Apple’s newest product, the AirPods, have been on the market for a few weeks now and there are already some complaints about their battery life. Some users have found that they only last for around an hour after being used multiple times, while others have had to recharge them multiple times in order to get the same amount of use out of them. There is no one answer to this problem, as it seems to be caused by a variety of factors. However, some possible explanations include the fact that AirPods are not designed with long-term use in mind and that they are not meant to be worn all day long. Another potential reason could be that Apple has been using a different type of battery in these devices than what is used in other products. This could lead to them lasting less time on average.
You can see the full teardown video from 52audio below, which shows all of the internals of the AirPods 3. Everything looks like you’d expect, but there’s a surprise in the battery. The AirPods 3 have a 133Mwh battery, while the AirPods Pro have a 160Mwh battery inside. However, the AirPods 3 are rated for six hours of listening time, while the AirPods Pro are expected to get 4.5 hours.
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The logical conclusion is that the AirPods Pro have active noise cancelation, which uses more battery. However, turning this feature off bumps the battery life to five hours, which is still a full hour less than the new AirPods 3.
So what’s giving the AirPods 3 a full hour of additional battery life over the more expensive AirPods Pro? The main conclusion we can draw is that Apple has made some tweaks to power efficiency. It could also be that AirPods Pro push more powerful audio even with the ANC turned off, so they’re draining a little more battery while in use. Of course, those are both just speculation.
When compared to the AirPods 2, everything is going as expected. They have a 93Mwh battery, which is substantially smaller than the 133Mwh in the new AirPods 3. That’s all normal, but the battery life difference between the AirPods 3 and AirPods Pro is undoubtedly a little confusing and interesting.
