AirPods Max static in left ear cup when it’s pressed or moved. See details, as it gets weirder…

Sorry, meant to reply to you directly, but please see my post below, as I did find a fix, however unsatisfying. Good luck with your issue!

I’m sorry to say that I can confirm this was a hardware issue. I worked with Apple repeatedly and the only help they were willing to offer on my 2+ year old set without AppleCare was a $300+ repair, which was expensive enough that I declined. I continued my search, however, and found a third party company who both sold used parts and offers repair service.

I know that I was taking the life of my AirPods Max into my own hands by doing this, but I was ultimately able to repair them myself with an investment of more like $100 in parts and repair equipment, though I have computer repair background and an unusual amount of patience for incredibly tiny screws. In my case, it was the left earcup’s plastic insert (which also contains a microphone—likely the source of the static) that needed to be replaced, but the replacement did resolve the problem. It took some very specific repair tools and almost an hour of effort (seriously, _incredibly_ tiny screws) but I got it done.

So to those having concerns, you may have luck researching third-party repair services and they’ll likely cost less than Apple’s all-in-one option, but you are crossing a line by either performing the repair yourself or letting any company that’s not Apple touch your AP Max. I did my own repair knowing that Apple might refuse future service if I found that the one part I changed didn’t do the trick—I was just willing to take the risk and in my case it paid off.

That said, it’s still somewhat galling to know that Apple would have charged $300 for a repair that actually involved only one part that certainly did not cost $300. I wouldn’t have put in as much effort as I did if the AirPods Max didn’t sound amazing, but this experience does have me carefully considering if I’d buy another set.