AirPods Pro anatomy – why they’re hard to open: interactive 3D guide

All 6 steps

1. 1X-ray overview

   Open the lid, lift the right earbud up out of its well and lay it on its back in the foam stand, then close the lid over the other one. Seen through the shells (they turn see-through here; the Transparent button does the same for everything), the 30.9 mm earbud holds a speaker driver, a lithium-ion button cell, a logic board with the H2 chip, three microphones, a force sensor, an antenna and two charging contacts, all glued in; the case holds two cells of its own, a board and a charging coil.

2. 2The driver chamber trap

   Hold the earbud, grip the silicone ear tip where it meets the nozzle and pull it straight off: its stiff ring is clipped onto an oval connector. A fine mesh covers the sound outlet. Seen through the in-ear shell, the driver sits right behind it, its thin diaphragm pushing the air that reaches your ear, with a tiny microphone at its mouth listening to the ear canal. A small vent in the shell lets air in and out, so the pressure in your ear stays even. Avoid this trap: Wax builds up on the fine mesh over the sound outlet and the earbud starts to sound quieter than the other one, so people pick at it with a pin, a needle or a toothpick. A point does not lift the wax out: it packs it into the holes, dents the thin mesh and then tears through it, and the wax goes in behind it, down the nozzle towards the driver, where no brush can reach it. The earbud stays quiet or muffled, and the mesh sits in the nozzle of a shell glued shut, so there is no getting at it at home. Apple’s way is gentle: take the ear tip off, brush the mesh in small circles with a soft children’s toothbrush dipped in micellar water and blot it face down on a paper towel, three times over, then rinse it the same way with distilled water and let it dry for at least two hours. Never push anything into the mesh.

3. 3The H2 chip and the microphones

   In this cutaway the head opens along its seam: the in-ear half, which carries the driver and the button cell, folds forward on its flex cable. Behind the cell, against the outer shell, is the logic board with Apple’s H2 chip, which runs the wireless link and all the sound processing, noise cancelling included; in Adaptive Transparency it processes outside sound 48,000 times a second to soften sudden loud noises. Three microphones feed it: one at the top of the stem facing out, one at the bottom for your voice, and one inside, facing your ear. Then the head folds shut.

4. 4The button cell in the head trap

   Seen through the shell again, the battery is a lithium-ion button cell, 49.7 mAh in this generation (about 11.6 mm across in our model), glued into the head behind the driver and soldered to the electronics. Every charge cycle wears it a little (one cycle is a full charge used up, at once or over several days), and heat and long hours held at full charge wear it faster, so over time the earbud runs out sooner than it did when new. It cannot be swapped by hand: it is glued in, wired in and sealed inside a glued shell. Avoid this trap: The end cap of the stem looks like a lid to lever off, so people push a hobby knife into its seam to reach the battery. But the battery is not in the stem at all: it is in the head. And the cap is glued, not clipped: the thin wall cracks and chips before the glue lets go, the blade slips in, and its edge cuts the antenna flex that runs just under the wall. An earbud with a cut antenna can no longer keep its wireless link, and nothing puts the flex or the shell back. A blade that slips into the head can pierce the lithium cell itself.

5. 5Inside the stem

   Exploded along the stem, its parts come out one by one: the end cap with its two charging contacts, through which the case charges the earbud; the voice microphone at the bottom; the antenna flex that runs along the inside of the wall; and the force sensor along the flat of the stem, which feels a press (play, pause, answer a call) and a swipe up or down (volume). The outward microphone stays at the top of the stem, next to the head.

6. 6Full exploded view

   Every part of the earbud floats apart, from the outer shell at the bottom to the ear tip at the top: over the head the H2 board and the magnet, the button cell, the driver, the inward microphone, the in-ear shell and the mesh; over the stem the outward microphone, the force sensor, the antenna, the voice microphone and the end cap. Drag to turn it round; the Explode slider spreads it further. Press Reassemble to put it all back together.

What is in the 3D

• AirPods Pro (2nd generation) · one earbud, in detail
• Its charging case · opened at the start
• Nothing to open them with · the earbud is glued shut: this page opens it in 3D only

Questions

Safety

Each earbud and the case hold lithium-ion cells: never cut, pierce, crush or heat them, and keep a swollen or damaged one away from anything that burns. A blade slips easily on a curved, glued shell and can go into the cell or your hand; this page shows the inside in 3D so that nobody has to open one.

• Lithium-ion batteries: never bend, puncture or pry a battery with metal. A damaged cell can go into thermal runaway: it smokes, catches fire and can explode. Discharge it below 25% first; if it swells, hisses, smokes or gets hot, stop and move it somewhere safe.
• Static (ESD): work on an anti-static mat with a grounded wrist strap; a spark you cannot feel can kill a chip.
• Power off: switch the device off and unplug its charger before you open it, and disconnect the battery before touching anything else inside.

About this guide

3D Spatial Reconstruction: Models are engineered from factual hardware measurements to visualize internal layouts, screw lengths, and hidden cable traps before you open your device. Always verify cable routing on your specific hardware revision.

The earbud and the case are our own models, built to Apple’s published sizes for AirPods Pro (2nd generation), the generation with the H2 chip: each earbud 30.9 × 21.8 × 24.0 mm and 5.3 g, the case 45.2 × 60.6 × 21.7 mm and 50.8 g. What is inside and where follows teardowns and CT scans: the button cell in the head with the logic board behind it and a magnet that seats the earbud in its case, the antenna, the force sensor and a microphone in the stem, the charging contacts at its end. Where exactly the board sits differs between descriptions (iFixit found the first generation’s chip package at the top of the stem; Lumafield’s scan of the second shows the board behind the cell): we follow the scan. The inner parts’ sizes and exact shapes, and the layout inside the case, are our estimates. The H2 is also in AirPods Pro 3 (2025), whose earbud is a different shape; everything here is the second generation.

The earbud is glued, not screwed or clipped: the seam round its head, the end cap of its stem and the cell inside are all held with adhesive, which is why it does not open without damage. The brief this page was made from called the seams ultrasonic welds; the teardowns we checked found glue, so the page says glued. Steps 3 to 6 are cutaways and exploded views: the real earbud cannot be opened like this, and the in-ear half really folds open only on its flex cable once the glue is cut.

The brief gave the cell as 43 mAh, which is the first-generation earbud’s (43.24 mAh). The H2 generation’s earbud cell is 49.7 mAh and the case’s 523 mAh, from the 2022 model’s Chinese 3C certification filing as reported by GSMArena; Apple does not publish them. The 48,000 times a second is a figure for Adaptive Transparency, which samples outside sound that often to soften sudden loud noises, not a figure for the noise cancelling.

The repairability score, 1/10, is our own rating: the ear tip is the only part you can change by hand. iFixit, who score repairability out of 10, gave AirPods Pro 2 a 0. The 14 parts are our model’s grouping; the real earbud has more pieces (brackets, small flex cables, layers of glue). The 3D runs faster than real hands do, and the charge level on the cell in step 4 is only a picture of charging and use, not a measurement.

The trap in step 2 follows Apple’s cleaning guide (the ear tips off first, a soft brush on the meshes, never anything sharp) and Back Market’s, which warns that a needle, a toothpick or a paper clip pushes the wax further in and can puncture the mesh. How the mesh dents and tears under the pin, and how far in the wax goes, is our picture of it.

Sources: Apple: AirPods Pro 2 technical specifications (H2, sizes, weights), Apple Newsroom, 2022: the next generation of AirPods Pro (H2, touch control), Apple Newsroom, 2019: AirPods Pro (vent system, force sensor, inward and outward microphones), Apple Support: controls, the force sensor with volume swipe, Apple Support: remove and attach ear tips on AirPods Pro, Apple Support: charge your AirPods (Optimised Battery Charging), Apple: why lithium-ion, charge cycles, Apple Support: AirPods service and battery service (price source: AirPods Pro 2, battery service $49, a damaged earbud $89), Apple Support: how to clean your AirPods Pro (ear tips off first, the meshes with a soft brush and micellar water, no sharp objects), Apple Support: if one AirPod sounds quieter, take the ear tips off and check the speaker mesh for debris, Back Market: cleaning AirPods (a needle, a toothpick or a paper clip pushes wax in and can puncture the mesh), GSMArena: 3C certification, AirPods Pro 2 cells 49.7 mAh and 523 mAh, Phone Scoop: Adaptive Transparency samples outside sound 48,000 times a second, TechCrunch: 48,000-per-second sampling through the H2, Lumafield: virtual teardown of AirPods Pro (2nd generation), CT scans, iFixit: AirPods Pro teardown (glue, the cell in the head, the stem), iFixit: AirPods Pro 2, a seam that takes force and silicone-like glue inside, Notebookcheck: iFixit gives AirPods Pro 2 zero for repairability, iFixit: AirPods Pro 3 teardown, the same H2, still glued.

The 3D models, drawings and text are our own. Apple, AirPods, AirPods Pro and H2 are trademarks of their owners, named only to say which device this guide is for; iTakeApart is not affiliated with them.