We’re on the third set of Apple teardowns at
iFixit HQ and this time we have the Airpods 4—both ANC and non-ANC versions—and the
USB-C AirPods Max on our teardown table. Airpods have historically been
a nightmare to take apart, consistently earning 0 out of
10 on our repairability scale, but their bigger and more expensive sibling
the Airpods Max are bordering on repairable with the first version earning a 6 our of 10,
thanks to a relatively easy disassembly process. How much has changed since the last time we’ve seen Airpods on our teardown table?
Let’s crack right in and take a look! Before we get started let’s take a look at the
Airpods 4 under the revealing rays of Lumafields Neptune scanner. With the Airpods 4 tucked into
their charging case, you can see just how densely packed they are with tech-wizardry. Except for
the large rectangular mass of the case’s battery, every nook and cranny of the buds are
crammed to the gills with tiny boards and ICs.
Hopefully we’ll be able to get a look
at some of those without too much destruction… I’m taking a page out of Phone Repair Guru’s
book and attempting a non-destructive battery removal. It should be noted, the moment
this jig comes out is the moment this thing becomes unrepairable for the average
consumer, regardless of whether the battery can be successfully replaced. This is
a highly specific and specialized tool. For now, let’s humor the notoriously
unrepairable AirPods and see how far we can get. With a reflow station and a ton of
patience, I’m heating the pods at around 110C, carefully moving every few seconds to
avoid applying too much heat to one spot. Eventually, I get the gap I
need to pry the stem of the buds away from the driver assembly. I can
immediately see the lithium ion battery, a consumable component that will
eventually need to be replaced. What you’re seeing here is what goes
on in independent repair shops that deal with AirPod battery replacements.
Apple stores and Apple-authorized repair shops don’t do this. They’ll shred the
pods to separate the components and the battery but most of the materials—and the
energy required to make them—gets wasted.
On these AirPods 4, we can see
two solder points securing the battery to very delicate ribbon cable
connections. I’m not stopping here, let's dig a little further to see what’s
sitting deep inside this stack of components. For that I need the reflow station, set to 100C
this time, to help melt the adhesive that’s pretty much all over these components. There are
functional reasons for using this type of glue: securing the driver, reducing unwanted vibrations,
and protecting against moisture and dust ingress. Still, the IP54 rating that gives these
buds a good measure of splash resistance is not a guarantee of waterproofing,
meaning any damage to the buds is out of warranty and any repair to the circuitry
is near impossible due to its construction. After 10 minutes of digging, I’ve finally managed
to get the driver away, revealing the in-ear microphone, which in the ANC version is used
both for Spatial Audio and noise cancellation. The non-ANC version has the exact same
microphone but it’s only used for Spatial Audio.
Underneath the inner microphone is the optical
sensor consisting of two LEDs and a receiver, together used to measure light
absorption and reflection from the skin. These sensors are how the
auto pause feature of the earbuds work. With a bit more digging I can release the
rest of the inner ear circuitry but I can already see some damage to the flex cables.
The inner ear mesh is first to come away and soaking the rest of the components with
alcohol helps me pull everything else out. Now it’s time to turn my attention to the
stem, starting with the lower microphone and terminal contacts. It’s like Spiderman put this
thing together, the glue is refusing to let go.
After removing the glue, I tried applying
extra heat to get the interior of the buds to release to no avail. I ended up deforming
the plastic and eventually cutting through the stem to release the electronics hiding inside.
It’s unfortunate that the outer shell on the AirPods have such a low melting point, it makes
removing the adhesive inside a real challenge. With the inner components out, I’m
going to use my Fix Hub Power Series Portable Soldering Station to remove
the 1.23 mWh battery. This portable, smart soldering iron can go from zero
to ready to solder in about 5 seconds, and it’s all powered with a 55-watt hour
rechargeable battery that can keep you soldering for up to 8 hours without recharging.
They are available to preorder on our site today.
Let’s take a closer look at
the components we just removed. Much like the AirPods Pro 2, both versions of the AirPods 4 are capable of both
2.4 GHz and 5GHz transmissions which enables ultra low latency audio when
combined with devices like the Vision Pro. Both versions also have the exact same System
In Package or SIP housing the brains. In fact, we won’t be tearing down the AirPods 4 ANC because
the only difference between the two earbuds appears to be a single outward-facing microphone,
the ANC version having a bigger, beefier mic. We can clearly see how similar the
two buds are with CT’s provided by our Lumafield Neptune scanner.
The buds are 99% identical, meaning that the difference between ANC and
non-ANC models appears to be a $2 microphone.
It’s time to move on to the case. Heating
the back of the case loosens the adhesive enough to pull the lid away along with the
hinge. Now it’s back to the usual heating and prying process that’s proven to be so
massively destructive with AirPods cases. For the record, Sony, Samsung, and of course, Fairphone all figured out how to make their buds
cases accessible for easy battery replacements. Using gentle heat doesn’t help, a sharp
knife can’t get between the seams, and honestly I’m out of patience
with this device at this point. A simple battery replacement
shouldn’t be this demanding. Blasting the case with 130C for a bit does more
than just deform the plastic. The problem is, it’s still not enough to get into the
device. There’s far too much prying with metal tools for my liking, especially after
my bloodletting with the Apple Pencil Pro. The answer? Enough heat to
make the case uncomfortable to hold. This just isn’t fun anymore. In a surprising turn of events, it
seems I’ve been prying at the plastic that holds the earbuds, a separate
component from the rest of the case.
The functional components that
make everything tick are still inside. Wouldn’t you know it, we need more heat. In the AirPods engineering team's defense, there’s
less glue in here than I found in the AirPods Pro 2, and the inner tray looks like it was
designed to slide out. The spoiler is the glue, had they just used clips then the design
for an easy disassembly was already there! I need to try for that battery and I’m
starting with the only screws in sight, the two T3 screws next to the USB-C port.
Unfortunately, that does nothing so I’m going to take a more direct approach to removing
the cover over the battery press connector.
That does the trick and while I’m here
I’m going to pop the only other press connector on here. It’s time to
remove the 1.3 Wh battery pack, it’s been an absolute ordeal to get this far
and I’ve destroyed the entire device to do it. The last component to come out is the PCB. If
we take a look at x-rays of the ANC version, we can again find the exact same
PCB but with a speaker inside the housing. This is another component that
contributes to the extra $50 you’d pay for the ANC version. As far as I can
tell, those are the only differences. The AirPods Max are next on the teardown
table. There’s not been any reported changes other than the charge port, which drops
the Lightning port in favor of a USB-C port. That doesn’t seem to be the end of the
Lightning connector in this device though, the headband is still essentially utilizing a mini
Lightning connector to connect the two earcups. It’s been a while since we opened up AirPods
so I forgot about the quarter turn to release the locking mechanism underneath.
Those
screws aren’t the real challenge though, the adhesive running all the way
around the edge is the real problem. Applying heat would definitely make this
job easier but I’ve got to be careful not to distort the speaker diaphragm. It mostly
comes down to applying force through one of the screw holes and lifting enough of
the plate up to get a pick in there. It’s easygoing once the pick is in. Compared to the first version of the AirPods
Max, there’s not much different here. Other than the obvious USB-C swap, the internals
look near identical. There are some visible tweaks to the board housing the charge port
but otherwise, nothing appears to have changed. So here we are again, another year
and another AirPods teardown that disappointed on the repairability
front.
It’s a shame too, Apple has made some functionally amazing hardware with
standout features that bring quality-of-life improvements but at the expense of
creating a totally disposable device. The AirPods Max remain unchanged from the
2020 release model. We still don’t have parts or manuals for these $500 headphones, and the
entry process into the cups is awkward at best. With this in mind, the AirPods 4
and AirPods 4 with ANC receive a provisional score of 0 out of 10
on our repairability scale and the AirPods Max USB-C version score remains
unchanged at a provisional 6 out of 10..
