How To Tell If AirPods Pro Are Fake (2023)

Last Updated on August 6, 2023 by Ch David

To tell if your AirPods Pro are fake, check their serial number on Apple’s Check Coverage website. If Apple can’t validate the purchase date, you’re looking at a fake pair of AirPods Pro.

Manufacturers of fake AirPods have one goal – to maximise their profits for minimal costs. Because of this, the counterfeits are produced as cheaply as possible and therefore compromise on quality.

You might notice these differences and become suspicious about whether your AirPods Pro are genuine. 

Our comprehensive Legit Check guide will cover some of the most common differences that you can identify. If you have doubts about whether your AirPods Pro are the real thing, read on to figure it out!

Note that fake AirPods Pro can have valid codes that are taken from genuine products. Due to this, it’s worth continuing through to the next steps to confirm their authenticity. It’s also possible to have real AirPods Pro without having access to the serial number, so we cover all bases in our complete list of comparisons. 

While this guide applies to the AirPods Pro, we’ve also got guides for the regular AirPods, as well as for the AirPods Max. Make sure to check them out.

How to spot fake AirPods Pro

The quickest way to spot fake AirPods Pro is to scan the serial number that can be found on the inner side of the charging case. After you found your AirPods Pro’s unique code, visit checkcoverage.apple.com and check if Apple confirms it for you.

All Apple products include a serial number that can be used to verify their originality. You can enter them here to search Apple’s official records. Some AirPods have serial numbers on the individual earbuds, but it’s the serial number inside the case that you’ll need in this instance. 

An added benefit to checking your serial code is that it will provide you with information on whether your AirPods Pro are still under warranty, and whether you can access additional Apple Care coverage.

For this reason, it’s a good idea to check your Apple product’s serial codes regardless of whether you’re checking their authenticity. 

That’s not all of it. Besides this, we have added full detailed steps below in order for you to be sure you are looking at a real or fake AirPods Pro pair.

1. Serial number

Over there in the highlighted area, you will find a code that’s unique to every AirPods Pro case.

Have a look at the picture below with an authentic Apple serial number so we can make it clear how to find this code:

Once you get that code written down, you will have to go to https://checkcoverage.apple.com

Over there, simply pop in the serial number and this is how we’ll find if your AirPods Pros are fake or real.

As you can see in the image above, the AirPods Pro is totally confirmed by Apple, from their website.

This should clear out 99% of AirPods legit checks — however, it’s not impossible that someone might switch the case and put in fake AirPods. Very unlikely, but not impossible.

2. Diffusers

For the second step of this guide on how to tell if your AirPods Pro are fake, we are going to move to the top of the real vs fake AirPods Pro, and we have to check out the pattern of the diffuser.

2.1. Exterior

• The replica AirPods Pro appears to have a grey metal outline near the black diffusers.
  • On the other hand, the authentic Apple AirPods Pro has no grey outline near the diffusers, and they are never going to have one.
• The fake AirPods Pro also has a bigger diffuser than the real one.
  • The fake AirPods Pro’s diffuser is a bit out of the rest of the earbuds.
  • The authentic AirPods Pro has the diffuser placed in line and at the same level as the rest of the materials used for the authentic AirPods Pro.

2.2. Interior

• The fake AirPods Pro has a different colour for the round-edged rectangle which goes all around the interior side’s diffuser.

In fact, the authentic AirPod Pro’s material next to the diffuser is coloured black which is a bit shiny and reflects light, and the fake AirPod Pro’s material is coloured a dark grey, which doesn’t reflect any light.

2. Left & Right prints

• On the replica AirPods Pro, the “R” inscription is missing, which stands for the right ear.
• On the authentic AirPods Pro, you will never see the “L” and the “R” printings on the earbuds missing or fading out, since there is a big difference of material quality between the real vs fake AirPods Pro.

Unsure whether you have a fake pair of AirPods Pro? Let us help you decide once and for all.

Get our opinion

Our Apple authenticators are here for you, 24/7. All you have to do is just take a few pictures of the AirPods, send them to us, and we’ll take care of their authenticity!

4. Speakers

• The counterfeit AirPods Pro has a different colour used for the speakers.
• In fact, the fake AirPods Pro is greyer than the authentic AirPods Pro on the speakers.
• There is less density of the material which composes the speakers on the fake AirPods Pro.
• On the legit AirPods Pro, you can see how there is more material used for the speakers.

Below, we have linked the same real vs fake AirPods Pro image, but with a zoomed-in view in order for you to understand this easier.

• The fake AirPods Pro miss the silver-coloured material next to the black speaker.

On the other hand, you will never see a fully-working AirPods Pro not having this material next to the speaker, which on the fake AirPods Pro, it is missing.

A quick mention:

• The steps we’ve written so far are the BEST ways to authenticate this item
• The next few steps are still reliable methods…
• … but they apply to non-top-versions of replicas available for this item

If in doubt, we recommend double-checking the steps we’ve explained above this line.

5. Bottom side

• The fake AirPods Pro tend to have bigger dimensions for the metal, which makes it look too wide compared to the legit AirPods Pro.

In fact, the authentic AirPods Pro will always have the same dimensions as the metal on the bottom side.

6. Side gap

• The gap on the side of the counterfeit AirPods Pro is longer in height.
• The fake AirPods Pro have a gap looking less deep than the authentic AirPods Pro’s gap, which is deeper.

7. Sensor

• The fake AirPods Pro’s bottom sensor is missing.

On the legit AirPods Pro, you will never see the sensor missing, while on the fake AirPods Pro, it is a common factor to be missing.

8. Charging case

8.1. Front

• The gap in the opening area of the charging case is too deep for the fake AirPods Pro’s charging case.

On the authentic AirPods Pro’s charging case, you can see how the gap in the opening area of the charging case is less deep than in the fake AirPods Pro’s case.

This flaw is usually the most visible on the fake AirPods Pro’s top left corner of the gap, just as we have pointed out in the fake vs real AirPods Pro image above.

8.2. Back

• The “Designed by Apple in California” and the “Assembled in China” printing on the rear side of the fake AirPods Pro’s charging case is smaller than the text on the authentic charging case.
• The fake AirPods Pro’s charging case also has these two lines of text coloured lighter than the text on the authentic Apple charging case.

Want to go to the Max? We’ve also got you covered with a tutorial teaching you how to spot fake AirPods Max. Join the fun!

9. Lightning port

• The fake charging case has a metal outline thicker and is bigger than the authentic case’s outline.
• Typically, the outer packaging will be of a much lesser quality.

10. Box

Here we will cover the details to look out for with the packaging of AirPods Pros. 

Starting from the bottom of the box:

1. The space between the cover and the box is super tight on the authentic box. On the fake AirPods box, you can see there’s more space and that gap is fluctuating in width.
2. The font on the fake box is thicker than its authentic counterpart.
3. Finally, the lightning cable image is cut off on the fake’s box, while Apple’s extends to the very bottom of the case. 

Moving on to the side, the AirPods Pro text is significantly different. For one, the classic San Francisco font is not used on the fake AirPods Pro box.

Besides that, the fake text has reflective properties, while the authentic box has this textbox simply printed in grey.

On another facet of the box cover, you will notice a huge giveaway for the replica. As you can see, multiple separate stickers are attached to the authentic box.

Besides that, it seems like the fake AirPods Pro comes with Chinese text in the upper left corner. Whether there is or isn’t Chinese text anywhere on the box can vary based on the region where the Apple AirPods Pro were purchased from.

However, it looks like regardless of the region, the text found on the fakes is slightly thicker.

Shortlist: How to tell the difference between fake and real AirPods Pro

1. Authentic AirPods Pros have never been released in any colourway other than white (for the time being).
2. The authentic AirPods Pro connects faster to your phone. It’s estimated that it shouldn’t take longer than 10 seconds to connect the headphones to your device.
3. The battery life is significantly shorter on fake AirPods Pro.
4. Some fake AirPods Pro have a female voice audio file playing when connecting to your device — authentic AirPods Pro only plays a sound that’s specific to Apple.
5. Some fake AirPods Pro come with a USB-C port instead of the classic Apple Lightning port.
6. Naturally, finding my AirPods Pro under the Find My app will not work with the counterfeit version.

To conclude this guide, we will review the technical differences that separate the original Apple AirPods Pro from their inferior counterfeits. 

One of the most significant differences between real vs. fake AirPods Pro is that Apple uses exclusive technology that they have developed to enhance compatibility between their products. 

Expert AirPods Pro authentication service

If you have read this guide and are still uncertain about whether your Apple AirPods Pro are real or fake, the Legit Check App offers an authentication service to put your mind at ease.

If for any reason you aren’t confident or able to identify the authenticity of your AirPods Pro, you can use the Legit Check services for confirmation. All you have to do is send us high-quality pictures of your Apple AirPods and we will get back to you with the results in 24 to 48 hours.

The results will also come with a report on why we believe your AirPods Pro are fake or authentic.

Need our opinion on your item’s authenticity? It’s a service we provide.

Get a fully-detailed report for why you have a real or fake item. Takes less than 48 hours!

Alternatively, use our free resources: written guides and video tutorials.

Thank you for reading this,

Ch Daniel and Ch David