Beware of the $50 Fake AirPods from China: What Lies Inside

Apple’s wireless earbuds, the AirPods, have many knockoff products that are strikingly similar in appearance. These counterfeit AirPods are often sold at a price six times cheaper than the original AirPods Pro, which costs around $270, and can be found for as low as $50.

Most of these knockoffs, predominantly from China, allure consumers with their nearly indistinguishable exteriors and low prices. However, how do their internal structures compare? Recently, ‘Lumafield,’ a company specializing in industrial CT scanners, published images comparing the internals of genuine and counterfeit AirPods.

The CT scan images reveal the differences between the knockoffs and the genuine product. Apple’s AirPods are tightly packed with components, and the assembly level is flawlessly perfect.

On the other hand, the counterfeit AirPods have a simplistic component structure. Various wires are tangled haphazardly, and the overall assembly structure is sloppy compared to the genuine product. Some products even have empty spaces with no components at all.

John Bruner, the marketing manager at Lumafield, explained in a post on his official X account, “We compared genuine and fake AirPods with a CT scanner. The AirPods Pro has all its components efficiently and densely installed.”

He added, “The AirPods Pro is a marvel of miniaturization from an engineering perspective. It’s not easy for other companies to imitate Apple’s unique precision design and structure.”

However, it’s not easy for the average person to distinguish between genuine and counterfeit AirPods based on appearance alone. Therefore, Apple provides a ‘Check Coverage’ service online to verify the authenticity of their products. By entering the serial number of Apple products such as iPhones or AirPods, the service tells you the scope of the product’s service. If the entered serial number is not recognized, there’s a high chance for it to be fake.

By. Joo Hyung Lim