Headphones AirWhile the Pods are absolutely fantastic in many ways, there's one thing they've been lacking since their first generation. The repair experts at iFixit have taken apart all previous generations of the earbuds. Apple awarded an unflattering 0 out of 10 points for repairability, which in other words means that AirPods proThey couldn't be repaired. With AirBut there's a fairly fundamental change coming to the Pods 5. The new headphones are much easier to disassemble, and most importantly, the battery can be replaced without completely destroying the headphones.
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iFixit takes a look inside AirHe got the Pods 5 by using a hair dryer to heat up the glue and the clips holding the earpiece in place. Inside, he found a battery with contacts similar to the solution he Apple already used at AirPods 3. The fundamental difference is that the pods themselves AirThe Pods 5 can be opened much easier this time, and the battery can then be pulled out with pliers and, according to iFixit, disconnected quite intuitively.
You can replace the battery, but there's one catch
Interestingly, the left and right earbud do not use the same batteries and therefore you cannot swap them. Their polarity is reversed, so the battery removed from the left earbud AirThe Pod can't simply be inserted into the right one and vice versa. Still, it's a huge step forward in terms of repairability. iFixit even claims that more experienced technicians and braver home repairers should be able to replace the battery in AirPods 5 without much effort.
Of course, not everything is rosy when it comes to repairability. As you probably already know, while the batteries in the headphones can be replaced, the charging case unfortunately cannot, and it is still practically impossible to get the rechargeable battery out of it without damaging the case.
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Nevertheless, they received AirPods 5 from iFixit final rating 2 points out of 10, which in itself sounds lousy, but compared to all the previous ones AirPods (except Max) that ended at zero, it is actually quite a jump. After about ten years Apple konemade by AirPods where replacing the battery is practically a lost battle. And considering that the battery is one of the main reasons for replacing wireless headphones after a few years, this is definitely a step in the right direction. I am all the more curious if the coming years will bring an influx of new service offers specifically for replacing batteries in AirSubs.
