New AirPods 4 and AirPods Max Teardown Reveals Minimal Changes and No Repairability Upgrades

Highlights

• iFixit’s teardown of Apple’s AirPods 4 and updated AirPods Max released.
• Shows minimal internal changes.
• Both products earn a low repairability score.
• AirPods 4 continues with its difficult-to-repair design.
• The AirPods Max’s only change is a USB-C port

We recently reported on iFixit’s teardowns of the iPhone 16 and now the repair engineers have completed teardowns of Apple’s latest AirPods 4 and updated AirPods Max. It appears Apple has not moved away from the tried and tested engineering.

The teardowns reveal very few internal changes, especially when it comes to repairability. Here’s everything that iFixit’s latest videos reveal.

Firstly, you can watch iFixit’s full teardown video here –

iFixit Teardown of AirPods 4

iFixit’s findings reveal they are quite similar to the AirPods 3 in terms of internal design.

No changes from the previous design also means these new AirPods are just as difficult to repair as they were previously. The new AirPods earned the lowest possible repair score of 0/10.

A major limitation is the inability to easily replace the battery in the AirPods case. This lack of repairability in design makes Apple’s design look outdated when we compare it to other earbuds available today.

Other competing brands in the market such as Samsung and Sony have already addressed this of repairability in their products.

The teardown also focused on the AirPods 4 without active noise cancellation. A noticeable difference between this model and previous versions is the addition of “a single outward-facing microphone.”

iFixit Teardown of AirPods Max

The updated AirPods Max teardown also shows almost no internal changes.

This was almost evident from the launch since the only update in the new model is the switch from Apple’s Lightning port to a USB-C charging port.  

Other than that, AirPods Max is pretty much the same device. It still lacks Apple’s latest AirPods features. Fans have already expressed disappointment over this lack of innovation.

iFixit teardown video concludes:

“So here we are again, another year and another AirPod teardown that totally disappoints on the repairability front. And it’s a shame too, because Apple has made a functionally amazing piece of hardware that brings some real quality-of-life improvements, but at the expense of creating a device that’s totally disposable.

The AirPods Max, however, remains unchanged from the 2020 release model. We still don’t have parts or manuals for these $500 headphones, and the entry process into the cups is awkward at best.

With this in mind, the AirPods 4 and AirPods 4 with ANC receive a provisional score of 0 out of 10 on our repairability scale. And the AirPods Max USB-C version score remains unchanged at a provisional 6 out of 10.”

What we can conclude from the teardowns is that Apple’s new AirPods have seen minimal updates and remain difficult to repair.

FAQs

Q1. What changes in the AirPods 4 compared to the AirPods 3?

Answer. iFixit found that the AirPods 4 are quite similar to the AirPods 3 in terms of internal design. The main difference is the addition of a single outward-facing microphone. Unfortunately, they remain difficult to repair, with a repairability score of 0/10.

Q2. Did iFixit highlight any drawbacks in the new AirPods 4?

Answer. The major drawback is the inability to easily replace the battery in the AirPods case, making them less user-friendly compared to competing brands like Samsung and Sony, which have addressed this issue in their products.

Q3. What updates were found in the teardown of the updated AirPods Max?

Answer. The teardown revealed almost no internal changes to the AirPods Max, except for the switch from Apple’s Lightning port to a USB-C charging port. The AirPods Max still lacks Apple’s latest features, which may disappoint some fans.

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