“Apple’s AirPods are weird,” Zach Epstein writes for BGR. “There’s no way around it. Apple has been known for the stunning designs of its products for decades, but the company’s design team has been making some questionable calls lately (to put it nicely). Some design issues that have bugged fans recently involve the removal of legacy ports on the iPhone 7 and MacBook Pro to allow for thinner housings. Other design faux pas have involved functionality, like putting a Lightning charging port face-down on the bottom of the Magic Mouse so that it’s impossible to use while it is charging. Seriously, that’s just plain stupid.”
“But no Apple design has raised more eyebrows than the new AirPods that Apple finally released earlier this month,” Epstein writes. “I’m not sure I can be counted among the AirPods’ loudest critics since I haven’t written about them very much, but I certainly haven’t made any attempt to hide my feelings about the design of Apple’s new earbuds. They look silly. And when you wear them, you look silly, too.”
“A microphone sits at the end of each stem to help offer clear sound when AirPods are used for phone calls and for Siri. Was this design necessary? I can’t say. What I can say, however, is that each person with whom I have tested the AirPods with for voice calls has said that they sound fantastic on the other end of the phone. The AirPod stems also make it easier to hold Apple’s earphones in your hands, and they help seat each AirPod in the accompanying charging case,” Epstein writes. “Apple is sometimes criticized for prioritizing form over function, but this is clearly a case where the opposite is true. And speaking of function, I am seriously impressed.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: They’re not weird. They’re not silly. They’re just different.
As for the AirPods looking alien: Tape a pair of wires on the ends of each and you’ll see that they look very much like the type of earphones that everyone is very used to seeing by now (which, for those who remember, we weren’t used to seeing before iPod – people thought those looked “alien,” too). We’ll all get used to the lack of wires soon enough. — MacDailyNews, September 14, 2016
SEE ALSO:
Apple CEO Tim Cook tours New York Stock Exchange, calls AirPods ‘a runaway success’ – December 28, 2016
How to find out when Apple Stores have AirPods in stock – December 28, 2016
AirPods kick off Apple’s battle for our ears – December 23, 2016
Yahoo’s Pogue reviews Apple AirPods: Far more elegant and slick than others – December 23, 2016
Wall Street Journal’s Best Wireless Earbuds: AirPods, ‘Apple’s best new product in years’ – December 22, 2016
Apple AirPods are very cool, but I am returning them – here’s why – December 22, 2016
Marathoner tests Apple AirPods on 10K run – December 19, 2016
Rolling Stone reviews Apple AirPods: ‘Surprisingly awesome’ – December 14, 2016
Apple AirPods could arrive in stores as early as November 17th – November 10, 2016
Apple’s AirPods remain on track to launch this year, sources say – November 2, 2016
Apple AirPods may be delayed into 2017 – November 1, 2016
Apple delays AirPod rollout – October 26, 2016
Survey: 12% of U.S. consumers say they’ll buy Apple AirPods; extra $3 billion in revenue – September 29, 2016
Bill Atkinson: Why Apple’s AirPods are the best place for Siri – September 28, 2016
Apple’s response to Amazon Echo: AirPods – September 20, 2016
Apple’s AirPods make Google Glass look even more ridiculous (if that’s even possible) – September 19, 2016
Apple CEO Tim Cook: AirPods won’t fall out of your ears (with video) – September 14, 2016
Why Silicon Valley is all wrong about Apple’s AirPods – September 17, 2016
What AirPods can tell us about Apple’s future – September 12, 2016
Hands-on with Apple’s new AirPods: Stayed in my ears, sounded awesome – September 10, 2016
Apple and a truly wireless future: AirPods are just the start – September 10, 2016
Whoever makes the first AirPods strap is going to get rich – September 8, 2016
Apple patents biometric sensor-packed health monitoring earphones with ‘head gesture’ control – February 18, 2014
They still could have come out with the AirPods without removing the head phone jack.
Certainly.
For me, the biggest annoyance is the loss of one port. We can’t charge and listen wired at the same time without a stupid splitter.
Tim Cook, disengaged from reality with a healthy helping of hubris. What could go wrong?
You need to develop a new routine, KK. To me, you are the one filled with hubris. You think way too much of your own opinions.
KK’s Cook hate posts are a crashing, unimaginative bore. I don’t think he’s capable of thinking any more deeply about Apple than Cook hate.
Meanwhile, I have to say that Tim Cook’s marketing-speak proclamations are also a crashing, unimaginative bore. Let’s hope he’s capable of thinking more deeply about Apple.
Most Cook hate is incredibly stupid, homophobic and shallow. But, setting aside the frequently just-as-stupid Apple doom proclamations, the company has a plethora of self-induced problems to solve and I’d very much enjoy a thoughtful reorganization accompanied by choice staff removals and hires. Apple very much needs a ‘breather’, as i call it.
Why would you have such self-hate? You bought them. You can like them. Or, you can not like them. Or, you can like one of them. Or, the other. But they do get jealous. So be careful.
Let’s really have some fun, and put one Apple AIrpod in one ear and one Samsung Gear Icon X in the other and watch the fun ensue!
Of course, it would be politically incorrect if I said which would go into which ear.
Wired earbuds don’t look silly? And they aren’t a pain to use, either?? Who does not _hate_ their wired earbuds??? Gawd Almighty pray for us.
Zach Epstein, I saw your photo in the article in which you say the AirPods that look weird. Pot calling the kettle black?
I think the photo you’re referring to is of someone else, but they intentionally use the weirdest looking guy wearing the AirPods in a goofy manner to spin their point. The AirPods sit flush with your face aiming towards your mouth, they aren’t very visible. Aiming them downward makes them stick out more, less effective microphone-wise and makes them likelier to fall out. I walk around with mine every day, if anyone notices at most they’ll think it’s a tiny bluetooth earpiece unless they know what they are. I look at people with wired headphones as the weird ones now.
I hope they release a black version… a little more subdude .. it will blend in with hair and sideburns a bit more.
That should solve some of the awkwardness of the pipes ..imo..
PS
“but the company’s design team has been making some questionable calls lately (to put it nicely).”……….
Indeed.. and baffling at times …
What? You have an issue with a conspicuous fashion design decision that brands you like cattle? Where’s your loyalty?
Sideburns? You’re still living in the 60s man!
Lol…. well some are still spoting them…