Apple's New AirPods Are Here

Apple’s new AirPods arrived on Oct 26th, 2021. The third generation of the AirPods have some big improvements over the second generation. A few of these, were taken from the more expensive AirPod Pros. If you’re thinking of an upgrade, here’s some info that might be helpful.

New AirPods, New Design

The new AirPods are redesigned to be lighter and more comfortable than the previous generation. The stem of the new AirPods is shorter and supports Force Touch which allows you to tap the stem of the AirPods to control your music or calls. Or you can touch and hold to activate Hey Siri.

Advanced Audio

It’s important that any wireless earbuds you have sound great. There are many considerations to the new design of the AirPods to make sure they sound their very best. An inward-facing microphone can help tune the AirPods specifically to your ear, which provides Adaptive EQ so the music is tuned perfectly, just for you. With spatial audio you get an immersive, movie-theatre like listening experience that’s full and rich when listening to music or watching movies and shows. And Dynamic Head Tracking allows the AirPods to sense the position of your head, so as you turn your head, the way you hear your music, your show, or movie, changes (on for spatial audio/dynamic head tracking supported content).

AirPods Battery Life and More

The AirPods have an extra hour of battery life compared to the previous generation. Which means you’ll get 6 hours of listening time on a full charge. However, the case the AirPods comes in can store a charge as well, so you will get up to 30 hours of listening time between the case and AirPods. The case can charge wirelessly (a feature previously on available on AirPods Pro) or with the included lightning cable.

The Bottom Line

With their better battery life, improve durability (thanks to their water and sweat resistance), and the advanced new audio and control features, these AirPods are a big upgrade from the previous Gen 2 AirPods. The main difference between these and the 2019 AirPod Pros would be the absence of Noise Cancelling and the lack of silicon tips on the earpieces. However, these AirPods are extremely comfortable to wear and sound great for music and calls. They’re available now and provide for $239. This prices them above the Gen 2 AirPods ($179) and below the AirPod Pros ($329). Overall the new AirPods good value-to-feature ratio in the AirPod family.