AirPods Pro 2 Gets CT Scanned: Lanyard Might Be Antenna

The folks over at Lumafield have just used a Neptune industrial CT scanner to perform a nondestructive teardown of the new AirPods Pro (2nd generation) to see how they compare to the first-generation AirPods Pro.

Looking at the scans, one can see that the basic layout of the case is similar to the first-generation case, with two batteries sandwiching the main logic board.

Like the original AirPods Pro case, a pair of magnets keeps the lid closed and another magnet in each charging well pulls the earbuds into place. The new case adds four magnets around the inductive charging coil for aligning the case with a MagSafe or Apple Watch charger.

The most interesting finding is, however, the new metal eyelet on the side of the case.

Apple says it’s for a lanyard, but it seems to serve an additional purpose: it’s 4 mm deep and 18 mm long, with a hidden tail that’s connected to a metal pad around the Lightning port. Perhaps it’s an antenna to support improved “Find My” tracking.

While the eyelet is solid aluminum, the visible components of the hinge are actually electroplated plastic, with a real metal pin inside.

You can explore all these scans in detail through Voyager, a browser-based industrial CT analysis software, by creating a free account at this link.