Updated November 2026

Why AirPods sound worse on a Mac during calls, and how to fix it

Music sounds fine until a call starts or an app opens the microphone. Then everything turns flat and muffled. Here's what's happening, and how to keep your AirPods sounding right.

Why the sound drops

AirPods play music over a Bluetooth mode made for high-quality sound in one direction. The moment an app uses the AirPods' microphone, your Mac switches them to a second mode that also carries your voice. It has much less room, so what you hear drops to call quality: narrower, flatter and often mono.

It isn't only calls. Any app that opens the microphone does it: a meeting in a browser tab, a chat app listening for your voice, dictation. The sound stays that way until the microphone closes.

Newer AirPods and recent versions of macOS sound better in calls than older ones did, and on some the drop is small. It depends on the model, its firmware and your Mac.

To see what your AirPods are doing, open Audio MIDI Setup (in Applications › Utilities) during a call and select your AirPods. 48,000 Hz with 2 channels is full quality; a lower rate with 1 channel is call quality.

Talk into your Mac's microphone instead

Keep listening on your AirPods and talk into your Mac's own microphone. Your AirPods then stay in high-quality mode for the whole call.

Open System Settings › Sound and click Input.
Choose your Mac's microphone, for example MacBook Pro Microphone.
In Zoom, Teams or your browser's meeting settings, set the microphone to Same as System, or choose the Mac's microphone there too.

In a quiet room the Mac's microphone sounds just as clear to the other side. In a noisy café the AirPods' microphones are better at picking out your voice, so use them for those calls.

Why it keeps switching back

Each time your AirPods connect, macOS usually makes them the input again. And an app that picked the AirPods' microphone in its own settings keeps using it, whatever System Settings says. So the next call often starts at call quality again.

The KeepBuds menu with AirPods Pro on this Mac and a warning: call quality, because zoom.us is using the AirPods mic, with a Use Mac Mic button. — When an app takes the AirPods' microphone, the menu says which one, and one click puts the Mac's microphone back.

Keep it that way with KeepBuds

Keep your Mac's microphone, in Settings › Sound: when your AirPods connect, KeepBuds puts the input back on the Mac's microphone, so they stay in high-quality mode.
The menu shows High-quality sound while all is well. If an app takes the AirPods' microphone anyway, it names the app and offers Use Mac Mic.
If that app chose the AirPods' microphone in its own settings, KeepBuds tells you to change it there.
After a meeting in your calendar, it reminds you if an app still has the microphone open.

KeepBuds Settings, Sound: Keep your Mac's microphone is on, under Microphone, with the reminder for after meetings below it. — Settings › Sound: keep the Mac's microphone, and a reminder for after meetings.

Better sound, and your AirPods stay put

KeepBuds is a small menu bar app for Mac. It keeps your AirPods sounding right, stops your Mac from taking them from your iPhone without asking, and shows their battery.

Buy KeepBuds More guides

Questions

Will people hear me worse with the Mac's microphone?
In a quiet room, usually not: a MacBook's microphones are made for calls. In a noisy place the AirPods' microphones pick out your voice better, and you can switch back for that call.

Does it work with Zoom, Teams, FaceTime and Meet?
Yes. Apps that follow the system microphone switch with it. If an app is set to the AirPods' microphone, KeepBuds shows which app it is so you can change it there.

What about Beats and other headphones?
Any Bluetooth headphones with a microphone drop to call quality the same way, and the same fix works for them.