Apple’s first AirPods, released at the end of 2016, proved to be groundbreaking. The AirPods were praised by several consumers and received fantastic reviews as well. Rolling Stone called them “pretty fu***ng cool,” and Forbes claimed they were made of pure magic.
“That’s right folks; these Bluetooth wireless headphones require no button pushing or connection with the physical world. They are simply magical,” claimed Forbes columnist Curtis Silver, adding that it took many “wizards” who worked tirelessly on the product.
According to Fortune, the AirPods may be getting a major upgrade by the end of 2018.
“The Cupertino, California-based technology giant is working on a new version for release as soon as this year with an upgraded wireless chip.”
The article adds that this year’s model will just allow one to complete tasks just by saying, “Hey, Siri” rather than tapping on one of the buds to activate the assistant. This function will be similar to the way a user can now activate Siri on an iPhone or HomePod speaker without having to touch anything.
There is a lot of excitement after an article about the same topic at MacRumors.
“The AirPods are great if they update them I will buy them, I use mine daily,” says Dave245.
“Sounds interesting. I’d bet on 12/31/18 to see the coming soon placeholder going up (if this is true),” says Rcooked.
The excitement continues on Twitter.
Seriously man. Absolutely killer. That intro ???? Well done on that livestream talking about the Airpods 2. Pretty excited about them
— JD Prevost (@JDTechTV) February 23, 2018
Excited for the new AirPods 2
— Erick (@Erickjr216) February 23, 2018
One of the features that haven’t been confirmed is noise cancellation. Many who use the AirPods complain that the AirPods don’t block out any noise whatsoever, and that could be frustrating when using them on a train. Others say that they like the fact that there isn’t any noise being blocked since the AirPods pretty much operate as an extension of your ears. Perhaps one thing that all AirPod owners agree on is that they wish they didn’t have to buy third-party ear tips to keep the AirPods from falling out of their ears.
Apple is really taking audio devices seriously these days. Besides the AirPods and HomePod, Apple is allegedly set to release over-the-ear Bluetooth wireless headphones later this year. According to Business Insider, the headphones will be Apple-branded rather than the current “Beats” wireless headphones that Apple currently promotes on the market. Apple is said to be concentrating on audio quality that differentiates the wireless headphones from others. Since Bluetooth audio quality can only go so far, it is believed that Apple may be coming up with its own wireless standard. We’ll know more as the year moves on.