AirPods
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| Basic Information | |
|---|---|
| Release Year | 2016-12-13 |
| Product Type | Wireless earbuds |
| In Production | Yes |
| Official Website | https://apple.com/airpods |
AirPods are wireless earbuds designed by Apple. They first debuted on September 07, 2016, alongside the iPhone 7, and were released on December 13, 2016.[1][2]
Consumer impact summary
AirPods are designed in a way that makes them unrepairable, leading to customers having to buy a new pair after a few years of use. Apple can replace them, but won't repair them or help you do it yourself. According to an expert from iFixit:[3]
If you want to take this apart, non-destructively, to replace the batteries, as far as I know, that's impossible.
The rechargeable batteries in AirPods can see fast-tracked degradation at a certain number of battery cycles,[3] with two-year-old sets lasting for less than half of the advertised five hours.[citation needed]
Up until September 22, 2023, Apple used their proprietary Lightning connector on the AirPods' charging case.[4]
Apple has a program to service batteries and purchase replacement individual AirPods and charging cases. The replacement of one or both AirPods or the charging case has a lower price with AppleCare+ than without. Apple offers battery servicing for free with AppleCare+ and for a fee without.[citation needed]
User Freedom
Airpods are not designed to be free as they are only feature-rich with other products in the apple ecosystem. With non-apple products they have limited functionality as basic wireless headphones due to the artificial restrictions that Apple has put in place.[5] However there have been projects attempting to allow the more sophisticated usage of airpods with non-apple products such as librepods.[6][7]
Incidents
This is a list of all consumer protection incidents related to this product line. Any incidents not mentioned here can be found in the AirPods category.
Example incident one (date)
- Main article: link to the main article
Example incident two (date)
...
Incidents affecting all of the company's products can be found in the company article: Company article
Products
- AirPods (1st generation) (December 13, 2016[1])
- AirPods (2nd generation) (March 20, 2019[1])
- AirPods Pro (1st generation) (October 30, 2019[1])
- AirPods Max (December 15, 2020[1])
- AirPods (3rd generation) (October 26, 2021[1])
- AirPods Pro 2 (previously 2nd generation) (September 23, 2022[1])
- AirPods 4/ANC (September 20, 2024[1])
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 "Every Apple AirPods Generation: A Full History of Release Dates - IGN". IGN. 2 March 2025. Archived from the original on 2026-01-04.
- ↑ "Apple reinvents the wireless headphone with AirPods". Apple. 7 Sep 2016. Archived from the original on 2026-01-04. Retrieved 24 Nov 2025.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Brown, Dalvin (20 Apr 2023). "Apple Doesn't Repair AirPods. Here's Why". Youtube. Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 24 Nov 2025.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ Borresen, Jennifer (22 Sep 2023). "iPhone 15 pro uses USB-C charger: An exploration of how Apple got here". USA Today. Archived from the original on 2026-01-04. Retrieved 24 Nov 2025.
- ↑ Thomas, Christian (2025-03-26). "Don't use AirPods with Android". SOUNDGUYS. Archived from the original on 2025-04-07. Retrieved 2026-01-05.
- ↑ https://github.com/cysgodi/librepods
- ↑ https://www.macrumors.com/2025/11/21/librepods-unlocks-airpods-features-android/