Second firm offers to paint your Apple AirPods black, with $249 price tag

AppleInsiderAppleInsider
Posted:
in iPhone edited March 2017
Competing with first entrant Colorware, new vendor Blackpods is also offering a coloring service for the white Apple AirPods, to allow users to color-coordinate the popular wireless earbuds with the iPhone.




New York City-based BlackPods has launched, and is offering "a proprietary coating system" for the AirPods. According to the company, a "three-phase approach" was developed in conjunction with automotive paint specialists to yield a scratch-resistant black set of AirPods, which complements the black, jet black, or space gray iPhone.

Blackpods calls the coloration a "medium-gloss black finish."



A colored pair can be pre-ordered from the company for $249, $50 less than Colorwares's offerings. Where Colorware requires a sealed-in-the-box set for a $169 "bring your own" coloration service, Blackpods colors user-supplied AirPods for $99 that are supplied to the company "in good condition without significant scratches or wear."

Regardless of which coloration package is chosen, the company offers no warranty to users, and the coloration process voids Apple's own warranty.

Announced during September's iPhone 7 event, AirPods were initially promised in October, but production snags pushed back public release to mid-December. Launch supply quickly sold out and the product remains elusive in both Apple's online and brick-and-mortar stores, with arrivals selling out within hours of being placed upon the shelves. Shipment estimates on Apple.com have consistently been quoted at six weeks since release.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 13
    fracfrac Posts: 480member
    This is low hanging fruit Apple...just do it. I would have bought space grey AirPods rather than white were they an option. 
  • Reply 2 of 13
    randominternetpersonrandominternetperson Posts: 3,089member
    frac said:
    This is low hanging fruit Apple...just do it. I would have bought space grey AirPods rather than white were they an option. 


    And the net result for Apple would be ... $0 in your case.

    Apple offers color options for all their major product lines (iPhones, laptops, iPads, and Apple Watch).  Now that I think about it, Apple is almost certainly going to offer AirPod color options (once they can keep up with demand).  Given that there is just a single SKU for AirPods now, it would be a lot less of a logistic challenge than all the other products where Apple offers color options. 

  • Reply 3 of 13
    tgr1tgr1 Posts: 33member
    I use the colorful rubber caps to make the AirPods fit tightly (they work great). But the caps also graphically demonstrated after use why Apple was wise to stick with white. :s :D
  • Reply 4 of 13
    rf9rf9 Posts: 70member
    I'm tellin ya.  $10 for slickwraps.  It's not perfect but it does the job for the part that's visible when wearing them.  I did the matte black and like the look.
  • Reply 5 of 13
    StrangeDaysStrangeDays Posts: 12,877member
    tgr1 said:
    I use the colorful rubber caps to make the AirPods fit tightly (they work great). But the caps also graphically demonstrated after use why Apple was wise to stick with white. :s :D
    which are you using?
  • Reply 6 of 13
    fallenjtfallenjt Posts: 4,054member
    frac said:
    This is low hanging fruit Apple...just do it. I would have bought space grey AirPods rather than white were they an option. 
    Apple earpieces have always been in white. I didn't see people complaining about them then why now all the sudden on AirPods?
  • Reply 7 of 13
    linkmanlinkman Posts: 1,035member
    It's hard to believe that a company can make money selling a product like this at that price. On second thought, how could they lose money if they sell even low volumes? A $99 price would cover a lot of labor, shipping, materials, and overhead. Killing the warranty sure puts a damper on potential sales though. 
  • Reply 8 of 13
    fracfrac Posts: 480member
    fallenjt said:
    frac said:
    This is low hanging fruit Apple...just do it. I would have bought space grey AirPods rather than white were they an option. 
    Apple earpieces have always been in white. I didn't see people complaining about them then why now all the sudden on AirPods?
    I have a pair of KEF M100 wired ear buds in titanium grey - I just like that shade of grey is all whereas I've never really liked white. The AirPods are great all the same. 
  • Reply 9 of 13
    JCeeJCee Posts: 4member
    Plasti-dip + u. Be creative, it's a winner, the people paying the $250 are the ones that can't afford it. Thinking: it's the best asset humans have, when they value it.
  • Reply 10 of 13
    jblongzjblongz Posts: 167member
    $250?  Just plug that holes with semi dry (scrap) putty and use super enamel spray paint.  Cost $12
  • Reply 11 of 13
    AppleZuluAppleZulu Posts: 2,006member
    Of course, the real reason Apple doesn't sell black ones is because that would be a sure fire way to drastically increase the number of complaints about lost AirPods.
  • Reply 12 of 13
    starwarsstarwars Posts: 72member
    Paint it like that to degrade it, an anti-theft feature.
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