Of course, the easiest thing to do is to remember that real AirPods are not sold for 300 hryvnias. Even on Black Friday. You should only buy headphones from verified stores.

Check the serial number on the box

The easiest and most reliable way to check if your AirPods are legit is to check the serial number. Find the serial number on the box and enter it into Apple’s Check Coverage tool. You will see detailed information about the AirPods model, purchase date and warranty whether they are original or not.

Serial number inside the case

You should see the AirPod serial number inside the case, on the inside of the cover. If there’s nothing there, your AirPods aren’t real.

Don’t worry too much about which side of the case the number is on; left or right. Apple doesn’t have an official standard for exactly where it should be pressed. It can be printed on any headset, depending on where it was made and the region you purchased it from.

Serial number inside the charging case / Photo: Dua Rashid

Once you’ve checked your charger’s serial number, it’s a good idea to compare it to the number on the box. Sometimes scammers give you the original box and replace the product inside with a fake one. If both numbers match you should not worry.

Serial number of each headphone

Your AirPods have a separate serial number printed on the bottom. The font is extremely small, so it’s very easy to miss the text, but it’s a surefire way to tell if your AirPods are fake.

Be sure:

• The serial number is printed on both headphones.
• The situation is the same with both headphones.

Please take note of this will not be the same as the serial number on the charging case. Original AirPods have different serial numbers for the case and earbuds.

iOS 17 will tell you on its own

If you are using iOS 17, this process will be much easier and you will not need to make any checks. As soon as you connect the fake AirPods to your phone, you will see a pop-up with the following message: “These earbuds have not been verified as genuine AirPods and may not function as expected.”.

Different models of AirPods / Unsplash photo

Check all documents

A quick way to check if you received all the documents with your AirPods. You must have three things:

• Instructions.
• Warranty certificate.
• Safety Data Sheet.

Measure their exact weight if possible

Of course, it will look pretty awkward in public, but you can use a scale to check that the weight of the devices you buy matches the manufacturer’s stated weight of the original AirPods. The fact is that fake products use different materials and internal components, which leads to a difference in weight.

You can find the weight of each type of AirPods in the available specs section on Apple’s website when preparing to purchase.

As a rule, fake products weigh less. A series of CT scans performed by Lumafield on real and fake AirPods showed that many internal components found in the fake AirPods were missing. But for example, no magnets, smaller batteries and low-quality plastic.

Packaging defects and design inconsistencies

Usually the packaging of AirPods will tell you if they are fake or not. Apple does everything with extreme precision and perfection. If the film looks flimsy and very crumpled, you should be careful when buying. Apple packaging is always clean and bright (does not turn yellow) and very dense. The back of the box should have special fasteners, which is the packaging standard for all Apple products.

Also check for misspelled words, mistakes, typos, pixelation, double spaces, or an Apple logo that doesn’t look right. Fake Apple products often have the wrong Apple logo for some reason.

Another very obvious sign is the AirPods, which are also available in colors other than white. Apple sells its headphones only in white.

Check the buttons

Fake AirPods usually have a button on the earcups instead of a force sensor notch. Note that no AirPods model has a button on the earbuds. Management is touch sensitive.