Apple’s newest earbuds scored dismally low on iFixit’s repairability test, making battery replacements nearly impossible.
The AirPods Pro 3 were just announced last month, together with the iPhone 17 models. The iPhone 17 phones come with a redesign, and even though it raises some concerns on durability (at least when it comes to the Pro models that now come with an aluminum body), nothing beats the impossibility of repair. And unfortunately, that’s what seems to be facing the AirPods Pro 3, according to a teardown of iFixit.
iFixit’s teardown shows us what’s inside the AirPods Pro 3, and also delivers the bad news that it seems impossible to get the AirPods Pro 3 repaired without causing some damage.
Now, the AirPods Pro 3 come with a new foam-infused tip, which is not directly visible to the naked eye, but you can see a small layer of foam at the top of the earbud.
There’s a 0.221 Wh battery in the AirPods, while the case has a single 1.334 Wh battery. That’s different from their predecessor, the AirPods Pro 2, which had two battery cells. This explains why the AirPods Pro 3 are said to last 24 hours instead of 30 like the Pro 2.
The case has fewer rare-earth magnets than the Pro 2’s.
