The Apple AirPods have been plagued by criticism ever since Apple announced they were ditching the 3.5mm audio jack and has not let up until its supposed launch back in October. The delay was rumoured to be because of problems with functionality and critics said that it was not likely to be ready to market anytime soon but it seems Apple has silenced those critics by finally releasing it.
Available via Apple’s website, the Apple AirPods are priced at $159 with free shipping just in time for the holidays. For that price, Apple includes the AirPods themselves plus a charging case and a lightning to USB cable.
Unlike conventional wired earphones, the Apple AirPods require charging and have an operating time of up to 5 hours on a single charge. A quick-charge of 15 minutes will provide up to 3 hours of listening time. Inside is a custom Apple W1 chip which smartly manages many of the AirPods functions include power saving features with a motion accelerometer which detect if they are plugged inside a user’s ear. Aside from audio listening, the Apple AirPods can also route phone calls with its beamforming microphone filter out noise and pick-up the user’s speech even though the microphone is not directly in front of their lips.
