The Swap Club believes you should trade your old tech in for a refurbished version. They even do the refurbishing for you: While they don’t reveal exactly how they do it, they told iFixit they rely on “specialized equipment and precision robotics” to make “Podswap” possible.
It’s a Swap Club cycle: The company sends you a refurbished pair of AirPods, then you send in yours within three to five days. The Swap Club then attempts to resuscitate those AirPods, performing the complicated task of replacing the batteries without breaking the earbuds altogether. They then clean both AirPods thoroughly, so you won’t be dealing with someone else’s earwax if that’s what you’re worried about.
You still need to pay the Swap Club for a refurbished pair of AirPods: $59.99 for a standard pair, or $49.99 for one with more visible wear and tear.
I suppose some cost is better than just throwing your old pair away. I wonder how much longer it will be legal to just keep selling "new only" AirPods? Battery sellers have often got to at least accept the old batteries for proper disposal / recycling. I did post a few months ago about one set of earphones which allowed battery swap outs, but apart from that, these devices really generate e-waste.
But with regard to Apple AirPods specifically... my first, and only pair, of AirPods I bought gave up the ghost just after 2 years old when the warranty had expired. I was pretty disgusted considering what they cost. After a while I did buy a cheap pair of wireless earphones, and I just realised, that many years later these cheap ones are still working. That now makes me super suspicious as to why the expensive AirPods just stopped working after 2 years!
So maybe what I'm realising now as my Aha moment, is rather buy cheaper 3rd party earphones. They'll last longer!
But what we do know for sure is, Apple won't change this situation unless legally forced to do so...
See
This Company Saves Your AirPods From Planned Obsolescence#
technology #
ewaste #
airpods 
You don’t need to buy a brand new pair of AirPods when your old ones die—just join the Swap Club.
