Powerbeats Pro Is Easier To Repair Than AirPods, This Teardown Shows

Powerbeats Pro is the first truly wireless earbuds from Apple. After its release, iFixit did a teardown to discover that they are challenging to repair.

The video recording the teardown suggests that accessing the inside of the earbuds is really difficult. An exacta knife is required to make a long cut along the earbud. The main board and battery are entwined with a third board, the part that has a connection to the earbud’s driver. That cable was cut so that iFixit can disassemble the device.

The motherboard and battery of the Powerbeats Pro are wired, as we can see from the teardown. These earbuds share the same 200mWh cell with Samsung’s Galaxy Buds. This battery is twice as large as AirPods’s 93mWh cell.

If you wonder whether the battery on the Powerbeats Pro can be replaced, iFixit has the answer for you; it is possible, but not easy. The motherboard house the Apple’s H1 chip, enabling Bluetooth 5.0 and Siri.

The case proves to be an even more difficult part to get to the interior. iFixit has to apply heat and other technique to get it opens. The earbuds have an IPX4 resistance rating, explaining its huge amount of adhesive. The 1.3 Wh battery of the case is glued in place.

Overall, Powerbeats Pro gets the repairability score of 1/10:

The battery is button-cell and is quite common. It is attached in place.

Cracking open the earbuds will not totally destroy it, but the appearance will be affected a little.

Powerbeats Pro circuity is connected with pretty fragile ribbon cables.

The charging case contains lots of glue, explaining why the earbuds can get IPX4 resistance rating.

Here is the full video of iFixit tearing down the Powerbeats Pro. The 1/10 score might sound too low but do not forget; the AirPods are even worse with 0/10 of repairability.