Apple appears to be charging Brits £309 to replace AirPods Max batteries, while Americans need only stump up $79
- Reference: 1607534111
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2020/12/09/airpods_max_battery_replacement/
- Source link:
This is more than three times the cost of obtaining a battery service in the US, where an out-of-warranty repair will [3]set you back $79 . It's even more expensive than in Australia, where consumers [4]typically pay more for kit than Brits or Americans. A replacement battery service down under will [5]set you back A$119 , or £66 at the current exchange rate.
[6]
Click to enlarge
Apple will gladly sell AirPods Max customers an extended two-year AppleCare warranty, which covers battery replacements. It has also said it will replace batteries that are proven to be faulty as the result of a manufacturing defect, much like [7]it did with the butterfly keyboard .
It's not clear why Apple is charging UK punters disproportionately more than those elsewhere. We've asked Apple, and will update this post if we hear back.
Still, every lithium battery has a finite lifespan. With prolonged use, these will eventually degrade, holding ever-decreasing levels of charge. As they start to fail, they'll begin to expand – a phenomenon dubbed " [8]spicy pillows " – which can damage or dislodge other internal components.
The only solution is to replace the battery. For many headphone models, this is something that can be accomplished by a skilled hand equipped with the right tools. For popular high-end headphones from the likes of Sony and Bose, you can find third-party manufacturers flogging replacement cells, as well as step-by-step repair guides on YouTube and iFixit.
It's plausible the £309 cost of obtaining a replacement battery for the AirPods Max will deter some from repairing their broken headphones. They'll sit in a drawer, and eventually end up bagged and trashed, where they'll languish in a landfill for millennia. Repairs done by the user themselves, or by a third party, will almost certainly prove cheaper. But will they be possible?
Apple has a poor track record here. The popular wireless earbud-style AirPods [9]are impossible to repair . Even if you manage to source a replacement battery cell, once they've been disassembled, there's no way you can reassemble them.
This has also been true for its laptop line. Between 2012 and 2015, it used an [10]incredibly strong adhesive to affix the battery to the top-case of the MacBook Pro Retina. It took iFixit [11]almost five years to identify a non-toxic solvent capable of dissolving the glue without damaging other components.
Future teardowns may prove the AirPods Max to be straightforward to self-service, but don't hold your breath. This is Apple, after all.
Battery longevity isn't the only thing that will determine the useful lifespan of the AirPods Max. Remember: they're tied to Apple's wider device ecosystem, and will only work on specific versions of macOS, iOS, iPadOS, and tvOS. Apple will eventually discontinue software support for these cans, preventing them from being used on newer devices.
Headphones that use generic Bluetooth and 3.5mm wired connections can be used for as long as they work. These are different: proprietary.
Apple hasn't said how long they intend to support the AirPods Max. Admittedly, this won't be a problem for some. At its heart, Apple is a luxury goods manufacturer. There are those who will buy these without concern for cost nor longevity.
But if you're eyeing these up as a multi-year investment, it might be prudent to wait to see what Apple says, and how it fares when under the microscope lens of a right-to-repair activist. ®
Get our [12]Tech Resources
[1] https://www.theregister.com/2020/12/08/airpods_max_apple/
[2] https://support.apple.com/en-gb/airpods/repair/service
[3] https://support.apple.com/airpods/repair/service
[4] https://www.theregister.com/2013/06/13/playstation_4_why_it_costs_so_much/
[5] https://support.apple.com/en-au/airpods/repair/service
[6] https://regmedia.co.uk/2020/12/09/airpodspricing.png
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2018/06/23/apple_macbook_keyboard_replacement_free/
[8] https://www.reddit.com/r/spicypillows/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2019/11/01/airpods_teardown/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2013/10/25/macbook_pro_2013_teardowns/
[11] https://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2017/7/6/15927962/ifixit-new-retina-macbook-pro-repair-kit-change-battery-syringe-solvent-complex
[12] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Re: This is a crime against the planet
Apple's whole business is built upon dumping old shite. Granted their kit lasts well but Apple aren't interested what you do with their kit 2 years after you've bought it, chuck off the nearest cliff for all they care, just buy the lastest version. Oddly I like their kit, it's nice but I won't buy any of it simply because their business is based on constant and unflinching need to have you dump your old kit every 2 years and trade up to the point where they will not fix, upgrade, support or even offer parts or repair for anything older than 2 years.
Surely someone fat-fingered £39 and caught the 0?
You’re asking us to believe two things:
1) Apple are not infallible, and
2) the battery replacement cost for Brits is markedly less than that for the US or Australia.
Hmm. This is my sceptical face.
"Surely someone fat-fingered £39 and caught the 0?"
No, it's just a typo. They meant £390.
Surely someone fat-fingered £39 and caught the 0?
Yes, it was a mistake -- Actual price is actually £930.
£45 ?
£45 retains consistency with the other quoted UK prices. How on earth did it become £309 and be overlooked?
No skin off my nose because I would never buy Apple products.
Apple will gladly sell AirPods Max customers an extended two-year AppleCare warranty, which covers battery replacements.
Surely in the UK if you buy from apple you're bound by the [1]consumer rights act , and if my 600 quid headphones stopped working after 2 years (battery or otherwise), I'd be expecting a much cheaper or (if in the first 12 months) free repair or replacement.
Statutory rights are worth knowing.
Battery longevity isn't the only thing that will determine the useful lifespan of the AirPods Max. Remember: they're tied to Apple's wider device ecosystem, and will only work on specific versions of macOS, iOS, iPadOS, and tvOS.
Is there a source for this? The AirPods are bluetooth, and [2]can be paired with regular bluetooth equipment . It would seem odd to change this for the Max??
[1] https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2015/15/contents/enacted
[2] https://discussions.apple.com/thread/7800150
Oh Apple
Why do you never cease to disappoint?
Signed,
One of those idiots who bought a couple of Macs when it was a relatively open Unix platform.
Sticking things in your ears!
This image springs to mind when I think of using earbuds...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electriclarryland#/media/File:The_Butthole_Surfers_Electriclarryland.jpg
And please, Run with scissors when possible!
It's 85EUR on the French site.
Apple! Earphones to make your eyes water
See title.
Re: Apple! Earphones to make your eyes water
Not to be confused with Opal Fruits.
Apple's Brexit Dividend
No more pesky European Competition Commissioners to bother with. British consumers can be squeezed until the pips squeak
Fix it yourself
A friend at college had her Apple laptop charger die after her cat chewed on the DC cord, Apple wanted $115 to "fix it" for her. It took me three minutes (including the testing time) with a soldering iron and a couple of inches of heat shrink. I did it for free.
Re: Fix it yourself
I went on Amazon and found a Chinese knock-off verison for £16 ( free delivery ) when my sister-in-law's Macbook power cord stopped dead and Apple wanted £120 for a new one.
Re: Fix it yourself
Fact check ahoy! Apple currently charges the following prices for chargers:
USB-C: £49 for the 30W; £69 for the 61W; £79 for the 96W.
MagSafe 1 or 2: £79 for any of them.
In the US, replace the £ with a $ and add your local taxes.
Some people complain about the loss of MagSafe, but I think it's fantastic — those chargers seemed to have terribly flimsy cables that for me rarely lasted more than 18 months, whereas the USB-C cables plug in at both ends.
They're also standard USB-C chargers so you don't even have to pay crazy Apple prices if you do need to replace, e.g. the cheapest 30W USB-C charger on Amazon US right now is $17, close to being two-thirds cheaper than the Apple equivalent, and the cheapest thing to offer at least 96W is $32, less than half the Apple option.
Nothing you can easily do about those soldered-in batteries though.
Re: Fix it yourself
Please be careful with 'knock-off' versions of electrical products. It may not have been tested or designed to western safety standards. There was an incident a few years ago when a child got a 'knock-off' charger for his phone and it shorted out, killing him with the electric shock. It had all the right embossed certifications on the outside, but none of the safety on the inside.
Apple has a good record on replacing at leat one 'knock-off' charger for a reasonable amount:
https://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/apple-replacing-fake-iphone-chargers-after-electric-shock-death-1.1313112
Things that have a limited lifespan
Apple anything, universes, celebs compliance with covid rules, my attention span ...
Not so.
"At its heart, Apple is a luxury goods manufacturer."
No, at heart they are a bunch of greedy control freaks who consider that when they offer something for sale they are doing you a favour.
On the topic of price being a guide to quality I once had a Rolex Submariner that cost me over £3500 and when I wanted to have it serviced cost me £200. The bloody thing never did keep good time and I was glad to sell it on for £50 more than I paid for it.
The true price of something is what the punter will pay and in Apple's case there are a lot of people with more money than sense.
This is a crime against the planet
More of these things will end up in landfill - increasing Apple's income as a new one is bought, damaging the planet with waste electronics.
This is why a right to repair law is so very much needed.