iFixit performed teardowns on the new AirPods 4 and AirPods Max with USB-C on Wednesday, issuing repairability scores of 0 out of 10 for the tricky earbuds and 6 out of 10 for nearly unchanged headphones — and utterly destroying AirPods 4 in the process.
“AirPods have historically been a nightmare to take apart, consistently earning 0 out of 10 on our repairability scale, but their bigger and more expensive sibling the AirPods Max are bordering on repairable with the first version earning a 6 our of 10, thanks to a relatively easy disassembly process,” iFixit said.
iFixit teardown finds you won’t be repairing your own AirPods 4 anytime soon
The iFixit teardown video, below, demonstrates how difficult it is to work with AirPods 4. Apple’s gradual improvement on repairability in some products is not apparent at all with its popular earbuds. Apple sold an estimated 75 million pairs of AirPods in 2023, according to Statista, down from a peak of 114 million in 2020. That’s a lot of tiny earbuds that are practically impossible to repair, even by experts like the folks at iFixit.
The iFixit guy doing the AirPods 4 teardown became agitated at every turn, facing excessive adhesive and parts that wouldn’t budge in both the buds and the case, despite ample heating and prying with sharp tools.
“This just isn’t fun anymore,” he said, struggling to get the guts, including the battery, out of the charging case. Too much glue in there. “It’s been an absolute ordeal to get this far, and I’ve destroyed the entire device to do it.”
As for the “new” AirPods Max, they get the same score the original Lighting version of the headphones got — 6 out of 10. That’s because there’s virtually no difference between the two sets of cans other than the connector, now USB-C.
Photo: iFixit
Watch: iFixit teardown destroys AirPods 4
View more images from the melee:
Photo: iFixit
Photo: iFixit
Photo: iFixit
Photo: iFixit
Photo: iFixit
Photo: iFixit
David Snow, an expert on Apple hardware and software, writes on a variety of technological and cultural topics for Cult of Mac. They include Apple news, technology buying guides, and features about computer setups and Apple TV shows and movies.
With 30 years of experience covering technology and other subjects, he has written and edited for numerous print and online publications, including CMP Media, TechTV.com, CNET, Wired News, Red Herring magazine, Law.com, The National Law Journal and Law Technology News magazine. Among other roles, he served as executive editor of the Law.com network of websites and editorial director, technology, for ALM Media.
Snow graduated with a B.A. from Syracuse University with majors in magazine journalism and psychology. While there, he worked as a reporter for The Daily Orange newspaper and associate editor of Equal Time magazine.
Founder of the blog At the Waterline, he can be reached on X (formerly Twitter) via @atthewaterline and on Mastodon via @dsnow.
