Take a Unique Peek into How AirPods Have Evolved With Every Generation

New detailed CT scan images of the first-generation AirPods, AirPods Pro, and third-generation AirPods have revealed in detail what internal design changes Apple had to accomplish to include new features in every generation while continuing to miniaturize internal components.

airpods ct scans header
The first-generation AirPods, announced in 2016, serve as the main design inspiration for the ‌AirPods Pro‌ and third-generation AirPods. The CT scan shows that the internal battery is the largest component in the first-gen AirPods, taking up the entire space of the long stem. In the earpiece, Apple's H1 chip finds its home and, at the bottom, a single downfacing microphone.

With the ‌AirPods Pro‌, Apple's first update to the AirPods since their launch, the company had to completely rethink the internal structure and placement of components. Perhaps the most striking and noticeable change highlighted by the scans is the location of the battery.

The ‌AirPods Pro‌ nixed the long-stem design from the AirPods and Apple's classical EarBuds. Instead, Apple cut the stem to make the entire body shorter, meaning fitting a battery to provide sufficient charge into the smaller stem proved a challenge.

airpods pro ct scan

CT scan images by Scan of the Month

To counter this, Apple placed the battery in the head of the ‌AirPods Pro‌. In the head, which grew in size compared to the first-gen AirPods, Apple also miniaturized different components into a single PCB, or printed circuit board, to allow for a smaller footprint. The ‌AirPods Pro‌ also included Adaptive EQ, which was enabled thanks to a third, new microphone placed in the head of ‌AirPods Pro‌ in front of the speaker.

In the stem, Apple also repositioned the microphones compared to the initial AirPods, now placing them higher and not directly coming out of the bottom of the stem. The removal of the battery from the stem of ‌AirPods Pro‌ allowed Apple to include force touch sensors, allowing users to squeeze the ‌AirPods Pro‌ to pause music, invoke Siri, and more.

airpods 3 ct scan

CT scan images by Scan of the Month

The third-generation AirPods announced this past fall takes heavy inspiration from the ‌AirPods Pro‌ design but is a mix between the standard AirPods and the ‌AirPods Pro‌ in how it's internally built. Unlike the ‌AirPods Pro‌, which features a primarily bare stem, the CT scan shows the third-generation AirPods' stem full of components and a few distributed sensors, similar to the first-gen AirPods. Like the ‌AirPods Pro‌, the battery remains in the head of the AirPods alongside new skin-contact sensors.

Moving forward, Apple is expected to adopt an entirely new approach with the next-generation ‌AirPods Pro‌, which will dispense with a stem altogether. The design and engineering lessons Apple has learned thus far with AirPods, such as being able to fit the battery in the head of the AirPods instead of the stem, are likely to come into greater play with the new ‌AirPods Pro‌ destined for launch in 2022.

The CT scan images were provided by "Scan of the Month," a website that takes popular products and puts them under a CT scan to uncover how they're designed and built. This month's AirPods website is a fun and interactive experience for those interested and can be found here.

Related Roundups: AirPods 4, AirPods Pro
Related Forum: AirPods

Popular Stories

iOS 19 Mock WWDC25 Feature

iOS 19 Expected to Run on These iPhones

Monday March 31, 2025 5:28 pm PDT by
iOS 19 will not be available on the iPhone XR, iPhone XS, or the iPhone XS Max, according a private account on social media site X that has accurately provided information on device compatibility in the past. The iPhone XR, iPhone XS, and iPhone XS Max all have an A12 Bionic chip, so it looks like iOS 19 will discontinue support for that chip. All other iPhones that run iOS 18 are expected...
watchOS 11 Thumb 2 1

Apple Releases watchOS 11.4 With Sleep Alarm Update

Tuesday April 1, 2025 10:34 am PDT by
Apple today released watchOS 11.4, the fourth major update to the operating system that runs on the Apple Watch. watchOS 11.4 is compatible with the Apple Watch Series 6 and later, all Apple Watch Ultra models, and the Apple Watch SE 2. watchOS 11.4 can be downloaded on a connected iPhone by opening up the Apple Watch app and going to General > Software Update. To install the new software,...
AirPods Pro Firmware Feature

Apple Releases New Firmware for AirPods Pro 2 and AirPods 4

Monday March 31, 2025 11:27 am PDT by
Apple today released new firmware updates for all AirPods 4 and AirPods Pro 2 models. The new firmware is version 7E93, up from the 7B21 firmware that was installed on the AirPods Pro 2 and the 7B20 firmware available on the AirPods 4 and AirPods 4 with ANC. It is not immediately clear what new features or changes are included in the new firmware, but we'll update this article should we find ...
maxresdefault

Apple Releases iOS 18.4 With Priority Notifications, Ambient Music, New Emoji and More

Monday March 31, 2025 10:03 am PDT by
Apple today released iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4, the fourth major updates to the iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 operating system updates that came out last year. iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4 come two months after Apple released iOS 18.3 and iPadOS 18.3. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. The new software can be downloaded on eligible iPhones and iPads over-the-air by going to...
iPhone 17 Pro 34ths Perspective

iPhone 17 Pro Launching Later This Year With These 10 New Features

Sunday March 23, 2025 10:00 am PDT by
While the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of March 2025: Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models have a titanium frame, and the iPhone ...
Apple Card iPhone 16 Pro Feature

Visa and American Express Vying to Win Apple Card Deal in 'Fierce' Fight

Tuesday April 1, 2025 1:50 pm PDT by
Visa wants to pay Apple approximately $100 million to be the new payment network for the Apple Card, reports The Wall Street Journal. As of right now, the Apple Card is on the Mastercard payment network, but that is set to change because Apple is ending its partnership with Goldman Sachs. Both American Express and Visa are vying to replace Mastercard as Apple's card services provider, while...
iOS 18

Apple Seeds First Beta of iOS 18.5 to Developers

Wednesday April 2, 2025 10:11 am PDT by
Apple today seeded the first betas of upcoming iOS 18.5 and iPadOS 18.5 updates to developers for testing purposes, with the software coming just two days after Apple released iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4. iOS 18.5 and iPadOS 18.5 can be downloaded from the Settings app on a compatible device by going to General > Software Update. We don't yet know what Apple is introducing in the iOS 18.5...

Top Rated Comments

44267547 Avatar
43 months ago
The CT Scan is really fascinating look into how much technology is in such a small, compact device. You have to give these engineers the necessary credit who make these devices possible to live in a wireless world for our convenience.

I wear these almost every day in the gym, and probably is my second favorite Apple device, next to the Apple Watch.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
DMG35 Avatar
43 months ago
I know they aren't a great fit for everyone, but for me the new Airpods are the absolute best Airpods I've ever worn from a fit and sound standpoint.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
DMG35 Avatar
43 months ago
After years of not being interested in AirPods I’m finally interested in the latest third Gen edition.
If they fit you’ll absolutely love them.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
iDento Avatar
43 months ago

There is less than 20$ worth of parts in air pods.
Even if it costs them 0$, they'll still be priced the same, because that's how business works.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
HappyDude20 Avatar
43 months ago

I know they aren't a great fit for everyone, but for me the new Airpods are the absolute best Airpods I've ever worn from a fit and sound standpoint.
After years of not being interested in AirPods I’m finally interested in the latest third Gen edition.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
alpi123 Avatar
43 months ago

There is less than 20$ worth of parts in air pods.
So the work of all the engineers and everyone involved in this is not worth a single cent?

Apple doesn't just buy ready parts and then sell the device...
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)