Apple Tweaks AirPods Charging Status Light in iOS 26
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As with every major iPhone software update over the past few years, iOS 26 is bringing some exciting new features to Apple’s AirPods, including audio quality improvements, sleep detection, and even a camera remote. Now, it looks like there may be another small improvement tucked away in the latest iOS 26 beta and AirPods firmware.
Code found in the latest iOS 26 beta by the folks at MacRumors says that the AirPods charging case “now more clearly indicates charging status,” and that you’ll be reminded of when to charge.
While it wasn’t initially clear what this meant, at least one beta tester has encountered a new screen, sharing an image of it in a post on X:
It’s unclear where this screen is supposed to show up, as we’ve been unable to reproduce this image in our own testing, even after removing and re-pairing our AirPods with the latest AirPods beta firmware and iOS 26 beta installed. However, assuming it’s an accurate representation, it appears to show two slightly different shades of amber, or possibly even a yellow one, to differentiate between “Charging” and “Charge Case,” along with the usual green for fully charged.
It’s unclear what the difference will be between the two yellow-amber shades, especially since they may be hard to distinguish. Currently, when they’re attached to a charger, the AirPods and AirPods Pro show a green indicator when fully charged or an amber light when they’re in the process of charging.
The LED is also used to indicate charging status when you’re on the go, but that can be a bit confusing. Here’s how Apple explains it:
If your AirPods are in your case and the lid is open, the status light will show the charge status of your AirPods. When your AirPods aren’t in your case, the light shows the status of your case. Green means fully charged and amber means that less than one full charge remains.
MacRumors’ Juli Clover speculates that the amber light could be used to indicate that the AirPods charging case needs to be recharged even when the lid is closed, but we may have to wait until Apple updates its support document to know for sure. That typically only happens once the updates are out of beta and released to the public.
These charging status improvements on the case accompany new charging notifications in iOS 26 and the rest of Apple’s software updates that will remind you when your AirPods are low on power and when they’re charged back up. These have been in place since the first betas, and work much like they do for the Apple Watch. However, they’re arguably more useful for the AirPods, as you’ll get reminders to charge up the case even if they’ve been sitting in your bag or on your desk unused for a few days.
As usual, most of the new AirPods features in iOS 26 also require a corresponding firmware update. The good news is that Apple has released a public AirPods firmware beta for the first time, allowing anyone running any of the iOS 26 betas — developer or public — to grab the latest firmware for their AirPods Pro 2 or AirPods 4 by simply toggling on a switch in the AirPods settings.
