Airpods release date: Apple reportedly shipping first pairs in the "next few weeks"

Impact

Apple CEO Tim Cook introduced the world to Airpods at Apple's iPhone event back in September. The wireless earbuds garnered a ton of hype (and mockery) but faded from the limelight after a series of delays hit their release date. Now they're reportedly just a few weeks from shipping. 

MacRumors obtained an email thread in which Cook himself reassured an anxious customer of the Airpods' impending arrival:

Customer's comment: "Give us a release date. I really bought in to the wireless vision you painted. Now I'm stuck waiting with my EarPods but can't charge my 7 at the same time, which I need to do at work. Let us know if it's a month or 6 months, because then I'll just buy some other wireless headphones." 

A "few weeks" is still vague, but it's at least a hint for eager Apple customers. The company was originally supposed to ship the Airpods by October; now we should hopefully see them by Christmas. 

Stephen Lam/Getty Images

Airpods utilize a Bluetooth connection to wirelessly transmit sound. An embedded W1 chip intuitively recognizes when a user is speaking or listening to filter noise and engages the Airpods' built-in microphone accordingly. Perhaps most groundbreaking is the integration of Siri, which allows users to give voice commands to make phone calls, adjust volume, look up directions and more.