Apple AirPods 4 teardown: Nothing new in the West
Apple introduced its AirPods 4, AirPods 4 ANC and the AirPods Max (2024) with USB-C connection last month. And the iFixt team has now disassembled all of the new headphones into their individual parts. In short: none of the new AirPods offer any improvements in terms of repairability. The small AirPods 4 even require a special jig holder that holds them in place while you loosen the adhesive with a heat gun.
You can then open the top half of the earphones. You can see the speaker and battery components of the Apple AirPods 4, which are surrounded by tons of adhesive. Opening the bottom of the stem, however, is much more difficult and requires a knife to cut through the stem. The only difference between the AirPods 4 and the AirPods 4 with ANC is the larger internal microphone.
The charging case is also difficult to open and requires a lot of heat and prying before you can get to the components inside. The 345 mAh battery in the case is also very difficult to remove because it has no tabs. All of these factors mean that the Apple AirPods 4 actually get a repairability rating of 0 out of 10.
Repairs on the new Apple AirPods Max (2024) with USB-C are much easier to handle. But they still require a lot of heat and prying out components with a steady hand. Inside, the main components are almost identical to those of the first generation AirPods Max. Apple has only spread a little more adhesive to hold the components in place and installed a USB-C charging port instead of the Lightning port.
The Apple AirPods Max (2024) with USB-C achieved a repairability rating of 6 out of 10 in the test.
