I don’t think that I’m alone when I say that I thought Airpods would be a massive flop. When they were released, there was a ton of criticism for them. The high price, plus the fact that they’re completely wireless, led a lot of people to think that they’d be either too expensive for most people, or very easily lost.
If you’re considering a pair of Airpods, then you might be wondering how easily someone else can get access to them if they find your pair. We know that Apple has put a lot of effort into making their Apple products difficult for others to get into if you lose them, like their iPhones for example.
But what about with Airpods; if someone else gets their hands on them, can they effectively use them as their own pair of Airpods? Well, let’s see.
Can stolen Airpods be used?
The bad news is that stolen Airpods can be used very easily, and can simply be paired up with a new Macbook or iPhone. Unlike when you lose your phone, the Airpods don’t have the same level of security to protect them from theft.
This is why it’s important to make sure that you don’t lose your Airpods. If you do, then there’s little that you can do to get them back or prevent someone else from accessing them. This is simply because the technology used with Airpods isn’t advanced enough to have security in-built into them.
This is the same for the standard Airpods, as well as the Airpods Pro and Airpods Max too. If you’re worried about having your Airpods stolen, there are some precautions that you can take beforehand to give you more insight into their location. This involves downloading the Apple app, Find My.
So, what does Find My Airpods do?
The good news is that if you’ve lost your Airpods, that doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s going to be impossible to find them again. You can use Apple’s Find My app, which can help you to find the Airpods you’ve lost.
The app used to be simply known as the Find My iPhone app. Whilst you can still used it to find the last known location of your iPhone, it can also help you find a variety of other Apple devices too, including your Airpods.
This app will show you where your Airpods are on a map, and if they’re not connected to your phone, then it’ll show you the last place that they were connected together. This can make it easier for you to find your Airpods.
Unfortunately, this won’t help you prevent someone else from using your Airpods, as it can only help you to find them. So, you’re still not in a good position if you lose your Airpods and you can’t find them via the app.
Do Airpods work with a different case?
In some circumstances, you may have only lost the earbud part of your Airpods, and still have the charging case that they come with. If this is the case, then you might think you’re safe from someone being able to use the earbuds themselves.
And although it’s completely impossible to charge a set of Airpod buds without a charging case, you can actually use them interchangeably with any case. So, there’s nothing to stop someone from using the buds that they’ve found with a case that they’ve bought online.
The good thing about this is that if one Airpod is lost or missing, then you only need to replace it, and not the case as well. The bad side of this is that if you’ve lost them or their stolen, then they’re pretty much as good as gone, as they can be used with another iPhone without much hassle.
What should you do if your Airpods are stolen?
If you do find yourself in the unfortunate position of having your Airpods stolen from you, then it’s really down to you what you want to do about it.
Most people would consider going to the police to try and recover them or at least report it. But to be honest, the likelihood of you getting the Airpods back if they are stolen is overall pretty slim.
This is why it’s very important that you take care of your Airpods properly and make sure that they aren’t easily taken from you. Unfortunately, the Apple warranty that comes with Airpods won’t cover them if they’re lost of stolen, which is a bit annoying.
If you’re sure that someone stole your Airpods and you can find them in their last location with the Find My app, then you may want to report it.
Airpods do tend to have a good range (the new Airpods Pro have a range of 250m), so if you have left them somewhere recently, you may be able to see where they were last connected.
Will future Airpods have anti-theft technology?
The thing with Airpods is that although they’re good and pretty powerful, this is all wrapped up into a pretty small and compact design. And whilst this is fantastic for portability, it can be a little bit annoying if you’re looking at things from a tech perspective.
In the future, it’s likely that newer Airpod releases will have more in the way of anti-theft technology built into them – but I doubt very much it’s anywhere in the near future.
Both regular Airpods and the newer Airpod pro releases are relatively small, and they’re not as expensive as a tablet or an iPhone. Hence, there’s less of a necessity for you to be able to track them like you can with your other devices.
The main alternative to Airpods is obviously just looking for a good pair of wired headphones, where you don’t need to worry about losing them when you’re wearing them. Unfortunately, part of what makes Airpods so great is also one of the reasons why they’re pretty easy to lose.
Conclusion
In conclusion, if your Airpods are stolen by someone else, then unfortunately they’re as good as gone. At the present, Airpods don’t have the technology to be able to restrict someone else from easily accessing them and connecting them to their own Apple devices.
In the future, this could change with newer and more sophisticated versions of the Airpods being released. We know that the Airpods Pro have been a big improvement in terms of range and usability, so it does make sense that Apple will look to try and find a good way to prevent you losing your headphones and Airpods case.
The only good news is that you could find your Airpods again by using the app. But like most headphones, if you lose them, then there’s a good chance you won’t find them again.
