AirPods ship times drop to 2-3 weeks from Apple amid immediate availability from resellers...
AirPods ship times from Apple's online store have dropped below one month for the first time since the popular headphones debuted more than eight months ago, though third-party resellers have stock available for immediate purchase.
Apple recently updated AirPods product pages around the world to reflect the improved delivery times, with many countries showing shipping estimates of two to three weeks.
The apparent stock increase arrives as Apple works to achieve supply and demand equilibrium for its wireless headphone device.
During the company's quarterly conference call for the third fiscal quarter of 2017, CEO Tim Cook said AirPods production capacity had been increased in a bid to better meet continued strong demand. The decision seems to be paying off, though Apple has yet to generate surplus adequate to bring ship times down to the usual next-day availability.
Announced at Apple's iPhone event last year, AirPods were initially slated to go on sale in October of 2016, but a series of delays pushed launch to December. Initial interest was intense, with one report claiming AirPods captured 26 percent of the wireless headphone market after launch.
While Apple struggles to stock its own stores, resellers have ample supply on hand for immediate sale. For those unwilling to wait the two to three weeks quoted by Apple, B&H Photo, Verizon and Abt.com all have units in stock for $159.
AirPods are slated to garner new functionality when iOS 11 sees release later this fall, with separate left and right AirPod tap gestures enabling customized access to Siri, as well as play/pause and audio track control.
Apple recently updated AirPods product pages around the world to reflect the improved delivery times, with many countries showing shipping estimates of two to three weeks.
The apparent stock increase arrives as Apple works to achieve supply and demand equilibrium for its wireless headphone device.
During the company's quarterly conference call for the third fiscal quarter of 2017, CEO Tim Cook said AirPods production capacity had been increased in a bid to better meet continued strong demand. The decision seems to be paying off, though Apple has yet to generate surplus adequate to bring ship times down to the usual next-day availability.
Announced at Apple's iPhone event last year, AirPods were initially slated to go on sale in October of 2016, but a series of delays pushed launch to December. Initial interest was intense, with one report claiming AirPods captured 26 percent of the wireless headphone market after launch.
While Apple struggles to stock its own stores, resellers have ample supply on hand for immediate sale. For those unwilling to wait the two to three weeks quoted by Apple, B&H Photo, Verizon and Abt.com all have units in stock for $159.
AirPods are slated to garner new functionality when iOS 11 sees release later this fall, with separate left and right AirPod tap gestures enabling customized access to Siri, as well as play/pause and audio track control.
Comments
I don't own and have not tried the AirPods yet, but I wonder what you think Apple can improve with v2 of the AirPods? I use double tap ff >> and volume up/down regularly on my wired headphones, will that be implemented on the AirPods with iOS 11?
You nailed it. The lack of the tactile controls is the only downside of the AirPods. AirPods are perfect for me (they fit comfortably and reliably), but I don't like having to reach for my phone to adjust the volume. In theory, I could double-tap them and say "make it louder" (or whatever), but the former doesn't work 100% reliably and the latter makes me uncomfortable. Give me a way to adjust the volume and stop/start/skip without talking and I'll buy AirPod 2s.
I truly love my AirPods, but I do notice a repetitive, very faint and very brief burst of what I can best describe as a pulse of white noise when nothing is playing. I'll probably exchange them before the warranty is up as a result.
I do. I'll give that a try. Thanks for the suggestion.
Follow up: Ok, walk me through it. It seems clunky rather than perfect, so maybe I'm missing something. Suppose I'm listening to music on my phone while walking down the street. What do I do on my watch to change the volume? Is there a better way than: 1) tapping the side button to bring up the list of apps (or the circles of apps depending on the button). 2. find the right app. 3. tap the small circular volume indicator. 4. tap the + or the -. Seems like there should be a quick tap-and-swipe or swipe-and-swipe way to do this like on the phone (swipe up from the button to immediately access the now-playing controls).
If there is an update to AirPods at all this fall/winter, I would expect it only to be related to more colours:) Joking aside, having availability in jet black and/or matte black would be a strong boost to sales while not having to update the product otherwise. Add in a couple other colours and Bob's your uncle for year 2 sales. An obvious h/w update for next version would be Bluetooth 5.0 support.
Much can still be done in firmware with updates like we see in iOS 11. Top of my wish list is for AppleTV to work seamlessly with AirPods in the way it works with other devices. Next is a means to control volume directly.
Looking out more to the future, Apple (based on patent filings) looks to be going down the route of "augmented hearing". You could have some onboard noise cancellation capabilities (such as is possible in ear buds), and perhaps some augmentation of real-world audio.
Ok, but it's still clunky. Compare changing volume on a touchbar MacBook Pro (touch and swipe) to doing the same on the Apple Watch (button press, two taps to get to the volume control, and then more taps to change the volume). The latter is a very unsatisfying experience compared to the former. Hopefully this gets addressed in software because you're right: the Apple Watch is the obvious control surface for AirPods.