Amaya Toman In today's article, dedicated to previously introduced Apple products, we will not go too deep into the past. We will remember the arrival of the first-generation wireless AirPods, which were introduced in 2016.
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Apple has always had headphones in its offer, whether it was, for example, the classic "wired" Earpods, which Apple bundled with its iPhones relatively recently, or the various headphones of the Beats brand, which has been owned by Apple for several years. In today's article, we will remember the year 2016, when Apple introduced the first generation of its wireless AirPods headphones.
Wireless AirPods were unveiled alongside the iPhone 7 and Apple Watch Series 2 at the Fall Keynote on September 7, 2016. The wireless headphones, which were likened by many to "Earpods with the wires cut" shortly after the Keynote, were originally scheduled to go on sale in October of that year , but the release was finally postponed until the first half of December, when Apple finally started accepting the first online orders on its official e-shop. From December 20, these headphones could be purchased in Apple Stores and authorized Apple dealers.
The first-generation AirPods wireless headphones were equipped with an Apple W1 SoC processor, offered support for the Bluetooth 4.2 protocol, and were controlled by touch, with single taps being able to assign a different function than what the headphones offered in their default settings. In addition to Apple devices, AirPods could also be paired with devices from other brands. Each of the headphones was also equipped with a pair of microphones. On a single charge, the first generation AirPods promised up to five hours of playback, after charging for fifteen minutes, the headphones were capable of playing for three hours.
The unusual appearance of the AirPods initially gave rise to a number of different jokes and memes, but the headphones also received criticism for their high price or the fact that they were practically unrepairable. It certainly cannot be said that it did not already gain a certain popularity at the time of its release, but it only became a real hit at Christmas 2019, when the topic "AirPods under the tree" enjoyed great popularity, especially on Twitter. Apple discontinued the first generation AirPods on March 20, 2019, after the second generation AirPods were released.
