Airpods Pro 3 is difficult to repair, even experts shake their heads

As repairers, iFixit has long disliked AirPods. And most Apple products, too. iFixit’s experts hate the product because it’s not only more expensive to repair than buying a new one, but it’s also impossible to do.

Six years ago, iFixit CEO Kyle Wiens called them “evil” when speaking to Vice reporter Caroline Haskins.

He called them a “tragedy,” explaining that when batteries stop holding a charge after about 18 months, they “gradually become unusable” and cannot be repaired or recycled.

According to iFixit, Apple designed the ‌AirPods Pro 3‌ with new foam-filled ear tips, and this design change is mostly visible under a microscope. You can see a small layer of foam at the tip of the earbud where it meets your ear.

The AirPods Pro 3‌ have a 0.221 Wh battery cell inside, while the case has a 1.334 Wh battery.

The AirPods Pro 2 have two battery cells inside the case, and this change explains why the battery life is only 24 hours including the case instead of 30 hours like the AirPods Pro 2.

The ‌AirPods Pro 3‌ case has fewer rare-earth magnets, but they've been placed in different locations to ensure MagSafe and Qi 2 charging still work properly.

To look at the other components inside the ‌AirPods Pro 3‌, iFixit essentially had to destroy them because Apple didn't design these headphones in a repairable way.

Since the first AirPods launched, Apple's headphones have featured batteries that were sealed with glue, and that hasn't changed with the ‌AirPods Pro 3‌.

iFixit says the battery is so difficult to replace that many repair shops don't even want to do it. The AirPods Pro charging case has a similarly glued battery.

Các linh kiện bên trong tai nghe (trái) và hộp sạc (phải) sau công cuộc tháo rời bởi kỹ sư hàng đầu của iFixit. — Components inside the headphones (left) and charging case (right) after disassembly by iFixit's top engineers.

iFixit says there's no way to repair the ‌AirPods Pro 3‌ battery without causing damage to the plastic of the earbuds and case, as they have to be pried out.

Heat is required to melt the adhesive, and there is no way to disconnect the flex cable inside each earpiece.

Because specialized equipment is required and the earbuds and case cannot be repaired without causing damage, the ‌AirPods Pro 3‌ received a repairability score of 0/10 from iFixit.