Why Should You Care About Apple iPhone7, AirPod Earbuds

When Apple announced its plan to do away with the 3.5mm headphone jack in the upcoming iPhone 7, it raised many concerns and great disdain from fans of the device.  People love their headphones—they want music, media, and more—and many are simply not a fan of wireless headphones. Indeed, fully wireless technology is not always attractive. Bluetooth can be, admittedly, buggy; and other forms of wireless connectivity can receive interference from other machines or from the machines they are interconnected with.  Of course, wireless technology can always simply refuse to connect.

And fans of traditional ear buds would probably also say that they simply appreciate the tactile feel.  There is a bit of a ritual when taking them out, putting them on, taking them off, wrapping them up, and putting them away; and ear buds without wires are just going to be something too weird to get used to.

I, for one, hate wires.  The fewer the cords the better, but I still find merit in having the 3.55mm jack as an alternative to wireless/bluetooth technology.

But Apple is over it; and they are not letting anyone change their minds. Hence: the AirPods.

However, before you get up in arms about this, maybe you should learn the reasons why Apple is doing away with the 3.55mm audio jack.  First of all, you can still use wired headphones (which come along with the iPhone 7), but you will have to get a new set of headphones that can plug into the iPhone lightning port or you will have to get a dongle that acts as an adapter for your old headphones.

But here is why you might want to invest the $159 when the AirPods go on sale next month.  The AirPods have a special W1 chip installed that let you do more than just listen to music:

• better pairing (flip open the case when near the iPhone and the device will open a window prompting you to pair them)
• speaking of the case, it is metallic and also charges the AirPods when not in use
• the W1 chip offers better power management (up to 24 hours of listening time)
• they wait to start playing until they “know” they are in your ear
• each of the AirPods connects uniquely to the device, so they can be managed differently
• AirPods have “tapping” functions that use an acccelerometer to provide you certain physical command options
• designed for compatibility with Apple iPhone 7, iMac, and Apple Watch
• they can connect to any Bluetooth audio player
• Apple will replace ONE if you lose it (but not an entire pair)