The "purpose-built to fall apart" is real, I used to have a best friend who had to get new apple headphones every 2-3 weeks because they always somehow broke.
My apple headphone clones on the other hand lasted at best 2 years and at worst I can't say yet because this is the second pair I got from the manufacturer and they're still going strong. And I usually handle my headphones like shit, though not intentionally, of course, but the usual wear and tear.