Apple has a track record of delivering new functionality in its annual iPhone series releases, but not this year. Aside from the improved battery, waterproofing, faster processor and better camera, not much has changed. In fact, the only major changes that the Cupertino company made are the color scheme, the addition of matte and jet black and the headphone jack, or lack thereof.
With the absence of the traditional 3.5 mm audio jack, iPhone 7 owners will have to connect their EarPods via the Lightning port, which is OK until the phone needs to be charged. Bear in mind that charging the device will also require the same Lightning port since there's only one anyway. An uncommon case it may be, but it can be quite a predicament.
To remedy this, Apple introduced the AirPods, a wireless earpiece set that is powered by Apple's W1 chip and intuitively connects to the handheld. The AirPods have a built-in mic and will activate Siri with a couple of taps. They pack roughly five hours of listening time and come with their own charging case. Everything sounded great about the new accessory until the $159-price-tag bomb was dropped.
With its price, the AirPods is just a couple of bucks behind pure gold, which currently is priced at $42 per gram. That's 4 grams of pure gold hanging on a set of ears. Some may say that designer earrings cost more, but it needs to be pointed out that earrings are either bolted on or clipped to the ear, not hanging by them.
Providing some level of assurance that the AirPods won't easily fall off when performing day-to-day activities, Apple CEO Tim Cook came out and claimed that the AirPods didn't fall off while doing everyday tasks, even while he was dancing.
"I've been on treadmills, walking, doing all the things you normally do," says the Apple CEO.
The Conan talk show on TBS, hosted by Conan O'Brien, thinks that Apple will sell a lot of AirPods but has a different take on why that would be so. The show elaborates on its idea through a minute-long sketch where old iPod commercials with dancing silhouettes were parodied using the AirPod, which was described as "Wireless. Expensive. Lost."
Early reviews for the AirPods are quite positive in terms of the accessories' ability to remain attached to the ears.
"Not only did I dance, I headbanged. I shook my head side to side, I tossed my hair, I jogged in place, and I looked silly doing all of it," writes MacWorld's Susie Ochs. "The AirPods stayed put, and they stayed loud."
"You can run with them and they're not gonna fall out. They're pretty snug in your ears," says Steve Kovach of Tech Insider.
For those who want to better secure their AirPods, there's always the Spigen AirPods Strap. As the name suggests, it's a chord that connects both wireless earpieces, which is ironic since the whole point of having wireless earpieces is to get rid of the wires in the first place. It costs $10 on Amazon.
Wireless adapters are also available for those who would rather stick with their wired ear companions and not spend $159 on the AirPods. Apple's AirPods are due to roll out this October.
