In this post, we’ll show you how to find out which firmware version your AirPods and charging case are currently on.
How to find out your AirPods and charging case firmware version
AirPods
Stay up-to-date on the latest AirPods news and learn how to get the most out of your AirPods with our comprehensive tutorials and guides. Discover new features, troubleshooting tips, and more!
Apple releases iOS 10.3 beta 1 to developers with Find My AirPods & other new features
Apple today seeded the first beta of what would become the third major software update to iOS 10 since its September 2016 release. The release includes a new Find My AirPods feature and other enhancements, like Reduce Motion for websites.
iOS 10.3 beta 1 (build 14E5230e) is available to registered developers who are members of Apple Developer Program. A version of the software aimed at public beta testers registered with Apple Beta Software Program is expected shortly.
How to find your lost AirPods or charging case
Learn how to use the Find My app or iCloud on your iPhone, iPad, or Mac to locate your lost AirPods. We’ll also show you how to make your AirPods play a high-pitched sound or use AirTag-like precision tracking to find them and their charging case.
Apple shares new AirPods ads showcasing Siri, seamless Bluetooth pairing & more
Apple on Saturday shared four brief television commercials for AirPods on its official YouTube channel, running fifteen seconds long each. The videos showcase some of the key user features of the wireless earphones, like accessing Siri with a double-tap and seamless Bluetooth pairing on Apple gear made possible by the firm's in-house designed wireless chip, dubbed the W1. Watch the new ads and let us know how you like them in comments.
In addition to the company's first-ever AirPods ads, they also released a new fitness-focused Apple Watch advertisement which challenges you to close those Activity rings.
How to fix cracking audio, popping sound, clicking, buzzing, and static noises in AirPods and Beats headphones
Find out what to do if you're experiencing cracking audio, popping sound, clicking, buzzing, and static noises in your AirPods and Beats headphones when listening to songs, watching movies, or during calls.
AirPods earned 1 out of each 4 dollars from wireless headphones sold online in December
Market research firm Slice Intelligence estimated that AirPods, Apple's $159 wireless earphones, took one out of each four dollars spent online on wireless headphones in December 2016. Launched on December 13, AirPods grabbed an estimated 26 percent share of online revenue in the wireless headphone market, beating out Apple's premium audio brand Beats which captured an estimated 15.4 percent of the market, down from 24.1 percent between the start of 2015 and December 13.
In other words, Apple has managed to capture one-fourth of the wireless headphones market since the launch of AirPods. And if you also count Beats sales, the Cupertino company took almost 40 percent of online revenue in the wireless headphone market.
New AirPods patent reveals exactly how seamless Bluetooth pairing method functions
A new patent application for “Wireless audio output devices,” published Thursday by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), describes exactly how Apple's new W1 chip inside AirPods enables zero-configuration Bluetooth pairing. In a nutshell, the charging case that comes with AirPods doubles as a physical pairing interface.
Aside from a built-in battery, the case features its own microprocessor and communications stack, a motion-detecting lid for starting the seamless pairing process with an Apple device and a physical button for manual Bluetooth pairing with non-Apple hardware, like Android handsets.
Testing the operating range of AirPods and Beats Solo3 vs non-W1 Beats headphones
Much has been said about the virtues of the W1 chip Apple started baking into their latest wireless Beats line-up and of course the AirPods. By now we know for sure that W1 facilitates a much faster pairing process, as do we know that the chip significantly amplifies both battery life and conservation techniques. What’s less prominently talked about - at least from official sides - is the operating range of these wireless headphones and the presumed effect the W1 chip addition has had on that benchmark.
For I felt information on the internet was just a bit too murky to count on, I decided to take it upon myself and conduct a little experiment: I packed my rucksack with four headphones (two of which boast the new W1 chip) and headed to a nearby park in order to pit them against each other. Pairing them one after another and then slowly making a bee-line for the opposite direction, one thing quickly became clear: the results for the maximum distance obtainable aren’t surprising in terms of order, but they definitely are in their clarity.
This app helps you find your lost AirPods
Finder for Airpods is a new iPhone app that aims to ease user concerns of losing their new wireless earbuds. Using your AirPod's wireless signature, the app can search for your missing earbuds and even tell you if you are getting closer or further away.
How does it work? Well once you've noticed you've misplaced an AirPod, just fire up the Finder app on your iPhone, close the lid of your charging case and move about the area you suspect you lost it. The app's meter will tell you when or if you get close.
Update: Apple has pulled this app from the App Store. The developer explains "they didn't find anything wrong with the app itself, but rather they they didn't like the 'concept' of people finding their Airpods and hence was deemed 'not appropriate for the App Store." Check out LightBlue Explorer in the App Store for similar functionality.
Fix AirPods case not charging via wire or wirelessly
Learn what to do if your AirPods charging case isn’t charging, which in turn prevents you from charging both your AirPods.
How about Jet Black AirPods?
If it hadn't been for the new gloss and matte black color options, this year's iPhone 7 refresh would have admittedly been underwhelming as most buyers are not eager to buy the same basic handset design for three years in a row. Which begs the question of Jet Black AirPods you've been dreaming about.
Colors are important and no matter how you look at it, black-clad AirPods would perfectly compliment the superior sheen of Jet Black iPhone 7. Well, earlier this month Dutch artist Martin Hajek took it upon himself to imagine what a pair of AirPods done in black would look like.
AirPods manufacturer Inventec is expanding capacity to meet strong demand
According to a brief report in the Chinese-language Economic Daily Times newspaper that was quoted Friday by DigiTimes, strong sales of the W1-enhanced AirPods and robust demand for Apple's earphones during the year-end holidays have prompted supplier Inventec to increase production capacity. While Inventec declined to comment on its orders, it's reportedly begun expanding capacity at its Shanghai plants, which are currently working overtime to deliver orders.