AirPods Max teardown makes Sony and Bose headphones look ‘toy’



[ad_1]

The disassembly of AirPods Max for a long time iFixit is finally finished, giving a comprehensive overview of the internal components of Apple’s first in-ear headphones and an idea of ​​how easy they are to repair. iFixit even went so far as to take Sony’s WH-1000XM4 and Bose NC 700 headphones apart for comparison. So far, iFixit has refused to grant Apple a single point of repair for any of its AirPods, but the AirPods Max are bucking the trend with a surprisingly high score of six out of ten.

Why so high? Well, for starters, its ear pads attach via magnets, making them easy to swap out and replace when they inevitably wear out. There are also many internal components held together with screws rather than messy glue, which should make it easy for future repairers to replace them if they break.

The interior of what iFixit calls “perhaps the most elaborate part” of the helmet.
Image: iFixit

Unfortunately, there is some adhesive in the way of repairs.
Image: iFixit

iFixit particularly likes the headband’s hinge mechanism located between the band and the ear cups, which it notes can be detached “with just a SIM card removal tool or paperclip, without even opening the headset.” He calls it “perhaps the most elaborate part of the AirPods Max” and notes that it is “both complex and overloaded, and might make the price of the AirPods Max a bit easier to swallow.”

Headphones are by no means perfectly repairable. Opening up the AirPods Max involves dealing with a messy adhesive, and while Apple has done a good job using screws to hold their internal components together, iFixit points out that it uses an incredibly different board for the job, this which means you will need to be well equipped with screwdriver heads to attempt a repair.

AirPods Max (center) versus headphones from Sony (left) and Bose (right).
Image: iFixit

Compared to other popular on-ear headphones, however, the AirPods Max do well. As part of its dive into Apple headphones, iFixit also demolished the cheaper Sony WH-1000XM4 and Bose NC 700, which are some of our favorite noise canceling headphones. But he notes that compared to the “obsessive craftsmanship” of Apple’s headphones, they end up looking like “toys in comparison.”

Considering their sky-high price tag of $ 550, it’s reassuring that the AirPods Max won’t be a complete nightmare to fix when their batteries and other components start failing in a few years. Now Apple just needs to find a way to bring that same repairability to its ridiculously popular real wireless AirPods.



[ad_2]

Source link