Originally meant to launch in October, the new AirPods have arrived just in time for Christmas. Image: Apple
Apple has finally released its new AirPods, the wireless earplugs it debuted in September, on the Apple Store.
The new AirPods went on sale on the US Apple Store today (13 December) for $159 and are available on Apple’s e-commerce store in Ireland for €179.
Powered by Apple’s new W1 chip, infrared sensors detect when the AirPod is in your ear so music only plays when you are ready to listen.
Motion accelerometers respond to your finger touching the AirPods to access Siri, which you can use to launch a search, dictate an email, iMessage, and much more.
Sound and fury
The AirPods come with a wireless charging case that contains and stores energy, and it can be charged with a Lightning connector.
The AirPods deliver five hours of listening time on a single charge and the charging case holds up to 24 hours of battery life for multiple recharges.
Around 15 minutes in the case will provide three hours of listening time.
Setting them up is apparently easy and they instantly connect to your iPhone, Apple Watch, iPad or Mac. The technology is so sensitive that audio automatically plays as soon as you put them in your ears and pauses when you remove them.
Apple was originally planning to launch the new AirPods at the end of October but postponed the launch due to manufacturing issues.
