earlier this month we tore down
Samsung's Galaxy buds and found them to
be the most repairable wireless earbuds
we had ever seen with an easy to source
battery and the ability to disassemble
and reassemble them without too much
trouble
we scored them a six out of 10 on our
ability scale today we have apple's
latest version of their wireless earbuds
the air pods on our teardown table
updated with a wireless charging case
and a new h1 chip these air pods look
pretty much the same as the previous
version but maybe apples hidden some
super repairable secrets inside let's
share them down to find out the case
construction hasn't changed much with
the exception of a redesigned hinge but
our opening procedure has evolved a bit
the last time we opened up the air pods
we had to use a dremel to crack into the
case after growing some blood using some
other less than traditional tools trying
to get it open
now we're relying on our handy vise to
slightly warp the case and crack apart
some of that tight adhesive the good
news is this time around there's no
blood drawn the bad news is this case
will probably never look the same and
we're not even to the hard part yet a
little alcohol helps us free the battery
which is glued to the inner wall of the
case once it's out we can see all its
1.52 watt-hour glory that's exactly the
same as the first gen case battery and
0.5 watt hours bigger than the battery
we found in the Galaxy buds case with
the battery removed we apply copious
amounts of heat to the case in an
attempt to remove the last inner layer
containing the lot support eventually we
use pliers to pry the top lid and hinge
up and out of the way then some adhesive
remover and lots of not so delicate
prying until the logic board layer
finally comes free
this logic board is noticeably goofier
looking than the previous generation
which probably helps with water
resistance but Apple hasn't mentioned
any IP rating for either the case nor
the air pods themselves so it's probably
best to avoid going swimming with them
for now the last piece left in the case
is the new wireless charging coil which
unfortunately did not endure our prying
very well but on the plus side at least
there's a modular lightning connector
the buds themselves are next and
unfortunately their construction hasn't
changed either so that means it's time
to cut into these things this process is
more like surgery since we're forced to
use a razor blade to first separate the
earbuds casing the buds are home to the
drivers a ton of very delicate flex
cables some microphones and some
intriguing chips looking at the tiny
we spot what we believe to be Apple's
new h1 chip which Apple says is
responsible for the 50% increase in
talktime compared to the first
generation of air pods have we mentioned
that it's a terrible idea to use a razor
this close to a battery it is and it's
why airports are such a problem to
recycle so what should you do with your
old air pods don't throw them into the
trash or the blue bin they could start a
fire and normally we would say take them
to an electronics recycler but the
problem is most electronics recyclers
can't or won't recycle air pods
due to their construction it simply
takes too much time and intensive labor
to remove the batteries so that the rest
of the materials can be safely recycle
most recyclers use shredding machines to
separate the recyclable components of
electronic devices so batteries need to
be removed before shredding to avoid
fires even the tiniest knick of a
battery can cause a chemical reaction
and since the process of removing air
pods batteries is so intricate and
time-consuming most recyclers won't
touch them the best thing to do then
with your old air pods at this point is
to give them back to Apple with all this
in mind I guess it's no surprise that
these second generation air pods scored
a zero out of ten on our repair ability
scale and in case you didn't already
know here's why air pods are not
designed to be serviced no hardware
components can be accessed without
damage to the device and sealed in
batteries limit the air pods lifespan
making them a consumable disposable item
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