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AirPods 5 are finally repairable, sort of.
Photo: iFixit

AirPods 5 are Apple’s most repairable earbuds yet. But that doesn’t mean much, as the case is “still a disaster” when it comes to repairability.

As the iFixit teardown team aptly puts it, the “AirPods 5 are the least unrepairable AirPods yet.”

AirPods 5 make battery swaps possible, but hardly easy

AirPods are everywhere, and that makes the notoriously short lifespan of Apple’s popular earbuds a much bigger environmental problem than their tiny size suggests. Millions upon millions of earbuds have been sold, and when their tiny batteries inevitably wear out, replacing them has traditionally meant replacing the entire pair.

AirPods are essentially disposable. And that creates a steady stream of electronic waste from a product that’s smaller than a pack of gum.

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Over the last decade, all AirPods models received 0 out of 10 for repairability from the iFixit team. The AirPods 5 finally change that, earning 2 out of 10 in iFixit’s teardown. It’s not much, but the earbuds are at least repairable to some extent. The iFixit team thinks skilled technicians and expert DIYers should be able to replace the batteries on the AirPods 5 without completely destroying the earbuds. 

The good news is that getting inside the AirPods 5 is relatively easy. You don’t even need any special tools. A hair dryer and a clamp work just fine. However, the repairer still needs to be careful, as the heat can melt the earbuds’ plastic stems.

Like the AirPods 3, the AirPods 5 use pronged batteries. However, the battery polarity is reversed on each bud. So, the battery for the left bud won’t work in the right bud, and vice versa.

Replacement batteries for AirPods 5 are not readily available yet. However, since the AirPods 5 are easier to open for battery replacement, this should change soon.

The case is still a disaster for repairability

Unfortunately, the same repair improvements don’t apply to the AirPods 5 charging case. They remain a disaster to pry open if you need to make a repair.

“By the time we reached the battery, the case was destroyed,” says the iFixit team in its teardown blog post. “Inside, plastic welds stood where screws could have made further disassembly possible.”

Apple does not include AirPods in its Self Service Repair program. So, you can’t easily find any replacement parts or repair manuals for them.

Add in a case that’s difficult to repair, and the AirPods 5 unsurprisingly score 2 out of 10 on iFixit’s repairability scorecard. That’s at least better than the zero that previous AirPods models received.

This is hardly a repairability revolution. However, when you multiply a little more longevity across the world’s most popular earbuds, the potential reduction in e-waste starts to look significant.

• See also: AirPods 5: Better noise cancellation makes all the difference [Review]