The Apple AirPods Pro are some of the most popular earbuds available on the market, with over 60 million units sold in 2019 alone!
Unfortunately since they are so popular there are also many fake Apple AirPods Pro being sold everywhere. If you check Craigslist or the Facebook Marketplace you can easily spot a bunch of fakes ones that are being sold as the original Apple AirPods Pro!
The easiest way to make sure you are buying the original Apple AirPods Pro would be buying them directly from Apple or an authorized reseller like Amazon: https://geni.us/tvxN0
This way you won’t have to worry about any scams, you will have warranty and know that the earbuds went through some rigorous quality control.
The fake Apple AirPods Pro are typically available on a bunch of Chinese websites like Aliexpress: https://geni.us/1SQYKc and they look and sound pretty much identical with the original ones.
I’ve also made a full video showing you all the differences between the fake ones and the original ones and it may be easier learning about all the differences by watching the video below.
The first thing you should look out for is the box and the plastic wrap around box. The fake box looks pretty close to the original box but the plastic wrap on it doesn’t look as professional. The original box also has a little pull out tab that you won’t find on most fake ones.
Inside the box you can check the user manual, typically the user manual found with the fake Apple AirPods Pro has pretty bad print quality and the text on the user manual is also a bit different, however, the user manual may be different depending on the part of the world were the airpods are being sold.
Underneath the user manual you will find the charging case that’s also wrapped in plastic. The plastic wrap on the fake Airpods Pro looks cheap and messy and it doesn’t have a pullout tab like the original ones; so that’s another easy thing you can spot.
Underneath the charging cases you will find the replacement earcups and the charging lighting cable. Here you have to look and see if the charging cable moves around in the box. In the original Apple AirPods Pro bix the charging cable doesn’t move if you shake the box, in the fake one the cable is somewhat loose and will move around.
Taking a closer look at the charging cases you will first notice that the LED on the front of the charging case on the original product looks somewhat white.
If you look at the fake charging case you will easily notice that the LED on the fron of the case looks kind of black, so another thing that you can easily spot. Take a look at the picture below.
Turning the charging cases around you will also be able to spot a difference for the colour of the little hinge there. The hinge on the original charging case is the same colour everywhere (a light grey) where the hinge on the fake ones looks like it has two different colours.
However, in the past I’ve seen other fake Apple AirPods Pro charging cases that have that little hinge made out of the same colour plastic; so this may be different depending on the manufacturer of the fake ones.
Opening the charging case, and looking at the top you will be able to see the serial number. The serial number there has to match the serial number that you would find on the box.
For this particular fake the serial number is the same as the number on the box but the text seems to be written a bit different on the fake one when compared to the original one as you can see in the picture below.
You can also check the serial number on Apple’s website but most times the serial number on the fake Apple AirPods Pro will show up there. It is very likely that the serial number was copied from some original Apple AirPods Pro; therefore you won’t be able to spot the fake ones by just checking that serial number.
Looking at the actual airpods themselves, the fake ones look very similar to the original ones. There are some small differences on the text written on them but it is pretty difficult reading that text if you don’t have perfect eyesight.
One of the differences I’ve noticed has to do with the replacement earcup. If you pull on that on the real AirPods Pro it will easily come off and you can easily put it back on. It’s made like that to be easily replaced.
If you try taking that off on the fake Apple AirPods Pro you won’t be able ro remove it. I tried pulling on it quite hard and it wouldn’t come off, so I am assuming that it isn’t replaceble like it is on the original product. Keep in mind that I’ve seen other fake Apple AirPods Pro in the past that had removable earcups; so this will be different depending on the fakes that you are looking at.
I noticed another small difference when you first pair the AirPods Pro to your iPhone. The message that shows up on the screen is a bit different, not a crazy big difference but something to keep in mind. You can see the differences in the picture below.
Once connected to your iPhone successfully you can also check the firmware version of the AirPods by going to Settings/ General/ About on your iPhone.
The firmware version of the fake Apple AirPods Pro is stuck to version 1XXXX where the firmware version on the original Apple AirPods Pro should be 3XXXX or higher.
Make sure you give your AirPods Pro a chance to update before checking. Mine took a day after I first paired them to my iPhone to update to the latest firmware version.
These particular fake Apple AirPods Pro also have real noise cancelling and a real transparency mode and the quality on both is very similar with what you get on the original Apple AirPods Pro, however there is a little difference on the settings screen.
The original Apple AirPods Pro has an extra feature called Spacial Audio. This feature is only available once your phone has been updated to iOS 14.2 and the AirPods themselves updated to the lates firmware version available.
You can see the difference in the picture below.
Hopefully I was able to show you enough hints so you don’t end up buying the fake Apple AirPods Pro believing that you are buying the real ones.
Always remember that it’s best if you buy your Apple AirPods Pro directly from Apple or an authorized reseller.
Amazon is a safe place to buy your original Apple AirPods Pro: https://geni.us/tvxN0
If you need more information check out the detailed video I posted above. That will give you plenty of knowledge!