AirPods are Apple's wireless earbuds for iPhone and iPad. They're designed to be as "magical" as possible, enabling users to get their music, podcasts, or other content without the hassle of fiddling with on/off buttons or taps on a device.
One of the coolest features of AirPods is their automatic ear detection, which stops music and other audio from playing when one or both of the earbuds are taken out of your ears. But if you don't want music to stop when you take your earbuds out, you can turn off this feature in the settings of your iPhone or iPad.
You can disable automatic ear detection in the AirPods' Bluetooth menu in iOS or in System Preferences on your Mac. Just tap the AirPods' name and find the toggle next to "Automatic Ear Detection" to disable it.
You might not be able to connect AirPods to your Mac because you have an outdated Bluetooth chip. Open the Control Center on your Mac and turn off Bluetooth, wait a few seconds, then turn it back on.
Then, reconnect your AirPods to your Mac. Repeat this procedure until the AirPods are connected properly again.
If you're still having trouble, it might be because of the range of the AirPods, which can be reduced by walls and other sources of interference. Try keeping the AirPods and the source of your audio as close together as possible to ensure a strong signal.