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.
Apple to Charge $79 for AirPods Max Out-of-Warranty Battery Service
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Yes, I suppose there is no point to have it magnetic attached if Apple didn’t plan to sell a replacement.
I‘m tempted now.
Same way you can “change” the battery in an iPod for $39-$79 depending on the model. You swap them out and send the unit with a bad/dead battery back to China to be refurbished and it gets used as a replacement for the next customer.
I’d be very surprised if they actually disassembled and replace the battery in store.
Batteries should be replaceable by the consumer. Period!
And they could not fit regular user-replaceable batteries in this thing? 🤷🏻♂️
Guys they don’t actually replace the battery in these things.
Battery service for Airpods means replacements at a “battery service fee”, like an iPad. You get a replacement iPad under the 99 dollar “battery service fee”
I believe Airpods are 49.
Battery service for Airpods means replacements at a “battery service fee”, like an iPad. You get a replacement iPad under the 99 dollar “battery service fee”
I believe Airpods are 49.
Does Apple actually make money off these kinds of repairs? I wonder why they don't design a clever way to have some sort of replaceable battery even if you can only buy it from Apple. I guess if they go that route people would create batteries that work with it and then Apple can't profit from that and might be held liable for damages bad batteries cause. Guess I answered my own question.
It depends on how fast Apple changes the design over the years. If they change it often the older ones will look outdated eventually.
They don't for the Airpods due to the difficulty of it. You can't know what their plan is here. In an iPhone, the battery gets replaced and a swap happens if the issue doesn't go away after a new battery was replaced. It's all on their site.
Only £309 ($410) in the UK for battery replacement: https://support.apple.com/en-gb/airpods/repair/service#battery
That has to be a typo, right? It is very different from the price in other regions I am seeing.
€83 in Germany https://support.apple.com/de-de/airpods/repair/service
€85 in France https://support.apple.com/fr-fr/airpods/repair/service
CAN$109 in Canada https://support.apple.com/en-ca/airpods/repair/service
NZ$139 in New Zealand https://support.apple.com/en-nz/airpods/repair/service
HK$629 in Hong Kong https://support.apple.com/en-hk/airpods/repair/service
All of those are USD$80-100, so there is definitely something odd in the UK...
Potentially. However, even if they’re not, $29 gets you a replacement pair. That’s even in the case of accidental damage.
So should the chips. I’m pretty handy with chip design, why can I just remove theirs and put my own in there?
Just like phones, some company will make replacement batteries. And some people will buy them. Some folks will replace the batteries and some of those won’t work after. And, you can just about guarantee that those folks will then try to go to Apple for replacements. Apple has “said” they don’t make a profit on repairs and, as most ”repairs” are “replace the thing”, I can see how that’d be true. If, for $79, you’re essentially getting a new set (that’s just not in the shelf packaging”, then it’s hard to see how they’re benefiting in the transaction for folks that didn’t buy AppleCare +. At least, from the Apple Care + folks, they’re getting a monthly payment.
But it's the same. You'll end up with 100% healthy new battery. The difference is you have to re-pair the bud.
Apple call it battery program, not AirPods replacement program.
Of course Apple makes money off of repairs. ALL out of warranty repairs are VERY profitable for Apple.
And there will be third party batteries. There always are.
The battery replacement cost is reasonable. If Apple would bring down the cost of the headphones, I might get a pair.