How to determine if AirPods 4 with ANC are genuine?

Hey!

Counterfeit AirPods are common problem, especially when purchased via non-official channels, like Ebay, Marketplace or local alternatives.

In the last years the visual differences between counterfeit products and genuine Apple AirPods have shrunk, and it may be challenging to differentiate them, even for a trained eye.

It may be helpful to compare them to a trusted, genuine pair of AirPods 4 with Active Noise Canceling, looking for differences between the two pairs. Common points of differentiation include:

• Weak, plastic hinge on the back of the AirPods
• Difference in weight
• Weaker Magnets holding the AirPods in the case
• Weaker Magnets holding the case shut
• Differences in Build Quality, especially panel gaps
• "Designed in California / Assembled in China"-Label not printed correctly on the back (Not straight, different font, ...)

It may also be helpful to visit an Apple Store and ask them to fetch the Repair History of the Serial Number printed on your pair of AirPods. While newer variations of Counterfeit AirPods use Serial Numbers of genuine AirPods, they mass-print the same serial number on thousand of pairs. This results in hundreds of support and service requests being accounted to the same serial number.

Service histories that include cases that you did not open, or service histories that include absurd amounts of cases are an indicator that your AirPods might be counterfeit.

I hope I could be of help!

Adding to that, on a personal note, the font used on the label on the back of the AirPods, as seen on the picture you included, seems to differ from the font generally found on genuine AirPods. It is both thicker and denser than Apples Type.

As explained in my previous post, there are many different factors that may distinguish counterfeit from genuine AirPods, but I would be pretty suspicious, just based on that font.

Did you buy them from Apple or an Apple authorized reseller?