Just looking at those Airpods, I’ve already misplaced them and anyway, who wants to look like they’ve got doorknobs in their ears?
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I have to agree, they are far from the most attractive bluetooth earphones I’ve seen. I also don’t like the lack of a linking cable between the earpods.
Something like the Jabra ones below is more what I’d be looking for. They’ve got a stated 17 hour lifetime (close to the minimum needed and way more than the poor battery life of most bluetooth earphones, they’re equally usable for phone and music and they’ve not that small that they can be easily misplaced).
Or for those who want something just a little more err upmarket there is always these 
The recent posts I saw seemed to indicate they would offer a linked and non linked version of the wireless headphones but it’s all speculation at this point.
There are also some indications they could even offer multiple versions to cater for both the wired and wireless markets so we could see everyone happy.
Guess I was wrong about Beats not adopting all of the wireless things.
Well, they removed it. I’m looking forward to answering the inevitable customer questions today.
But “Courage”? It’s reached the point where I have to switch off every time Phil Schiller opens his mouth to speak.
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I guess some of the questions were answered:
- Apple give the adapter free
- Apple has wired and wireless. Wired in the box, wireless as an option
Not convinced about Apple’s wireless design aesthetics. At least beats are an option although i’ll probably go Bose to replace my QC20i when I eventually replace them.
I’m a bit gobsmacked by the stated 5 hour battery life for the wireless earphone, I suspect that’s not enough for a lot of people even ones with moderate usage patterns (yes I know about the charge case thingy but even so).
And to be honest I’d be seriously worried about losing those out of my ear and not being able to find them, the similar styled wired earpods used to fall out all the time (before I swapped to a different brand) and the only thing that saved them was the wires.
Oh well… 12 months before I’ve got to do something with my iPhone 6S+ so I’ve got time to think about my options for a replacement phone. Maybe an SE (like the SO just ordered), maybe another 6S+, maybe an Android.
“Luke Warm” well, that’s a better review than I thought they’d get.
They’re earbuds CF=0
You can upgrade your current iPhone to the iPhone 7 right now with this accessory:
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And so it begins…
I’ve had my eyes on (another) set of active noise cancelling earphones from Bose for a while and was holding off purchasing until I knew whether the 3.5mm socket was being dropped or not as to whether I would buy cabled or Bluetooth because I’d rather avoid any pairing issues.
My biggest gripe with ANR has always been the battery packs so funnily enough the removal of the 3.5mm socket looks like it may have a positive, the JBL set mentioned in the keynote provides ANR but are powered via lightning. So long as the ANR is comparable I’m sold!
http://au.jbl.com/product-detail-new-jbl-au/jbl-reflect-aware.html
I can’t do EarPods. They sound better than the original iPhone earphones but they’re still not great and are uncomfortable to wear.
I do wonder about some of the fancier headphones out there like my Sennheiser Momentum cans that have a detachable cord…
You can buy aftermarket (and 1st party I suppose??) replacement cables. I wonder if anyone will bother making a lightning equipped one, which would be very nice. Although I suppose a generic adaptor is easier 
For reference, an aftermarket replacement cable:
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I pretty much lost my Apple earpods for a month down the back seat of my car shortly after buying my latest iPhone. I used to use them occasionally, when I was driving and such so I could use hands free and with my phone in a cradle, so I could still call Siri to do things and drive. It’s not illegal in Queensland to wear earpods while driving, though they can ping you for being distracted if there is an accident.
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These earpods? As I said, first day they’re going to go missing… my MacBook HDMI dongle went missing, and I don’t know where I put it, I bought another one, something this small yeah well…
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Aside from that. Lets see now, short battery life and I can’t charge them and use them at the same time either, or do any other type of charging for that matter. Particularly, when I am in the field for 8hours plus every day. I don’t do the desk thing…
They used the C word today, courage, as in conviction to do something bold. I use the other C word today that rhymes with bunt… as an an unpleasant or stupid idiot that messes with things because they want to make a “lifestyle” change, that goes with other insipid companies such as BOSE.
I’m sure I’ll be able to get an adapter or whatever, as my, quite expensive, Focal headphones have a detachable cord. The thing is I shouldn’t have to. This isn’t the computer industry they’re messing with. This is the entire recording, music and HiFi industry they’re playing in and they have no right to be doing so.
Apple has no place in this market, or in the digital photography market for that matter. End of it.
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It’s amusing to see 9to5Mac, etc. commenters all of a sudden okay with the removal of the 3.5mm headphone jack. It’s actually kinda eerie. Either that or they’re being sarcastic.
I’ll state again (not like my opinion matters, really), but I really appreciate the act of them removing a beloved, ubiquitous port in favour of better performance and battery life. I didn’t want a thicker iPhone (yay, but iPhone 6 (2014) is still the thinnest iPhone to date; pity), so the extra space afforded by the removal of what was essentially a “gap of air” is appreciated.
The future is wireless, ladies and gents. Don’t shoot the messenger.
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yes but is that future wireless ‘wireless charging’ or ‘wireless earpods’
Where 99% of high end audio gear continues to treat wireless with disdain? You might be right, but not any time soon. I’ll probably buy an iPhone SE at some point, or I may not. I don’t know. I might just work out which Android phone has the best range of features and go from there.
The thing is, I don’t even use 99% of the capabilities of my iPhone 5S, I don’t think tablet OS’s are bearable for my day to day life. I could probably get away with a very cheap phone and get the features I want but for a productivity perspective? iOS is practically useless to me.
Realistically? my iPhone is a glorified iPod touch with a GSM modem, and if it can’t even get half of that right, I don’t know what I’m spending my money on… Sorry. I have an iPhone because it has a very good DAC in terms of frequency response… That flat line means you hear absolutely everything with the right set of headphones attached to your iphone 5/5S/SE
http://cdn.gsmarena.com/vv/reviewsimg/apple-iphone-5s/gsmarena_a001.png
But the new one doesn’t… it doesn’t have a DAC for any other purpose than the on board speakers. so that is pretty much the end of the line for me… Apple doesn’t offer a product that entices me on technical grounds, and the majority of the people who say “shut up and take my money” don’t even know what any of the above means. Imagine that after this…
“Things that wouldn’t happen under Steve Jobs.”
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