AirPods Pro 2 Charging Case Can Broadcast Battery Status With or Without AirPods Inside

Apple's second-generation AirPods Pro are now in the hands of customers, and one notable new tidbit that has come to light is that the MagSafe Charging Case can broadcast its charging status to the iOS Battery widget even when the AirPods are in your ears.

airpods 2 batteries widget
With other AirPods models, including the first-generation AirPods Pro, users have to place the earbuds in the Charging Case to get a reading of the battery status of the case itself. With AirPods Pro 2, the Battery widget will now show you the status of both the Charging Case and the AirPods, regardless of whether the earbuds are in the case.

The AirPods Pro 2 case includes a built-in U1 chip that enables Find My with Precision Finding so that it can be exactly located. It seems likely therefore that the U1 chip is enabling the Charging Case to broadcast its battery status over high-frequency Ultra Wideband, rather than having to rely on a Bluetooth connection via the AirPods.

Priced at $249, AirPods Pro 2 are available to order from Apple's website and to pick up at Apple Stores. Are you a new owner of AirPods Pro 2? Let us know what your initial impressions are in the comments.

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

Popular Stories

streaming black friday 2025

Black Friday Streaming Deals Include Big Savings on Disney+, Hulu, Apple TV, and More

Monday November 24, 2025 8:03 am PST by
We've been focusing on deals on physical products over the past few weeks, but Black Friday is also a great time of year to purchase a streaming membership. Some of the biggest services have great discounts for new and select returning members this week, including Disney+, Hulu, Paramount+, Peacock, and more. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When you click a...
iOS 26

iOS 26.2 Adds These New Features to Your iPhone

Thursday November 20, 2025 10:50 am PST by
iOS 26.2 is currently in beta testing. The upcoming update includes a handful of new features and changes on the iPhone, including a new Liquid Glass slider for the Lock Screen's clock, offline lyrics for Apple Music, and more. In a recent press release, Apple confirmed that iOS 26.2 will be released to all users in December, but it did not provide a specific release date. Keep reading...
iOS 26 on Three iPhones

iOS 27 Will Reportedly Have Two Key Upgrades

Sunday November 23, 2025 8:48 am PST by
iOS 27 will reportedly have two major elements: quality improvements and new AI features. In his Power On newsletter today, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said that iOS 27 will be similar to Mac OS X Snow Leopard, in the sense that Apple is focused on improving "quality and underlying performance" over adding new features. Gurman said there is one exception to this rule, though, as he expects...
maxresdefault

The MacRumors Show: iPhone 18 Pro Looks Like a Huge Upgrade

Friday November 21, 2025 9:10 am PST by
On this week's episode of The MacRumors Show, we talk through all of the new features and improvements expected to come to next year's iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max models. Subscribe to The MacRumors Show YouTube channel for more videos Apple's next-generation iPhones are less than ten months away and we already have a good idea about what to expect based on corroborated leaks, rumors,...
General Black Friday Deals 25 Red

Apple Black Friday Deals Available Now on AirPods, iPads, Accessories, and More

Friday November 21, 2025 8:48 am PST by
We're only a few days away from Black Friday, which will take place on Friday, November 28 in 2025. As always, this will be the best time of the year to shop for great deals, including popular Apple products like AirPods, iPad, Apple Watch, and more. In this article, the majority of the discounts will be found on Amazon. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When...
Apple Shopping Event 2025

Apple Announces 2025 Black Friday Event, Here's What You Can Get

Thursday November 20, 2025 6:28 am PST by
Apple's annual four-day Black Friday through Cyber Monday shopping event is returning on Friday, November 28 through Monday, December 1 in many countries, including the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom, Belgium, the Netherlands, Sweden, Thailand, and others. During the shopping event, customers can get an Apple gift card with...
hikawa phone grip stand apple%402x

Apple Launches Second Limited-Edition iPhone Accessory in a Month

Friday November 21, 2025 3:53 am PST by
Apple has begun selling the Hikawa Phone Grip and Stand, a new limited-edition iPhone accessory designed with accessibility in mind. Designed by LA-based Bailey Hikawa to celebrate the 40th anniversary of accessibility at Apple, the grip uses magnets to securely snap onto any iPhone with MagSafe. Apple says it can be removed with ease, and doubles as a stand with two different viewing...
apple news banner

Apple News Loses CNN

Monday November 24, 2025 7:56 am PST by
American multinational news company CNN has abruptly pulled its content from Apple News, Semafor reports. CNN quietly removed its stories from Apple News over the weekend and there is no longer a feed from the network to subscribe to in the app. This effectively ends its distribution agreement with Apple while the two sides negotiate new terms. Discussions are apparently ongoing and CNN's...

Top Rated Comments

UltimateSyn Avatar
42 months ago
Finally! That's awesome.


Why didn't they advertise this during the Apple Event?
Because it would just make people think "Wait, why didn't it do that before?"
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
MayaUser Avatar
42 months ago
Very nice little touch
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
dannyyankou Avatar
42 months ago

I’m confused, I have 1st gen APP and on the widget in iOS 14.8 it shows the battery of both the AirPods and MagSafe case when the AirPods are in my ears. ?


Since the AirPods in your screenshot are at 100%, you probably just took them out of the case. The brief moment they were open, they sent the battery status of the case to your iPhone. It stays there for a little bit, but after keeping the AirPods in your ears for about a minute the case charging status disappears.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Spaceboi Scaphandre Avatar
42 months ago
Why didn't they advertise this during the Apple Event?
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Eldaerenth Faexidor Avatar
42 months ago
Great stuff this. I have the APP2 in my ears for 5 hours straight now and they are definitely more comfortable than the APP. Spatial audio is so nice in combinatie with ATV4K. I absolutely love them!
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Unregistered 4U Avatar
42 months ago
Thomas, post: 31540568, member: 1021539"]
Yes, the battery indicator as a whole is a joke... can't even display the charge of your other Apple devices, let alone any 3rd party accessories or electric cars...
Does your car show the charge of your devices?
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)