Apple's AirPods were long treated as practically impossible to open without destroying them. A new teardown by the repair specialists at iFixit shows that at least parts of the brand-new AirPods 5 are easier to reach — the batteries in the buds themselves can be replaced. The overall verdict is still sobering: the repairability score rises only from 0 to 2 out of 10.
iFixit first tried the professional route, using a dedicated clamping tool sold from China plus heat. The attempt to remove the microphone section in the stem ended in melted components. What is new is a set of notches around the driver area, where the battery also sits: with a little warmth — a hairdryer and a hobbyist's clamp are enough — the buds can be opened there without damage. The small coin cells inside the AirPods 5 can then be lifted out and swapped non-destructively, helped by metal tabs. One catch: the batteries are polarised differently depending on which side they sit, so a matching pair is needed.
Other parts stay sealed. The H2 chip and the new touch-sensitive gesture control are still not non-destructively replaceable, and the charging case is glued shut with no screws at all — heat doesn't help there either. iFixit criticises that, noting that other manufacturers have managed replaceable batteries for years and that the case has plenty of room for one. Apple does not consider the AirPods 5 repairable either, offering no repair guides or spare parts to end users, so replacement cells will have to come from third parties — something iFixit expects to appear in the coming months. The AirPods 5 start at €149, or €169 with the wireless charging case and gesture control, with active noise cancellation on both.
