AirPods: Apple is magically done with the 3.5mm jack
Apple is officially done with the 3.5mm audio jack, as it made it official last week, with the unveiling of the iPhone 7, and AirPods, an accessory that, at least according to patent references and leaks as old as two years ago, seems very accurate to the picture painted by the rumor-mill.
Indeed, this wireless audio accessory is equipped with a pair of beamforming microphones, one for each ear, along with optical sensors that detect when the AirPods are worn, to conserve on battery power.
Apple AirPods pack a lot of tech that doesn’t come cheap, but granted that it works as advertised, the specs say it is worth the $159.00 price tag, at least to the uncompromising audiophile on the go.
Apple airPods come with a charging case that uses a Lightning-to-USB cable. According to the specs, using the AirPods with the charging case allows up to 24 hour of listening time, and 11 hours of talk time, in light of which we assume there is some sort of cable tethering the AirPods to the charging case while on the go, as all the pictures and concept videos we have seen feature AirPods as a standalone wireless accessory.
When used by themselves AirPods have a built-in battery that allows for up to 5 hours of listening time, and 2 hours of talk time.
One of the most interesting features of the AirPods, is the integrated W1 chip, which is the first of its kind, and designed to manage a full range of sensors built into the AirPods, including dual motion/speech accelerometers, dual beamforming microphones, and dual optical sensors.
The accessory works over Bluetooth, however it does not require manual action for pairing, and automatic pairing can be setup for each individual device through iCloud.
This makes it a no-brainer for any user to listen to music right away, and best of all, AirPods support Apple Watch as well.
Apple AirPods seem to be a clear signal from Apple that wearable tech has finally reached its mainstream stage, and from this point forward, we can expect a greater focus on wearables from Apple.
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