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'Your AirPods Will Die Soon' -- The Shrinking Charge Capacities of Lithium-Ion Batteries (theatlantic.com)
Some of the same podcasters who first extolled AirPods are now complaining about them, reports the Atlantic:
The battery can no longer hold a charge, they say, rendering them functionally useless. Apple bloggers agree: "AirPods are starting to show their age for early adopters," Zac Hall, an editor at 9to5Mac, wrote in a post in January, detailing how he frequently hears a low-battery warning in his AirPods now. Earlier this month, Apple Insider tested a pair of AirPods purchased in 2016 against a pair from 2018, and found that the older pair died after two hours and 16 minutes. "That's less than half the stated battery life for a new pair," the writer William Gallagher concluded. Desmond Hughes, who is 35 and lives in Newport News, Virginia, has noticed a similar thing about his own set: At first, their charge lasted five hours, but now they sometimes last only half an hour. He frequently listens to one while charging the other -- not optimal conditions for expensive headphones. He's now gearing up to plunk down more money on another pair....
The lithium-ion batteries that power AirPods are everywhere. One industry report forecast that sales would grow to $109.72 billion by 2026, from $36.2 billion in 2018. They charge faster, last longer, and pack more power into a small space than other types of batteries do. But they die faster, too, often after just a few years, because every time you charge them, they degrade a little. They can also catch fire or explode if they become damaged, so technology companies make them difficult, if not impossible, for consumers to replace themselves. The result: A lot of barely chargeable AirPods and wireless mice and Bluetooth speakers are ending up in the trash as consumers go through products -- even expensive ones -- faster than ever....
Of the 3.4 million tons of electronic waste generated in America in 2012 -- an 80 percent increase from 2000 -- just 29 percent was recycled.
The article notes that Wednesday Apple announced a new generation of AirPods -- but "did not say whether the devices would have longer lives."
They also report that Apple "does allow consumers to pay for what it calls a 'battery replacement' for AirPods, but each 'replaced' AirPod is $49."
The lithium-ion batteries that power AirPods are everywhere. One industry report forecast that sales would grow to $109.72 billion by 2026, from $36.2 billion in 2018. They charge faster, last longer, and pack more power into a small space than other types of batteries do. But they die faster, too, often after just a few years, because every time you charge them, they degrade a little. They can also catch fire or explode if they become damaged, so technology companies make them difficult, if not impossible, for consumers to replace themselves. The result: A lot of barely chargeable AirPods and wireless mice and Bluetooth speakers are ending up in the trash as consumers go through products -- even expensive ones -- faster than ever....
Of the 3.4 million tons of electronic waste generated in America in 2012 -- an 80 percent increase from 2000 -- just 29 percent was recycled.
The article notes that Wednesday Apple announced a new generation of AirPods -- but "did not say whether the devices would have longer lives."
They also report that Apple "does allow consumers to pay for what it calls a 'battery replacement' for AirPods, but each 'replaced' AirPod is $49."
SHOCKING I SAY!
Why, they very notion that an overpriced product that gives inferior sound quality, and has a propensity to get lost, or ingested by toddlers, could have such a shortened service life compared to the older tech it replaced! Who could have forseen it! /s
I have a great idea. What if you had headphones that didn't use a battery but instead plugged directly into a hypothetical Jack on a source of sound? I know it sounds crazy but it would work and could even be made universal.
It's also an issue with the size of the batteries: the smaller the battery, the lower the capacity.
Then, add that you insist to wear those buddies into your ears all the time (also for fashion purposes). It's clear you will run more and more charging cycles that will worsen the situation.
Use the wired ones, instead.
Sent as ripples into the electromagnetic field. No single photon has been harmed in the process.
Don't drain past about 30% and don't store them fully charged to maximize the number of charge/discharge cycles.
At first, their charge lasted five hours, but now they sometimes last only half an hour. He frequently listens to one while charging the other -- not optimal conditions for expensive headphones. He's now gearing up to plunk down more money on another pair
politicians are like babies' nappies: they should both be changed regularly and for the same reasons
Not only that but having scammed themselves into buying shoddy, overpriced, short lived junk they then make the extra effort to do it again:
"He's now gearing up to plunk down more money on another pair...."
I am writing this on my aging - but still fully functional - Samsung Galaxy Note 3. How can I use a nearly 6 year old phone you ask?
Why I can replace the battery! I'm on my third... (Well it was also a high end phone of the time, one of the first with 3 GB ram...)
But my point is; the reason it survive is I can change battery. And it is one of the last of its kind. Check gsmarena.com and you'll find almost no high end phones with replaceable batt from 2018 and forward.
But the are all ip 68 or whatever waterproof. Well I have yet to have a phone die of water. Most was replaced because of the battery (or because the keyboard broke). When I hear my colleagues getting new iphones, it is always the battery. My parents just bought a new one because of...
Am I the only one that believes, that the *true* reason all new devices are waterproof, is planned obsolescence?? ... Could be I'm just an old geek that doesn't care to buy a new phone that can the same (but slightly faster, of course) as the one I have. ... Or maybe you all drop phones in the toilet regularly? (really??)
If not, then spread the idea, and help save both money and the environment! Let's rebel! ... Regard my heading "by law" I mean, it doesn't have to be user replaceable, but eg that right-to-repair have an upper limit of what a new battery must cost, sufficiently low - like maybe 5% of the original price - to ensure that the can be replaced, and is not epoxy'ed inside.
Because they can turn another piece of common mobile equipment into their own proprietary consumption item, which you have to pay for over and over.
It costs less than $10 to manufacture them -- they are just regular ear-buds with a microscopic radio receiver and a battery -- and they sell them for an unbelievable $200, knowing very well they are manufacturing a consumption item that you must replace regularly.
Give all your money to Apple if that's what you want -- they would love to take it -- but at least be honest about Apple and admit that they are dishonest, cunning, planning, and greedy.
They're powered by a cable I stick in the phone. Perhaps other phones will soon implement this handy feature.
As with the mobile phones themselves, if they limited the charge window to 80% or so of full capacity they would last years longer cos its cycling in the low and high extremes that kills the battery. But if they did that, they wouldn't be able to sell replacements every 2-3 years....
Do I have to solve everything?
He's now gearing up to plunk down more money on another pair...
Yeah, that will really teach Apple a lesson!
How do you know they were ever actually talking to anyone in the first place? ;)
Care killed the cat, but satisfaction brought it back.
But would you listen? Nooooooooo!
When all you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a thumb.
"Mr. President, you hit the wrong link. This isn't Twitter."
Care killed the cat, but satisfaction brought it back.
Well, we knew that because he bought the first pair.
Apple's marketing techniques demand a level of respect.
You sound surprised, what did you think would happen?
L'Idiot
You guys buy their stupid shit. Is there no 3rd person repair center?
(-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
This should be no surprise-- any device with a lithium-ion based battery sealed inside it will have to suffer the downsides that all common lithium-ion batteries have to suffer. Excess heat quickly damages their ability to recharge. But also normal heat, over the course of two to five years, gradually damages their capacity to recharge.
Drone battery? Better hope they produce the same form factor in three years.
Sport camera or camera gimbal? If it has the battery sealed in, the whole thing will be junk before you finally get around to using it on that big action vacation.
Thousand dollar smartphone with a case made of glass and unicorn farts? Better sign up for an appointment at the Einstein Bar to get the next magical upgrade, er, next generation smartphone.
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This is no surprise for anybody that actually understands electronics. 2..3 years is all you get with non-replaceable LiPo batteries and daily use. One of the reasons I consider a phone or other device with a non-replaceable battery to be defective by design and will not buy it.
Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
The price for looking cool is high, but many are willing to pay it.
Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
You pay, say, $150 per year, and every 2 years you get a new pair of them.That is if you send in your old ones. If not, you pay an extra $50.
Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
Wow, it's almost like some people realised that batteries don't hold the same charge forever, and that being able to replace batteries in a consumer product is a desirable property.
Somebody please inform every phone manufacturer, every electric toothbrush manufacturer and anyone else who makes battery-powered items where the batteries can't be removed, therefore can't be replaced therefore can't be recycled even.
If only we'd made standardised cell sizes, voltages and properties such that we could easily replace them with a standardised battery by just flipping off a cover and pulling out some kind of module which we can buy in the shops...
One, the wires break a lot more if you're a clumsy twat or are too stupid to wear the thing so it's not pulling in the wrong place.
Two, you don't know how to find the break, cut it and solder a new plug on? I could do that when I was about ten.
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
to a big battery suddenly looks like a good idea again.
Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
The article reads "They [batteries] can also catch fire or explode if they become damaged, so technology companies make them difficult, if not impossible, for consumers to replace themselves." It should say, " The profit margin on new devices is very high, so technology companies make them difficult, if not impossible, for consumers to replace themselves."
Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.
As someone who still connects air traffic control sized, over the ear studio headphones to their device with a 3 foot coily 1970s cable, i say....mwah ha ha ha.
You are not an Apple user. Not fanatical enough. But kudos for trying.
Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
And you know what headphones don't low battery alarm is less than half of the original battery life?
My wired ones
Also, they don't shoot potentially cancer causing radio waves into my ear canal and towards my brain
> The electric energy merely heats it to above its boiling point and autoignition temperature.
I don't think I want a non-flammable substance at 2,000 degrees in my ear either.
Apple looks to be using planned obsolescence across their product lines. Apple has to keep the revenue flowing in somehow.
It's not just Apple, Ticpods, Sennheiser, Samsung, whatever also make wireless headphones. It's a common design feature...
Mostly random stuff.
Just change the battery...
Planned obsolescence at its finest.
Apple technicians aren't good enough at their work to not have a high chance of breaking it further if they attempt battery replacement. Plus, being clumsy means they can rationalize a mandatory $200 charge to the average Apple customer.
Desmond Hughes ... noticed ... their charge lasted five hours, but now they sometimes last only half an hour. He frequently listens to one while charging the other -- not optimal conditions for expensive headphones. He's now gearing up to plunk down more money on another pair....
They sucked the first time, are essentially unusable (one at a time, really?) after 2 years - and so he will go and buy another pair.
Browsing at +1 - no ACs, I ignore their posts. So refreshing!
It's weird how my "old-fangled" wired earbuds still sound great. They must have a hell of a battery because I've used them for years and never gotten a low battery warning.
Can I pay more to own a set of earbuds that don't sound as good and die every few months, even though there's nothing really wrong with them?
Just cruising through this digital world at 33 1/3 rpm...
i still have tool ni-cd packs from 15+ years ago, and they still have enough capacity to drive the circular saw or the reciprocating saw or a couple hours on the gooseneck light or a half a day on the LED light. whoever the idiot that thought "2 years as long as you keep it chaqrged up 'cause it exploders if you put it away dead then charge it 6 months later" was an acceptable lifetime should be put in public stocks so the people can throw shit at them
Snowden and Manning are heroes.
If you want truly wireless headphones just get some much cheaper ones on Amazon. The pricing on Airpods is absurd.
Personally $30 is the highest I will go for wireless headphones for this reason. Not paying more for something with a limited lifespan.
Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
This is why I like my devices to have a headphone jack for use with corded headphones. No dongle, no recharging, no degraded rechargeable batteries.
The myth that Li-ion batteries die after only a few years has been proven false so many times that it gets tired now.
https://www.engadget.com/2015/...
https://www.greencarreports.co...
Remember those pictures of George W. Bush captioned, “Miss me yet?”
Someone needs to remake that but with a photo of the bottom of an iPhone with a headphone jack.
Our reign has gone on long enough. Indeed. Summon the meteors.
No shit?
What cracks me up is the nudnik from the article that is preparing to buy *another pair*. As my grandfather use to say, "Don't let the same dog bite ya twice."
He'd certainly never last long as a salescritter in the marketing dept.
Expensive electronic tat with irreplaceable batteries is a bad idea.
Next up:
Deep frying your balls is
We suffer more in our imagination than in reality. - Seneca
if anything, this was all planned in by Apple, just to make another steady stream of income.
On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero.
Can't understand why Apple just doesn't make them run slower: https://www.cnet.com/news/appl...