AirPods 5 Teardown: Apple Finally Makes the Batteries Removable
iFixit tore down the AirPods 5 and found removable batteries for the first time in the line. Why it matters for repair, and where the case still fights back.
Image: Property of Apple Inc.
What the teardown found
iFixit's teardown of the AirPods 5, covered by MacRumors and Cult of Mac this week, surfaced a genuinely rare piece of good news: the batteries inside the earbuds are removable. That is a first for the AirPods line, which has been the poster child for unrepairable hardware since it launched.
Why this matters
The battery is always the first component to die in true wireless earbuds. Rechargeable cells lose capacity with every cycle, and once they fall below a useful runtime, the product is done. In every previous AirPods generation, the batteries were glued in place so thoroughly that removing one meant destroying the earbud. Owners had exactly two options: pay Apple's out-of-warranty replacement fee for a whole new unit, or throw the pair away.
Removable batteries change that math. A dead AirPods 5 battery becomes a parts swap instead of a funeral. Given how many AirPods ship every year, that is a meaningful dent in e-waste, and a quiet win for the right-to-repair movement that has been pushing Apple on exactly this point.
The case is still a fight
The teardown coverage is blunt on one point: the charging case remains a teardown nightmare. It is still glued and fused to the point that opening it without damage is a serious challenge. So the repairability story is half-fixed. The part most likely to wear out first, the earbud battery, is now serviceable. The part that holds the bigger battery and takes the pocket abuse is not.
The honest take
This is progress, not a transformation. Repairable does not mean easy, and Apple has not published a self-service battery program for AirPods the way it has for iPhone and Mac. But the direction matters: the AirPods 5 is the first generation where the hardware design treats the battery as a replaceable part rather than a structural component. For a product category built on planned disposal, that is the headline.
Frequently asked questions
Can you replace AirPods 5 batteries yourself?
The teardown found the earbud batteries are removable, but Apple has no self-service program for AirPods. Any repair is still third-party work.
What about previous AirPods?
Older generations have glued batteries that cannot be removed without destroying the earbuds, which is why the AirPods 5 finding is notable.