iFixit teardown of new AirPods 5 reveals first real repairability improvement

iFixit’s teardown of the new AirPods 5 is now complete, revealing a significant, albeit small, improvement in repairability. Watch it below.

Record repairability rating at 2/10

Since Apple released the original AirPods in 2016, iFixit has consistently given them a score of 0 out of 10 for repairability. From heavily glued batteries to soldered connections to cases that are nearly impossible to open and reassemble without damage, AirPods have always been notoriously difficult to repair.

However, with the new AirPods 5, iFixit says Apple has taken a small step in the right direction, provided the repair is carried out by a trained professional or a particularly adventurous DIYer.

In their new teardown video, iFixit shows that the batteries inside each earbud can be removed and replaced without necessarily destroying the AirPods in the process, leading them to give the AirPods a repairability score above zero for the first time.

Sure, the new AirPods 5 only scored a 2 out of 10, but that’s still two points higher than all previous generations combined.

iFixit notes that the left and right batteries are not interchangeable, as they use reversed polarity and slightly different contact placement.

That said, it basically comes down to the repairability of the AirPods 5. As iFixit shows in the video, it’s still impossible to go any further into the earbuds without destroying them, and the same goes for their charging case.

iFixit’s teardown also includes its always-fascinating CT scans, which offer a detailed look at how densely Apple has packed the batteries, MEMS microphones, H2 chip, and other small components inside each earbud.

Watch iFixit’s teardown of the new AirPods 5 below, including a more user-friendly attempt at accessing the battery using a regular hairdryer:

To read iFixit’s full article on AirPods 5 teardown, follow this link.

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