When Apple launched the AirPods and then its subsequent update, it knew perfectly well that they could not be repaired. In short, they put on sale an irreparable and therefore disposable device. When iFixit studied the construction and its specifications, it noted that repairs to the earphones or their charging case were not possible. That’s why he gave a note of 0 out of 10 in repairability. But now, there are options to be able to give a second chance to those headphones that you have by the drawer.
AirPods cannot be repaired, because the hardware components cannot be accessed without damaging the device. This effectively makes the headset a disposable item. That means that we must buy a new model, more updated but taking into account that the price they have is not enough to always be changing for each failure they have. that must have thought engineering and robotics student Ken Pillonel.
This imaginative student set out to investigate a solution to repair headphones that were supposedly beyond repair. For this, what he did was create a 3D printed replacement shell. On top of that, the student and his generosity have made it now downloadable. That will allow those who want to open and deliberately damage the existing casing in order to gain access to the internal components and make repairs.
Since it was there and things seemed to be going well, he also changed the charging port. It has gone from a Lightning charging port to USB-C. There is also an operational reason. Lightning ports cannot be purchased individually and USB-C ports can.
If you want to try something similar you should know that Pillonel 3D print files and PCB files for AirPods repairability are freely available on their website. Mind you, he is considering selling kits in the future depending on interest.