Hardware prototyping consultant Ken Pillonel has switched from a Lightning charging port to a USB-C port in order to improve the serviceability of Apple’s AirPods Pro by 3D printing the charging case housing.
In a video shared by iFixit, Pillonel again emphasized that while the Apple AirPods Pro charging case is easier to open than the AirPods, there is still no guarantee that the case can be opened without damaging the components.
After developing similar solutions for the first and second-generation AirPods, Pillonel sought to create a solution that would give new life to the unopenable AirPods Pro charging case.
Pillonel created a downloadable 3D printed replacement case (available on GitHub) to allow technicians to purposefully open the existing case to access the internals and make repairs.
Pillonel suggested that the USB-C on the AirPods Pro increases the likelihood of long-term repairability as a standard port, and similar phone port modifications Pillonel has done previously: including adding a USB-C port to the iPhone and a Lightning port to the Samsung Galaxy A51.
