Tired of using the Apple-exclusive Lighting cable to charge your AirPods? Now, you don’t have to. That is, if you’re willing to put the work into taking the case apart and swapping the Lightning port for a USB-C. Ken Pillonel (the mind behind the Exploring the Simulation YouTube channel) is an engineer on YouTube who went viral late last year for putting a USB-C port on an iPhone. He also brought USB-C to AirPods this past May, and now, he’s willing to share his secret with everyone through an open-source “how to” guide.
The written guide can be found here at airpodsdirtysecret.com, but be warned: it’s not exactly an easy build. As detailed in Pillonel’s video, there’s a lot that goes into modding Apple products. To successfully do the mod, you’ll need to cut open your AirPods case, 3D print new pieces, solder new pieces together, and much more. In summation, this isn’t a beginner-level project. However, if you have experience with putting together and modding hardware, it’s certainly doable.
Many Apple device owners have been getting increasingly frustrated with the company’s reliance on the Lighting cable, so a hardware mod that allows you to use USB-C is absolutely welcome. While some devices are starting to use USB-C (like the iPad), AirPods and iPhones are still stuck using Lighting. It seems, however, that may not be the case forever.
New legislation in Europe is requiring Apple to start using USB-C ports starting in 2024. This is an attempt to standardize charging across the board so that it’ll be easier than ever before to keep your devices juiced. It’s unclear if future USB-C Apple products will be launched globally or not, but there’s certainly a chance of that happening.
Should Apple drop the Lightning port in favor of USB-C, you may not need to mod your AirPods after all if you can take dealing with the frustrations of Lighting cables for another two years. That said, there’s no guarantee that Apple will adopt USB-C ports on all of its devices globally, so if you’ve got the know-how and ability, you can certainly give it a shot. If you make a devastating error when modding the hardware, however, keep in mind that — as noted in the video — Apple has no interest in helping you fix your Airpods case, just in replacing it.
Two new highly requested iCloud plugins just got added to ChatGPT, giving people who rely on Apple’s Mail and Calendar services a way to search emails, check appointments, and manage their schedules directly through the chatbot.
The integration is rolling out to all ChatGPT plans, including the free tier. You can access it on the web, desktop, and iOS.
Google Play is borrowing one of the Nintendo Switch’s most useful little tricks. A new Sidekick tool called Playbacks captures a short clip after something interesting has already happened, sparing players from running a screen recorder throughout an entire game.
Playbacks is part of Google Play Store v53.8 and keeps saved clips on the phone. Google first announced it earlier this month, but the new Play Store update marks its arrival for players. Anyone who has watched a perfect win vanish because the record button came too late already understands the appeal.
Samsung’s scandal over its Game Optimizing Service, or GOS, has returned with a bill attached. South Korea’s Fair Trade Commission has tentatively fined the company 20.1 billion won, or about $15.1 million, over gaming claims made for the Galaxy S21, Galaxy S22, and Tab S8.
The regulator says Samsung promoted the devices as gaming powerhouses without disclosing that GOS placed preset CPU and GPU limits on certain demanding games. Samsung disputes that conclusion, calling GOS a legitimate way to manage heat.