Engineer Brings Functional USB-C Port to AirPods Pro

[MacRumors]

Hardware prototyping consultant Ken Pillonel has sought to address some of the AirPods Pro's repairability issues with a 3D-printed replacement casing and switching the Lightning charging port for a USB-C port.

In his latest video, Pillonel highlighted that the AirPods Pro are not designed to be serviced or repaired since their charging case is not openable without damage to the device, effectively making them a disposable item. Repair specialists at iFixit gave Apple's first- and second-generation AirPods, as well the AirPods Pro, a repairability score of zero out of 10 because of this. Pillonel found that the AirPods Pro's charging case is easier to open than that of the standard AirPods, even if this is still not guaranteed without damage.

After developing a similar solution for the first- and second-generation AirPods, Pillonel sought to create a solution to give new life to unopenable AirPods Pro charging cases, which currently face inevitable obsolescence due to their three built-in batteries. Pillonel created a downloadable 3D-printed replacement casing (available on GitHub) to allow technicians to purposefully break open the existing case to gain access to the internals and make repairs.

Replacement batteries are available to buy online, but replacement Lightning ports cannot be purchased. This means that Lightning ports cannot be replaced when they break unless they are obtained from other AirPods charging cases, which is not always an option for technicians. To remedy this, Pillonel is now offering a ready-to-install replacement USB-C port with an integrated circuit for the AirPods Pro.

As a standard port, USB-C on the AirPods Pro increases the possibility of long-term repairability, Pillonel has suggested. Pillonel is also responsible for similar modifications that added a USB-C port to the iPhone and a Lightning port to a Samsung Galaxy A51.

EU legislation will force Apple to switch new AirPods models to USB-C from late 2024 and analyst Ming-Chi Kuo believes Apple could make the change sometime after releasing the first iPhone models with a USB-C port this year. Apple launched the Self Service Repair program last year as part of an effort to address some of the criticisms around the repairability of its devices, but questions remain around the sustainability of devices like AirPods.

Article Link: Engineer Brings Functional USB-C Port to AirPods Pro

 

[dantracht]

Cool but man am I getting worn out from those YouTubers. Sick of their thumbnails, sick of the clickbait titles, sick of how vapid they all are. MR being one of the few exceptions. Love the MR show and their videos.

 

[Andronicus]

I’m glad he fixed it. Here’s hoping apple fixes it soon.

 

[Spaceboi Scaphandre]

Seriously Apple, hire these people. Third parties and student engineers and programmers are doing a better job than you are at this point.

 

[ZMacintosh]

Cool but man am I getting worn out from those YouTubers. Sick of their thumbnails, sick of the clickbait titles, sick of how vapid they all are. MR being one of the few exceptions. Love the MR show and their videos.

agreed

Seriously Apple, hire these people. Third parties and student engineers and programmers are doing a better job than you are at this point.

Apple's not oblivious to this, they simply just dont want to do it or do anything about it, they dont think its a problem. sorry but RDF has long since gone, Apple.

 

[MacWiz_007]

Good for the engineer. I'm sure they'll get mad laid over this. 🤣 Also, an Apple product that can't be repaired...shocker!

 

[TechnoMonk]

Seriously Apple, hire these people. Third parties and student engineers and programmers are doing a better job than you are at this point.

Big difference between showing a concept to delivering a full fledged product. I am pretty sure Apple does lot more prototyping than YouTubers.

 

[TheIguana]

Neat project, but the pressure needs to stay on Apple. Lightning needs to go!

 

[Haiku_Oezu]

I swear I’ve seen this before… and no I don’t mean the time it was done with an actual iPhone

Personally I don’t mind Lightning as a charging port, but I guess it’s nice not having to pack an extra cable!

 

[mihighil]

How dare he?! Opening up the hardware is a hazard, how do i know these usb c connectors are verified by apple?!

 

[Lounge vibes 05]

Just like when they added wireless charging to the original AirPods case, or completely silently added MagSafe to the AirPods Pro first generation case in 2021, I expect them to silently update all of the AirPods cases with USB-C after the event where the iPhone 15 series is introduced.
I don’t expect any other changes to the AirPods line this year.

 

[Spaceboi Scaphandre]

Big difference between showing a concept to delivering a full fledged product. I am pretty sure Apple does lot more prototyping than YouTubers.

Yeah it's a massive difference to change the damn charging port. Too much work, too much engineering. Cannot be done at all.

 

[TechnoMonk]

Yeah it's a massive difference to change the damn charging port. Too much work, too much engineering. Cannot be done at all.

I am pretty sure they have multiple prototypes at Apple using different ports/standards and technology. The video looks cool, but what about real life considerations, limitations, and scaling these cases. Apple has to make, sell, support millions of them. Imagine problems with the prototypes multiplying in to millions of defective devices. Do they even have manufacturing pipelines to make them at scale? Lightening production lines have been set for years.

 

[sw1tcher]

Seriously Apple, hire these people. Third parties and student engineers and programmers are doing a better job than you are at this point.

It's not that Apple doesn't have the talent to create serviceable AirPods. Apple doesn't want them to be because that means less repeat sales after the batteries wear out in 1-2 years.

 

[H.E. Pennypacker]

We’ve been using lighting for years. I’m actually annoyed when I bring my iPad and forget the USB-C charger when I have 20 lighting cables laying around.

 

[PowerButton]

Now all I need is a 3D printer with that high-fidelity.

 

[lefkonj]

Apple should have dumped lightening 2-3 years ago, instead they are lagging behind. USB-C is in cars, on almost every other laptop, comes with my MBP for years, as well as new desktop Macs. Sad they had to be forced.

 

[sw1tcher]

Pillonel sought to create a solution to give new life to unopenable AirPods Pro charging cases, which currently face inevitable obsolescence due to their three built-in batteries. Pillonel created a downloadable 3D-printed replacement casing to allow technicians to purposefully break open the existing case to gain access to the internals and make repairs.

Replacement batteries are available to buy online, but replacement Lightning ports cannot be purchased

So you replaced your worn out AirPods Pro charging case batteries. Cool. But your AirPods Pro earbuds batteries are still worn out and NOT replaceable/serviceable.

All that work and you still can't use your AirPods Pros because the earbuds themselves won't hold a charge. 🤣

 

[lkrupp]

Seriously Apple, hire these people. Third parties and student engineers and programmers are doing a better job than you are at this point.

Are you seriously implying Apple’s engineers are not capable of doing this? They are light years ahead of this guy and others you mention. The difference is that Apple’s engineers have to wait for orders from the executive team before they can execute. Please, please, get a clue.

 

[Rob__Mac]

What a ridiculous state of affairs. Apple really need to dump lightning…

 

[FightTheFuture]

Apple doesn't want them to be because that means less repeat sales after the batteries wear out in 1-2 years.

My god - my AirPods Pro are still driving strong at nearly 4 years. They must be in some type of time vortex.

 

[JapanApple]

More Youtube bs. how many are these days? 1,000,000 wait! 10,000,000 lol who cares.

 

[sw1tcher]

My god - my AirPods Pro are still driving strong at nearly 4 years. They must be in some type of time vortex.

Nearly 4 years? AirPods Pro went on sale October 30, 2019. That's just a tad over 3 years 3 months ago.

And by "wear out" I mean don't hold a charge for as long as they used to, not won't hold a charge anymore. Guess you're not a heavy user (listener)?

 

[Joe Dohn]

Seriously Apple, hire these people. Third parties and student engineers and programmers are doing a better job than you are at this point.

And destroy MAH BEELTIFAL PLANNED OBSOLESCENCE?!
**** OFF!

 

[Joe Dohn]

All that work and you still can't use your AirPods Pros because the earbuds themselves won't hold a charge. 🤣

Weeeell...