Ken Pillonel was the engineer who one-upped Apple by hacking into an apple device. That one-off creation went on to sell for over $86,000 at an auction, while Pillonel continued to show off his hacking skills by downgrading an Android phone with Apple's proprietary Lightning port.
As a result of a design that makes opening their charging case to gain access to the battery without damaging it impossible, Apple will replace the Apple AirPods if users start to experience charging or battery issues. If you want to replace the charging case's battery yourself, you need to use a cutting tool to destroy the outer case.
It took some trial and error, but Pillonel was able to design and 3D print a replacement outer sleeve for the case, and it came out looking professional. He didn't stop at that point.
It isn't the only sin of the AirPods. Even on the AirPods Max, Apple still doesn't have a charging port. Since he lives in Switzerland, Pillonel thought he would go the extra mile and replace his Lightning charging port with ausb-c one.
It took custom PCBs and even mounting brackets to be designed and ordered before precision soldering and even welding could be attempted to put ausb-c port on the AirPods Charging Case. Even though it didn't work, Pillonel is one step closer to eliminating Apple's lightning cables from his life altogether.
Pillonel has created a website that links to the 3D files and PCB files that can be used to hack the AirPods. He is in the process of setting up a contest for the custom components he created, and is considering putting together an upgrade kit that anyone can buy, but will probably still need skills with a Dremel and a soldering iron.
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