Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
AirPods Repairability Project Adds USB-C Port and 3D-Printed Casing
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Lisa Jackson should be ashamed of herself for lending her reputation (and by extension that of her old boss, President Obama) to Apple's greenwashing
Apple does recycle. You may not be aware but: https://www.apple.com/recycling/nationalservices/
Can you tell me any competitor for any competing products watch, phone, computer, wearables etc that have a 2-3 year life span that are 100% repairable and recyclable? And that dont break under normal usage?
I’ll wait.
You know, how about Rolex watches? It's a watch, and it's wearable: https://www.watchesofswitzerland.com/
Computers: any desktop computers.
Do we really need a full list?
In your mind a Rolex is a competing product fo an Apple Watch? Seems like the word “competing “ was ignored. Competing would imply: cell phones, smart watches, Bluetooth headsets and buds, laptops and desktops. Instead Rolex was listed as a competing product. Sorry, this deserves a
Please point out specifically in detail exactly what standard is right around the corner and being widely adopted.
Yes, I get that Apple probably wants to go all wireless for all it's mobile products and small accessories.
But in terms of cables, there simply isn't anything out there that's replacing USB-C and nothing on the horizon.
No major brand is on something other than or incompatible with USB-C, and Apple has failed to update Lightning or replace it with another proprietary technology in close to a decade.
I keep hearing this "another standard will come". But what exactly is it? Please explain in detail about this port/cable on the horizon that warrants a shift away from USB-C.
In your mind a Rolex is a competing product fo an Apple Watch? Seems like the word “competing “ was ignored. Competing would imply: cell phones, smart watches, Bluetooth headsets and buds, laptops and desktops. Instead Rolex was listed as a competing product. Sorry, this deserves a
What's a competing product to you?
Does it have to be digital?
They're both watches. If you are considering something that shows the hours in your wrists, would you wear both a Rolex and an Apple watch?
I don't think so. You wouldn't choose both of them.
If that doesn't satisfy you, then maybe you forgot to better define what a competing product is, or else you can keep moving the goalposts over and over.
But suppose that by "competitor", you mean "a digital watch".
What stops a company from adopting user-replaceable lithium batteries, or AAA batteries?
That alone would make the device last so much more.
There's even a company that has been doing it commercially for a couple of years with great success.
PodSwap, I think that's the company name. But it's only for the U.S. and I think they only do 1st and 2nd Gen AirPods, not Pros or 3rd Gen.
But, like you said, there are no aesthetic changes to the AirPods.
I guess the reason the question can’t be answered or an answer deliberately avoided is that the unfounded criticism of apple would go away automatically.
Instead you turned to an oft-used Internet tactic, that is turning the question around. Anyway silence speaks volumes.
You talked and talked, but you just posed a vague definition ("competing product") without clearly defining it, and now you're trying to come out smart. If you're willing clearly define what is a "competing product" to an Apple Watch, we can discuss how valid / narrow that definition is, and any competing products we may have that are green / not green.
Whereas I have attempted to answer your definition the best I could by assuming "competing" means "products that most likely won't be used at the same time". You never e.g, said why comparing a Rolex and an Apple watch is invalid if they compete for the user's wrist.
So changing a battery in one is called "repair" now? I mean, I guess it technically is when the battery wasn't designed to be user-replaceable ... but that wasn't really the kind of repair I was thinking of here.
It is, since a dead battery prevents you from actually using your device.
Otherwise, you are admitting that you are forced to throw away a perfectly functioning device (which you actually are, of course).
I know we're just nitpicking at this point ... but a dead battery makes ANY device stop working. People don't normally throw away their iPhones if the batteries in them stop taking a charge, and they're not easy to replace yourself either. Same was true for the old iPod Classics and for the Apple Watch. (Interestingly, I'd say a lot of people DID throw away an iPod Shuffle though, if its battery quit charging.)
Ultimately, this is really all about a need to replace a worn out rechargeable battery, in a device that's otherwise not broken at all. And it seems that even if you make the battery difficult to access to replace it, people are far more likely to try to find a way to open the device and do it when the device is physically a bit larger?
I fixed an old phone of mine by replacing the dead battery within it. I consider it a repair since I fixed an issue that was preventing it from booting.
I'm actually curious as to what kind of repair you were thinking of, though.
I thought I saw somewhere where some people were taking old AirPods and using some of the parts to build small wireless speakers.
This isn't a cynical take. "Consumers have to just buy new..." is basically the #1 goal of every Apple designed product.
If Apple really gave a damn about the environment they would stop using black solder mask on all their printed circuit cards which is more toxic and more difficult for wastewater treatment centers to deal with than traditional green and blue solder mask.
Since you posted that a Rolex is a natural competitor to the Apple Watch then I can provide some examples to clarify in terms of being repairable.
- How does the airpod max stack up to the Sony Xm4s
- How does the Macbook stack up to a Surface Pro
- How does an iphone stack up to a Samsung Galaxy
- AirPods vs boss ear buds
- How do each of the above company's recycling and recovery efforts stack up against one another
- How does the ability to take apart a device easily affect it's overall durability
- etc, etc, etc
Last edited:
Why should any apple devices end up in the waste stream? Apple will recycle it's products. It's like having a person dump petrol and oil down the sewer and then blame Shell for it.
I think the reason they don’t make the case batteries replaceable is because the probably figure by the time that battery is dying, then the batteries in the AirPods themselves will be dying. I’m not terribly upset about all 3 batteries not being user replaceable, but they should at least engineer them to be replaceable through a repair program. iPads also, not one thing on those is replaceable. This is Tim Bean Counter’s Apple, a constant revenue stream.
I have a pair of Beats Pros and like them wayyy more than my AirPod Pros. How funny is it that one of Apple’s sub companies is using USB-C, but Apple themselves is not?
I have a pair of Beats Pros and like them wayyy more than my AirPod Pros. How funny is it that one of Apple’s sub companies is using USB-C, but Apple themselves is not?
Well, as an Airpods Pro owner myself, I was definitely thinking about the issue so many seem to develop over time where they start making a distorted or "rattling" noise in one of them. Apple had a recall open for this, but it seems like any of them, no matter what their production date, can develop the issue. (Some people suspect it has to do with the noise-cancellation feature acting up.) From what I've seen, when one fails like this, Apple will swap it for a new one without much argument. But I bet that comes to an end whenever they release a new design....
