But they are! Go to Apple Store and buy replacement batteries for $159. As a bonus for loyal customers, with each battery purchase, you get a free set of battery housings and a charging unit all thrown in for free!!!
Jokes aside, you can replace individual AirPods battery for $49, or the AirPod itself for $69. https://support.apple.com/airpods/repair/service
Apple is almost certainly tossing the old units and giving you a new airpods without the charger and retail packaging. So, not a bad deal for what has turned out to be a high-end, disposable set of earphones. I don't know that I can get anything like that for my Bose QC30 earphones.
The charge is $49 each and $69 each out of warranty. That’s $138 for a pair, very close to the current price.
Re-reading the charges I think it’s $49 for battery replacement out of warranty and $69 each for anything else out of warranty. Yeah, they have to be giving you new (or refurbished) AirPods since they’ve been built to be non-repairable. So if they give up the battery ghost it’s $98 instead of paying whatever the going price is.
I think you are misunderstanding it - if a battery fails in warranty the replacement is free, if it fails out of warranty, then they charge you $49. The $69 is if you lost your AirPod or it otherwise failed out of warranty (which is treated as the equivalent of losing it).
Yes, I think you’re right. So two years from now I could get an AirPod replaced for $49. This is better than having to throw them away. BTW, I ordered a pair from Amazon. They’re expected to ship in 10-14 days.
Macworld says yes. Details in the linked article. https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.macworld.com/article/3250084/how-to-use-airpods-with-apple-tv.amp.html
