The headphone box of the AirPods series has been proven to be irreparable many times, and Ken Pillonel , the engineer who created the USB-C iPhone , recently announced a DIY repair method. He launched an open source repair kit for the first and second generation AirPods.

As long as you have enough hands-on ability and are willing to disassemble the earphone box, you can perform operations such as battery replacement according to the steps given by it. 

And it is worth mentioning that Pillonel also replaced the Lightning port on the box with USB-C when it was designed. If you are skillful enough, you can even be like him. Headphones, mobile phones, and computers are all handled by USB-C cables.

At present, Pillonel has uploaded the relevant 3D printing and PCB files to GitHub , but he is not sure whether he will sell the finished repair kit. 

In any case, the existence of this solution can prevent many AirPods earphone boxes that are broken or need to be replaced from becoming the fate of electronic waste. The real environmental protection should be like this.