Apple's second generation of headphones are out now and boast a longer battery life, and a new H1 chip that Apple says improves connectivity with your iPhone or iPad and helps to deliver up to a 50 percent bump in talk time over the first generation AirPods.
Of course, they cost a fortune – $199 with a wireless charging case or $159 without it. The wireless charging case is also available for owners of the first version of AirPods for $79. All are available now and ship starting March 27.
While Apple has not done much to improve the sound quality, it does feature a connection to Apple's out-of-date Siri AI which means users can talk to Siri to place phone calls, request music, ask the weather and more simply by speaking to Siri. The older version involved tapping one of the AirPods which Apple fanboys found taxing.
But putting a Siri connection in the earbuds means that Siri is continuously listening to your commands and is effectively a walking microphone. It is just as well that they have such super cool Apple security as they are a portable monitoring device just waiting for a hacker to activate them.
Apple still has not managed to get out its AirPower vapourware either. The wireless charging pad that it initially announced in September 2017. AirPower is designed to charge an iPhone, AirPods and Apple watch at the same time. Apple said AirPower was supposed to launch in 2018, but never did.