Mobile
Take a Peak Inside Apple’s new EarPods
Normally a tear down of a pair of earbuds wouldn’t warrant a post on a blog not related specifically to earbuds, however the new Apple EarPods mark a significant upgrade in quality and comfort from many early reviews.
The new Apple EarPods ship in a small carrying case, even the pair included with the iPhone 5, designed to keep the headphones safe in a user’s pocket.
iFixit loves to garner attention by cracking open the latest and greatest gadgets for those of us who love to see the internals of a new gadget splayed out for all to see.
Regarding the new design the folks at iFixit wrote:
With the EarPods in your ears, it’s actually pretty difficult for passersby to tell that your headphones aren’t just good ol’ Apple Earbuds.
They also observed that the hole the sound comes out of points forward towards the ear cartilage, not directly into the ear canal. We’ll hear if the new EarPods sound better that way soon enough.
https://youtu.be/8Rme3uZ_abc
iFixit used a guitar pick to tear the volume control apart and an exacto knife to pry open the EarPods. Anyone expecting magic on the inside will need to settle for internals that resemble traditional earbuds despite the unique design of the speaker cabinets.
Above, notice the difference between the earlier earbuds most of us use now on top, the first generation earbuds in the middle and the new ones at the bottom.
The only real change, aside from the shape, is the material used in the cone. Lets hope the redesign makes for dramatically more comfortable and better sounding EarPods when the iPhone 5 starts arriving Friday or later.
Andy Ihnatko writes in the Chicago Sun Times that the new Apple EarPods are the, “best iPod/iPhone headphones I’ve worn that cost under fifty bucks.”
On the flipside, Veronica Belmont calls the new EarPods uncomfortable, ranting on gdgt, “C’mon. Is it really this hard to make something comfortable? Didn’t Apple test this on hundreds of people? WHO ARE THESE PEOPLE?”
Johno
09/21/2012 at 1:25 am
I find the new earpods realy uncomfortable. They hurt the top part of my outer ear canal. Which is a great pity, cause they sound realy good to me.
Back to the old ones, cause they don’t hurt.
Luke
09/24/2012 at 12:44 am
I am incredibly fussy when it comes to sound quality from earphones or in this case as apple like to call them “ear pods”. When I initially saw the pictures of these earpods I thought to myself, how the hell are they suppose to fit in the ear. After purchasing my iPhone 5 this morning I was very curious to see what audio quality they could provide. I wasn’t expecting much to be honest, I then put them in and listened to a variety of music. The bass is low, clean and noticeable, by a long shot. The Mid frequencies are reproduced nicely, with much clarity. On to the highs, I believe this is where the earpods lack, but just by a very minor amount. I love dub step and very bass heavy music, and these earpods delivered for my liking. In all I give them a 10/10 comparing them to other earphones I have listened to in the past. For the price, an absolute bargain with excellent clean and clear quality.
Luke
09/24/2012 at 12:47 am
Just to add, in terms of comfort I can’t speak for everyone except for myself. For me these earphones are by far, the most, comfortable pair of headphones I have ever experienced in my 18 years of life. For me they fit perfectly. I am really lucky in this case because I have a somewhat unusually crafted ear canal. But for me, perfect.
cj
10/12/2012 at 3:26 am
have you tried beats by dr. dre…the tour model earbuds?