Diagnosis: AirPods Pro 2 firmware (6F7/6F8+) enforces mandatory Handoff handshake via the BLE mesh; DFU restore of the case won’t disable the Mac-side advertiser. Confirm iOS 17.4+ / macOS 14.4+ version parity (system_profiler SPBluetoothDataType | grep -A5 "AirPods Pro"), then disable the Mac’s BLE relay for this device: sudo defaults write /Library/Preferences/com.apple.Bluetooth.plist DontPageAudioDevices 1 (requires SIP disable or MDM profile). USB-C power delivery negotiation on the case is electrically isolated from the 2.4 GHz coexistence logic causing the half-second duck.
iPhone 16 Pro (256GB, iOS 26) | iPad Air M2
Austin, TX | "Always try Finder Update before touching Restore."
