AirPods MagSafe charging case reports battery status without headphones inside

The new MagSafe Charging Case for AirPods Pro 2 reports battery status to Apple’s Batteries widget, even without earbuds.

• What is happening? An improved charging case for the new AirPods Pro can report battery status to iOS with or without earbuds.
• Why care? Prior to the AirPods Pro 2, you had to leave at least one earbud in the charging case to view the charge status of the case in Apple’s Batteries widget.
• What to do? If you’re looking to upgrade your AirPods, check out the AirPods Pro 2, whose charging case now works with MagSafe and Find My.

Apple’s new MagSafe charging case has another secret

One of the best features of the second generation AirPods Pro, in my opinion, is not 2x better than active noise cancellation with the Apple H2 chip or other improvements, but in a much improved charging case.

Finally, the charging case that comes with AirPods Pro 2 can report the charge status of its own internal battery to Apple Batteries widgets without leaving the earbuds in the case. This is very different from all other AirPods models that do not report the charge level of the case without at least one AirPods in the case.

That’s because the old case didn’t have wireless to communicate with the Batteries widget, instead relying on Bluetooth in the earbuds themselves.

But at least one earbud had to be inside the case so that the charge status of the case could be transmitted to iOS. But once you put both AirPods in your ears, the Batteries widget could no longer report the charge status of the case.

The new case uses the Apple U1 chip to communicate directly with your phone.

Find My AirPods Charging Case

It also needs the U1 chip for another, more practical reason: integration with the Find My service. Participating in the Apple Find My network allows you to easily locate your charging case on a map when it separates from your AirPods.

And with a built-in speaker, finding your lost or misplaced suitcase just got even easier.

Previously, you could only find individual lost AirPods and play a sound to help you find them. There was no way to find a lost or misplaced charging case using the Find Me app, and you couldn’t play a sound to help you find it.

“With AirPods Pro (2nd generation), you can also play audio to help locate the charging case,” Apple notes in a support document.

And because it’s the first AirPods charging case to feature the Apple U1 chip, you can turn on split alerts in the Find My app. This will notify you on your iPhone if you forget your AirPods in an unknown location.

The AirPods Pro 2 Charging Case also supports MagSafe technology, allowing you to charge it with your Apple Watch charger and other MagSafe chargers.