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AirPod Release Date speculation
- Thread starter wnxgenral
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I agree, 100% black never going to happen. Phones have been black for ages and Apple has NEVER released black ear buds.
It was? When was this? I've never seen a black bluetooth apple headphone. The only bluetooth headphones apple has ever released have been under the Beats brand, and yeah, they do sell Beats black over the head headphones, among several other colors. Never seen Apple bluetooth headphones, certainly never in black. Link? Source? Pictures?
This is just one link that shows the black bluetooth headset. It's actually a handesfree headset for one ear and not headphones so that's where you might be confused.
http://appleinsider.com/articles/07/07/30/review_apple_iphone_bluetooth_headset
In other words, not the same
I don't think that's the point. The point is they have released a black headset before so there is no reason why they cant and wont release black headphones. As I have already said due to the popularity of the black iPhone 7 and 7 Plus I wouldn't be surprised if that was a catalyst for releasing black headphones and even other black accessories.
Yes, on the outset, it seems trivial to discuss colors on an earphone.
Except that we know that Apple puts a great deal of thought in the minutiae.
I can only guess that the Airpods is a forward step into the AI aspect of the iPhone. Additionally, the Airpods are meant to be on our head longer due to the enhanced W1 capabilities. Avoiding the pushback, that Google glass had, is important at this stage. Especially as Apple is emerging more in its ecosystem with the Watch, HomeKit and upcoming Apple speaker with Siri interface.
Further, Apple has refused to participate in the AI team of tech giants.
Also, incidentally, Westworld debuts on TV that features AI robots that will showcase deep desires and fears. The bad guy wears black.
Caution makes sense to minimize further dispute by staying with the similarly looking white EarPods without the cord.
Even with this caution, estimates have surfaced that the Airpods will be a $12B business, more successful than Apple Music.
Black Airpods are inevitable.
In a year.
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@rockyromero- Your posts are almost always a mix of rambling nonsense and assumptions.
Apple has been doing things differently under Cook, so ruling out black accessories might be short sighted. Apple did make a Bluetooth headset in black, which does set precedent in this argument. (I'd love to get my hands on one.) However, I don't think iPhone colors factor into accessory colors in any way.
Put bluntly, I'd buy black over white. But Apple is the "white earbuds brand" it's part of their thing.
Apple has been doing things differently under Cook, so ruling out black accessories might be short sighted. Apple did make a Bluetooth headset in black, which does set precedent in this argument. (I'd love to get my hands on one.) However, I don't think iPhone colors factor into accessory colors in any way.
Put bluntly, I'd buy black over white. But Apple is the "white earbuds brand" it's part of their thing.
Apple doesn't factor iPhone colors into accessory colors? Since when? The Lightning dock comes in complementary colors for all of their iPhones. In fact they just released a new matte black to match the iPhone 7. The Battery case comes in black and white. And why isn't the Apple TTY adapter in black and not white? The Apple HDMI cable is black too. Add to that Beats offers headphones in matching iPhone colors. And given the precedent of the BT earpiece being black only, I'd say there's a good chance Apple might offer the AirPods in at least black.
On the other hand, Apple tends to offer technology as a way to "educate" third parties on how things should be done. I wouldn't be surprised if the AirPods will eventually be discontinued after a time (just like the BT earpiece), depending on what their plan is with Beats. Or, I could easily see Beats offering their own AirPods, as that's how Apple accomplishes the color choice offerings now with Beats own competing Earbuds. They will of course cost more than Apple's AirPods, and have more user friendly features designed for more cross platform compatibility (like a physical volume button).
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Then why weren't the original Earbuds black too?
My guess is this will be a similar scenario to Apple Pencil:
- Press release in next couple of weeks to outline availability and start the marketing push. There is no chance that this will be a silent launch - there will be some fanfare in my opinion - either a press release or touted again at a late October Mac event if that happens.
- Online orders will start in the last full week of October with deliveries starting week commencing 31st October.
- A lucky few will snag them in-store before then, likely a day or so after online orders start, but this will be extremely limited (flagship Apple Stores had around five or fewer Pencils each on the iPad Pro launch day, for instance. I expect a copy of that.)
- Availability will be very tight at first, not least because the demand will be huge compared to the Apple Pencil.
- By Christmas, availability will be significantly better and it will be a hugely popular stocking filler.
Because the iPod was white and the iPod came before the iPhone. They simply re-used the earbuds.
The BT headset was for the launch of the iPhone (and only the Original model)
Right, but the logic doesn't follow. The BT earpiece was a wireless variation of the same thing the iPod EarBuds were. So if this argument is meant to apply to Apple's release of the AirPods, then it doesn't necessarily apply. It's specious at best, especially since that BT earpiece was sold separately, and could be used with any BT device, including Macs. And the MacBooks were white. For that matter the iPods were black at that time too, so why didn't Apple change the Earbuds to black then?
Maybe Apple thought about distinguishing BT audio products as black, and that was the reason. Can't discount it. And they've since changed their mind, and decided all Apple audio products will be white. Can't discount that either. But I don't think any of this can be stated with any authority.
If I had to guess, I'd say that Apple chose to make it black because they were trying to compete with the BlackBerry, and corporate types who favor conservative black. Corporate executives might spend all day with their BT headset on, and never plug headphones into their BB. The iPhone now is targeted mostly at consumers who already accepted white iPod Earbuds in casual use (where the iPod was never a business product). The AirPods also establish the lineage of Apple's trademark earbuds, and so an identity connected to Apple. It's smart initial marketing, but eventually Apple will most likely offer other options.
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Like most people I think the black would look good but the ubiquitous white headphones are Apple's signature. When sitting on the subway every other person has white headphones. Without even seeing the phone, the first thing you think is Apple. In fact, I'd say the white headphones were maybe one of the best marketing campaigns that endured even longer than Mac vs PC. The fact that people don't even remember the black bluetooth headset only furthers the argument on why we won't see black airpods.
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It wasn't completely black but a combination of black and silver. That's besides the point and doesn't preclude Apple from bringing out black accessories for their current line of phones especially as the two new colours are both black and anecdotally are the two most popular colours. This give Apple good reason to bring out black accessories.
I would be very surprised. If it's discontinued it will not be because of "plan with Beats" but because of (lack of advance in) SIRI. AirPods isn't actually a headphone. It's a wearable. It's more of Apple Watch cousin than EarPods despite the look. The OS is SIRI.
With AirPods Apple is forcing users to use SIRI, kind of like Apple Watch forcing users to use Apple Music because it's the only Music complication there is.
With all these in mind I agree with everyone that says AirPods will come in black eventually. In fact it would come in many colours because Apple will want people to see it as just a piece of fashion accessory. A kind of technology earrings.
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I agree with the part about airpods likely won't face the same fate as the BT headset because quite honestly, it was crap. I believe airpods will be one of the most profitable/successful items Apple has crated yet; however, I disagree that they will come in other colors for the reason mentioned above. Apple's iconic white headphones are their differentiator. There will be lots of knockoffs that are various colors but I'm confident Apple will stick with white. It's free marketing and brand identity -- I don't believe they'll risk diluting that will multiple colors. I think the watch is different because it started out multicolor so the color wasn't part of the brand identity but the headphones were, are, and will continue to be.
Except these are wearables that allow an interface with Siri on other wearables. Add to that many business people will use just one as telephone headset, leaving the other one in the charger ready to go, and Apple has already set precedent with their own black BT headset. From a marketing standpoint, it makes perfect sense to establish these as an Apple product, but they will likely get a lot of feedback from corporate types for a black model once these things start getting used regularly. It may take a year, but Apple isn't going to stick with white, especially once third parties start coming out with other colors. Apple may not do matching phone colors, as they have Beats for that (though I wouldn't put it past them at this poin)t, but they will most likely do black.
I'm thinking about picking up a pair. I have some Jaybird Freedom's but like the wireless concept. I like that I can use one as an earbud for phone calls. I wish they would give a firm release date.
Trick or treat release date maybe.
We best not get tricked, these needs to perform for the buck.
We best not get tricked, these needs to perform for the buck.