Engineer Brings Functional USB-C Port to AirPods Pro
Hardware prototyping consultant Ken Pillonel has sought to address some of the AirPods Pro's repairability issues with a 3D-printed replacement casing and switching the Lightning charging port for a USB-C port.
In his latest video, Pillonel highlighted that the AirPods Pro are not designed to be serviced or repaired since their charging case is not openable without damage to the device, effectively making them a disposable item. Repair specialists at iFixit gave Apple's first- and second-generation AirPods, as well the AirPods Pro, a repairability score of zero out of 10 because of this. Pillonel found that the AirPods Pro's charging case is easier to open than that of the standard AirPods, even if this is still not guaranteed without damage.
After developing a similar solution for the first- and second-generation AirPods, Pillonel sought to create a solution to give new life to unopenable AirPods Pro charging cases, which currently face inevitable obsolescence due to their three built-in batteries. Pillonel created a downloadable 3D-printed replacement casing (available on GitHub) to allow technicians to purposefully break open the existing case to gain access to the internals and make repairs.
Replacement batteries are available to buy online, but replacement Lightning ports cannot be purchased. This means that Lightning ports cannot be replaced when they break unless they are obtained from other AirPods charging cases, which is not always an option for technicians. To remedy this, Pillonel is now offering a ready-to-install replacement USB-C port with an integrated circuit for the AirPods Pro.
As a standard port, USB-C on the AirPods Pro increases the possibility of long-term repairability, Pillonel has suggested. Pillonel is also responsible for similar modifications that
added a USB-C port to the iPhone and a
Lightning port to a Samsung Galaxy A51.
EU legislation will force Apple to switch new AirPods models to USB-C from late 2024 and analyst Ming-Chi Kuo believes Apple could make the change sometime after releasing the first iPhone models with a USB-C port this year. Apple launched the Self Service Repair program last year as part of an effort to address some of the criticisms around the repairability of its devices, but questions remain around the sustainability of devices like AirPods.
Popular Stories
Apple released iOS 18.2 in the second week of December, bringing the second round of Apple Intelligence features to iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 models. This update brings several major advancements to Apple's AI integration, including completely new image generation tools and a range of Visual Intelligence-based enhancements. Apple has added a handful of new non-AI related feature controls as...
Wednesday December 18, 2024 11:39 am PST by
Juli CloverApple is no longer planning to launch a hardware subscription service that would let customers "subscribe" to get a new iPhone each year, reports Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.
Gurman first shared rumors about Apple's work on a hardware subscription service back in 2022, and at the time, he said that Apple wanted to develop a simple system that would allow customers to pay a monthly fee to gain...
Contrary to recent reports, the iPhone 17 Pro will not feature a horizontal camera layout, according to the leaker known as "Instant Digital."
In a new post on Weibo, the leaker said that a source has confirmed that while the appearance of the back of the iPhone 17 Pro has indeed changed, the layout of the three cameras is "still triangular," rather than the "horizontal bar spread on the...
Wednesday December 18, 2024 10:05 am PST by
Juli CloverElevation Lab today announced the launch of TimeCapsule, an innovative and simple solution for increasing the battery life of Apple's AirTag.
Priced at $20, TimeCapsule is an AirTag enclosure that houses two AA batteries that offer 14x more battery capacity than the CR2032 battery that the AirTag runs on. It works by attaching the AirTag's upper housing to the built-in custom contact in the...
The current Apple TV 4K was released more than two years ago, so the streaming device is becoming due for a hardware upgrade soon. Fortunately, it was recently rumored that a new Apple TV will launch at some point next year.
Below, we recap rumors about the next-generation Apple TV.
Bloomberg's Mark Gurman last week reported that Apple has been working on its own combined Wi-Fi and...
Blackmagic today announced that its URSA Cine Immersive camera is now available for pre-order, with deliveries set to start late in the first quarter of 2025. Blackmagic says that this is the world's first commercial camera system designed to capture 3D content for the Vision Pro.
The URSA Cine Immersive camera was first introduced in June, but it has not been available for purchase until...
Apple launched the controversial "trashcan" Mac Pro eleven years ago today, introducing one of its most criticized designs that persisted through a period of widespread discontentment with the Mac lineup.
The redesign took the Mac Pro in an entirely new direction, spearheaded by a polished aluminum cylindrical design that became unofficially dubbed the "trashcan" in the Mac community. All of ...
Apple is planning a series of "major design" and "format changes" for iPhones over the next few years, according to The Wall Street Journal's Aaron Tilley and Yang Jie.
The paywalled report published today corroborated the widely-rumored "iPhone 17 Air" with an "ultrathin" design that is thinner than current iPhone models. The report did not mention a specific measurement, but previous...
