This year, the Chinese site 52audio beat iFixit by dismantling the AirPods 3 – the headphones themselves and the charging case – first. This is the same site that posted the actual pictures of the AirPods 3 a few weeks ago before the AirPods 3 was announced. It turned out that inside the AirPods 3 are not at all the same as the AirPods Pro. Despite the fact that AirPods 3 and AirPods Pro are similar, both externally and in terms of features. AirPods 3 can do almost everything AirPods Pro can do. Active noise cancellation, transparent mode and pressure equalization are not available to them. In fact, this is the same AirPods Pro Lite that has been written about so much.
The new AirPods model has been awaited for a long time and with impatience. Even with indignation: do “the best engineers in the world”, as Tim Cook calls Apple employees, take so much time to develop “some kind of headphones”? What are they doing there? It’s not a Mac or an iPhone! Meanwhile, competitors have been releasing killer AirPods, one after the other. There were no new AirPods and there never was. Is Apple leaking wireless headphones? In October of this year, it turned out that it was not draining. During the presentation, AirPods 3 did not seem too convincing and somehow “didn’t catch on”. When the novelty was in our hands, everything changed.
It turned out that the headphones are better than Apple told about them. And to answer the question of what the developers of wireless headphones have been doing for two years, AirPods 3 and their charging case had to be disassembled. Their design, compared to how AirPods Pro are arranged, seems to be simpler. But this is precisely the simplicity, the achievement of which takes a lot of effort and time. We don’t know what the next AirPods Pro will be or what they’ll look like, but now we can imagine how they’ll work inside. For disassembly, brand new AirPods 3 were used, even the craftsmen from 52audio failed to reassemble them and bring them back to life after opening.
Differences between AirPods Pro and AirPods 3
AirPods 3 have something in common with the very first iMac. Both devices were designed anew, as if there were no devices of the same type with them in the world. Focusing not on traditions, but on what they are for. And it looks like they succeeded again. The original design solutions, which are “above the roof” in AirPods 3, have eliminated many problems. For example, to compensate for the lack of a pressure equalization system, several “tricks” were used, seemingly insignificant.
Whether they succeeded in replacing the alignment system or not is still unclear. Comparative tests are needed. But in general, according to first impressions, AirPods 3 are not inferior to AirPods Pro in terms of comfort. The new generation skin recognition sensor is an order of magnitude smarter and more accurate than the previous ones. These sensors confidently distinguish skin from other types of surfaces and almost do not make mistakes. This is a very important sensor, it is needed in order to pause playback when the earpiece is removed from the ear. The device has a huge number of innovations – high-amplitude drivers specially designed for AirPods 3, extended dynamic range amplifiers, and the like.
Electronic components have become smaller, many of them developed by Apple itself or modified for it. AirPods 3 has a new version of the Apple H1 chip. Its shape has changed, it is much more compact. The reduction in chip size cannot be explained by anything other than the use of a more advanced technical process. The chip not only takes up less space, it’s faster and consumes less power. Whether the performance has increased in the new version of the Apple H1 – most likely yes, it is not known exactly. AirPods 2, AirPods Pro and Beats wireless headphones have not complained about it before. And the fact that the Apple H1 has become more economical is almost obvious.
How long do AirPods hold a charge
The battery in AirPods 3 lasts for 6 hours. In AirPods 2 and AirPods Pro, with active noise cancellation and transparent mode turned off, the charge only lasts for 5 hours. Battery capacity in AirPods 3 is 0.133 Wh. Longer battery life compared to AirPods 2 does not raise questions – the battery capacity in them is only 0.093 W * h. But in AirPods Pro, the battery capacity is greater than in AirPods 3. As much as 0.160 Wh. Does AirPods Pro have more features than AirPods 3? Yes, the AirPods 3 don’t have active noise cancellation or transparent mode – but when comparing battery life, both of these features were turned off.
Very similar to the situation with the iPhone 13 – the capacity of their batteries, compared to competitors, is simply ridiculous, but they have longer battery life. The easiest way to make your device last longer on a battery charge is to increase the battery capacity. The larger the capacity, the more space the battery takes up, and the more it weighs. Reducing the power consumption of devices is much more difficult, but there are no side effects. The device will not get fat and will not gain excess weight. Energy consumption is reduced in various ways. By applying more advanced algorithms, using economical electronic components, and something else.
The capacity of the single battery in the AirPods 3 charging case is 345 mAh (1.327 Wh). This is less than the battery in the AirPods 2 case, 398 mAh). And much less than the pair of batteries in the AirPods Pro “case”, with a total capacity of 519 mAh. At the same time, with recharging in the case, AirPods 3 can work in audio listening mode up to 30 hours, and AirPods Pro – only 24 hours. In talk mode, respectively – up to 20 hours and more than 18.
It’s no coincidence that the AirPods 3 charging case is called the “MagSafe case” – it can be charged using both standard wireless chargers and MagSafe. 52audio measured the wireless charging power of the AirPods 3 case at 2.9 watts, and wired charging at 1.8 watts. The design of the AirPods 3 charging case has also been changed “in the spirit of the times” – electronic components have become more compact and economical, and they are placed more rationally. In addition, it now has a lot of magnets to fix MagSafe. The case is lighter than the AirPods 2 (37.9g vs. 38.2g), and much lighter than the AirPods Pro (45.6g).
