iFixit Gives AirPods 5 a 2 out of 10 — the First Non-Zero AirPods Repair Score

After roughly a decade of flat zeros, Apple's wireless earbuds have finally scored a point. iFixit's teardown of the AirPods 5, published on 29 September 2026, awarded the line a repairability score of 2 out of 10 — modest in absolute terms, but the first non-zero figure any generation of AirPods has received from the repair outfit.

The reason is small, literally: a battery connector inside each earbud that no longer needs a soldering iron to defeat.

What changed inside the earbud

According to iFixit's teardown, each AirPods 5 earbud houses a "pronged" battery — one that connects via small metal prongs rather than soldered leads. MacRumors reports that this is the same style of connector Apple used in the AirPods 3, and that the intervening AirPods 4 did not use pronged batteries. In other words, the change reads as a return to an earlier approach rather than a brand-new design.

Getting to that connector is still an exercise in controlled destruction. iFixit opened the buds using a hair dryer to soften the adhesive holding them together, with a clamp to keep the earbud steady while working — a method described by both MacRumors and iPhone in Canada. Cult of Mac flags the obvious hazard in that approach: apply too much heat and you risk melting the plastic stems you are trying to save.

Once inside, though, iFixit found the battery "intuitive to unplug", and lifted it out with tongs. Its assessment, as quoted by MacRumors, is that "skilled technicians and even intrepid DIYers" should be able to swap the cells "with a decent success rate". That is a meaningfully different sentence from the ones iFixit has written about previous AirPods, where the batteries were soldered in place and the practical answer was replacement of the whole unit.

It is worth reading iFixit's framing precisely, because it is doing real work. "Skilled technicians and even intrepid DIYers" is not the same as "most owners at the kitchen table". The procedure involves a heat source, a clamp, adhesive, and a component small enough to need tongs. A non-zero score is not a green light.

Left and right are not interchangeable

One detail that anyone contemplating a repair should know: according to iFixit's teardown, the left and right earbud batteries are not interchangeable. The polarity is reversed between the two, a point reported by both MacRumors and iPhone in Canada. A cell pulled from one side cannot simply be dropped into the other, so any replacement has to be matched to the correct bud.

The charging case is still a write-off

Whatever ground the earbuds gained, the case gave none back. iFixit described the AirPods 5 charging case as "still a disaster", per MacRumors — and the teardown bears that out, because iFixit did not so much open the case as dismantle it beyond recovery.

Cult of Mac quotes iFixit directly on the outcome: "By the time we reached the battery, the case was destroyed. Inside, plastic welds stood where screws could have made further disassembly possible." That single sentence explains both the result and the cause. Plastic welds are permanent by design; they are faster and cheaper on an assembly line than fasteners, and they make a sealed enclosure, but they also mean there is no non-destructive route back in. Screws would have left the door open. They are not there.

Since the case contains its own battery — the one that tops the buds up between listening sessions — a case that cannot be opened without being wrecked remains a hard ceiling on how repairable the product as a whole can be. That ceiling is a large part of why the score moved to 2 and not further.

What Apple offers — and doesn't

The repair picture is also shaped by what is available outside the teardown bench. Cult of Mac and iPhone in Canada both report that AirPods are not covered by Apple's Self Service Repair programme, and that Apple does not publish official replacement parts or repair manuals for the AirPods 5. Cult of Mac adds that replacement batteries are not yet readily available.

That matters more than it might sound. A friendlier connector only translates into an actual repair if there is something to connect. Without a parts channel or documentation, the improvement iFixit identified is, for now, mostly a finding about the hardware's design rather than a service that an owner can go and book. Neither iFixit nor any of the outlets covering the teardown reports an Apple statement about the change, and none of the sources attributes a motive to it — so the sensible reading is simply that the connector is different, and iFixit noticed.

Why a 2 still counts

On a ten-point scale, 2 out of 10 is not a triumph, and iFixit's own language about the case makes clear it is not being graded generously. But the number is a break in a pattern. iClarified frames it as the end of ten years of zeros, and all three of the main reports agree that every prior AirPods generation scored 0 out of 10. For a category that has become a byword for sealed, glued, disposable consumer electronics, a design in which the battery is the part you can actually get at is a change in direction, however small the step.

iPhone in Canada notes that the AirPods 5 arrive at an unchanged price relative to the AirPods 4, so the connector change does not appear alongside a repositioning of the product. What it does come alongside is a charging case that iFixit had to destroy to inspect — which is the honest summary of where AirPods repairability stands after the 2026 teardown: better in one half of the product, unchanged in the other.

iFixit's full teardown is available on video.

Frequently asked questions

What repairability score did iFixit give the AirPods 5?

iFixit gave the AirPods 5 a repairability score of 2 out of 10 in its teardown published on 29 September 2026. Every previous generation of AirPods scored 0 out of 10, so this is the first non-zero score the product line has received from iFixit in roughly a decade.

What did iFixit find inside the AirPods 5 earbuds?

iFixit found that each AirPods 5 earbud battery connects using small prongs rather than soldered leads, and called it intuitive to unplug. iFixit opened the buds with a hair dryer to soften the adhesive and a clamp to hold the earbud, then lifted the battery out with tongs.

Can the AirPods 5 charging case be repaired?

iFixit described the AirPods 5 charging case as still a disaster. It is held together with plastic welds rather than screws, and iFixit reported the case was destroyed by the time it reached the internal battery, with no non-destructive route to further disassembly.

Are the left and right AirPods 5 batteries interchangeable?

No. According to iFixit's teardown, the left and right AirPods 5 earbud batteries are not interchangeable because their polarity is reversed. A replacement cell has to be matched to the correct earbud rather than swapped freely between the two sides.

Does Apple sell AirPods 5 replacement parts or repair manuals?

AirPods are not included in Apple's Self Service Repair programme, and Apple does not provide official replacement parts or repair manuals for the AirPods 5, according to reports on iFixit's teardown. Replacement batteries for the earbuds are also not yet readily available.

This article was written by an AI system from Into The HiFi AI Desk, generated from the following sources, with no human editing pass before publication: MacRumors — AirPods 5 Teardown: Batteries Removable, Case Still Tough, iFixit AirPods 5 teardown video, Cult of Mac — AirPods 5 are less impossible to fix, iPhone in Canada — AirPods 5 Are Apple's Most Repairable AirPods Yet.