AirPods suck. But I still buy them.

My beloved Apple AirPods died after 4 years of use.

I quick google search yielded me a surprising (to me at least) result; Airpods’s lifespan peaks at 2 years.

2. Years.

Well, first I was happy mine lasted 1.5 years more than average even though it transcended the world with me (granted I didn’t use it everyday).

But I was shocked that I can’t repair it. So am I expected to pay 65 Rials (€150) for a new bluetooth headset every 2 years?

Even if I had the money, what about the environment? Am I supposed to toss a headset every 2 years?

This can’t be Apple only, right?

Sadly, nope. Further research showed me that this was the same with all other bluetooth headsets. This might have been common knowledge, but it was extremely morbid and surprising to me. According to Tektronix;

The typical estimated life of a lithium-ion battery is about two to three years or 300 to 500 charge cycles, whichever occurs first. Every time you charge your AirPods, the batteries lose a small amount of capacity. The type of battery inside your AirPods Pro likely is a Varta CoinPower lithium-ion coin cell. Under optimal conditions, this battery can retain over 80% of its initial capacity after 500 or more charge cycles, but it’s all downhill from there. With every charge cycle, the battery’s capacity not only fades a little more but also faster. Unfortunately, this decline is irreversible and over time, the batteries break down completely. Every battery has a limited number of charge cycles until it can’t hold a charge anymore.

For someone who gets attached easily to his belongings and romanticizes them, it (slightly) broke my heart knowing that this Airpod that I bought in March 2018 from Dubai, that survived through all the business meetings there, then survived train rides in London, to cold evenings in Izmir and long walks in Brittany, even once falling under a military truck in Rome (which further pissed the Italian Polizei driver from tourists like me).

Just for it to succumb to its death at home.

What irks me isn’t the Air-pods dying per se, instead the irreparability.

I’d love to fix my personal technology by hand, ever since I was a teen I loved tweaking my gadgets from jail-braking to repairing my iPhone 3G. Yet Apple keeps denying us this privilege year by year with various excuses. The Airpods has an iFixit score of 0. If I took it to Apple, they will only replace the dead ear phones with a new one and trash the old ones, and the replacement price? Nearly close enough to the price of buying a new one.

Why not a wired headset?

Because I am stuck in the Apple ecosystem, one that is pushing itself not to adapt the USB-C, in 2021 nearly every device needs it’s own dongle. My iPhone SE2 uses Lightning, my iPad Air 4 uses USB-C, my laptop and work Mac uses 3.5mm. I give on using all ear/air phones except that now as things are opening up after the pandemic, I am having more and more important meetings and calls the require a headset of sorts.

So why Apple?

I personally hate Apple, but I can’t deny how much smoother their devices are overall. Especially the “Apple ecosystem” trap that most of us have fallen in.

Other companies aren’t any better, the same problems face Amazon and Microsofts (such as the Echo Buds) that sell as high as $130 and still need to be tossed at the end of their lifespan.

Idon’t want to contribute to capitalism, I only buy stuff I am sure 100% I need and that I already planned months in advance. This simple research opened my eyes to the illusion of choice and us being trapped in the boundaries of capitalism.

We buy, we toss. Rinse and repeat.

Quoting Kyle Wiens, the chief executive of repair website mentioned above (iFixit):

The life span of an expensive, resource-intensive gadget shouldn’t be limited to the life span of one consumable component. You wouldn’t buy an electric toothbrush where you couldn’t replace the brush. Or a car with glued-on tires.

I would never call Apple product good design if their lifespan is limited and unrepairable.

As a product designer, as a consumer, and as a custodian of this Earth; let's all agree that these expensive electronics should never be allowed to be limited to only one product life span, and then to be tossed.

Let’s all agree to factor in the methods of disposable of each product we create and consume.

Until a greener and cleaner product comes to the market ,
I have unfortunately bought the new Airpods Pro. And I love them.

Perhaps this article was only a justification for the purchase guilt