro 3, But There's a Catch

Monday May 18, 2026 8:11 am PDT by
Apple today launched a new promotion offering new Apple Card holders the chance to earn back the cost of AirPods Pro 3 through monthly cash rebates, but there is a recurring spend requirement attached. Customers who open a new Apple Card account and purchase AirPods Pro 3 directly from Apple by June 15 will qualify. Starting July 1 and running through April 30, 2027, cardholders can earn $25 ...

Top Rated Comments

litmag01 Avatar
18 months ago
Why isn't it smart enough to know that 2 AM is probably not a good time for this test.
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
18 months ago
I always thought that meant the AirPod didn’t properly connect to the nodes in the case for charging. 🤷🏻‍♂️
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
18 months ago
So that’s what it was. I kept hearing for months a tone like you’d hear in Knicks knockoff Chinese electronics. I was starting to think I had fakes or that I was crazy, because I couldn’t find anything online
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
18 months ago
An entire article about a sound....and then the journalist forgot to post...the sound. Amazing.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
nattK Avatar
18 months ago

Finally thought to look this up last week and was relieved to find out that I’m not going insane, lol. Very un-Apple and it sounds like wireless interference a little, but I’ll survive.
Oh god, it was driving me absolutely crazy! I legit thought it was coming from some hidden electronic device in my house because it didn’t resemble any sound my Apple devices made or any other devices I own.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
JosephAW Avatar
18 months ago
That is Apple testing the microphone is to make sure they can pick up all the surrounding sounds just to alert everyone that Apple isn’t listening to everyone. o_O
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)