It’s a sad fact to admit, as a 33-year-old, that I am, indeed, clumsier than my toddler when it comes to technology. I’ve broken or lost more iPhones than I’d like to count, and my partner frequently labels his charging cables to prevent me from borrowing them.
Despite working at one of the biggest tech sites around, I’m a walking disaster, and this week, I lived up to my title as I dropped my Apple AirPods Pro 2 into my dog’s water bowl.
Luckily, the earbuds themselves were still in my ears as I returned from my run and undid my running vest. As I maneuvered the vest from my back, the AirPods charging case fell, with a level of precision a pro darts player would aspire to, directly into said water bowl.
If I removed the vest another hundred times, I probably couldn’t do it again, but as they made a disconcerting splash, I thought they were gone forever. Once I fished the case out of the bowl, I looked around my kitchen and reached for my iPhone.
Google told me to place the case in a Tupperware container with silica gel packets, but I find those packets only appear when you don’t need them, and with a toddler and a dog in the house, I’ve gotten pretty good at binning them the second they come through the door.
Here's what I did instead.
How I made my AirPods come back to life
Firstly, I used a microfiber cloth to thoroughly dry the charging case. Allowing time for panicking, it was probably only in water for 10 seconds, but it’s not waterproof, and this was enough time for water to seep into the part of the case where the AirPods sit. I used a cotton bud to really dry this part of the case, and pushed it into the charging point.
Next, I stuck the case into a bowl of rice and left the kitchen for a couple of hours. No point crying over broken AirPods, right?
In the meantime, I did my research and found out that, thankfully, Apple allows you to buy new charging cases and individual buds if you’re as clumsy as I am. It would cost around $100, but it would still be cheaper than buying a whole new set of AirPods. If you have Apple Care, this cost is a lot less.
A few hours later, I held my breath and went to retrieve the AirPods case. I used a small brush that’s designed to clean my toddler’s sippy cup straw to dislodge grains of rice from the lid’s hinge. I closed the lid, and the light on the front glowed red. It needed a charge, but it had very much survived its swim.
I’m pleased to report the case is still working fine a few days later. It’s still charging my AirPods, and I’ve reached a point where I’m able to talk about it, much to the amusement of my colleagues.
It turns out that walking away from the headphones, rather than putting the AirPods back into the case and testing them immediately, was probably a good thing, as I gave the case’s electrical elements a charge to fully dry before using them again. Maybe five years at Tom’s Guide has rubbed off on me after all.
I’ll sign off this article by saying that Apple does not recommend submerging any of its headphones in water, or rice for that matter.
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