Apple recently officially released the AirPods 3 true wireless earphones, which uses a new outline design in appearance and is equipped with a MagSafe charging case. In terms of configuration, it adopts a customized high-amplitude drive unit, high dynamic range amplifier, H1 chip, equipped with a skin recognition sensor, motion acceleration, voice acceleration, force sensor, etc.
52audio shared the AirPods 3 unboxing, AirPods 3 review and teardown report of this product one after another immediately after the release of AirPods 3. With the deepening of understanding of AirPods 3, we can find that it has many similarities with AirPods Pro in terms of overall design and functional configuration. Today 52audio will share with you the differences between the two products based on the dismantling report.
|1. Appearance design
In terms of appearance design, Apple AirPods 3 uses a design scheme similar to AirPods Pro, but is more compact and lighter in size. AirPods 3 also uses a new semi-in-ear contour design to provide a more comfortable wearing experience. The two products are exactly the same in texture. The body is smooth and round and comfortable to the touch, but it is prone to fingerprints and scratches.
MagSafe charging case comparison
In terms of charging case, AirPods 3 and AirPods Pro both use MagSafe charging case. Support magnetic charging, fast charging, wireless charging and other functions. The two MagSafe charging cases are only significantly different in width. AirPods 3 has a narrower width, so the volume is relatively smaller.
Earbuds appearance comparison
For the earphone part, the semi-in-ear design adopted by Apple AirPods 3, the overall look and feel is similar to AirPods Pro with eartips removed, but the in-ear curve is different. The headphone head is not fuller than the AirPods Pro, and is relatively thinner. In terms of wearing effect, the inner side of the AirPods 3 earphone fits the auricle more closely, and there is no earphone suspension feeling when the AirPods Pro is worn with the eartips removed.
|2. Internal structure design
Although the appearance of Apple AirPods 3 is similar to that of AirPods Pro, the internal structure is quite different. On the whole, AirPods 3 is relatively streamlined, the internal circuit is clear at a glance, and the modularity and integration are higher.
AirPods 3 (up) and AirPods Pro (down) teardown diagram.
In the charging case part, the modularity of the two products has been very complete, and the components are connected through the BTB connector, and the small components are not involved in each other. The biggest difference is that AirPods 3 changed from a dual battery to a single battery solution, leaving a lot of space in the charging compartment. If you do not consider weight, cost, product cycle and other issues, you can add a battery inside to improve the overall battery life of the product.
Headphone structure. Compared with AirPods Pro, the internal components of AirPods 3 are completely connected in parallel on an FPC cable. The top is the in-ear detection sensor, and the end is the pickup microphone.
The biggest change is that the H1 system package chip is greatly reduced in size, which can be moved from the back cavity of the AirPods Pro earphone head to the earphone handle, making the inside of the earphone more concise. The unique connector of the built-in battery is connected in series to the FPC cable, which can be easily removed and replaced.
|3. Important components
Compared with AirPods Pro, Apple AirPods 3’s internal original components mainly include the Apple H1 chip of the SiP packaging system, battery, in-ear detection sensor solution, control solution, etc. Other aspects, such as the chip solution adopted by Apple, are mostly customized. As well as confidentiality issues, it is impossible to obtain detailed information to compare the two products.
PS: (The following pictures are all up: AirPods 3, down: AirPods Pro)
Apple H1 System In a Package
SIP (System In a Package) is a package solution that integrates a variety of different components, a variety of chips with different functions, etc., according to application scenarios, the number of packaging substrate layers and other factors, to achieve a basic and complete function of the package. It has the advantages of highly integrated systems, integrated dense circuits, miniaturization, reduced power consumption, improved radio frequency characteristics, increased energy density, and more stable performance and quality.
Apple TWS headset products used Apple H1 SIP on AirPods Pro for the first time, and this time it also adopted this solution on AirPods 3, and it has been further optimized and upgraded.
The first is that the Apple H1 chip of SiP has two main changes this time. On the one hand, as mentioned in the above structure, the volume of the H1 chip packaging system of Apple AirPods 3 has been greatly reduced, moving from the back cavity of the AirPods Pro earphone. In the earphone handle, it is welded to the motherboard. Make the look and feel of the internal circuit of the headset more concise, and also leave more space to install a larger battery or add other hardware devices.
From the picture, we can clearly see the difference in appearance of the H1 chip of AirPods 3 and AirPods Pro, but there may be no intuitive feeling for the volume. Since two years have passed, it is no longer possible to compare the two products together. According to the description of the teardown engineer, it is learned that the H1 chip of AirPods 3 has been reduced by nearly half. The substantial reduction in volume means that a higher integration level and process are required.
Battery
The battery changes of Apple AirPods 3 compared to AirPods Pro also include two parts. On the one hand, the battery capacity changes, and on the other hand, the headset battery adopts a custom connector structure, which enables more convenient replacement.
In terms of charging case internal battery, first look at the parameter information of the two generations of product batteries:
Apple AirPods 3: Battery capacity: 345mAh/1.327Wh, rated voltage: 3.85V, charging limit voltage: 4.45V.
Apple AirPods Pro: battery capacity: 519mAh/1.98Wh, rated voltage: 3.81V, charging limit voltage: 4.35V.
Apple AirPods 3 changed from the dual battery of AirPods Pro to a single battery solution, and the battery capacity was reduced from 519mAh to 345mAh. However, the charging voltage has been increased from 3.81~4.35V to 3.85~4.45V. By increasing the full charge voltage of the lithium battery, the lithium battery discharge platform is improved to achieve the purpose of increasing the energy density of the lithium battery, thereby enhancing the endurance experience.
For the earphones, both products use VARTA steel shell button batteries. The AirPods 3 battery has a battery capacity of 0.133Wh and a rated voltage of 3.67V. The AirPods Pro battery has a capacity of 0.2Wh and a rated voltage of 3.7V.
In addition to the change in battery capacity, the battery connection of Apple AirPods 3 compared to AirPods Pro has also been changed from welding to a customized plug connector solution.
The Apple AirPods 3 battery connector structure increases the modularity of AirPods 3, improves the assembly efficiency in the production process, and greatly facilitates later maintenance and battery replacement.
Control scheme
Apple AirPods 3 true wireless headsets use the same pressure-sensitive buttons as AirPods Pro for operation and control, and realize the control of various functions by sensing the pressing force. Compared with touch buttons, the accuracy is higher, and the discomfort caused by mistouch and stethoscope effect when tapping is avoided.
Compared with AirPods Pro, Apple AirPods 3 uses a different force sensor solution for pressure-sensitive button control. In terms of appearance, AirPods 3 is a patch form, which can make better use of the internal space of the headset handle.
In-ear detection sensor
In-ear detection is a very practical function of TWS headsets. It can automatically pause when the headset is taken off and automatically resume playback when re-wearing it. In the current TWS headset market, the main solutions used include capacitive and optical.
The in-ear detection of Apple AirPods 3 has changed from the optical sensor used in the previous three generations of products, using a skin recognition sensor for the first time. There is no definite news about the specific implementation principle, but it is speculated from the sensor form that it should be an optimized upgrade of the capacitive sensor.
The application of the skin recognition sensor avoids opening a hole on the earphone, and also prevents the misjudgment of the light perception being blocked when it is put in a pocket. In terms of experience, there is no obvious difference between the light perception of this sensor and AirPods Pro. The earphone will automatically pause when it is separated from the ear, and there will be a delay of about 1 second when the headset is worn to resume playback. In terms of false touch performance, 52audio touched various materials such as paper, cloth, wood, metal, etc., and only the silicone sleeve triggered the in-ear detection function.
Voice acceleration, motion acceleration sensor
Apple AirPods 3 and AirPods Pro are equipped with voice acceleration sensors and motion acceleration sensors. The former is used for call noise reduction, voice wake-up, and voice interaction functions, and the latter is used for dynamic head tracking spatial audio.
Apple AirPods Pro uses ST voice acceleration sensor (Up picture), Bosch MHEK NYH7 motion acceleration sensor (Down picture). However, on AirPods 3, these two schemes have been replaced, and it is impossible to know which scheme to replace from the silk screen information of its internal chip.
MEMS microphone
In terms of built-in microphone configuration, both Apple AirPods 3 and AirPods Pro are equipped with three MEMS microphone units. Due to functional changes, the structure of the three microphone units has also been optimized.
The three MEMS microphones of Apple AirPods 3 are connected in series on the same FPC cable, which are respectively located on the front cavity, back cavity and tail plug of the earphone. The front cavity inward microphone is used for adaptive equalization function, used to detect the audio effect of the listening content, and adjust the low and mid-frequency range. The other two microphones are equipped with voice acceleration sensors for voice calls, voice control and other functions.
The three MEMS microphones of AirPods Pro, the inward microphone is located on the dust-proof net cover of the mouthpiece, and the other two are located on the top and bottom of the headphone handle. Compared with AirPods 3, in addition to adaptive equalization functions, voice calls, voice control and other functions, it is also used for active noise reduction and transparent mode functions to pick up external environmental sounds.
|4. Summary
Apple AirPods 3 is released. Compared with the previous generation AirPods 2, it has been improved in all aspects. Its functions are almost the same as AirPods Pro except for the active noise reduction/transparency mode. The semi-in-ear design provides a more comfortable wearing experience. And with the optimization and upgrade of the system solution, although the battery capacity of AirPods 3 has been reduced, the battery life has been further improved.
In terms of internal structure design, Apple AirPods 3 has little change in complexity compared to AirPods Pro, but the internal structure is more streamlined, modular, and more integrated. The application of the Apple H1 SIP, which has been greatly reduced in size, custom battery connectors, skin recognition sensors, and patch-type force sensors have further optimized the internal structure and functional applications.
In the comparison of the above two products, what do friends think? There are other chip schemes adopted by Apple. Because of its customization and confidentiality issues, it is impossible to obtain detailed scheme information for comparison. Friends who found the difference through the teardown report can actively leave a message for discussion in the comment area.
Source: 52audio
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