There may be a specific reason for the delay of the AirPods wireless earphones.
The AirPods, which were slated to launch in December and delayed with Apple stating it needed “a little more time”, were left without a specific reason for the delay.
A source close to the story has told the Wall Street Journal that the trouble appears to stem from Apple’s effort to chart a new path for wireless headphones. In most other wireless headphones, only one earpiece receives a signal from the phone via wireless Bluetooth technology; it then transmits the signal to the other earpiece.
Apple has said AirPod earpieces each receive independent signals from an iPhone, Mac or other Apple device. But Apple must ensure that both earpieces receive audio at the same time to avoid distortion, the person familiar with their development said. That person said Apple also must resolve what happens when a user loses one of the earpieces or the battery dies.
Back in October, analysts with Barclays predicted that the AirPods should enter production come December. The firm’s research note estimated that quantities would be between 10 and 15 million to begin with. An alleged email reply from Apple CEO Tim Cook offered the following:
With just two weeks remaining in the holiday shopping season, some believe Apple should now wait until the new year to launch AirPods, in line with an early rumor about a January 2017 launch. The wireless earphones remain listed as both “coming soon” and “currently unavailable” on different sections of Apple’s website.
Other rumors have stated that a manufacturing issue has delayed the AirPods as opposed to a technical problem and it’s currently thought that Apple might be having trouble manufacturing the AirPods at a large scale.
As always, stay tuned for additional details as they become available.
Via MacRumors and the Wall Street Journal