Same old battery, impossible to repair

Apple’s second-generation AirPods are out, and they’re pretty great. 

If you pry them open and look inside, though, you won’t find too many big changes compared to the original AirPods which came out in 2016. According to iFixit, which has posted its teardown of the AirPods 2 Friday, Apple’s new buds are still extremely hard to repair. 

It’s hardly surprising: After all, not many of us expect something as tiny as the AirPods to be easily repairable. But iFixit claims the AirPods, and their battery-charging case, are near-impossible to open — if you try it, you’ll likely break half the parts, so don’t try it. 

Other tidbits of note: The battery in the case is exactly the same as last year’s model, with a 398mAh capacity, and it’s sealed to the case in such a way that you can forget about replacing it, ever. The battery in the buds also appears to be unchanged from the previous model. 

There’s some good news, too, as it appears that the chips in the case have more liquid-resistant coating — but do note that the AirPods officially aren’t water-resistant at all. 

Check out the full teardown here.