Don’t underestimate Apple accessories. Within what may seem like simple wireless headphones, like the AirPods, there is a whole network of small chips that give the product all its functions. Yes these chips take advantage of the headset’s limited internal space to a surprising extent.
Inside AirPods: From the battery to a tangle of chips
To prove it, fans of the Scan of The Month site took it upon themselves to x-ray scans to all AirPods models to see how their internal components have evolved over the generations. The maintainers of the website were kind enough to send us high resolution versions of their results, which we show you starting with the original AirPods:
The electronics of these AirPods are reduced in the earpiece area itself, reserving the “pin” for the battery and the microphones. Little by little things are changing when we see the tomography of AirPods Pro and third generation AirPods:
Over time, Apple find ways to fit more circuits on something as small as a pair of headphones. Now, the pin of the AirPods 3 is full of chips, and it manages to maintain its autonomy.
In the Applesphere
This little blue ball is used to clean my AirPods and two other ways to make them look like new
Also of note in future AirPods Pro 2, with a possible release before 2023 according to rumours. And finally we also notice it in the rest of Apple products: if the company learns to miniaturize the technology in the AirPods, it will be able to take advantage of it in the iPhone, iPad and Mac of the future.
