Apple introduced the wireless earbuds it’s calling AirPods in September alongside the iPhone 7. They were delayed for several weeks before finally being released a few days back. Apple is now selling AirPods in its retail stores as well. If you buy one of these $159 earbuds, keep in mind that you won’t be able to repair them on your own, because the AirPods teardown confirms they are not easy to repair at all.
The good folks over at iFixit have performed an AirPods teardown which confirms that taking them apart is not an option should anything go wrong with the earbuds. You will definitely end up destroying this $159 product which isn’t exactly cheap by any stretch of the imagination.
There are several tiny components inside the plastic shell of the AirPods and the entire contraption is sealed with “a copious amount of glue,” which means that there’s a good chance you’ll end up damaging something if you try to have your way with the glue that keeps it all tucked in nicely.
On a scale of 0 to 10 with the latter being the easiest to repair, the AirPods have been assigned a repairability score of 0. iFixit notes that accessing any component inside the case is “impossible without destroying the outer casing,” so you better not try and fix them on your own should something ever go wrong with your AirPods.