Apple’s AirPods 5 feature replaceable earbud batteries, earning a repairability score bump from zero to two in teardowns. Despite this small environmental gain, the charging case remains completely inaccessible, leaving users facing full replacements when those larger internal cells eventually fail.
Repairing consumer wireless earbuds has long been a frustrating exercise in waste. For years, Apple models sat firmly at zero on environmental teardown scales, functioning as sealed plastic units destined for landfills once their internal power cells degraded. That dynamic shifts slightly with the release of the AirPods 5, which introduce modular changes directly inside the individual earbuds.
Inside the Earbud Redesign and the New Repairability Score
When iFixit conducted its teardown of the latest hardware, analysts discovered that technicians can now remove an earbud’s outer cover using proper clamping tools and heat. This process exposes the internal battery, which comes free from a bit of glue and is attached via two prongs. Because each earbud houses an opposite polarity power cell, the components are not interchangeable between the left and right sides. Still, a technician can successfully perform a battery swap, keeping the audio units out of the garbage.
This design modification nudged the line’s historical repairability score up from a blank zero to two. While two remains low in absolute terms, it marks a time consumers or repair technicians have an accessible pathway to service the wearable components themselves.
Why the Charging Case Remains an Unfixable Obstacle
Despite the progress made on the audio units, the charging case remains completely sealed against entry. Repair experts found that the charging case is still impossible to access, resisting even skilled attempts using knives and heat guns. Because the case contains a larger battery, it theoretically takes longer to reach its end-of-life cycle. Once that threshold arrives, however, owners face a strict hardware limit. When the case battery dies, users must purchase a replacement case or buy an entirely new set of AirPods.
Environmental Targets and the Road Ahead for Apple Hardware
Apple maintains stated corporate goals under its Apple 2030 initiative to reduce waste. Meeting those targets requires scaling up device repairability for everyday consumers. Until future iterations—such as AirPods Pro 4—introduce accessible charging cases, users should expect to replace their entire hardware setup every two to three years as internal power storage inevitably ages and dies.