Teardown might just reveal why the AirPods were delayed for so long
After lengthy delays to AirPods, Apple fans were finally able to purchase a set of the wireless headphones this week. Gift givers everywhere breathed a sigh of relief as the hottest (and most expensive) stocking stuffer of the year hit Apple Store shelves just in time for the holiday season.
But the cause of the delays was never disclosed. Now that AirPods are out, we could be closer to an answer. After a complete teardown of the buds, the iFixit team has a theory: it was the case's fault.
After giving the earbuds and their portable charging case a once over, the teardown began. It started with the AirPods themselves, which are filled with impeccably-packed components. This includes an IR proximity sensor, which is used to detect when it's in use, in-ear.
From iFixit's description, the AirPods are packed to the gills with glue. There's a "waterfall of glue," a "torrent of glue," and, to make the point totally clear:
If jamming complex components into a small form factor and sealing it with a copious amount of glue were a game, Apple would be winning.
With more digging, a 93 milliwatt hour battery comes out of the AirPod stem. This is equal to around 1 percent of the charge capacity of an iPhone 7, and purportedly holds about five hours of play in one go.
After the AirPods were broken down to their bare components, the iFixit team turned to the charging case. As you can see above, there aren't any clear points of entry on the smooth case — so they had to bust out a probe knife, then a rotary saw.
Once the case is opened, the battery inside is exposed. It's a 3.81 V, 1.52 Wh lithium-polymer cell, which is about 16 times the power capacity of the batteries in the AirPod stems. For those of you wondering exactly what that means: you should be able to get eight AirPod charges out of a fully powered case.
But the issue lies in the case's charging port system. After looking at the individual components through an X-ray scan, some questions of quality arise:
Our X-ray imagery shows some quality issues in this chip's solder joints. Empty spaces, known as voiding, could be evidence of low quality standards, or a rushed product release. Could issues with the AirPod case be what delayed release?
Mashable has reached out to Apple for comment on iFixit's assertions about the charging case and its role in the AirPod delays. The story will be updated upon receiving response.
Whether it was the charging case that caused the delay or something else entirely, the teardown proved one thing: AirPods cannot be repaired at home, as the earbuds scored a 0 out of 10 on iFixit's repairability score. If you break a bud, you're out of luck — you're going to have to pony up some cash for a replacement.
Brett Williams is a Tech Reporter at Mashable. He writes about tech news, trends and other tangentially related topics with a particular interest in wearables and exercise tech. Prior to Mashable, he wrote for Inked Magazine and Thrillist. Brett's work has also appeared on Fusion and AskMen, to name a few. You can follow Brett on Twitter @bdwilliams910.
