iFixit gives AirPods 0/10 Repairability Score

[Circaflex]

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Apple EarPods were standard issue with iPhones released before the iPhone 7. So what happens when Apple releases a phone with no headphone jack? They release wireless headphones. Are the new Apple AirPods worth the wait? Only one way to find out. Ladies and gents, hold onto your headphones seats, it's teardown time!

"If jamming complex components into a small form factor and sealing it with a copious amount of glue were a game, Apple would be winning."

"At this point we're momentarily stymied—what remains in the earbud is a hot mess of cables and adhesive, and none of it seems particularly keen on coming out. So we turn to the stem, hoping for another entry point. "

"Instead, we encounter a waterfall of glue."

"Ripping out the glue plug reveals the end of a teensy weensy battery, with teensy weensy spot welds. Looks like we won't be replacing these any time soon (or recycling them, ever)."

Final Thoughts

Accessing any case component is impossible without destroying the outer casing.

Glue is the only external fastener used in the case or earbuds.

 

A set of AirPods contains three batteries, one in the case and one in each earpiece. The earpiece battery is a 93 milliwatt hour battery, which is about 1% of the charge capacity in an iPhone 7. The battery in the case weighs in at 1.52 Wh—about 16 times the power capacity of the earpiece batteries.
 

Our X-ray imagery (provided by Creative Electron) shows quality issues in the AirPod case’s processor. Excessive empty spaces in the solder, known as voiding, could be evidence of low quality standards, or a rushed product release. Could issues with the AirPod case be what delayed release?
 

Accessing any case component is impossible without destroying the outer casing, earning the AirPods a nigh-unprecedented 0/10 on our repairability scale.

 

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We talk about repair a lot, and there’s a reason for that—it’s good for consumers and good for the environment, just like recycling. Usually, being repairable goes hand in hand with being more recyclable. The easier it is to untangle the parts, the easier the device is to recycle. When products are glued shut and soldered together, like the AirPods, it costs recyclers more than they can earn from recovered materials. If AirPods are Apple’s new standard earbud, they’ll sell hundreds of millions of them. That’s millions of AirPods that are, essentially, disposable.

 

Shame on Apple.

[+virtorio MVC]

Not unexpected. If you care about repairability or electronic waste, don't buy anything Apple makes.