Some AirPods Pro 3 owners complain about audible static and even a 'loud feedback noise'

I don't know about you, but when I put my earbuds in playing my nu-metal Spotify playlist, I might expect to hear some Static-X - but not actual static.

However, this is what's happening to some folks with Apple's AirPods Pro 3, which went on sale last month.

MacRumors highlighted some complaints on Reddit - and its own forum - about a static, or white noise kind of sound, which is audible when nothing's playing through the AirPods, when noise cancelling is active.

The OP of this Reddit thread (see above) describes the sounds as rather like putting your ear to a shell and 'hearing the ocean', and that with their AirPods 2, there's no such noise and they're fine. They note the noise is still detectable when in other modes (transparency and adaptive), but is most pronounced when noise cancelling is enabled.

Others agree that there's an issue, but with other modes, notably transparency. And some believe the disruptive sounds are worse than the OP finds them, such as this post:

"I can even hear myself breathing with this noise. And sometimes it's really close to the sound you hear when a stage microphone is too close to a speaker and creates this loud feedback noise. And I also heard very high irritating frequencies when speaking with the headphones on."

It could be the case that folks with more sensitive ears are more prone to hearing odd noises through the AirPods Pro 3.

Other people have observed that the white noise isn't necessarily constant, theorizing that maybe there's a glitch with the AirPods which means the static comes and goes. The AirPods work okay one day, then the static returns later.

According to MacRumors, at least one person who complained to Apple got some replacement AirPods, and other people have made exchanges but found the same problem with the replacement pair.

Apparently Apple is telling staff at its stores to exchange the AirPods Pro 3 for customers who report an issue with white noise. Whether this is a software or hardware fault is unknown, but hopefully the former so a patch can be implemented.

For now, though, your best bet to avoid any static is to not use the noise cancellation or transparency modes, and you could try your luck getting a replacement.