The Apple AirPods line is a set of wireless earbuds designed by Apple to work with the rest of their devices seamlessly. The most popular Apple device right now is the iPhone, so it only makes sense that the AirPods and the iPhone work excellently together.
However, both are still electronic devices, and like most electronics, they develop faults. One of the most annoying faults your pair of Airpods could develop in its lifecycle is not connecting to your iPhone, but it’s common. In short, if your iPhone isn’t connecting to your Airpods, you’re not alone.
However, you also don’t have to live with it. In this article, I’ll show you how to fix AirPods not connecting to iPhone. Also, you’ll learn why that happens and how to prevent it in the first place.
Why are AirPods Not Connecting to iPhone?
The AirPods are unlike any pair of earphones or even Bluetooth earbuds. They’re designed to work with specific versions of the iOS operating system, and if your iPhone doesn’t support it, there’s very little you can do about it. As you may also expect, different AirPods models have different requirements.
Also, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connectivity are both required to make AirPods work correctly. If you knowingly or unknowingly turn off Bluetooth, you’ll break the connection between your iPhone and the Bluetooth earbuds. In most cases, you’ll also have to restart the pairing process.
Another reason your AirPods may not be connecting to your iPhone is a low battery. This is likely to be the issue if you previously used wired headphones, as you’d likely not charge your AirPods nearly enough. If you’re not aware of how you’re expected to charge the device, this article has got your back.
There are cases when you won’t be able to get your AirPods to become functional again, regardless of what you try. In such cases, you may have to see if you qualify for the limited one-year warranty protection of most AirPods. If you do, you’ll stand a chance of getting a brand new pair from Apple for free.
Now that we’ve explained most of the issues that may face your AirPods, regardless of the generation, it’s time to look at the causes of these issues. Jump over to the following section to learn about that.
How to Fix AirPods Not Connecting to iPhone
When your pair of AirPods don’t connect properly to your iPhone, you should start finding a solution to it. Apple’s AirPods are pretty expensive, and with everything else at a similar price, they’re also pretty difficult to replace. Discarding a pair each time something goes wrong is simply uneconomical.
If you’re trying to see what could be done to your non-functional pair of AirPods, here are some excellent ideas.
- Turn your Bluetooth off and back on
I’ve explained earlier that your AirPods is a pair of Bluetooth earbuds, albeit a very complicated one. Regardless of how complicated it is, the process of connecting it to your iPhone comes down to the age-old Bluetooth. So, it only makes sense that whenever there’s a connection issue, you should try toggling your Bluetooth.
You can turn off your Bluetooth connection by swiping down the control center from the top right corner of your smartphone’s display. From there, you should find a Bluetooth icon, which you can tap once to turn it off and once again to turn it back on. That should restore your Bluetooth connection.
- Charge your AirPods
There’s a pretty good chance that your AirPods are not connecting to your iPhone simply because the battery is too low for the connection to even work. Before trying more complicated troubleshooting hacks, it’s crucial to consider the most basic one first: charging your AirPods.
As you already know (since you probably have your AirPods with you), there’s no charging port on the device itself (as you know it). To charge your pair of AirPods, you’ll have to insert both into the carrying case, and they should start to charge automatically. You can also charge the case by plugging it in using the charging port, which is required when its battery runs low.
- Update your iPhone
When you open the official AirPods page on the Apple website, you’ll notice that each version of the AirPods has a minimum version of iOS or iPadOS that it can work with. If you have an older iPhone, you may have to update your device to make the pair of AirPods connect properly and work correctly.
You can check if this is the problem with yours by searching its name on Google and finding out what the minimum iOS version is. If it’s older than what’s on your iPhone, head over to the Settings app and tap General. Scroll down until you get to Software Update and install any pending updates to your device.
In some rare cases, your phone may just be too old to connect to your AirPods. You may have to upgrade your phone (or downgrade your AirPods) to make both devices work together.
- Forget the AirPods and reconnect it
One of the more drastic measures you can try to get your AirPods working with your device if it was working previously is to forget the device and reconnect it to your iPhone. You can forget your AirPods by heading to your Bluetooth settings, tapping (i), and selecting “Forget This Device.”
Then, close the charging case (with the AirPods in it of course), wait for about 30 seconds, reopen it, and connect it to your iPhone like you would with a new pair of AirPods. That should fix all of the issues you may be having with your AirPods’ connection to your iPhone if at all the connection was going to work.
READ MORE: AirPods Won’t Connect: Here’s the fix
Conclusion
The AirPods is a very nice accessory to add to your iPhone. However, paying top dollar for the luxury pair of headphones, only to have to deal with connection issues is less than ideal. This article shows you how to navigate any issues with your AirPods not connecting to your iPhone.