iFixit Cuts Open New Apple EarPods
Posted 09/18/2012 at 12:12pm
| by Adrian Hoppel
Apple's new EarPods look pretty fly, but aren't you curious what is inside of them? We were, and thankfully so was the crew over at iFixit, who tore the new earphones apart as soon as they go their hands on them.
iFixit, whose modest mission is to make it so "everyone in the world could know how to fix anything," is serious about that anything part. Leaving no stone unturned, the team grabbed an X-Acto blade and performed a thorough autopsy on Apple's new $29 EarPods (included with all new iPhones and iPods).
Quick to point out in an email to us that no one would ever really try to repair these because "unfortunately, products like these earbuds are still of the throw-away kind" and "they will never be the same once taken apart", iFixit can't resist the chance to take stuff apart anyway. We get that, and we're happy they take a lot of great pictures of the process, too.

The EarPods look impressive on the outside, and even more so when you dig into them. According to iFixit, these are the first Apple headphones to use paper cones inside instead of plastic. Also, the construction appears significantly more durable than previous headphones, with more robust cables and a design that should render the EarPods more moisture resistant.
For a gory display of the guts of the new EarPods in all their glory, check out detailed teardown at iFixit.
Adrian writes the weekly Law & Apple column and the occasional feature story for MacLife.com. Follow him on Twitter, or subscribe to him on Facebook.