AirPods 5 are Apple’s most repairable earbuds ever

Wireless earbuds are notoriously difficult to repair and outside of distinct offerings like the Fairphone Fairbuds, there’s virtually no way to repair damaged components. Well, it turns out that Apple has taken a slightly more repair-friendly approach with its latest AirPods 5. The latest teardown from iFixit reveals that Apple is back to using pronged batteries, which are much easier to replace than the glued-in ones on previous iterations.

While this is a small win for consumers, the whole process is still very tedious. You’ll need something to clamp the AirPods to and then somehow apply even amounts of hot air to the top part of the earbud so that you can melt the glue holding the casing.

If you succeed in opening up the buds, you’ll be greeted with the actual battery, which is held in with more adhesive strips. And if you’re wondering, no, you can’t swap the batteries between the left and right buds as they feature opposite polarities.

AirPods 5 teardown process (iFixit)

This sole switch to pronged batteries is why the AirPods 5 get a 2/10 repairability score from iFixit. It may not seem like much, but worn-out batteries are some of the most common issues with wireless earbuds, and it’s a good sign that Apple is taking this approach.

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