Can you connect two pairs of airpods to one computer at once

Solution 1:

I don't have a pair of Airpods to test this with but it worked perfectly with a Bluetooth speaker and my headphones.

Update: @David Bonnet was kind enough to test this with 2 pairs of Airpods and Apple, unfortunately, has prevented you from doing this by treating them as special devices rather than as generic Bluetooth devices. You can use the steps below to connect to a pair of Airpods and any other Bluetooth or hardwired audio device, but not 2 pairs of Airpods.

1. Pair both Airpods to the computer. You need to be able to select them separately as Outputs in System Preferences -> Sound -> Output (Set the output volume for each Airpod now as you can't set it once you select the combined device. You can always switch back to the individual ones and change their volume before going back to the combined one)
2. Open Audio MIDI Setup in Applications/Utilities
3. Click the + at the bottom left and select Create Multi-Output Device
4. Check the boxes next to both Airpods (or any other 2+ output devices)
5. (Optional) Rename the output by clicking on the name Multi-Output Device in the list
6. Select the new device you created from the volume menu or from the Sound System Preferences.
7. Enjoy sharing audio with your friend.

Solution 2:

Currently, the only working solution is to use a software such as Airfoil that streams the audio from the computer (e.g., your Mac) to another device (e.g., an iPhone running Airfoil Satellite). One pair of Airpods is connected to the computer, the other pair is connected to the device receiving the streamed audio.

Solution 3:

Bose has a "Music Share" feature which allows one Bose device to share its audio with another. Open the "Bose Connect" app and click the icon that looks like 2 headphones.

Share your favorite music or audio with a friend by streaming it between two Bose headphones.