December 13, 2016: After months of anticipation and delay, Apple lastly launches the first-generation AirPods. The tiny wi-fi earbuds arrive in Apple’s on-line retailer simply in time for vacation consumers on the lookout for stocking stuffers.
Like so many Apple merchandise, they aren’t the primary wi-fi earbuds to reach on the scene. Nevertheless, AirPods’ fast success will gas a wi-fi listening revolution.
Authentic AirPods launch in 2016
Apple unveiled AirPods — little white earbuds that seemed like EarPods with the cords reduce off — through the iPhone 7 occasion in September 2016. Through the presentation, the corporate revealed its seemingly mad plan to “courageously” kill off the headphone jack. The choice drew speedy hearth from pragmatic Apple followers. And AirPods — the brand new wi-fi earbuds that may profit from the choice — confronted speedy mockery for wanting like electrical toothbrush heads.
Nevertheless, Phil Schiller, Apple’s senior vp of worldwide advertising and marketing on the time, crystallized the options that finally would make AirPods so profitable.
“AirPods are the primary headphones to ship a breakthrough wi-fi audio expertise, and with the brand new Apple W1 chip they ship modern options together with prime quality sound, nice battery life and automated setup,” mentioned Schiller in a press launch. “AirPods are easy and magical to make use of, with no switches or buttons, mechanically connecting to all of your Apple gadgets merely and seamlessly, and letting you entry Siri with only a double faucet. We are able to’t look ahead to customers to attempt them with iPhone 7 and Apple Watch Sequence 2.”
Initially scheduled to launch in October 2016, unexplained audio glitches delayed AirPods‘ ship date. Nevertheless, as soon as Apple’s wi-fi earbuds turned out there, it didn’t take lengthy for them to overcome the world.
By Could 2017, AirPods had racked up the highest customer-satisfaction ranking but for a first-year Apple product. An astonishing 98% of householders reported they have been both “very glad” or “glad” with their AirPods.
AirPods did look bizarre out of the gate
Picture: Tarun Savvy/Unsplash License
In actuality, the tiny white earbuds did look bizarre at first. (Cult of Mac jokingly referred to AirPods as “ear fangs.”) Their lengthy, white stems — with out the trailing white wires we’d grown accustomed to — seemed unnatural and positively took some getting used to.
Whereas they appeared fairly acceptable in Apple’s glamour photographs, they seemed far much less aesthetically pleasing within the ears of regular people who weren’t super-fit athletes. And a few individuals, like former New York Metropolis Mayor Rudy Giuliani, by no means found out how one can put on them correctly.
Nonetheless, AirPods’ ease of use and broad compatibility with Apple’s sprawling ecosystem set them up for achievement. Apple’s proprietary W1 chip gave the earbuds superpowers, basically banishing the flakiness of Bluetooth. And whereas AirPods labored with non-Apple gadgets, they honestly shined with iPhones, iPads and Macs.
The magic of AirPods and Apple’s W1 chip
The magic began with the AirPods pairing course of. iPhone homeowners merely flipped open the dental-floss-size AirPods case, and a beautiful pairing sheet appeared. However the enchantment didn’t cease there. Cupertino correctly synced the pairing info through iCloud, making AirPods immediately out there on customers’ different Apple gadgets.
Constructed-in sensors that detected when AirPods have been inserted into ear canals, and once they have been eliminated, added to the seamless expertise. Instantly you might begin or cease your music or podcast just by slipping an AirPod in or out of your ear. Customization choices, and the power to make use of both AirPod by itself, added to the earbuds’ versatility. And the unique AirPods’ intelligent faucet controls made them even simpler to make use of.
Regardless of some audiophiles’ objections, AirPods sounded simply tremendous to most folk.
Apple builds on AirPods’ success
By no means content material to relaxation on its laurels, Apple launched second-gen AirPods on March 20, 2019, slightly greater than two years after the unique AirPods launch. With a brand new (and likewise proprietary) H1 chip, they paired much more shortly. Additionally they added “Hey Siri” help and got here with an (elective) wi-fi charging case. By this level, AirPods completely dominated the wi-fi earbuds market.
AirPods Professional — with lively noise cancellation and a shorter, curved stem design — got here later that yr. And in December 2020, Apple launched AirPods Max, premium over-the-ear headphones with that very same H1 chip (and an eye-watering $549 price ticket).
AirPods 3, with a design just like AirPods Professional and a MagSafe wi-fi charger, arrived on October 18, 2021. And the third-gen AirPods added much more audio tips to the combo.
“AirPods perpetually modified wi-fi headphones with their groundbreaking design, unimaginable sound, and magical expertise,” mentioned Greg Joswiak, Apple’s senior vp of worldwide advertising and marketing, in a press launch. “We’re excited to introduce the subsequent era of AirPods, that includes unequalled sound by means of Adaptive EQ and spatial audio with dynamic head monitoring, together with seamless interplay between Apple gadgets — making the world’s best-selling headphones even higher.”
Apple’s H2 chip brings much more magic to AirPods Professional 2
The second-gen AirPods Professional, launched in September 2022, introduced Apple’s new H2 chip to the occasion. The corporate, in fact, referred to as them “essentially the most superior AirPods ever.”
Right here’s how Apple described the AirPods Professional 2 upgrades in a press launch.
With the ability of the brand new H2 chip, AirPods Professional unlock breakthrough audio efficiency — together with main upgrades to Lively Noise Cancellation and Transparency mode — whereas additionally providing a singular solution to expertise Spatial Audio that’s much more immersive. Now, prospects can get pleasure from Contact management for media playback and quantity changes instantly from the stem, together with longer battery life, a brand-new charging case, and an extra ear tip measurement for a greater match.
Apple upgraded the AirPods Professional 2 case to USB-C in September 2023 as the corporate moved away from its proprietary Lightning cable. A 2024 firmware improve added a trio of Listening to Well being options to AirPods Professional 2. Essentially the most exceptional free improve? A Meals and Drug Administration-approved medical listening to assist characteristic for individuals with delicate to reasonable listening to loss. (Sure, AirPods Professional 2 actually do work as inexpensive listening to aids.)
AirPods usher in an audio world with out wires
Clearly, the world finally bought used to earbuds with out wires. Now all people’s sporting them (aside from some Gen Z hipsters hell-bent on embracing the wired previous).
A wave of rivals drove down the value and provided audio high quality a minimum of pretty much as good as Apple’s choices. However the seamless manner AirPods slide into the Apple ecosystem makes them nearly unattainable to beat for anybody with an iPhone, Mac, iPad, Apple Watch or Imaginative and prescient Professional.
As of late, it’s nearly unattainable to think about a world with out AirPods. And Apple’s contentious transfer to get rid of the headphone jack finally spurred a sideline that generates billions of {dollars} a yr in income for Cupertino.
That’s extra than simply brave. It’s genius, and that’s what Apple does.