Among all the wonderful Apple products available, AirPods must be the most prone to being lost. AirPods are great, but the charging case is tiny and easy to lose, leaving many owners wondering if there is another way to charge their headphones.
AirPods must be in their charging case in order to be charged. Many people have false beliefs about this. Do not fall for “hacks,” such as a pin charger or an app, because they are ineffective. To solve this problem permanently, you will need to purchase a new charging case for your AirPods.
The objective of this article is to answer any questions you may have about charging your AirPods, dispel any misinformation you may have heard, and get you back up and running with fully charged headphones.
Is It Possible to Charge Airpods Without a Case?
Some articles will advise you to use a slim pin charger or a dubious download to miraculously power up your AirPods, but this reveals more about the quality of your research than it does about the internal components of your AirPods.
AirPods themselves cannot be charged wirelessly; only the charging case of later-generation AirPods (everything but the first generation) is compatible with wireless charging technology.
Apple AirPods cannot be charged without the charging case. Once they’re dead, they stay dead. You won’t be able to charge your AirPods until you obtain a new or alternative charger.
Related Post: How to Recover Dropped AirPods In Water
Two Common Airpods Charging Myths Debunked
If you surf the web for a while, you’ll notice two generally thought:
Statements that an AirPods can be charged with a single-pin adapter are entirely false.
Claims that, with the help of an app, you can charge your AirPods wirelessly from your smartphone are, to put it mildly, ridiculous.
Due to their ubiquitousness and ineffectiveness, I am going to spend the next few minutes dispelling these misconceptions.
Charging Airpods with A Narrow Pin Charger
When searching for a solution to your “charger less” problem, you will repeatedly come across the claim that the “narrow pin charger” from an old Nokia phone can be used to charge your AirPods.
The charging dock and AirPods are designed to work together because their contact points are nearly identical. Truthfully, there are two parts to that theory:
Untrue: The contact points on AirPods and “narrow pin chargers” are different. AirPods have two tiny contact points on the bottom for charging, and standard narrow-pin chargers won’t work with them.
Dangerous: If for some reason you managed to connect the charger to the AirPods, you could easily damage them. Your AirPods have small batteries that probably can’t handle being flooded with power all at once. Your AirPods charging case is designed to do just that, providing power to your headphones at just the right level.
What is the point of this nonsense? Using a charger designed for a different device to charge AirPods is similar to attempting to transport a gallon of water in a 32-ounce bottle. The person who told you that obviously hasn’t done their homework, because it’s not going to work!
This is something I keep harping on because there are many false claims that it is possible. Indeed, due to the overwhelming number of people complaining that their AirPods didn’t charge at all or were ruined, comments were disabled on a YouTube video proclaiming the method’s efficacy.
Charging Airpods with an App
Now for the even sillier one: numerous articles and videos claim that the following absurd sequence of steps can be used to recharge AirPods.
- Checking out a little-known website
- Putting data in a database
- Using two totally unrelated apps
After that, they claim, you’ll be able to charge your AirPods with nothing but your phone. Long story short: you cannot charge your AirPods by downloading a virus!
Related Post: How to Fix AirPods Flashing White Light
Can You Charge Airpods with A Knockoff Case?
There’s more nuance to this one. Some of the fake AirPods on the market today are almost indistinguishable from the real thing.
The charging case for these fake AirPods may or may not be compatible with your genuine AirPods. It’s unclear whether or not all fake AirPods charging cases are actually functional.
Inconvenient as this information may be, though You won’t know unless you buy and try them, so this isn’t very helpful. You’d be taking a risk if you bought a fake AirPods charging case.
However, if you find yourself in possession of a fake AirPods charging case, by all means use them. Maybe your luck will turn around for you.
Will Apple Send Me A New Airpods Charging Case?
If your AirPods are damaged and you have AppleCare+, you can replace them for $29 plus shipping and handling.
Theft and loss covered is an available feature on the iPhone, but not the AirPods. Having AppleCare+ won’t help if you lose them.
Thinking, “Why don’t I just file a claim that my AirPods got water damage instead of being lost and get a new set for free?” is understandable.
That won’t work either, unfortunately. Devices that are damaged and claimed by Apple must be returned to the company. When you lose your AirPods, filing a claim for damages won’t help you very much.
Can You Replace the Airpods Case Only?
Though it may seem like a silly question, some people are hesitant to buy AirPods because they worry about being locked into a specific color scheme for their charging case and headphones.
Happily, the answer is yes; as long as they are for the same model, any AirPods charging case will work with any pair of AirPods. In a matter of minutes after purchasing a new case, you can be listening to your AirPods once again.
Reconnecting your AirPods to the new case is as simple as placing them inside and holding the button on the back of the case for a few seconds.
If you’re lucky enough to have a (very generous) friend or relative who also owns AirPods and who lives in close proximity to you, you can get by for a while by borrowing their charging case.
It’s not ideal, but it beats the alternative of constantly having to reset your AirPods after each charge.
Can You Connect Airpods to Your Phone Without the Case?
Here’s where things can get even worse: your AirPods may not even work without the case.
Even though they should remain paired, they won’t be able to reconnect if they become unpaired for any reason and you don’t have the case. Before you can connect them, you’ll need to store them in the case, close it, and then unlock it.
Therefore, even if the AirPods could be charged without the case, they would become disconnected from your phone and you would be unable to reconnect them.
And when they pass on, you have no more hope. Instead of finding workarounds, you should try to get a new AirPods charging case as soon as possible.
Related Post: Can AirPods Survive the Washing Machine
How Much Does a Replacement Airpods Case Cost?
If you lose the case for your AirPods, your best (and perhaps only) option is to buy a new pair of AirPods. For less than $70, you can get a new charging case for your first- or second-generation AirPods on Amazon.
Replacements for AirPods 3 and AirPods Pro can be ordered from Apple’s support website. The charging case for AirPods is approximately $59. The case for AirPods Pro is approximately $99.
Conclusion
I think you’ve come to realize that trying to avoid using a charging case is a bad plan. If your charging case breaks, your only real option is to go out and buy a new one, no matter how much that will hurt your weekly or monthly budget.
Stop trying to find workarounds and buy a new charging case instead. Doing so quickly will allow you to resume using your AirPods as soon as possible.