Good news for AirPods Pro owners who have lost or damaged the small white silicone eartips: Apple is now selling replacement eartip packs online for $8.
You can choose from the three standard sizes and will get two replacement sets as quickly as four days after you order them. Previously, the replacement tips could only be acquired by contacting Apple support.
The AirPods Pro come packed with three sizes of eartips: Small, medium, and large. Only one size will typically provide a decent fit, so the other two sizes are effectively disposable because they won’t work as replacements.
If you’re in a jam, you could try to make them work, but the AirPods Pro’s excellent sound quality and active noise cancellation rely heavily on a perfect seal between the earbud and the wearer’s ear canal. Apple has even created a fit test feature within iOS so people can ensure they’ve chosen the best size of eartip for them. Apple’s description of the test points out that some people may need to use a different size of tip in each ear to get a really good fit.
Unfortunately, some AirPods Pro owners have found that even if they were able to get a good fit from the silicone tips that came with their earbuds, that fit didn’t always last.
Several Reddit users have reported that they needed to replace their tips just a few weeks after starting to use them. Though that issue is likely due to inadequate cleaning — one of several common AirPods Pro problems that can be easily fixed — it has nonetheless prompted AirPods Pro owners to go in search of other solutions.
Some have merged memory foam into the silicone tip, which reportedly improves comfort while also helping the eartips to preserve their original shape. Handy folks have figured out a way to do this as an inexpensive DIY project, and eBay now has several listings offering the same invention as a ready-to-wear replacement.
Shortly before the 2019 holiday period, Apple fell behind on AirPods Pro supplies and finding the true wireless earbuds became almost impossible.
Right now, however, things are back to normal in spite of the effect that the coronavirus pandemic is having on some supply chains. You can buy AirPods Pro directly from Apple for $249 or from Amazon for $235 with free shipping.