Apple’s wearables business continues to grow like gangbusters.
Sales of the Apple Watch grew 50% compared to the same quarter last year, Apple CEO Tim Cook said on Apple’s Q2 2019 quarterly analyst call Tuesday.
If Apple’s wearables business — which includes the Apple Watch and the popular AirPods earbuds — were a stand-alone company, it would be in the Fortune 200, Cook said.
Renowned Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo says Cupertino plans to release two new models of AirPods, either at the end of this year or the start of 2020.
In doing so, he partially backs up a report from earlier today claiming that the AirPods 3 will ship in 2019.
We may only just be getting used to our second-gen AirPods, but Apple is reportedly gearing up to release its third generation AirPods.
According to a new report, the AirPods 3 headphones will go on sale by the end of 2019. The main selling point of the new AirPods will be their smart noise-cancelling tech.
Beats fans that are hoping to scoop up the colorful new Powerbeats Pro might be a bit disappointed with the color options when units arrive in stores in May.
Apple revealed the Powerbeats Pro wireless earbuds earlier this month with black, ivory, moss and navy color options. The ivory ones look especially sleek, but it appears that only the black ones will be available at launch.
AirSnap is back on our radar with a new 10% discount. As part of our Watch Store’s limited-time deals and discounts, over the next few days we’ll be offering price slashes on some of your favorite products and tech accessories.
A clear customer favorite, AirSnap is a super-tough, ultra-stylish leather case for AirPods. Compatible with Qi charging pads and your new wireless charging AirPods case (pictured above), this compact, portable case became a megahit in the Cult of Mac Watch Store.
Snap these up fast for a real deal before they sell out.
Some of the biggest names in sports can be seen rocking the new Powerbeats Pro in the latest video put out by Apple’s headphone company.
Beats’ new ad unleashes the Powerbeats Pro everywhere from the basketball court to the skate park as superstars like LeBron James and Serena Williams train to dominate their respective games. With over a dozen athletes making a cameo, the action-packed ad has a lot to take in.
How many familiar faces can you spot?
Another of Apple’s rivals have apparently noticed what a huge success AirPods have turned into. Microsoft is supposedly developing its own earbuds.
These will have to face competition from Samsung Galaxy Buds as well as some possible earbuds coming from Amazon. And AirPods too, of course.
I love my AirPods, but I hate that they don’t fit right in my ears. They’re not designed to seal the ear canal, and therefore block external noise, but they often sit so loose in my ears that a) I can’t hear them without setting the volume way too high, and b) they feel like they’re about to fall out.
Today we’ll see how to add grippy dots to your AirPods. These dots will make the AirPods fit snugly in your ears, but — crucially — they will still fit in their charging case.
AirPods are great. But that doesn’t mean that they’re without their problems as a replacement for your traditional wired headphones.
Some users on Twitter have been observing that their AirPods can be prone to cutting in and out, or occasionally producing static sounds. The reason? Bluetooth interference. This can come from having the signal blocked by physical barriers. It could also be due to using a frequency that’s too overcrowded.
This week on The CultCast: The death of AirPower — the real problem that no one is talking about. Plus: 2019 iPhone rumors point to some wildly useful new features; more evidence the 2018 MacBook, Air and Pro keyboards are still having problems. And we wrap up with a review of Leander’s favorite wireless charging mat, Lewis’ take on the new AirPods 2, and Erfon’s got a favorite new podcasting gadget on an all-new Under Review.
Our thanks to Squarespace for supporting this episode. Easily create a beautiful website all by yourself, at Squarespace.com/cultcast. Use offer code CultCast at checkout to get 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain..
Apple’s AirPods are about to get some fresh competition from Amazon.
The online retail giant is reportedly planning to release its own set of wireless earbuds that will be powered by its digital assistant Alexa and possibly better audio quality.
The first truly wireless Beats earbuds have finally arrived.
Beats unveiled its new Powerbeats Pro earbuds today which are a successor to the Powerbeats 3 buds that feature an over-the-ear support system. The new Powerbeats Pro feature some of the same features you’ll find on the new AirPods, only in a sporty, sweat-resistant package with more color options and a larger price tag.
Check out the teaser:
Apple pulls back the curtain on its wily master plan, giving us our first glimpse at a squeaky-clean new TV service, an ambitious subscription videogame service, a slightly familiar-sounding magazine and news service and more. (Spoiler alert: The Apple credit card steals the show.)
And then, after all that, Cupertino unceremoniously pulls the plug on its AirPower wireless charging mat.
Get our take on Apple’s new services, plus new how-tos and reviews, in this week’s issue of Cult of Mac Magazine for iOS. Download the free app now, or get the links below to read the week’s best stories in your browser.
AirPower is officially dead.
It’s been about 1.5 years since Apple titillated fans by revealing a wireless charging mat that supposedly would charge not one, not two, but three Apple devices at the same time.
Frankly, it looked too good to be true at the time. And after a year of avoiding the subject, Apple confirmed today that AirPower will never caress the backside of your iPhone, Apple Watch and AirPods at the same time.
This is an unofficial guide to why AirPower failed.
Apple’s second-generation AirPods may be better than ever, but they’re certainly not any more repairable. A new teardown reveals that the next-gen wireless earphones aren’t “designed to be serviced” in any meaningful capacity.
The challenge of repairing them doesn’t necessarily guarantee a short lifespan. However, it does suggest that these probably won’t be hanging around long-term.
AirPods aren’t just a massive hit for Apple, they’re a giant in the overall “wireless hearables” market. According to new research from Counterpoint, AirPods made up a massive 60 percent of the overall market in Q4 2018.
It would have been even bigger, too, if customers hadn’t been waiting on Apple’s updated AirPods 2 at the time!
This might seem like an absurd subject for a how-to. I mean, all you have to do to charge your new AirPods with the new wireless charging case is toss them onto the charging mat, right? That’s true, but there are a couple of neat tricks that you might like to know.
They are simple, but these AirPods charging tips can save you frustration and wasted time.
Back in December 2016, I was ecstatic to receive my AirPods. In the first few days after they arrived, I had them in my ears almost every moment I wasn’t sleeping or in conversations with others.
Since then, I’ve worn my AirPods, on average, something like four hours every day. When they aren’t in my ears, they are in their case, in my front left pocket. They are as much a part of me as the iPhone they’re typically paired to.
With the second-generation AirPods (can we agree to call them AirPods 2?), Apple took the product I’ve loved dearly for the last 800-plus days, and made it just a little better.
Charging solutions are the foot soldiers in our growing army of devices. They’re just expected to work and don’t get full-throated praise we lavish on the iPhone or Apple Watch.
But that could change with a wireless charger called Unravel, a misleading name for a versatile gadget that cooly and simultaneously charges an iPhone, AirPods and Apple Watch.
If you’ve updated your iPhone or iPad to iOS 12.2, and you own a pair of first-gen AirPods, the wireless earbuds probably got an automatic firmware update already. Today we’ll see how to check your AirPods firmware version, and learn what’s new in the update.
Spoiler: Some owners even report better battery life in their original AirPods.
Apple’s second-generation AirPods are arriving just in time for people who are discovering that their first-gen ones are wearing out.
This despite the original AirPods being, at most, 2.25 years old.
The recently-launched wireless charging case for Apple’s AirPods is starting to reach customers’ hands, and it comes with a surprise: there’s a picture of the AirPower charging mat on the box, even though this isn’t available yet.
Beats’ most popular earbuds are about to get the AirPod treatment from Apple.
Leaked images of the unreleased PowerBeats Pro wireless earbuds surfaced online today after they were discovered hiding in iOS 12.2. Rumors just surfaced last week that the PowerBeats Pro are in development, but now we already know what they look like and I gotta say, the design is better than I expected.
Apple has started shipping its newest AirPods out to customers. The first deliveries for a small few will arrive today. If you haven’t already ordered yours, you will now be waiting at least three days for them to ship.
So. Many. New. Products. Who would have guessed Apple would roll out multiple hardware upgrades in the week prior to a big media event? Here’s why that was a total genius move!
Read all about the new iPads, iMacs and AirPods in this week’s free issue of Cult of Mac Magazine for iOS. Plus, you’ll find our latest how-tos and products reviews to help make your tech life easier.
Grab the mag now. Or go old-school and get all the posts in the links below.