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APPLE’S AIRPODS ® CONCERNING DESIGN
In the late 21st century, consumer electronics have become more popular and even essential in everyday life. While these products are readily available and accessible to almost everybody, they can be somewhat expensive which is why people expect them to last. Thus, companies and manufacturers who produce these products must take that into consideration and design them with long-lasting materials thereby ensuring a proper lifetime, or at least, try to. But what happens when a big company decides to release, and mass produce, a product that’s built out of inadequate materials in an environment that favours corrosion. What happens to the consumer who purchases these products? Depending on who profits from repairs, could it be a deliberate flaw to increase revenue? Could it be considered planned obsolescence, unethical behaviour, or is it just a bad design? These are all questions that could very well apply to Apple’s Inc AirPods lineup, and we will attempt to answer them in the following study.
What’s happening?
Since their release back on December 16, 2016 [1], some users have reported issues with Apple’s AirPods that could suggest a potential design flaw which, if true, has remained unfixed for nearly eight years [5]. To understand the problem, we must first familiarize ourselves with the product. Apple’s AirPods consist of a charging case and the AirPods themselves. The issue lies within the four charging pins inside the AirPods case. The four pins seem to corrode with time. Thus, not allowing current to pass through the pins into the AirPods thereby preventing them from charging.
Multiple people have been affected by this problem–including myself. In fact, there is a plethora of examples online of people complaining about it. For instance, on Reddit plenty of users complained that their AirPods are “not charging” [2] or “Left AirPod not charging in case” [3]. Some went even further as to mention their frustration by saying that they have been “disappointed with the engineering” of the product given “how often the issue comes up” [2]. Moreover, even on Apple Support Community website [4], people complain that their AirPods are not charging inside the case. Backed up by 16,000 “me too” claims [5], as of March 2025, and we’ve got ourselves a big problem.
Why did it happen?
The issue lies within the material selection for the charging pins inside the case. Although there is no official statement from Apple that clearly mentions the type of materials used for the charging pins, it is certain that they are made from metal and that, with the right conditions, this metal can corrode. There are some sources which suggest that the pins are made from “gold plated contacts” [6]. However, if that was the case and the plating was applied correctly, then corrosion would be far less likely.
If we take a deeper look at Apple’s AirPods design using material science, we can identify a variety of potential issues that may explain what’s actually happening. First, lets take a look at the corrosion in a pair of first-generation & second-generation AirPods Pro.
Clearly, All figures show that the tip of the metal contact seems to be corroded. There is a thin black and green layer that has formed on top of it. This could be trace evidence of basic copper carbonate [7], also called copper (II) carbonate hydroxide Cu2(CO3)(OH)2. Interestingly, this same green solid also appears to be on the AirPods themselves. Both figure 3 and figure 4 show that the AirPods metal contacts are also corroded. If the layer formed is in fact copper carbonate, then it would explain the color change. Copper carbonate is naturally green. It would also explain the drop in conductivity and why multiple users report that their headphones are no longer charging.
Although there are plenty of reasons why this corrosion might have started, what is clear is that there was a chemical reaction in play. Moreover, if we look at the charging pins and compare them with AirPods tips themselves we can observe that the two metal contacts appear to be different materials. Theoretically, having two metals with different electrochemical potentials could cause galvanic corrosion, especially when these two are exposed to an electrolyte [8]. It just happens that AirPods are used in an environment where water and sweat are prevalent. Sweat, of course, being a primary source of salts such as sodium chloride (NaCl) which, when dissolved in water, disassociates into its respective ions—the definition of an electrolyte [9]. Furthermore, if we look at the AirPods tips again, we can see that the contacts seem to be scratched. If the hardness of the two metals used was not thoroughly tested, one could easily scratch the other leaving the main metal vulnerable to corrosion. Additionally, any protective layer added by Apple’s materials engineers would eventually fail, including any gold plating. In fact, gold plating is a potential galvanic reaction catalyst when coupled with copper [10].
It is remarkable that both versions of AirPods show corrosion in the tip of the metal contacts. Except that the much older one, has suffered more.
Why is it still happening?
The truth is that no one really knows why Apple remains so stubborn to fix something that is clearly an issue. Eight years is plenty of time to collect data, analyze, and provide a reasonable solution. Instead, Apple still claims that their latest AirPods Pro 2 are “dust-, sweat-, and water-resistant for non-water sports and exercise” [11]. They also claim that AirPods Pro 2 have a rating of “IP54 under IEC standard 60529” [11]. However, IP54 only provides dust and water splash protection [12]. There is no mention of metal corrosion or electrolyte resistance. Apple does, however, mention that “Dust, sweat and water resistance are not permanent conditions, and resistance might decrease as a result of normal wear.” [11]. That said, “normal wear” is a vague time interval. How long should they last? Personally, as a runner, I have had charging problems five months into having them.
It is worth noting that Apple makes approximately 18 billion dollars in AirPods sales yearly [13]. That equates to roughly 1 billion units sold every year. Out of which, a fraction of them, must be repaired or simply replaced. Given that Apple is solely responsible for these fixes and allows almost no third-party repairs, then things start to look a bit more suspicious. It is, for one, unethical to release a product knowing it is inherently flawed; but to intentionally neglect an issue purely for-profit margin, is outright fraudulent. We are not accusing Apple of malicious activities, but it is remarkable that the issue is still unfixed. They have had plenty of time do so. If these devices, through “normal wear”, will be prone to failure then they should be designed and built accordingly, with the right materials and the right building technics to provide a long lasting and adequate lifetime.
How to prevent it?
Preventing AirPods from corrosion failure is far simpler than it seems. First, materials engineers should be back at the drawing board. Material selection is crucial, specially when dealing with metals. Engineers should be advised to use the same metal alloy for both electrical contacts. This would reduce galvanic corrosion. Additionally, if they were to gold plate, engineers could use metals close to each other in the galvanic series. Secondly, reinforcing the surface of the metals with a process like ion exchange surface strengthening could significantly increase hardness. Thus, decreasing scratches that could expose the vulnerable metals. Lastly, simply providing an easier way to fix the AirPods can be seen as a positive measure to mitigate any possible failure from “normal wear”.
Conclusion
Apple’s AirPods lineup has a potential flaw in its material selection. Fortunately, this flaw has a simple fix and perhaps we will see some of them in the upcoming version of AirPods and AirPods Pro.
References
[0] Jess Bailey Designs, Silver iPhone X with AirPods. Pexels.
https://www.pexels.com/photo/silver-iphone-x-with-airpods-788946
[1] Wikipedia contributors. (n.d.). Apple headphones. Wikipedia. Retrieved March 31, 2025, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_headphones
[2] Reddit user. (2022, August 10). AirPods not charging? Reddit. Retrieved March 31, 2025, from
[3] Reddit user. (2023, January 13). Right AirPod not charging properly (First Gen Pros). Reddit. Retrieved March 31, 2025, from
[4] Apple Inc. (n.d.). Apple Discussions. Apple. Retrieved March 31, 2025, from
https://discussions.apple.com/welcome
[5] Apple Inc. (2017, April 21). Re: AirPods not charging. Apple. Retrieved March 31, 2025, from
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/7794211?sortBy=rank
[6] electronicsNmore. (2022, December 5). What’s Inside an Apple AirPod Charging Case? (Ultimate Teardown) [Video]. YouTube.
[7] Wikipedia contributors. (n.d.). Basic copper carbonate. Wikipedia. Retrieved March 31, 2025, from
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basic_copper_carbonate
[8] 321 Properties and Failure of materials lectures, Concordia University
[9] Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc. (n.d.). Electrolyte. Encyclopaedia Britannica. Retrieved March 31, 2025, from
https://www.britannica.com/science/electrolyte
[10] Grabber Construction Products, Inc. (n.d.). Corrosion guide: Galvanic chart summary. Grabber Construction Products. Retrieved March 31, 2025, from
[11] Apple Inc. (n.d.). AirPods Pro technical specifications. Apple. Retrieved March 31, 2025, from
https://www.apple.com/ca/airpods-pro/specs/#footnote-8
[12] International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC). (n.d.). IP ratings. IEC. Retrieved March 31, 2025, from
[13] Daniel Sims. (2024, March 20). AirPods sales totaled over $18 billion last year. TechSpot. Retrieved March 31, 2025, from
https://www.techspot.com/news/106057-airpods-sales-totaled-over-18-billion-last-year.html