Beat Apple to the punch with a screwdriver, $40, and some courage.
AirPods Max users now have the option to upgrade their headphones with a USB-C port, thanks to engineer Ken Pillonel‘s new mod kit. This was featured in his recent video titled, “AirPods Max 2 – before Apple!”
Pillonel’s $40 kit, available in his website, adds USB-C support to the AirPods Max. It includes a custom printed circuit board (PCB) that sits on top of the existing one and comes with detailed instructions from his website.
This offers a solution for current owners who want to make the switch sooner than Apple’s expected release of a USB-C-equipped AirPods Max later this year, assuming they have the skills and bravery to take the risk.
Ken Pillonel’s USB-C Conversion for AirPods Max
In his YouTube video, Pillonel demonstrates how easy it was to replace the Lightning port.
I swear they make it too easy for me.” he says.
“There’s a metal lip that you can just push out and boom, you have the perfect size hole for a USB-C connector, no drilling.”
Pillonel designed the custom board’s shape to avoid touching the tallest components on the original board. He imported his open-source USB-C conversion circuit into the design and spent hours finding the right connector.
Once done, he sent his design to PCBWay to manufacture the custom board. After a few days of waiting, he tried the circuit and discovered that it works just as planned.
However, Pillonel noticed a potential durability issue.
“As you can see, I want to make this available to everyone, but there’s one last thing that’s been bothering me.” he explains.
“I plug in the connector in this direction, my board is held by those two holes, and if you don’t tighten it properly or the screws get loose, all the pressure will go to the B2B connector here, and it might destroy it.”
To address this problem, Pillonel made some more design improvements. He added a flexible part that separates the board’s two rigid parts, preventing force from being transmitted.
This change also improved manufacturability by placing all components on the same side. A 3D printed part was also created to hold the microphone in place.
His kit is available for everyone to purchase at his website for only $45 for everyone who dares to try out the mod.
He also mentions that the kit can be used as a replacement part for a broken Lightning port. This can result in a huge savings as users can avoid paying the $300 repair fees to Apple for AirPods Max.
Technical Challenges and Limitations
While Pillonel initially considered adding support for USB-C audio, he ultimately decided against it due to the extra complexity and cost. Apple makes two Lightning to 3.5mm headphone adapters.
The first adapter, which has been widely hacked, only supports audio in one direction, from the Lightning port to wired headphones. This means, you still can’t listen to the headphones via wired connection.
The second adapter costs $35. This allows audio in both directions, meaning you can send signals from your audio source to the AirPods Max. However, it’s still not possible at the moment because of an issue:
While the $35 adaptor is okay, Pillonel would also need to include the authentication chip from the original adapter for each board to add USB-C audio support. This would make the mod too costly.
So, he decided to just stick to USB-C charging for now.
The Right to Repair Movement
Pillonel’s AirPods Max mod is more than just a fun project – it’s part of his larger advocacy for the Right to Repair movement.
This movement believes that products should be more repairable by users and that manufacturers shouldn’t use legal and technological measures to prevent people from fixing products that still have plenty of life left in them.
Aside from this project Pillonel also has a history of creating USB-C mods for Apple products, including the iPhone, AirPods, and AirPods Pro. He also deconstructed the AirPods Pro case and built a custom repairable version, sharing the design for free.
“Most gadgets are designed without repairability in mind, unlike the durable technology of the past that seemed built to last.” Pillonel wrote in one of his video’s description.
“It is troubling to see design choices like non-replaceable batteries, glued-in components, and a lack of transparency in public information leading to the rise of ‘fast electronics.’”
Pillonel’s goal is to inspire consumers and companies like Apple to treat technology less like a disposable commodity. He aims to make them see their gadgets as more like something that can be tinkered with, learned from, and repaired.