Overview

• Disassembly requires heat and prying that mar the housings, and even skilled technicians cannot reliably reassemble the earbuds or case.
• iFixit measured 0.221 Wh batteries in each earbud and a single 1.334 Wh cell in the case, a change that aligns with Apple’s lower 24-hour case runtime versus 30 hours previously.
• The charging case now uses fewer rare-earth magnets positioned to preserve MagSafe and Qi2 wireless charging compatibility.
• Microscopic inspection shows the new foam-infused tips have a bubbly internal layer intended to improve the seal and noise isolation.
• Reviewers and repair advocates warn that non-replaceable batteries typically degrade within two to three years, pushing full replacements and increasing e-waste despite new features like heart-rate sensing and an IP57 rating.