Judging from what we know, or at least what we think we know, about the new iPhone, it’s going to be loaded with changes and upgrades: new charging port, new back, new screen, and new processor.
And the handset may not be the only thing getting a revamp this year. A new video has surfaced online of what is claimed to be a redesigned headphones that will be included with the next-gen iPhone…
MacRumors points to the clip, which was originally posted by Vietnamese site Tinhte.vn.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gx5MA1tBfKY&feature=player_embedded
The site was able to translate the audio from the video, and we’ve posted an excerpt below:
“In my hands are the new earphones for the iPhone 5 that is about to come out – Apple’s next generation of iPod [sic]. These will replace the current earphones that are on the market. These are manufactured at Phax Co factory in Vietnam. They have the appearance of a horse’s head, not like earbuds. When they are worn, they have a much smaller profile. They have the appearance of a fully integrated, single unit – there’s no part that looks like it would come apart – not like earbuds; the integrated design is characteristic of Apple products. Here I have the old earphones for comparison. The new ones are much smaller; when they are worn, they do not hurt the way earbuds do.”
There’s obviously no way to confirm the legitimacy of the video or the headphones, but there are a few things worth noting here. For one, on the cable of the headphones it reads: “Designed by Apple in California, Assembled in Vietnam.” Apple has used Vietnamese factories to make headphones in the past.
And the description “they have the appearance of a fully integrated, single unit” is also interesting because it sounds a lot like Apple’s “Ultrasonically Welded Structures and Methods for Making the Same” patent application discovered in April of this year. Here’s an excerpt from the body of that filing:
“Seamless headphones may be ultrasonically welded such that the welding produces an unpolished welded structure. A portion of the unpolished welded structure can be cut to a predetermined size, sanded, polished, and cleaned to provide a seamless polished headphone component.”
Combine these two things with Tinhte’s history of scoring pre-release Apple gear and we have to say that it’s entirely possible that these are the real deal. And our fingers are crossed that they are. If you’ve ever used Apple’s iPhone earbuds, you know that they don’t always sound the best or fit properly.
Hopefully this will change with this year’s model. We’ll find out in a few weeks.
What are your thoughts on the claimed next-gen headphones?