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Podswap: Keep airpods alive and out of the landfill

422 points by ilarum 5y ago

Etheryte 5y ago
As someone who gets a ridiculous amount of use out of their pods, I really hope this business pans out. I think the product is great, but batteries are consumable products. In fact, I would hope that one day it would be mandatory to offer battery replacements for all products you sell. (Do correct me if I'm wrong, I don't think Apple currently does this for pods?)
- denimnerd42 5y ago
  what's frustrating is that while batteries are consumable products they could last much longer if they stay between 80 and 20% capacity without overheating. (this is similar to what tesla does) I wish there was a "battery care" settings on all electronics that would respect limits like this so that I could get thousands of cycles out of my devices instead of only <1000. Apple has added a feature which tries to do this intelligently to some extent but it's not the best at guessing what my needs are. The majority of the time I do not need max or even half of max battery life from my devices. airpods I only use for an hour or two at a time for example and my phone is usually close to a charger.
  - polishdude20 5y ago
    That might be what's already happening behind the scenes though. They tell you you're at 10% but that's actually 30% for example
    - stefan_ 5y ago
      For cars, maybe, but my org has had a long line of HP laptops with swollen battery packs within a year of use. No doubt there are companies out there that would rather have the extra hour of runtime on some journalists review fact sheet than a battery that doesn't put their customers at risk.
      - eitland 5y ago
        I hope all those gets replaced under warranty? I hounded Dell for months and got them to replace I guess 2 or 3 dozens of Optiplex DL270 motherboards and it felt good: forcing them to take the cost for their shoddy work.
        stefan_ 5y ago
        They do but in the meantime you got a laptop that only works off AC.
        eitland 5y ago
        Sad to hear. The times I had an issue with an HP business laptop I called them and either a technician came to my office and replaced the part (a screen in that case) or they sent a spare after confirming I was capable to change it myself.
      - HPsquared 5y ago
        There's another side as well though - a failing battery will stop working unpredictably, which is also very bad for business/productivity.
      - alisonkisk 5y ago
        That's heat damage not discharge.
    - denimnerd42 5y ago
      10% vs 30% corresponds to whatever arbitrary voltage they select but I doubt they are selecting for battery durability over all else since marketing max run time is so important.
      - SV_BubbleTime 5y ago
        Automotive engineer that doesn’t work on EVs here… there is a lot that goes into the battery. Heating and cooling elements for instance. You’re right, max runtime is the number one factor, but this can be gamed just like MPG ratings. I’m not sure many reviews are checking 0-60 times at 20% battery for example. My EV has a hilarious “miles remaining” number that INSTANTLY changes when the HVAC is on, doesn’t matter if it’s only slightly on or not, I instantly “lose” 8 or 9%. It’s pretty loose. As to what I actually get? Doesn’t really matter, never even compared to rating, mfgs know we use these cars for city travel. The small percentage of EVs you see on long haul highway, owners already know to carefully plan their trips.
        cduzz 5y ago
        Depends on the locations and cars in question; on the east coast there are lots of DC Fast charging stations between anywhere and anywhere else. This is double true for Tesla where there are superchargers nearly everywhere. With access superchargers, road trips are roughly as complex as driving a diesel with a 5-8 gallon tank. Also the tesla UI is very good at managing the trip so it is trivial to offload the "how do I get there including charging" task to the UI.
    - SV_BubbleTime 5y ago
      Good point, and it is/does for many products. EVs beyond Tesla all do this for instance. I do wish there was a little more of treating your users like adults though. If I have enough battery to make an urgent call, but it puts me under the 20% recommended, I want to make that call at the cost of long term battery life. My products treat users like adults, I wish it was a more common consideration.
      - ddingus 5y ago
        My Note 8 phone has a charge battery notification at 15 percent. I just replaced that phone, and yes with another one because I happen to like that model a lot, and my old one did 1500+ cycles with respectable battery capacity remaining. I replaced it due to a cracked screen, not battery trouble. My general experience has been to avoid fully charging the battery and leaving the device on the charger, plus avoiding high demand use under 15 to 20 percent adds very considerably to longer term battery health. This has played out across a number of devices, lenovo laptop, various phones. After, say a few hundred cycles, it's very important to avoid taking the battery below 5 percent or even to zero. When that happens, the battery capacity is reduced every time, and it's by a significant amount.
    - elliekelly 5y ago
      It does feel like the final 10% of battery lasts way longer than the drain from 20% to 10%.
      - ddlutz 5y ago
        estimating battery life is hard, it might be due to that.
      - cptskippy 5y ago
        As batteries discharge their voltage drops. This is known as a discharge curve. The curve is based on a constant current, different current draws have different curves. http://learningrc.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Lipo-Discharge-Curve.png http://learningrc.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Lipo-Discha... Battery capacity is guessed by the Voltage output at the current draw when measured. Laptops usually throttle components, reducing current draw, when they fall below certain percentages. This prolongs the battery so that last 10% really does last longer. This article goes into some nitty gritty details if you're curious. http://learningrc.com/lipo-battery/ http://learningrc.com/lipo-battery/ Determining actually battery capacity and runtime are educated guesses because all the factors impacting them are constantly changing.
      - w0m 5y ago
        I think they start cutting performance significantly for that final ~10%; screen dims; cpu undervolts, etc.
    - jimpudar 5y ago
      That was IIRC how the Chevy Volt worked. Empty was actually around 20% and full was around 80%.
  - tedunangst 5y ago
    Alas, a product that lasts five hours for 100 cycles gets much better reviews than a product that lasts four hours for 1000 cycles.
    - nomoreplease 5y ago
      I wonder if this was configurable, if that would get better reviews than both?
  - GekkePrutser 5y ago
    Well the good thing about these kinds of buds is that your rarely discharge them heavily. Because you always put them back in the case. Mine never go below 50% (don't have airpods but cheapie €20 xiaomis that work surprisingly great). But it would be nice to have an option to avoid 100% yes.
    - wonnage 5y ago
      There are a lot of complaints about the buds not charging in the case, most likely due to not making full contact with the charging pins. The buds have no auto-sleep feature for some reason, so they'll stay connected until the battery runs out. Not only is this annoying, it also adds tons of unnecessary full discharge cycles. The new wireless charging cases are also bad - they seem to stay warm even when no longer charging, which probably degrades the batteries as well.
  - tbrock 5y ago
    Apple is the only laptop manufacturer that even gets close to 1000 cycles of great battery life.
    - DeliriumTrigger 5y ago
      It's nice having a battery when their soldered ssds crap out after 5 years.
    - mmastrac 5y ago
      Honestly, has anyone gotten 1000 out of a MacBook? Mine always goes to "service battery" around 300-400.
      - vikbytes 5y ago
        I got that warning on my Macbook Pro from 2014 after ~820 cycles. So, somewhat close at least?
      - Hamuko 5y ago
        I think I got a pretty high number out of my first MacBook Pro before the battery swelled up like a bad bruise. But my current work laptop is now at 87% capacity with 82 cycles, so I don't have a lot of confidence in the battery lasting to 1000.
      - deathtrader666 5y ago
        I have a "Service Battery" notification since 3 years, still gives me 4 hours.
        w0m 5y ago
        Can charge while working the machine still? Teams/Docker/etc chugging and charge % steadily dropped irregardless of port/charger used.
    - fomine3 5y ago
      Lenovo and other manufacturers provides configuration app to limit State of Charge for battery over a decade ago. Apple just implemented similar feature (but automatic) in 2020. Without that, battery is unnecessary degrading while plugged into AC with 100% SOC.
  - nomoreplease 5y ago
    Why 80%? Is 100% dangerous?
    - FredFS456 5y ago
      Neither 0% nor 100% are dangerous, but lithium ion batteries wear out a lot faster if you cycle them all the way instead of only staying within 20-80%.
    - numpad0 5y ago
      Li-ions are charged in Constant Current mode from cutoff voltage(2.75V-3.2V) until maximum voltage(4.2-4.3V), and charged some more in Constant Voltage mode until cutoff current(<0.1C) is reached. Nominal voltage is in the middle at 3.7V. I believe these (cutoff voltage, CC->CV switch, cutoff current point) are commonly referred to as (0%, 80%, 100%) levels respectively, if safety margins and psychological tweaks are not considered. Which leads to an assumption that it is this Constant Voltage region that is often said to be damaging to cells, though I don’t know exactly why.
  - dnhz 5y ago
    I don't think you could get thousands of cycles, but you might be able to go from <500 to ~1000. Higher quality cells might achieve the same thing though. Apple guarantees 1000 cycles on its laptops, like a sister comment states. Consider a Tesla that gets ~250 miles of range per full cycle. The battery would reach 1000 cycles after 250k miles of driving, at which point you have a pretty old car. Depending on factors like time, environmental conditions, driving style, a battery replacement might be necessary at some point in the car's life. So the batteries in EVs probably cannot sustain thousands of cycles. The battery capacity is large enough that the overall cycle count is reasonable within the lifespan of the vehicle, and the battery cooling system keeps degradation reasonable given the high demands EV batteries must fulfill.
  - aetherspawn 5y ago
    Ex EV battery engineer here. You’re right that the cycle life of a lithium battery typically doubles per 0.05V (‘tik’) undercharged from 4.15V (and on the other end of the scale as well, less so). This typically corresponds to around 7-10% capacity per ‘tik’, so to effectively triple your battery cycle count would reduce the runtime by approximately 30%. Interesting effect here.. the amount of power in each cycle is less because you’re undercharging the battery. And for each consecutive ‘tik’, 0.05V is approximately more power because the discharge curve becomes flatter (voltage != state of charge). It doesn’t scale like you’d think. Seriously diminishing returns!
    - justnotworthit 5y ago
      Could you tell me if the "under X%" claim is true about battery? I saw an old study that didn't seem to be affected by how low the charge got, just heat (fast charge) and time spent charging over 80%.
  - lathiat 5y ago
    Apple actually does this both with your iPhone battery and your AirPods but it’s automatic and you can’t ask to switch to that mode. I see it holding my AirPods at 80% overnight quite a bit. They call it “optimised battery charging”. I use my AirPods so much all day every day I do wish I could ask it to use that mode permanently.
    - leucineleprec0n 5y ago
      You can turn off optimized battery charging. Settings > bluetooth device info > toggle it
- alisonkisk 5y ago
  Look at an airpod. Why should the battery be consumable but not the airpod? They have about the same amount of electronics. The average airpod user throws out more than an airpod's worth of plastic per day. I get junk mail with electronic trash that is bigger than an airpod. Airpods are used with iPhones that have 20x the amount of electronics, so should last 20x as long. People's real concern is the price which is higher than they guess because they think airpods are like regular headphones in longevity.
  - megous 5y ago
    Maybe that calc changes when you look at environmental effects of having to keep manufacturing new chips.
  - tjbiddle 5y ago
    This was exactly my thought when I saw the headline. The air pods are so small, they're not contributing a large part to plastic waste. It's the same story with trying to get rid of plastic straws. In both cases, I don't want to dismiss the problem - it's just that there are bigger fish to fry to make a much large impact to the bottom line of plastic pollution. Now, after reading through the "Our Story" of Podswap's website, I can see that the real selling point is: "Our batteries keep dying prematurely, and we don't want to fork over the cash for a whole new pair." Recycling is great - keep it as a value proposition, but it shouldn't be the main marketing push here.
    - theshrike79 5y ago
      > It's the same story with trying to get rid of plastic straws. The plastic straw thing is not to make an impact on the environment, it was chosen to make an impact on everyone's life. Yes, we could do something bigger, but people won't notice because they can't see the effect in their day to day life. Ban plastic straws though and EVERYONE notices and talks about it constantly everywhere. And if even one person starts using less plastic because of that, it was a success.
      - playpause 5y ago
- Abishek_Muthian 5y ago
  > I don't think Apple currently does this for pods? There are comments on Reddit by Apple store employees who claim there's absolutely no repair policy for Apple pods, That they go straight to the bin.
bruceb 5y ago
I am pro refurbishing/reusing and having less waste but its hard to care about tiny airpods being tossed. Maybe they test the message and it resonated better than "Airpods should last longer than your last relationship" or "1 trick that Apple hates" etc.
- samatman 5y ago
  It's just the Discourse in action. For whatever reason, AirPods, of all things, have become a go-to example of environmental waste and throwaway culture. It's bizarre to me. I'm fairly confident that for minutes of pleasure / embodied energy, AirPods score higher than almost anything else I own, certainly among things with a battery and chip. They also last multiples of the time I would get out of wired earphones, which always die in a few months from work-hardening the copper wires until they break. My model is this: some people just hate Apple. It's an identity thing, phones are very personal and bring out tribal instincts (blue vs. green speech bubbles!), and AirPods are a visible signifier of "team Apple". So some people just, don't like 'em ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. The reasons are downstream of that. I also think that, since the only consumables are the battery and speaker membranes, it's great that someone wants to replace the batteries when they go bad. Membranes as well! Making consumer goods last longer is virtuous.
  - slg 5y ago
    You can't just blame this on "the Discourse" or Apple haters. I have owned countless devices with batteries over my life. None has made me as acutely aware of its battery degrading as Airpods. Eventually I couldn't even make it through a full workout or work call on a single charge. They basically became worthless through nothing but normal usage. There was no visible physical damage. I treated them exactly how I was supposed to treat them according to Apple and still only got 2-3 years out of them. That is frustrating. It also is unlike many other Apple products as lots of people are perfectly satisfied with their 5+ year old Macbooks and iPhones.
    - alisonkisk 5y ago
      The same degradation happens to my clothing, food, and wired headphones.
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
smoldesu 5y ago
So you're paying $60 to get your earbuds replaced, but you can't use the service if they have any external/cosmetic damage. Something here doesn't add up, is this just because Airpods don't have replaceable batteries?
- flatiron 5y ago
  Exactly. If the user could just do it you wouldn’t need this service.
- wlesieutre 5y ago
  Yes, your alternative is to buy new AirPods from Apple at $70 each ($140 for a pair) when the battery life becomes a problem.
- Scoundreller 5y ago
  > can't use the service if they have any external/cosmetic damage My guess is that you're not getting your own airpods back, but someone else's. Quick turnaround that way and I think people want that for a product like this. Positioning in Miami isn't ideal for turnaround, somewhere more central or a courier hub (Memphis or Louisville) would make more sense. As repair-turnaround time is no longer an issue, and Airpods are small, they can fedex them to a low-cost country for repair. Miami has tons of connections to S. America, so maybe somewhere there. Just a Fedex SmallBox holds a couple hundred airpods (they're 0.75inches if they were a rectangle, and smallbox is 200sqin), so they can really take low-cost to an extreme. If China, well, the batteries were going to be shipped from there anyway and that's most of the bulk anyway, but cylinders do pack better. Here's a video of the whole process: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pE9aB5aPbMM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pE9aB5aPbMM Many of these steps are scalable - could pre-tin battery leads, find a better solvent than alcohol to soften adhesive, custom heat protection cap rather than kitchen foil, dip metal cap in ultrasonic solvent bath, etc. Maybe they have some domestic gigworkers in case they get really busy, but otherwise, save that dollar.
  - ylyn 5y ago
    > My guess is that you're not getting your own airpods back, but someone else's. I guess reading the linked site before commenting on it is no longer in fashion. They clearly state that they send you a new (or refurbished rather) pair before you send in your old pair.
ashayh 5y ago
Why do we need a separate business for this? Apple should be made to pay for it. If anyone finds an Airpod on the street or in trash/landfills, they should be able to take it to the nearest Apple store or mail it and get 20-40$ back for it. This should be the law for _all_ and any products, not just electronics. Large corporations have cleverly shifted the responsibility of recycling on the consumer, while they get to reap all the profits and benefits. This was recently well explained in a John Oliver segment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fiu9GSOmt8E https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fiu9GSOmt8E
- qeternity 5y ago
  You can’t just claim that they’ve shifted responsibility without arguing your point. It’s clear you have an axe to grind, but at the same time, where do we draw the line of individual responsibility? It’s not like we haven’t known for decades we were killing the planet…and yet here we all are. Why does the average Joe get off the hook here?
  - KingMachiavelli 5y ago
    Generic electronics recycling is very expensive. I had to recycle an old 55" rear projection TV and it cost $150. Good luck getting the average person to pay that instead of disposing of it (illegally). It would be more efficient and cheaper for companies to create a recycling process and include that in the purchase price.
    - reaperducer 5y ago
      Generic electronics recycling is very expensive. I had to recycle an old 55" rear projection TV and it cost $150. Good luck getting the average person to pay that instead of disposing of it (illegally). Blame your municipality. When I lived in the southwest, the city required the trash companies to pick up or recycle EVERYTHING for free. From old paint to batteries to giant tube TVs to washing machines. Everything, or they didn't get the trash hauling contract. This was to make it as easy as possible for people to dispose of things properly, rather than dump them in the desert. If your city doesn't make this happen, it's a failure of the city to negotiate the contract properly and allowing the trash companies to shift the expense onto the homeowners.
seriousquestion 5y ago
I've heard, anecdotally, of people losing their airpods often. I haven't yet, but curious how common that problem is?
- hughrr 5y ago
  Everyone I know has them. I haven't heard of any being lost.
  - samatman 5y ago
    I lost my first pair just recently, in four years of having them, after a redeye flight. Knock on wood it'll be the only time!
- agency 5y ago
  I've gotten close. One thing I have noticed is when I drop the case on the floor it's not at all uncommon for it to open and for one or both of the buds to fly out. One time this happened to me while I was in the security line at the airport and I had to awkwardly back out of the line and look around but luckily I found the errant pod.
- reaperducer 5y ago
  I've heard, anecdotally, of people losing their airpods often. I haven't yet, but curious how common that problem is? It must be a thing, since Apple lets you use your devices to find your missing AirPods, and they are even part of the FindMe network. I've sometimes wondered how many AirPods have been flushed down toilets around the world. Even if only .001% of AirPods meet their demise this way, considering the number of AirPods sold, it must be a pretty good number.
  - rhinoceraptor 5y ago
    I flushed the right ear of my Airpods pro. I bought a new pair the next day because I use them all day for video calls because they're so convenient.
azuriten 5y ago
This is a great idea and I wish we had this in the UK. I was quoted £65 to replace my failing, right AirPod and £130 to replace both of them when RRP for new ones are £160. I'd much rather replace the batteries of my existing ones then buy a new pair but with such a small price difference to get a pair it doesn't seem worth it.
specialist 5y ago
Just guessing: Podswap has stock of both new "blank" bud cases and batteries. Crack open buds using some kind of jig. Scoop out the electronics. Solder to new battery. Cram it all back together. That's how I'd do it. Bonus points for choice of colors. I'd love clear or forest green or deep purple. Watching a few air pod tear down videos, I find it weird the battery itself isn't part of the case. Like just use white instead of black. Have the barrel twist lock into place. Makes the battery replaceable. And that extra millimeter of diameter would probably be 50% more mAh. I know replaceable batteries is un-Apple. But that's what I'd do.
- tyingq 5y ago
  >Podswap has stock of both new "blank" bud cases and batteries. They seem very picky about the condition of the case on what you send in, so I'm not sure they have a stock of new cases. See: https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0520/9856/4273/products/airpodswecannotacceptforpodswap_720x.png https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0520/9856/4273/products/ai...
  - specialist 5y ago
    Oops. I misread that graphic. I thought it was examples of "before" air pods. My puppy gnawed on my pair, so I was excited to get them rehabilitated.
- throwaway81523 5y ago
  Their FAQ is pretty clear that they actually replace the batteries somehow. I'm glad someone figured out how to do that, but I agree with you that the airpod batteries (like the batteries in everything else) should have been replaceable in the first place.
  - beckman466 5y ago
    > I agree with you that the airpod batteries (like the batteries in everything else) should have been replaceable in the first place. 100% agree, you can't unsee things like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mleQVO1Vd1I https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mleQVO1Vd1I
reaperducer 5y ago
The web site states: "The first-ever battery replacement program." I'm not sure this is true. Apple had an AirPods battery replacement program before COVID-19. I had my wife's done. I wanted to get mine done this past January, but it didn't seem to be an option anymore. Maybe because of the pandemic and the global supply chain problems and such. "Only current" battery replacement program, maybe. But not first-ever.
- conradev 5y ago
  My understanding is that Apple never replaced the batteries, they just swapped the AirPods with new ones
  - reaperducer 5y ago
    That's what this company does, too.
    - GekkePrutser 5y ago
      But with refurbished ones, not new. And at a much better price.
    - lights0123 5y ago
      No, they actually open them up and swap the battery and resell, i.e. refurbishing. Apple just throws them away.
      - internet2000 5y ago
        Are we sure Apple just throws them away?
        alisonkisk 5y ago
        Apple would be crazy to do anything else; new airpods are cheap to make and more reliable.
        5y ago
ryana 5y ago
I’ve used podswap for my Gen 1 AirPods and it was fantastic. It took a couple cycles for everything to be back to normal (full charge, full volume) but they were up front that it takes a few recharges for everything to settle in. Absolutely no complaints.
- gnicholas 5y ago
  I understand how full charge might have an adjustment period, but how is volume affected?
  - pmx 5y ago
    Higher volumes require more current, the circuit probably limits what it pulls from the cell until it has learned about it to avoid damaging it.
- deanclatworthy 5y ago
  Can you explain why this is the case? Why would it take a couple of cycles for everything to return to normal if it's just a straight battery swap?
ChrisMarshallNY 5y ago
This looks great! I just forwarded the link to a friend of mine, that was complaining to me, this morning, about a pair of original AirPods that had a bum battery.
purplecats 5y ago
does this work for pros?
- fraud 5y ago
  doesnt appear so
  - purplecats 5y ago
    I recently got an update to my pros that said that they now only charge based on my usage pattern in order to reduce battery wear. I think this means they only charge when they believe I'm about to use them so as not to wear them by constant charging. It was pretty unexpected as it goes against what I believed to be apple's incentive model.
deregulateMed 5y ago
Over here I'm still using 3$ Panasonic earbuds from 2012. I spent $15 dollars so I could have 1 in my car, 1 in my laptop bag, 1 next to my computer, and 2 backup for when I lose them or have new location. Haven't lost them yet. Maybe you really do need wireless and it's worth the effort of charging and replacing batteries. Or maybe you are being sold a veblen good and your brain is exploited by a trillion dollar corporation's marketing department.
- maxerickson 5y ago
  For many types of exercise, music from watch over Bluetooth really is the dream. (I tend to buy the ~$40 version though)
  - mcculley 5y ago
    For me, it is audiobooks and podcasts from the watch over Bluetooth while running outdoors. It really is a game changer for me.
- culopatin 5y ago
  Good for you.
TheRealSteel 5y ago
Great idea, would love to use this for my dead first gen pair if could. It doesn't mention what country or countries this is available in, so I'm guessing it's America only?
system2 5y ago
I love my Tozo T6, screw apple. $25 and I have better sounding way more cheaper product. I wouldn't care at all if my $25 headsets fail after a year or two. I'd get 6 pairs instead of one Apple. My other bluetooth earbuds worked over 2 years and had no battery problem until I lost them. Stop throwing money at Apple.
- BrissyCoder 5y ago
  Second this. I also don't understand how people get these things to stay in their ears... I must have large or weirdly shaped earholes or something.
visualphoenix 5y ago
Are they actually replacing the battery at all? Or are they simply sending you “AirReps”? The clones these days cost $30. Most folks wouldn’t recognize the difference, except for the poor microphone recording quality.
- e40 5y ago
  According to the FAQ they are refurbished from previous customers, and yours are sent to future customers.
jaimex2 5y ago
Fricken Apple and their customers. So these things aren't even 5 years old, expensive and already going into bins? It's hard not to facepalm everytime I hear about Apple user problems.
throw03172019 5y ago
Does it work for the Pros as well? All the pics seem to be the non-pro AirPods.
- advisedwang 5y ago
  Their FAQ says: > We currently accept AirPod Generation 1 & 2. If you would like AirPod Pros, you can join the waitlist here [http://eepurl.com/hqjLSr http://eepurl.com/hqjLSr] and be notified when we offer that service is available.
  - throw03172019 5y ago
    Thank you!
pieterk 5y ago
FYI Apple does this for $49 each, this website charges you $59.99 a pair. https://support.apple.com/airpods/repair/service#battery https://support.apple.com/airpods/repair/service#battery Edit: updated pricing thanks to comment by tanduv
- tanduv 5y ago
  If I read it right - that Apple support article says "$ 49 each"... meaning $49 per AirPod; while Podswap covers a pair for $59?
- gnicholas 5y ago
  Even with a pretty big pricing gap ($100 for Apple and $60 for Podswap, per pair), this seems like a risky business to enter. What makes them think that Apple won't drop the price of their service by $30 and put them out of business? Apple could do swaps much more efficiently due to their physical stores (where you could swap in real-time), and most people would pay a $10 premium over Podswap to have the Apple name behind their purchase. The only thing that would give me comfort about Podswaps' business model is the fact that Apple undoubtedly would prefer to sell you a new pair rather than fix up your old pair.
  - unilynx 5y ago
    Apple isn’t really in the business of undercutting competitors on price
    - gnicholas 5y ago
      That’s true, and I wasn’t suggesting they would undercut Podswap on price — just that they would drop their own price somewhat and eat up enough market that this business wouldn’t be sustainable.
- santialbo 5y ago
  It costs 75€ in Europe, which is stupid since a new pair costs 130€. https://support.apple.com/es-es/airpods/repair/service https://support.apple.com/es-es/airpods/repair/service
iansinnott 5y ago
I'd just like to chime in to cheer this type of business. My airpods were dying within 60 seconds of putting them on and now they live again. (For anyone in Taiwan or Singapore, check out https://www.dr-pods.com/ https://www.dr-pods.com/. Roughly 40USD replacement fee. No affiliation, I'm just a happy customer).
culopatin 5y ago
I was hoping this was going to be a service for people who lost one AirPod to build a set. Apple’s pricing of an AirPod replacement puts it $30 from a new set
tokamak-teapot 5y ago
Is there an alternative to AirPods that's the same shape? I can't wear the type of earphones that block the ear canal.
jet_32951 5y ago
Rooted Android users can get charge monitoring/settable charge limits e.g. 80%, then stop, with ACCA. GitHub and F-Droid.

422 points by ilarum 5y ago

As someone who gets a ridiculous amount of use out of their pods, I really hope this business pans out. I think the product is great, but batteries are consumable products. In fact, I would hope that one day it would be mandatory to offer battery replacements for all products you sell. (Do correct me if I'm wrong, I don't think Apple currently does this for pods?)

denimnerd42 5y ago
what's frustrating is that while batteries are consumable products they could last much longer if they stay between 80 and 20% capacity without overheating. (this is similar to what tesla does) I wish there was a "battery care" settings on all electronics that would respect limits like this so that I could get thousands of cycles out of my devices instead of only <1000. Apple has added a feature which tries to do this intelligently to some extent but it's not the best at guessing what my needs are. The majority of the time I do not need max or even half of max battery life from my devices. airpods I only use for an hour or two at a time for example and my phone is usually close to a charger.
- polishdude20 5y ago
  That might be what's already happening behind the scenes though. They tell you you're at 10% but that's actually 30% for example
  - stefan_ 5y ago
    For cars, maybe, but my org has had a long line of HP laptops with swollen battery packs within a year of use. No doubt there are companies out there that would rather have the extra hour of runtime on some journalists review fact sheet than a battery that doesn't put their customers at risk.
    - eitland 5y ago
      I hope all those gets replaced under warranty? I hounded Dell for months and got them to replace I guess 2 or 3 dozens of Optiplex DL270 motherboards and it felt good: forcing them to take the cost for their shoddy work.
      - stefan_ 5y ago
        They do but in the meantime you got a laptop that only works off AC.
        eitland 5y ago
        Sad to hear. The times I had an issue with an HP business laptop I called them and either a technician came to my office and replaced the part (a screen in that case) or they sent a spare after confirming I was capable to change it myself.
    - HPsquared 5y ago
      There's another side as well though - a failing battery will stop working unpredictably, which is also very bad for business/productivity.
    - alisonkisk 5y ago
      That's heat damage not discharge.
  - denimnerd42 5y ago
    10% vs 30% corresponds to whatever arbitrary voltage they select but I doubt they are selecting for battery durability over all else since marketing max run time is so important.
    - SV_BubbleTime 5y ago
      Automotive engineer that doesn’t work on EVs here… there is a lot that goes into the battery. Heating and cooling elements for instance. You’re right, max runtime is the number one factor, but this can be gamed just like MPG ratings. I’m not sure many reviews are checking 0-60 times at 20% battery for example. My EV has a hilarious “miles remaining” number that INSTANTLY changes when the HVAC is on, doesn’t matter if it’s only slightly on or not, I instantly “lose” 8 or 9%. It’s pretty loose. As to what I actually get? Doesn’t really matter, never even compared to rating, mfgs know we use these cars for city travel. The small percentage of EVs you see on long haul highway, owners already know to carefully plan their trips.
      - cduzz 5y ago
        Depends on the locations and cars in question; on the east coast there are lots of DC Fast charging stations between anywhere and anywhere else. This is double true for Tesla where there are superchargers nearly everywhere. With access superchargers, road trips are roughly as complex as driving a diesel with a 5-8 gallon tank. Also the tesla UI is very good at managing the trip so it is trivial to offload the "how do I get there including charging" task to the UI.
  - SV_BubbleTime 5y ago
    Good point, and it is/does for many products. EVs beyond Tesla all do this for instance. I do wish there was a little more of treating your users like adults though. If I have enough battery to make an urgent call, but it puts me under the 20% recommended, I want to make that call at the cost of long term battery life. My products treat users like adults, I wish it was a more common consideration.
    - ddingus 5y ago
      My Note 8 phone has a charge battery notification at 15 percent. I just replaced that phone, and yes with another one because I happen to like that model a lot, and my old one did 1500+ cycles with respectable battery capacity remaining. I replaced it due to a cracked screen, not battery trouble. My general experience has been to avoid fully charging the battery and leaving the device on the charger, plus avoiding high demand use under 15 to 20 percent adds very considerably to longer term battery health. This has played out across a number of devices, lenovo laptop, various phones. After, say a few hundred cycles, it's very important to avoid taking the battery below 5 percent or even to zero. When that happens, the battery capacity is reduced every time, and it's by a significant amount.
  - elliekelly 5y ago
    It does feel like the final 10% of battery lasts way longer than the drain from 20% to 10%.
    - ddlutz 5y ago
      estimating battery life is hard, it might be due to that.
    - cptskippy 5y ago
      As batteries discharge their voltage drops. This is known as a discharge curve. The curve is based on a constant current, different current draws have different curves. http://learningrc.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Lipo-Discharge-Curve.png http://learningrc.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Lipo-Discha... Battery capacity is guessed by the Voltage output at the current draw when measured. Laptops usually throttle components, reducing current draw, when they fall below certain percentages. This prolongs the battery so that last 10% really does last longer. This article goes into some nitty gritty details if you're curious. http://learningrc.com/lipo-battery/ http://learningrc.com/lipo-battery/ Determining actually battery capacity and runtime are educated guesses because all the factors impacting them are constantly changing.
    - w0m 5y ago
      I think they start cutting performance significantly for that final ~10%; screen dims; cpu undervolts, etc.
  - jimpudar 5y ago
    That was IIRC how the Chevy Volt worked. Empty was actually around 20% and full was around 80%.
- tedunangst 5y ago
  Alas, a product that lasts five hours for 100 cycles gets much better reviews than a product that lasts four hours for 1000 cycles.
  - nomoreplease 5y ago
    I wonder if this was configurable, if that would get better reviews than both?
- GekkePrutser 5y ago
  Well the good thing about these kinds of buds is that your rarely discharge them heavily. Because you always put them back in the case. Mine never go below 50% (don't have airpods but cheapie €20 xiaomis that work surprisingly great). But it would be nice to have an option to avoid 100% yes.
  - wonnage 5y ago
    There are a lot of complaints about the buds not charging in the case, most likely due to not making full contact with the charging pins. The buds have no auto-sleep feature for some reason, so they'll stay connected until the battery runs out. Not only is this annoying, it also adds tons of unnecessary full discharge cycles. The new wireless charging cases are also bad - they seem to stay warm even when no longer charging, which probably degrades the batteries as well.
- tbrock 5y ago
  Apple is the only laptop manufacturer that even gets close to 1000 cycles of great battery life.
  - DeliriumTrigger 5y ago
    It's nice having a battery when their soldered ssds crap out after 5 years.
  - mmastrac 5y ago
    Honestly, has anyone gotten 1000 out of a MacBook? Mine always goes to "service battery" around 300-400.
    - vikbytes 5y ago
      I got that warning on my Macbook Pro from 2014 after ~820 cycles. So, somewhat close at least?
    - Hamuko 5y ago
      I think I got a pretty high number out of my first MacBook Pro before the battery swelled up like a bad bruise. But my current work laptop is now at 87% capacity with 82 cycles, so I don't have a lot of confidence in the battery lasting to 1000.
    - deathtrader666 5y ago
      I have a "Service Battery" notification since 3 years, still gives me 4 hours.
      - w0m 5y ago
        Can charge while working the machine still? Teams/Docker/etc chugging and charge % steadily dropped irregardless of port/charger used.
  - fomine3 5y ago
    Lenovo and other manufacturers provides configuration app to limit State of Charge for battery over a decade ago. Apple just implemented similar feature (but automatic) in 2020. Without that, battery is unnecessary degrading while plugged into AC with 100% SOC.
- nomoreplease 5y ago
  Why 80%? Is 100% dangerous?
  - FredFS456 5y ago
    Neither 0% nor 100% are dangerous, but lithium ion batteries wear out a lot faster if you cycle them all the way instead of only staying within 20-80%.
  - numpad0 5y ago
    Li-ions are charged in Constant Current mode from cutoff voltage(2.75V-3.2V) until maximum voltage(4.2-4.3V), and charged some more in Constant Voltage mode until cutoff current(<0.1C) is reached. Nominal voltage is in the middle at 3.7V. I believe these (cutoff voltage, CC->CV switch, cutoff current point) are commonly referred to as (0%, 80%, 100%) levels respectively, if safety margins and psychological tweaks are not considered. Which leads to an assumption that it is this Constant Voltage region that is often said to be damaging to cells, though I don’t know exactly why.
- dnhz 5y ago
  I don't think you could get thousands of cycles, but you might be able to go from <500 to ~1000. Higher quality cells might achieve the same thing though. Apple guarantees 1000 cycles on its laptops, like a sister comment states. Consider a Tesla that gets ~250 miles of range per full cycle. The battery would reach 1000 cycles after 250k miles of driving, at which point you have a pretty old car. Depending on factors like time, environmental conditions, driving style, a battery replacement might be necessary at some point in the car's life. So the batteries in EVs probably cannot sustain thousands of cycles. The battery capacity is large enough that the overall cycle count is reasonable within the lifespan of the vehicle, and the battery cooling system keeps degradation reasonable given the high demands EV batteries must fulfill.
- aetherspawn 5y ago
  Ex EV battery engineer here. You’re right that the cycle life of a lithium battery typically doubles per 0.05V (‘tik’) undercharged from 4.15V (and on the other end of the scale as well, less so). This typically corresponds to around 7-10% capacity per ‘tik’, so to effectively triple your battery cycle count would reduce the runtime by approximately 30%. Interesting effect here.. the amount of power in each cycle is less because you’re undercharging the battery. And for each consecutive ‘tik’, 0.05V is approximately more power because the discharge curve becomes flatter (voltage != state of charge). It doesn’t scale like you’d think. Seriously diminishing returns!
  - justnotworthit 5y ago
    Could you tell me if the "under X%" claim is true about battery? I saw an old study that didn't seem to be affected by how low the charge got, just heat (fast charge) and time spent charging over 80%.
- lathiat 5y ago
  Apple actually does this both with your iPhone battery and your AirPods but it’s automatic and you can’t ask to switch to that mode. I see it holding my AirPods at 80% overnight quite a bit. They call it “optimised battery charging”. I use my AirPods so much all day every day I do wish I could ask it to use that mode permanently.
  - leucineleprec0n 5y ago
    You can turn off optimized battery charging. Settings > bluetooth device info > toggle it
alisonkisk 5y ago
Look at an airpod. Why should the battery be consumable but not the airpod? They have about the same amount of electronics. The average airpod user throws out more than an airpod's worth of plastic per day. I get junk mail with electronic trash that is bigger than an airpod. Airpods are used with iPhones that have 20x the amount of electronics, so should last 20x as long. People's real concern is the price which is higher than they guess because they think airpods are like regular headphones in longevity.
- megous 5y ago
  Maybe that calc changes when you look at environmental effects of having to keep manufacturing new chips.
- tjbiddle 5y ago
  This was exactly my thought when I saw the headline. The air pods are so small, they're not contributing a large part to plastic waste. It's the same story with trying to get rid of plastic straws. In both cases, I don't want to dismiss the problem - it's just that there are bigger fish to fry to make a much large impact to the bottom line of plastic pollution. Now, after reading through the "Our Story" of Podswap's website, I can see that the real selling point is: "Our batteries keep dying prematurely, and we don't want to fork over the cash for a whole new pair." Recycling is great - keep it as a value proposition, but it shouldn't be the main marketing push here.
  - theshrike79 5y ago
    > It's the same story with trying to get rid of plastic straws. The plastic straw thing is not to make an impact on the environment, it was chosen to make an impact on everyone's life. Yes, we could do something bigger, but people won't notice because they can't see the effect in their day to day life. Ban plastic straws though and EVERYONE notices and talks about it constantly everywhere. And if even one person starts using less plastic because of that, it was a success.
    - playpause 5y ago
Abishek_Muthian 5y ago
> I don't think Apple currently does this for pods? There are comments on Reddit by Apple store employees who claim there's absolutely no repair policy for Apple pods, That they go straight to the bin.

bruceb 5y ago

I am pro refurbishing/reusing and having less waste but its hard to care about tiny airpods being tossed. Maybe they test the message and it resonated better than "Airpods should last longer than your last relationship" or "1 trick that Apple hates" etc.

samatman 5y ago
It's just the Discourse in action. For whatever reason, AirPods, of all things, have become a go-to example of environmental waste and throwaway culture. It's bizarre to me. I'm fairly confident that for minutes of pleasure / embodied energy, AirPods score higher than almost anything else I own, certainly among things with a battery and chip. They also last multiples of the time I would get out of wired earphones, which always die in a few months from work-hardening the copper wires until they break. My model is this: some people just hate Apple. It's an identity thing, phones are very personal and bring out tribal instincts (blue vs. green speech bubbles!), and AirPods are a visible signifier of "team Apple". So some people just, don't like 'em ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. The reasons are downstream of that. I also think that, since the only consumables are the battery and speaker membranes, it's great that someone wants to replace the batteries when they go bad. Membranes as well! Making consumer goods last longer is virtuous.
- slg 5y ago
  You can't just blame this on "the Discourse" or Apple haters. I have owned countless devices with batteries over my life. None has made me as acutely aware of its battery degrading as Airpods. Eventually I couldn't even make it through a full workout or work call on a single charge. They basically became worthless through nothing but normal usage. There was no visible physical damage. I treated them exactly how I was supposed to treat them according to Apple and still only got 2-3 years out of them. That is frustrating. It also is unlike many other Apple products as lots of people are perfectly satisfied with their 5+ year old Macbooks and iPhones.
  - alisonkisk 5y ago
    The same degradation happens to my clothing, food, and wired headphones.

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]

smoldesu 5y ago

So you're paying $60 to get your earbuds replaced, but you can't use the service if they have any external/cosmetic damage. Something here doesn't add up, is this just because Airpods don't have replaceable batteries?

flatiron 5y ago
Exactly. If the user could just do it you wouldn’t need this service.
wlesieutre 5y ago
Yes, your alternative is to buy new AirPods from Apple at $70 each ($140 for a pair) when the battery life becomes a problem.
Scoundreller 5y ago
> can't use the service if they have any external/cosmetic damage My guess is that you're not getting your own airpods back, but someone else's. Quick turnaround that way and I think people want that for a product like this. Positioning in Miami isn't ideal for turnaround, somewhere more central or a courier hub (Memphis or Louisville) would make more sense. As repair-turnaround time is no longer an issue, and Airpods are small, they can fedex them to a low-cost country for repair. Miami has tons of connections to S. America, so maybe somewhere there. Just a Fedex SmallBox holds a couple hundred airpods (they're 0.75inches if they were a rectangle, and smallbox is 200sqin), so they can really take low-cost to an extreme. If China, well, the batteries were going to be shipped from there anyway and that's most of the bulk anyway, but cylinders do pack better. Here's a video of the whole process: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pE9aB5aPbMM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pE9aB5aPbMM Many of these steps are scalable - could pre-tin battery leads, find a better solvent than alcohol to soften adhesive, custom heat protection cap rather than kitchen foil, dip metal cap in ultrasonic solvent bath, etc. Maybe they have some domestic gigworkers in case they get really busy, but otherwise, save that dollar.
- ylyn 5y ago
  > My guess is that you're not getting your own airpods back, but someone else's. I guess reading the linked site before commenting on it is no longer in fashion. They clearly state that they send you a new (or refurbished rather) pair before you send in your old pair.

ashayh 5y ago

Why do we need a separate business for this? Apple should be made to pay for it. If anyone finds an Airpod on the street or in trash/landfills, they should be able to take it to the nearest Apple store or mail it and get 20-40$ back for it. This should be the law for _all_ and any products, not just electronics. Large corporations have cleverly shifted the responsibility of recycling on the consumer, while they get to reap all the profits and benefits. This was recently well explained in a John Oliver segment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fiu9GSOmt8E https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fiu9GSOmt8E

qeternity 5y ago
You can’t just claim that they’ve shifted responsibility without arguing your point. It’s clear you have an axe to grind, but at the same time, where do we draw the line of individual responsibility? It’s not like we haven’t known for decades we were killing the planet…and yet here we all are. Why does the average Joe get off the hook here?
- KingMachiavelli 5y ago
  Generic electronics recycling is very expensive. I had to recycle an old 55" rear projection TV and it cost $150. Good luck getting the average person to pay that instead of disposing of it (illegally). It would be more efficient and cheaper for companies to create a recycling process and include that in the purchase price.
  - reaperducer 5y ago
    Generic electronics recycling is very expensive. I had to recycle an old 55" rear projection TV and it cost $150. Good luck getting the average person to pay that instead of disposing of it (illegally). Blame your municipality. When I lived in the southwest, the city required the trash companies to pick up or recycle EVERYTHING for free. From old paint to batteries to giant tube TVs to washing machines. Everything, or they didn't get the trash hauling contract. This was to make it as easy as possible for people to dispose of things properly, rather than dump them in the desert. If your city doesn't make this happen, it's a failure of the city to negotiate the contract properly and allowing the trash companies to shift the expense onto the homeowners.

seriousquestion 5y ago

I've heard, anecdotally, of people losing their airpods often. I haven't yet, but curious how common that problem is?

hughrr 5y ago
Everyone I know has them. I haven't heard of any being lost.
- samatman 5y ago
  I lost my first pair just recently, in four years of having them, after a redeye flight. Knock on wood it'll be the only time!
agency 5y ago
I've gotten close. One thing I have noticed is when I drop the case on the floor it's not at all uncommon for it to open and for one or both of the buds to fly out. One time this happened to me while I was in the security line at the airport and I had to awkwardly back out of the line and look around but luckily I found the errant pod.
reaperducer 5y ago
I've heard, anecdotally, of people losing their airpods often. I haven't yet, but curious how common that problem is? It must be a thing, since Apple lets you use your devices to find your missing AirPods, and they are even part of the FindMe network. I've sometimes wondered how many AirPods have been flushed down toilets around the world. Even if only .001% of AirPods meet their demise this way, considering the number of AirPods sold, it must be a pretty good number.
- rhinoceraptor 5y ago
  I flushed the right ear of my Airpods pro. I bought a new pair the next day because I use them all day for video calls because they're so convenient.

azuriten 5y ago

This is a great idea and I wish we had this in the UK. I was quoted £65 to replace my failing, right AirPod and £130 to replace both of them when RRP for new ones are £160. I'd much rather replace the batteries of my existing ones then buy a new pair but with such a small price difference to get a pair it doesn't seem worth it.

specialist 5y ago

Just guessing: Podswap has stock of both new "blank" bud cases and batteries. Crack open buds using some kind of jig. Scoop out the electronics. Solder to new battery. Cram it all back together. That's how I'd do it. Bonus points for choice of colors. I'd love clear or forest green or deep purple. Watching a few air pod tear down videos, I find it weird the battery itself isn't part of the case. Like just use white instead of black. Have the barrel twist lock into place. Makes the battery replaceable. And that extra millimeter of diameter would probably be 50% more mAh. I know replaceable batteries is un-Apple. But that's what I'd do.

tyingq 5y ago
>Podswap has stock of both new "blank" bud cases and batteries. They seem very picky about the condition of the case on what you send in, so I'm not sure they have a stock of new cases. See: https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0520/9856/4273/products/airpodswecannotacceptforpodswap_720x.png https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0520/9856/4273/products/ai...
- specialist 5y ago
  Oops. I misread that graphic. I thought it was examples of "before" air pods. My puppy gnawed on my pair, so I was excited to get them rehabilitated.
throwaway81523 5y ago
Their FAQ is pretty clear that they actually replace the batteries somehow. I'm glad someone figured out how to do that, but I agree with you that the airpod batteries (like the batteries in everything else) should have been replaceable in the first place.
- beckman466 5y ago
  > I agree with you that the airpod batteries (like the batteries in everything else) should have been replaceable in the first place. 100% agree, you can't unsee things like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mleQVO1Vd1I https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mleQVO1Vd1I

reaperducer 5y ago

The web site states: "The first-ever battery replacement program." I'm not sure this is true. Apple had an AirPods battery replacement program before COVID-19. I had my wife's done. I wanted to get mine done this past January, but it didn't seem to be an option anymore. Maybe because of the pandemic and the global supply chain problems and such. "Only current" battery replacement program, maybe. But not first-ever.

conradev 5y ago
My understanding is that Apple never replaced the batteries, they just swapped the AirPods with new ones
- reaperducer 5y ago
  That's what this company does, too.
  - GekkePrutser 5y ago
    But with refurbished ones, not new. And at a much better price.
  - lights0123 5y ago
    No, they actually open them up and swap the battery and resell, i.e. refurbishing. Apple just throws them away.
    - internet2000 5y ago
      Are we sure Apple just throws them away?
      - alisonkisk 5y ago
        Apple would be crazy to do anything else; new airpods are cheap to make and more reliable.
      - 5y ago

ryana 5y ago

I’ve used podswap for my Gen 1 AirPods and it was fantastic. It took a couple cycles for everything to be back to normal (full charge, full volume) but they were up front that it takes a few recharges for everything to settle in. Absolutely no complaints.

gnicholas 5y ago
I understand how full charge might have an adjustment period, but how is volume affected?
- pmx 5y ago
  Higher volumes require more current, the circuit probably limits what it pulls from the cell until it has learned about it to avoid damaging it.
deanclatworthy 5y ago
Can you explain why this is the case? Why would it take a couple of cycles for everything to return to normal if it's just a straight battery swap?

ChrisMarshallNY 5y ago

This looks great! I just forwarded the link to a friend of mine, that was complaining to me, this morning, about a pair of original AirPods that had a bum battery.

purplecats 5y ago

does this work for pros?

fraud 5y ago
doesnt appear so
- purplecats 5y ago
  I recently got an update to my pros that said that they now only charge based on my usage pattern in order to reduce battery wear. I think this means they only charge when they believe I'm about to use them so as not to wear them by constant charging. It was pretty unexpected as it goes against what I believed to be apple's incentive model.

deregulateMed 5y ago

Over here I'm still using 3$ Panasonic earbuds from 2012. I spent $15 dollars so I could have 1 in my car, 1 in my laptop bag, 1 next to my computer, and 2 backup for when I lose them or have new location. Haven't lost them yet. Maybe you really do need wireless and it's worth the effort of charging and replacing batteries. Or maybe you are being sold a veblen good and your brain is exploited by a trillion dollar corporation's marketing department.

maxerickson 5y ago
For many types of exercise, music from watch over Bluetooth really is the dream. (I tend to buy the ~$40 version though)
- mcculley 5y ago
  For me, it is audiobooks and podcasts from the watch over Bluetooth while running outdoors. It really is a game changer for me.
culopatin 5y ago
Good for you.

TheRealSteel 5y ago

Great idea, would love to use this for my dead first gen pair if could. It doesn't mention what country or countries this is available in, so I'm guessing it's America only?

system2 5y ago

I love my Tozo T6, screw apple. $25 and I have better sounding way more cheaper product. I wouldn't care at all if my $25 headsets fail after a year or two. I'd get 6 pairs instead of one Apple. My other bluetooth earbuds worked over 2 years and had no battery problem until I lost them. Stop throwing money at Apple.

BrissyCoder 5y ago
Second this. I also don't understand how people get these things to stay in their ears... I must have large or weirdly shaped earholes or something.

visualphoenix 5y ago

Are they actually replacing the battery at all? Or are they simply sending you “AirReps”? The clones these days cost $30. Most folks wouldn’t recognize the difference, except for the poor microphone recording quality.

e40 5y ago
According to the FAQ they are refurbished from previous customers, and yours are sent to future customers.

jaimex2 5y ago

Fricken Apple and their customers. So these things aren't even 5 years old, expensive and already going into bins? It's hard not to facepalm everytime I hear about Apple user problems.

throw03172019 5y ago

Does it work for the Pros as well? All the pics seem to be the non-pro AirPods.

advisedwang 5y ago
Their FAQ says: > We currently accept AirPod Generation 1 & 2. If you would like AirPod Pros, you can join the waitlist here [http://eepurl.com/hqjLSr http://eepurl.com/hqjLSr] and be notified when we offer that service is available.
- throw03172019 5y ago
  Thank you!

pieterk 5y ago

FYI Apple does this for $49 each, this website charges you $59.99 a pair. https://support.apple.com/airpods/repair/service#battery https://support.apple.com/airpods/repair/service#battery Edit: updated pricing thanks to comment by tanduv

tanduv 5y ago
If I read it right - that Apple support article says "$ 49 each"... meaning $49 per AirPod; while Podswap covers a pair for $59?
gnicholas 5y ago
Even with a pretty big pricing gap ($100 for Apple and $60 for Podswap, per pair), this seems like a risky business to enter. What makes them think that Apple won't drop the price of their service by $30 and put them out of business? Apple could do swaps much more efficiently due to their physical stores (where you could swap in real-time), and most people would pay a $10 premium over Podswap to have the Apple name behind their purchase. The only thing that would give me comfort about Podswaps' business model is the fact that Apple undoubtedly would prefer to sell you a new pair rather than fix up your old pair.
- unilynx 5y ago
  Apple isn’t really in the business of undercutting competitors on price
  - gnicholas 5y ago
    That’s true, and I wasn’t suggesting they would undercut Podswap on price — just that they would drop their own price somewhat and eat up enough market that this business wouldn’t be sustainable.
santialbo 5y ago
It costs 75€ in Europe, which is stupid since a new pair costs 130€. https://support.apple.com/es-es/airpods/repair/service https://support.apple.com/es-es/airpods/repair/service

iansinnott 5y ago

I'd just like to chime in to cheer this type of business. My airpods were dying within 60 seconds of putting them on and now they live again. (For anyone in Taiwan or Singapore, check out https://www.dr-pods.com/ https://www.dr-pods.com/. Roughly 40USD replacement fee. No affiliation, I'm just a happy customer).

culopatin 5y ago

I was hoping this was going to be a service for people who lost one AirPod to build a set. Apple’s pricing of an AirPod replacement puts it $30 from a new set

tokamak-teapot 5y ago

Is there an alternative to AirPods that's the same shape? I can't wear the type of earphones that block the ear canal.

jet_32951 5y ago

Rooted Android users can get charge monitoring/settable charge limits e.g. 80%, then stop, with ACCA. GitHub and F-Droid.