How to tell manufacture date of Airpods Pro?

Hardware
1

My AirPods Pro are the first gen A2084. They’re having that rattling/reverb issue that they experience, and Apple’s site (AirPods Pro Service Program for Sound Issues - Apple Support) indicates:

Apple has determined that a small percentage of AirPods Pro may experience sound issues. Affected units were manufactured before October 2020.

I’m within the three-year period (purchased in early 2022), so I called Apple Support. Gave them all my info, including serial number. They say there’s no way for them to look up when the device was manufactured.

I really don’t want to burn the time to drive to an Apple Store and get told the same thing. But there MUST be a way for them to tell, otherwise how would they be able to determine whether AirPods were eligible?

What should my next action be to try to figure this out?

Also noting that if these aren’t eligible, I’ll just buy a pair of 2nd-gen - but not from Apple, as other retailers have better pricing right now.

Thoughts?

2

Get an estimate for a replacement? Couldn’t hurt to try, IMO. I had an AirPods Pro go bad (rattling sound) and they replaced both of mine, a couple of years ago.

3

You’re right, they always have a means of telling eligibility. Perhaps it’s just that people in the call centre don’t have access to this.

I thought I had heard there was a web page and I’m pretty sure I know who I heard it from so have asked them. I will let you know when I hear back.

4

Update - went to the Apple Store, and they got it figured out pretty quickly. No replacement as it was manufactured a couple months after the deadline for the program.

And this is one of those things where I could have theoretically bought another single AirPod, but then I’d have one new AirPod and one old AirPod. I asked if they could do a diagnostic and see what my battery health was, and apparently their diagnostic computer couldn’t even talk to it - so I just replaced them. Best Buy has them for $189 right now.

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5

In 2019 Wedbush analyst Dan Ives told Fortune that Apple’s AirPods manufacturing cost is $59 per pair.

I’d be surprised if they cost that much.

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6

Here’s the link in case anyone else needs it. Only valid for 3 years after purchase, so likely of limited use now.