Engineer who made first USB-C iPhone has created the first wired AirPods

Does the name Ken Pillonel ring a bell? He's the engineer who converted the lightning port on an iPhone X into a working USB-C jack and later auctioned off the device for over $86,000. Ken was ahead of his time as his 2021 DIY project predicted the change Apple is making this year with the iPhone 15 series. The latter will be sporting a USB-C port thanks to legislation in the EU. Not wanting to deal with offering separate charging systems in different markets, all iPhone 15 units will sport a USB-C port according to the latest rumors.

Of course, Apple is throwing in some "Appley-like" touches as only it can do. For example, a Lightning-like authenticator chip placed inside the USB-C port will force companies to have their accessories certified MFi (made for iPhone) by Apple to work on USB-C flavored iPhone units. This will allow Apple to keep the cash flow it will lose from dropping the proprietary Lightning plug. And their could be differences in transfer speeds between the non-Pro and Pro iPhone 15 models.

Pillonel says that the latest modification that the engineer made to an Apple product is his "most innovative project so far." Taking a broken pair of AirPods that he had for three years, he turned the true wireless stereo earbuds into wired earbuds. You can watch the video (which he posted as a YouTube short) by clicking on this link (via 9to5 Google). The engineer says that he was surprised that no one thought of this before.

In the video, Ken explains that he purchased the AirPods in February 2020 and the batteries were lasting only 30 seconds (the batteries are designed to last up to three years). Instead of sending the earbuds back to Apple and spending nearly $100 for a fresh pair of batteries, Pillonel broke his AirPods and converted them into a wired pair of earbuds.

We don't know whether Pillonel plans to auction off his wired AirPods as he did with the iPhone X he converted to USB-C. But if he does, you can be sure that the bidding won't reach similar heights.