AirPods 2024 Teardown – Still 0 out of 10?

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..

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