Technical Description of AirPods

City College of New York

ENGL 21007

Professor Brown

Fraylin Sanchez

 

 

 

 

 

Table of Contents

Definition	Page 3
Overview	Page 3
Components & Explanation	Page 4
Visuals	Page 5
Conclusion	Page 7
References	Page 8

 

 

 

 

 

Definition

Headphones are devices that transmit sound from a device to someone’s ears using wires and a speaker located in an ear piece. Some headphones can also be found with microphones that permit audio to be pick up by the headphones and transmit it to the device it is connected to. Wireless headphones as the name suggest are headphones that work without the use of wires that connect to the device. They instead use Bluetooth to connect to the device and receive/transmit the information.

The Apple AirPods is an Apple designed wireless headphone that provides plenty of talk and listen time in a super compact form. After a simple one-tap setup, AirPods are automatically on and always connected. Using them is just as easy. They sense when they’re in your ears and pause when you take them out. AirPods are able to filter out background noise permitting better communication for their users.

Overview

AirPods have a L-shape design with the small part of the L in the form of a circle. Each ear piece can only be used on its specific side of ear since they are designed either for the left or right ear and will not fit in the other ear. The housing has a square like shape with round corners and rectangular cap also with round corners. The housing has grooves to fit each AirPod each in its specific place, Left/Right. The housing houses the ear pieces and also charges them. Both the housing the ear pieces are white in color. Each AirPod measures in at a width of 0.65″, a depth of 0.71″, and a height of 1.59″ while the charging case measures in at a width of 1.74″, a depth of 0.84″, and a height of 2.11″. Each AirPod weighs 0.14 oz while the charging case weighs 1.35 oz, giving a total weight of 1.63 oz [1]. The earbuds are covered in dots: grilles for speaker action, microphone holes for those noise-canceling secondary mics, and black dots for IR proximity sensors.

Components & Explanation

AirPods are made up of Apple H1 headphone chip, optical sensors, motion accelerometers, beamforming microphones, speech accelerometers, charging case/housing, and speakers [2]. AirPods utilizes Bluetooth technology and Apple’s new W1 chip for wireless connectivity. As stated by [1], “Powered by the Apple H1 headphone chip, AirPods deliver a faster and more stable wireless connection to your devices… the H1 chip also drives voice-enabled Siri access and delivers up to 30 percent lower gaming latency.” This chip allows the AirPods to deliver high quality sound making the overall experience better. By stating the phrase “hey siri” AirPods automatically connect you to Apple’s virtual assistance allowing you to make calls without having to unlock your device. AirPods use incorporated optical sensors and motion accelerometers to automatically control the audio experience, enabling AirPods to play sound as soon as they’re in your ears. Using these sensors, AirPods allow you to play or skip forward with a double-tap when listening to music. Beamforming microphones are coupled with an additional accelerometer in order to filter out unwanted noise and focus on the sound of your voice. The charging case which also houses the AirPods has an overall power capacity of 398 mAh [2], and is equipped with a lighting connector to charge its own battery. Deep within each AirPod’s housing groove, is a pair of contacts for charging the ear pieces respective onboard batteries. The AirPods alone can hold a charge of up to 5 hours, while their charging case holds additional charge for up to 24 hours of listening time. Placing the AirPods in the charging case for just 15 minutes can provide up to 3 hours of listening time [1]. The charging box has a LED indicator on the front of the case lets you know that the AirPods are charging. On the back of the charging case a button can be found that allows for connectivity between devices using Bluetooth when the instant sync feature doesn’t want to work, or connecting to a device other than an Apple device.

Visuals

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[2]

Conclusion
Apple AirPods can be found almost everywhere in the United States. The most common retails are the Apple Store, Amazon, Walmart, and Best Buy. Currently Apple AirPods 2^nd generation are priced at $129. Headphones have been through a long journal from being heavy speakers with big wires, to wireless and compact headphones with better audio quality. AirPods are designed in California and assembled in China. The 2^nd generation AirPods were released on March 2019, and are one of the most popular wireless headphones making about 60% of the global wireless headphone market [3]. One of the features most users are disappointed about is the lack of active noise cancellation and no waterproofing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

References

[1]	Apple INC, “AirPods (2nd Generation0,” Apple INC, 20 Mar 2019. [Online]. Available: https://www.apple.com/airpods-2nd-generation/specs/. [Accessed 21 Mar 2022].
[2]	iFixit, “Airpods Teardown,” iFixit, 17 May 2021. [Online]. Available: https://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/AirPods+Teardown/. [Accessed 21 Mar 2022].
[3]	Wikipedia, “Airpods,” Wikipedia, 11 Mar 2022. [Online]. Available: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AirPods. [Accessed 21 Mar 2022].