Many people ask me whether they can take AirPods into a sauna. In this blog post, I’ll explain why doing so isn’t smart and can even permanently damage the product. I also offer a solution towards the end of this blog post.
This blog post is part on my series on electronics in saunas. Examples here are an Apple Watch in sauna, an Oura Ring in sauna, or even a laptop in sauna. Generally, these ideas are very unwise.
But first, let’s consider why you cannot take AirPods into a sauna by considering the topics of waterproofing and temperatures inside a sauna:
Different Types Of AirPods & Waterproofing
Officially, three different generations of Apple AirPods exist (1; 2). The earlier versions of these AirPods of the product weren’t water resistant. Since the second generation of Apple AirPods, the product has an “IPX4” rating (3; 4; 5). In plain English, that rating means that the AirPods aren’t protected against dust but they are against short-term splashes of water.
But, getting a splash of water on the 2nd and 3rd generation of Apple AirPods doesn’t mean you can submerge the product in water. If the AirPods are ever submerged in water, you’ll likely permanently damage the product. Hence, you cannot swim with your AirPods. And, even exposing it to water, in the long run, is likely not beneficial.
The IP rating I talked about before also considers dust. But, as I’m considering the topic of saunas today, dust is far less of a problem than water. Suffice it to say that dust is bad for your AirPods.
Moving on:
There’s a second topic I’ll need to talk about. It’s not just water damaging your AirPods potentially, temperature matters just as much:
Different Types Of AirPods & Temperature
Secondly, temperatures have a huge influence on the survival of your AirPods too (6). Normal everyday temperatures aren’t the problem here though, unless you’re living on the North Pole or in a desert near the equator.
You can use your AirPods in temperatures of 0º and 35º Celsius (roughly 32º to 95º Fahrenheit (F)). And, if you’re not using the AirPods, you can store them at -10º and 45º Celsius (14º to 113º F).
So in most everyday situations, AirPods will do fine. Wearing AirPods in freezing temperatures can damage the product and in piping-hot weather. Next up, I’ll consider a situation that’s very extreme by everyday standards: the sauna. Let’s consider how hot different types of saunas get:
Sauna Temperatures And The Problem Of Using AirPods In Sauna
In a previous blog post on how hot is a sauna, I described the temperatures and humidity of several sauna models (7; 8; 9; 10). Here are some numbers for sauna temperatures - hopefully, you can immediately see the problem of using AirPods in sauna:
- A dry sauna has temperatures of 80 - 90 degrees Celsius (176 - 194F) with low humidity.
- An infrared sauna has temperatures of 45 - 60 degrees Celsius (113 - 140F) with low humidity.
- A Finnish sauna has maximum temperatures of 110 - 120 degrees Celsius (230 - 248F) and is rarely colder than 70 degrees Celsius (158F). Humidity in Finnish saunas is also high.
- Stream rooms have temperatures of up to 40 degrees Celsius (104F) but have extremely high humidity.
The problem?
In all these cases - whether it’s a steam room, dry sauna, Finnish sauna, or infrared sauna - you’ll be exceeding the maximum temperature Apple recommends for their AirPods when you’re wearing them.
Moreover, storing AirPods in a steam room would technically be possible as you’re not exceeding the 45-degree Celsius (113F) maximum temperature. But in that case, you’ll also be exposing the AirPods to lots of humidity, so the perceived temperature would be much higher and damage would be highly likely.
And with that conclusion, let’s finally consider the most important question of this blog post: