Engineer behind the USB-C iPhone repeated the trick with AirPods

Ken Pillonel is the engineer who established the world’s first USB-C Apple iphone various months back, promoting the product for countless numbers of pounds on eBay. He’s now back with a identical project for AirPods. His new gadget hack achieves far more than incorporating a USB-C port to Apple’s well known wireless earphones. It essentially lets consumers swap the dying batteries inside the conditions of their AirPods.

The finest section is that everyone can consider apart their AirPods scenario and use Pillonel’s documents to replace the battery and the Lightning port.

Incorporating USB-C to AirPods is not not possible

As you are going to see in Pillonel’s new movie, including USB-C connectivity to AirPods is not unachievable. It’s not effortless possibly, as it took the Swiss engineer lots of time to style and design a new housing for the charging situation and find how to change the Lightning port with USB-C.

As the modder points out, the challenge with the AirPods and any other style of wireless earphones is that they’re meant to be disposable just after the battery dies. Apple will not exchange the AirPods battery, as it’s much less expensive to just replace the entire matter. That is not good for the ecosystem, nevertheless. And that is what Pillonel established out to do.

Changing the battery on the AirPods is futile except if you have a 3D printer and his schematics. That is because the AirPods circumstance isn’t meant to be taken aside. Presumably, that is what would make battery replacements unattainable.

Only after figuring a way to construct one more case for the AirPods did the modder start work on changing the Lightning connector with a USB-C port. This was an similarly hard career. Pillonel had to create a customized PCB board that would allow for him to exchange the Lightning connector.

Then he experienced to have that PCB custom-designed and transported to him. Last but not least, the engineer utilised Apple’s have tech to secure in place the connector within the AirPods circumstance. In the finish, all he experienced to do was snap in the 3D-printed AirPods circumstance.

Why you shouldn’t do it

No matter how excellent the AirPods USB-C engineering trick may be, you ought to look at not carrying out it. For starters, you need some specialized machines for some of the methods in the battery and Lightning port substitution. At the very minimum, you will need access to a 3D printer to manufacture your new scenario right after you destroy the first.

The most effective reason not to make your very own tailor made AirPods USB-C case correct now is that Apple will before long move to USB-C. The European Union has forced Apple to adopt USB-C for wired battery charging. That suggests long term iPhones and AirPods will get the new regular connector.

For the Iphone, it may start out only upcoming calendar year. But the AirPods Professional 2 that are coming this slide need to element a USB-C connector. It is incredibly possible the upcoming AirPods scenario will also appear with a USB-C port.

That usually means you ought to not hurry to repair service your current AirPods just nonetheless. But when you do get your palms on the very first Apple-built AirPods with a USB-C circumstance, you can look at changing the battery yourself just after a couple of decades of use.

Pillonel’s schematics might occur in helpful, as you are going to almost certainly need to break apart the unique scenario to get to the battery.

The next video contains all the resources you may need to exchange the AirPods battery. And include the USB-C connector if you will have to.