Another European reseller is claiming that it’s privy to when Apple’s $159 AirPods wireless headphones will start shipping after German authorized reseller Conrad told a customer a week ago that it would be kicking off AirPods sales tomorrow, November 18.
French retailer Fnac has apparently started the pre-order process for the wireless earphones.
Fnac reportedly told customers who pre-ordered their AirPods that the accessory would start shipping on or around Wednesday, November 30, Mac4Ever said Thursday.
Additionally, AppleInsider has learned that some Apple retail stores already have demo units and are “awaiting word from Cupertino to start demonstrating the product.”
It seems no one really knows the exact AirPods shipping date.
If you ask DigiTimes, they won’t start shipping before January 2017, but AppleInsider was allegedly told that there was “no way that these are getting pushed to January.”
Meanwhile, Barclays analysts believe mass-production is scheduled to kick off in December in time for Christmas.
Apple originally said that the AirPods would be arriving in “late October” before delaying launch because “we don’t believe in shipping a product before it’s ready.” The company explained it needed a little more time before AirPods were ready for customers.
The earphones are currently listed on Apple.com as “coming soon”.
Each AirPod packs in a six-hour battery, but the included case extends their run time to up to 24 hours before the battery inside the Lightning-outfitted case needs recharging.
The accessory uses Apple’s in-house designed W1 wireless chip that enables smart features such as invoking Siri by double tapping one of the AirPods, zero-configuration pairing with multiple Apple devices through iCloud and more.
Source: Mac4Ever (Google Translate) via AppleInsider