Apple introduced its AirPods 4 and AirPods Max with USB-C final month and the staff over at iFixt has now shared their teardowns.
Lengthy story quick, neither of the brand new AirPods affords enhancements by way of repairability. The small AirPods 4 require a specialised jig holder that retains them in place whereas a warmth gun helps loosen the adhesive to open up the highest half of the buds.
AirPods 4 teardown (iFixit)
We will then see the speaker and battery parts surrounded by heaps of glue.
Opening up the underside of the stem is much more difficult and requires a knife to chop by means of the stem. The one distinction between the AirPods 4 and the AirPods 4 with ANC is the bigger inside microphone.
The charging case can be cussed to open and requires loads of warmth and prying earlier than you may get to the parts inside. The 345mAh battery contained in the case can be actually difficult to get out because it doesn’t include pull-tabs. All of those components depart the AirPods 4 with a provisional repairability rating of 0 out of 10.
Repairs on the brand new AirPods Max with USB-C are much more manageable however they nonetheless require a number of warmth and prying out parts with a gradual hand. As soon as inside the important thing parts are nearly an identical to the first-gen AirPods Max with barely extra glue to carry down the parts and a USB-C charging port rather than the Lighting connector.
The AirPods Max with USB-C received a provisional repairability rating of 6 out of 10.