AirPods Teardown Reveals Charging Case May Have Been Cause of Delay

[HobeSoundDarryl]

So what happens here after 2-3 years when the lithium battery starts to go? You just throw away your € 170 costing ear buds? This whole throw-away thing is spinning out of control.

2-3 years is a L O N G time for portable bluetooth technology. By then, you've likely lost one or both originals and already replaced them with newer ones. But, if not, you buy a new set (much like 2-3 year-old iDevices). Odds are high that if you like these, you're going to buy a new set sooner than 2-3 years anyway because Airpods 2 will likely have Bluetooth 5.

 

[TMRJIJ]

They'll probably claim you dropped them and therefore you are responsible. Then they'll have a replacement plan for $80

Where is this coming from? I never seen an Apple Genius or Support blame the user before performing tests.

 

[Thunderhawks]

Oh brilliant here comes all the negative comments

I'll wait until iSupply releases that it only costs 12 cents a piece in material to make those things.

 

[Jsameds]

Wireless charging is a misnomer. The charging platform is always plugged in, so you're just substituting one form of plug for another.

I consider my internet wireless despite the router being plugged into the wall, because of the whole house range it has.

I think the biggest issue with current wireless charging (and it's name) is not that the base station has to be plugged in, but that the device you want to charge has to physically sit atop the base station in order to charge.

 

[Abazigal]

I'll wait until iSupply releases that it only costs 12 cents a piece in material to make those things.

I think the box alone easily costs more than that.

 

[69Mustang]

My favourite part is the repairability score.
What they're suggesting here is like trying to repair an IC: you don't repair it, you replace it.

Repairability score is kind of hilarious... These are not made for repairs.

Someone should ask iFixit to tell us how they would design stuff. They think they're so good at tearing other peoples stuff apart and criticizing decisions made....let's see how they would do it, and be able to do it at scale.

Did anyone think these things would be user repairable? Are any earbuds really?

It seems all of you are staring at the Apple tree and missing the iFixit forest. iFixit is a site that caters to the DIY crowd. Their repairability scores apply to all of the products they tear down; not just Apple products. They have repair guides for appliances, automobiles, toys, computers, phones, cameras, consoles, tablets, etc. The repairability score isn't a punishment. It's an indicator of how difficult they think the repair will be -important part here- if you choose to try it. A 0/10 score simply means this is not a diy project, keep it moving to something else. I love tinkering. I've done plenty of 7-8-9's, and a few 6's. I'd be willing to try something as low as a 4-5/10. Anything beyond that would probably be more than I'm willing to undertake. The repairability score serves a function. It's there to let diy'ers know what they are getting into.

 

[VulchR]

OK - glue in the Air Pods themselves is fair enough, but how can Apple justify they way they have been making other components lately? If they want to be a green company, they should make devices that are repairable and serviceable, like easily being able to swap out batteries. The disposable economy is killing this planet.

 

[StevieD100]

They need to make these in black...

I agree.
sitting on the Picadilly Line this morning (London Underground) I conducted a very unscientific survey.
I counted the number of white Apple ear buds and Beats devices in use vs 'others'.

Just in one carriage there were 16 Apple or Beats devices and three obvious others.
These white things danging from your ear is a big giveaway and an obvious target for the thieves because most if not all of the wearers have an expensive phone readily to hand. The Air-pods are even more obvious.
Come on Apple, make them less 'hey guys, I'm a rich dude because I can afford these air-buds. Please don't rob me'.

I use a pair of noice cancelling headphones with my iPod. They have a black cable. Far less obvious.
I only have podcasts on my phone.

 

[llirik]

"If jamming complex components into a small form factor and sealing it with a copious amount of glue were a game, Apple would be winning."

Haha, that actually made me laugh out loud.

 

[Krizoitz]

Yeah think i'm sticking with wired headphones for a bit is anyone else worried about having an antenna that close to your skull

Only people who are uninformed about physics. Bluetooth uses radio waves, non-ionizing radiation. The most it can do is heat tissue, and its not likely to do much of that given the amount of power we are talking. You are at much worse risk from sunlight than wireless headphones.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-ionizing_radiation

 

[satchmo]

I don't think the majority of people expect Air Pods to be repairable or even accessible.
iMacs and MacBook Pros, well that's a different story.

 

[Tobias Funke]

Didn't somebody find a black airpod graphic inside Sierra??

 

[Thunderhawks]

It seems all of you are staring at the Apple tree and missing the iFixit forest. iFixit is a site that caters to the DIY crowd. Their repairability scores apply to all of the products they tear down; not just Apple products. They have repair guides for appliances, automobiles, toys, computers, phones, cameras, consoles, tablets, etc. The repairability score isn't a punishment. It's an indicator of how difficult they think the repair will be -important part here- if you choose to try it. A 0/10 score simply means this is not a diy project, keep it moving to something else. I love tinkering. I've done plenty of 7-8-9's, and a few 6's. I'd be willing to try something as low as a 4-5/10. Anything beyond that would probably be more than I'm willing to undertake. The repairability score serves a function. It's there to let diy'ers know what they are getting into.

Stop making sense here. We want to get upset about anything Apple these days.
Even good stuff

 

[3lionsbecks]

Where is this coming from? I never seen an Apple Genius or Support blame the user before performing tests.

I guess you haven't heard of the iPhone 6+ 'touch disease' issue before

 

[i.mac]

iFixit certainly does a lot of editorializing and speculation regarding Apple products. A single unit with "voiding" in the solder doesn't really provide much evidence of anything regarding the delay.

In addition, I wonder what does quality have to do with 'voiding '

What is 'voiding' anyway?

 

[yanksfan114]

I think they are. I remember reading about finding images of black AirPods hidden in Sierra

I believe that was just the icon labels for AirPods. On my iPhone and iPad they are black icons. I don't see it being a clue. Hoping though!

 

[colin8651]

I am posting this stupid question here, buried in a forum thread because I think I am missing something.

Received my AirPods yesterday; love them. This morning at the gym I couldn't figure out how to turn them on; I know stupid question, let me explain. I took the AirPods out of the charging case, put them in my pocket and let the case in the locker. When I got on the treadmill, took the AirPods out and stuck them in my ear. This is the part I couldn't figure out, I couldn't get the pods to connect, I tapped, poked, when the Bluetooth devices.

I ended up having to walk back to the locker room, place them back in the charger, then put them in my ear again.

I can't figure out if I am missing something or if it is not really supported sticking the units in my pocket and leaving the charger behind.

 

[T0MMYBOY4]

Oh boy, here come some fun comments

I'm going to be 'glued' to my computer screen as I watch the comments roll in.....

 

[oneMadRssn]

Normally, I'm against the glue/solder everything to within an inch of it's life. In the case of the AirPods, I think it was the best move made by Apple. The water resistance of these things is... well, pretty damn incredible. Imo, the glue is a functional part of the AirPods.

I don't think of it as glue, I think of it as liquid unapologetic plastic.

 

[spazzcat]

I think Apple's goal at this point to to annoy iFixit.

 

[GadgetBen]

The glue is most likely the reason that AirPods have survived being put through a 30 minute washing machine cycle!

 

[SuperCachetes]

Discovered underneath was the case's battery, a 1.52 watt hour lithium-polymer cell that's around 16 times the power capacity of a single AirPod. iFixit equates this to around eight full recharges of the AirPods within the charging case.

Is it not a 1.54 watt hour battery? That's what it looks like in the picture...

 

[DotCom2]

Actually, something that small, I would have been surprised if it WERE repairable.

 

[naeS1Sean]

I have microscopic screwdrivers and a scanning electron microscope, so I can fix mine. Do you really think that these would be fixable by Apple or anyone else? If a problem develops, they would be replaced. So stop worrying about the glue and move on with your life.

No need to assume glue is keeping me up at night. It was an observation. Not holding my life up any.

 

[69Mustang]

But wait, iFixit speculated there were quality control issues. These can't be durable as you and others have tested. iFixit speculated not.

Slow down there bud. There's a lot of conflation in your quote. You're tying separate issues into a unified complaint. That's not how it's supposed to work.
Afaik, iFixit didn't question the durability of the AirPods. I brought that up. They complained about the copious amounts of glue as it relates to repairability. I countered with the opinion that the glue is an important component that contributes to durability and water resistance. Issue #1

iFixit noted the voiding issue in the solder. That is a quality issue, imo. How much it affects the function of the AirPods is debatable but they gave no opinion regarding that. They did speculate whether or not it could be caused by low standards or rushed production. Issue #2

iFixit didn't suggest the above issue was the reason for the delay. MR did. iFixit asked a question.
[from the actual teardown]
"Our X-ray imagery shows some quality issues in this chip's solder joints. Empty spaces, known as voiding, could be evidence of low quality standards, or a rushed product release. Could issues with the AirPod case be what delayed release?"

MR said: "This suggests that the source of the AirPods' delay was with the charging case and not with the AirPods. "
That's the speculation you're referencing. Issue #3

3 things. Only 1 actually attributable to iFixit.