[dharbin]

According to Gruber's article, you can use these as wired headphones by plugging in a "Lightning to 3.5mm headphone jack cable," but otherwise I agree with you. "Built to last" means more than the material choices (metal vs plastic), but also whether or not you can swap out the batteries.

[cloogshicer]

They work via cable, but only actively (with power).

Source: https://www.slashgear.com/apple-airpods-max-water-resistance...

[numpad0]

> Lightning to 3.5mm headphone jack cable

...without power?

[pfortuny]

You need the batteries (that is what is meant by "not working passively"). A passive headphone works without the need for batteries, at all. It may not have active noise cancellation or some other features, but it should work as a headphone.