Engineer Ken Pillonel was the first to modify iPhone with a working USB-C port in 2021 and he did the same for the AirPods and AirPods Pro cases. Now Ken is back with what he’s calling his “most innovative project so far,” USB-C wired AirPods.
On his YouTube channel today, Ken showed off a look at his work to deconstruct and fix his broken AirPods from 2020 and enhance them with the reliability of a wired USB-C cable.
He highlights that the first and second-gen AirPods received a 0/10 repairability score from iFixit, making them impossible for most people to repair. However, not being one to settle for the status quo, Ken tore into them to figure out how to make them even better – with a trusty wire.
Also enhancing the AirPods, Ken decided to create the USB-C wired earphones with a super slick two-tone black and white aesthetic. There’s no chance anyone will confuse them for the boring, regular wireless AirPods.
Check out the process and the end result:
April Fools’ Day joke aside, Ken is hoping the tongue-in-cheek project will give people pause before buying unrepairable products or considering going for wired headphones that don’t have irreplaceable batteries.
Apple still sells its original wired AirPods – called EarPods with both 3.5mm and Lightning connectors. And of course, there are tons of third-party wired options.
However, there is a company that’s figured out how to do AirPods battery replacements at some scale. The Swap Club offers trade-ins of your dead AirPods with a refurbished pair with fresh batteries.
For more on Ken’s impressive, non-April Day Fools’ projects, check out our full coverage 😁:
- Here’s how the creator of the first USB-C iPhone future-proofed AirPods Pro [Video]
- Engineer gives AirPods charging case the USB-C port we all deserve
- Apple won’t make a USB-C iPhone, so a robotics engineer created their own [Video]
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