Apple Watch Series 6 cuts out and slowly plays music to Airpod Pros (1st and 2nd Gen)

Update: Just tried to start a workout on my Apple Watch with my AirPod Pros in. Unfortunately I’m back to slow music for 5 seconds and then all audio cutting out… no issues with the Bose QC earbuds though.

Man, this is a real pain in the butt

Hello, thank you for the response, but my AirPod Pros have no issues with connectivity between my watch, nor my iPhone 14 Pro, iPad Air 3, Apple TVs, etc. that are all up to date with latest OS software. The issue is exclusively with my Apple Watch Series 6 and streaming audio via Bluetooth to Apple AirPod Pros (1st and 2nd generations). I’ve looked it up and experience the same issue this user had here: Music from Apple Watch cuts out - Apple Community.

I’ve restarted my watch, ‘forgotten’ and repaired my AirPod Pros to my watch, and the issue still exists without fail. There are no connectivity issues with the APPs being seen by my watch. The issue is exclusively with the Apple Watch Series 6 that I’m trying to diagnose in how it plays to Apple AirPod Pros as there is no issue at all with other brands of wireless headphones.

I’ve taken this to the Genius Bar to diagnose and they said they found an issue with the AirPod Pros 1, but

only with an audio driver problem that was not covered as they were out of warranty. However, the issue persisted once I bought the second generation of AirPod Pros, unfortunately.

This issue goes beyond basic connection issues. I’d be willing to bet a new series of watch wouldn’t have this issue but I’m not in the market to upgrade my watch right now.

Thank you

So, I upgraded to an Apple Watch Ultra 2 at the end of February. Guess what?!? Exact same issue… latest updates on the iPhone 14 Pro (and therefore the AirPod Pro 2s) and the Ultra Series 2.

I really like the new watch, but I just stick with my Bose headphones for workouts or anything audible as there’s no dropping of signal or any of the garbage I/we deal with. If I only had AirPods, I’d be much more frustrated than I am.

Thanks, SnickZ.

I went in the store with the issue when I had my AirPod Pro 1st Gen headphones (though I’ve got the same Series 6 watch). Since I recently got my AirPod Pros 2nd gen, I haven’t been back to the store to show them the same issue. I was just hoping for a better outcome, but was hoping there was someone on here who knew a remedy for the situation.

It’s likely best for me to take it back to the Genius Bar for further evaluation, but I’ll contact Apple Support in the meantime.

Thank you

So, I was on the phone with Apple Support and booked a Genius Bar reservation for tomorrow morning as I was having issues while on the phone where I could replicate the same issue.

Afterwards, I was messing around and tried to connect my Bose to my watch while the AirPod Pros were playing slowly. When I put one Bose earbud into my right ear, the sound from the Airpod pros stopped as the Bose automatically connect to the watch. That was expected. I then streamed to my Bose and it came through as it should. I then switched sources to my AirPod Pros and lo and behold it starting working. I did multiple switches between the two brands through my watch and it appeared to work seamlessly (better sound quality on the Bose though… 😉 ).

I powered down both my watch and my iPhone to see if this fixed the problem or if I could replicate the old issue. So far, it appears that it’s working correctly!

I will monitor and try again in a few hours to see if the same problem happens. If it does, I’ll keep the Genius Bar reservation. If not, I’m back to square one.

Yes, it appears to be an issue (that I can tell) from all series of Watches with both AirPod Pro versions. The watch appears to stream via Bluetooth to other components with no issues.

Best of luck with Apple Support. I believe they may likely be aware of this issue but don’t have a fix for it. One thing I’ve considered is to start with a new phone and watch profile from scratch and not set up anything from a backup. It would be such a PITA but I’m wondering if there’s some legacy bug or defunct software that is the issue? I’m no hardware/software engineer, but that’s the only thing I can think of.