With the launch of Apple’s “wireless future” continuing to be delayed, a new report published by an unnamed source quoted in a Wall Street Journal article published today, audio issues are the main culprit holding Apple back from releasing AirPods to the public, with the company specifically having difficulty getting sound to hit the twin earpieces at the same time.
A person familiar with the development of the AirPod said 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.
Edge cases like what happens when one AirPods dies or is lost have presented issues for Apple:
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.
Earlier this month, The Apple Post reported that Apple CEO, Tim Cook, was said to of revealed he expects AirPods to ship over the ‘next few weeks’ in an email to a customer however although the email appears to of been sent from an Apple corporate server, it’s unclear if this email genuinely originated from Apple or if it was produced to misconceive.
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.”
Tim Cook’s response: “Thanks for your note. Sorry for the delay—we are finalizing them and I anticipate we will begin to ship over the next few weeks.”