Apple Explains iPhone's New Alert Shown When Fake AirPods Are Connected - MacRumors
Skip to Content

Apple Explains iPhone's New Alert Shown When Fake AirPods Are Connected

Starting with iOS 16, users may see a "Cannot Verify AirPods" alert on their iPhone if they try to connect fake AirPods to the device. Apple shared more information about this alert today in a new support document spotted by developer Steve Moser.

iOS 16 iPhone Unverified AirPods Alert
The support document indicates that unverified AirPods can still be connected to an iPhone, but may not perform as expected.

Apple's alert features a prominent "Don't Connect" button, but users can tap on the smaller "Connect in Bluetooth Settings" link to proceed with connecting the unverified AirPods if they choose to. Twitter user "Tommy Boi" shared a video of the alert in action a few days ago after connecting fake AirPods to their iPhone (NSFW warning: the video's background music contains profanity and viewer discretion is advised).

The alert was first discovered in code for the iOS 16 Release Candidate last week.

Related Forum: iOS 16

Popular Stories

Apple Watch Ultra 2 Black Titanium

New Apple Watch Series 12 and Apple Watch Ultra 4 Features Revealed

Sunday August 30, 2026 7:54 am PDT by
Bloomberg's Mark Gurman today further outlined what to expect from the Apple Watch Series 12 and Apple Watch Ultra 4 set to be unveiled on September 9. While it was initially rumored that Touch ID may be coming to the Apple Watch this year, Gurman reiterated that he does not expect the Series 12 or Ultra 4 to have any major design changes compared to the current Series 11 and Ultra 3 models. ...
Apple Event Logo

Apple Unveiled Four New Products This Week

Wednesday August 26, 2026 5:54 pm PDT by
Apple on Tuesday unveiled a new Mac mini with M6 and M5 Pro chip options, a new Mac Studio with M5 Max and M5 Ultra chip options, a new version of the Polishing Cloth with a lower price, and updated Magic Keyboards for Macs. To learn more about these products, read our coverage below: Apple Announces New Mac Mini With M6 and M5 Pro Chips and More Apple Unveils New Mac Studio With M5 Max...
imac video apple feature

September 1 to Mark the End of an Era at Apple

Tuesday August 18, 2026 9:14 am PDT by
Apple in April announced that Tim Cook will be stepping down as CEO at the end of this month, after 15 years of leading the company. Cook has been Apple's CEO since 2011 Effective September 1, Apple's hardware engineering chief John Ternus will become the company's next CEO, while Cook will become executive chairman of Apple's board of directors. In his new role, Apple said Cook will assist...

Top Rated Comments

zilchfox Avatar
52 months ago
Good way to validate you’re buying genuine AirPods from Craigslist and the like. Also good that you can still use them anyways.
Score: 21 Votes (Like | Disagree)
russell_314 Avatar
52 months ago

A person would have to be really desperate to use fake AirPods
There’s actually a market for them. Some people just don’t want to pay full price
Score: 17 Votes (Like | Disagree)
52 months ago
My AirPods the Apple Store replaced 2 months ago are flagged as fake lol. Seems like the feature works super well
Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)
CapitalIdea Avatar
52 months ago

I've had a few pairs of fake air pods

they aren't much worse sounding than real ones. if you like the form factor but don't care about owning apple everything they can be a decent buy

only issue I've had with some pairs is that the batteries sometimes crap out pretty quickly
But this isn’t about just liking the form factor. This is about devices that falsely report that they are legitimate apple products instead of scammy trash.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
visualseed Avatar
52 months ago

A person would have to be really desperate to use fake AirPods
A lot of people think they are buying real AirPods at a good but still reasonable price. Since real AirPods are often being sold at steep discounts, it's hard to even warn people about deals that seem to good to be true.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
nathansz Avatar
52 months ago

A person would have to be really desperate to use fake AirPods
I've had a few pairs of fake air pods

they aren't much worse sounding than real ones. if you like the form factor but don't care about owning apple everything they can be a decent buy

only issue I've had with some pairs is that the batteries sometimes crap out pretty quickly
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)