I’m sure you’ve all been unfortunate enough to have a beloved piece of tech suddenly bite the dust. A few months back, my Sony WH-1000XM3 battery died after nearly three years of faithful service. Although the headphones still worked over 3.5mm, I lost all Bluetooth and ANC functionality. Without a warranty, I was facing the prospect of forking over nearly £200 for a replacement pair or upgrading to the £350 Sony WH-1000XM5. Neither is a particularly attractive prospect, especially given that the headphones were otherwise working.

Thankfully, I was able to replace the battery, leasing hopefully years more life out of these otherwise excellent Bluetooth headphones. And it only cost me £14 and less than an hour of my time. I’m not going to cover the steps to repair the unit here; I’ll direct you to the excellent iFixit guide I used, instead. But I do want to share some insight into the entire process of repairing a modern piece of technology.