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If they don’t include EarPods they should lower price by $30

You’re misunderstanding the actual cost variances of how Apple charges. The EarPods are not worth $29.99, that’s just what Apple charges the consumer, the reality is, they probably only cost Apple a few dollars to actually include those in the box. Apple will not drop the price of the iPhone $30 simply because you think they shouldn’t be included, that’s just what they charge for a ‘markup‘ to make a profit, if they remove the EarPods, there’s no way they would have that kind of Room to reduce the iPhone by $30. Even if they could reduce the price By deleting the EarPods, it would probably be by a few dollars per iPhone unit, which you wouldn’t even notice the ‘cost savings‘ passed on to the consumer.
 
I would be disappointed. I use EarPods everyday. My wife bought me AirPods and I had them returned.

I enjoy lying in bed on my side with my EarPods on. With AirPods, when they fall out, I would be searching for them all over the place rather than just tugging on the cable.

My EarPods don’t run out of battery, sound is uninterrupted and with the 3.5mm adapter, I can use them with other devices.

I have PowerBeats for running and Beats Solo3, which are a torture to wear and switch between iPad, Phone and other devices. The EarPods just WORK.

They may just work but in my experience not very long.

Besides the automatic pause when an AirPod falls out of the ear is a good feature, that way my device doesn’t play on for hours in case I fall asleep for example.
 
They may just work but in my experience not very long.

Besides the automatic pause when an AirPod falls out of the ear is a good feature, that way my device doesn’t play on for hours in case I fall asleep for example.

Luckily, the two I have I have been rocking since 2015! I don‘t run with them or get them wet, for that I have PowerBeats. Maybe that’s been your issue?
 
Timmy crunched the numbers and as it turns out, Apple will save about $0.90 for every unit sold.


Sorry gotta pad those margins so the EarPods have to go.
 
Luckily, the two I have I have been rocking since 2015! I don‘t run with them or get them wet, for that I have PowerBeats. Maybe that’s been your issue?

I don’t run with them either but I listen to podcasts and lots of audiobooks when in bed and often fall sleep with earphones in. That’s generally speaking a lot of wear on the cables and ear pieces but any other headphone would hold up significantly longer in my case.
 
Why would anybody choose to buy lightning connected EarPods? They don’t work with Mac computers. They don’t work with new iPads. They only work with iPhones. Adapters are not the solution. That said...

If Apple decides to remove EarPods and doesn’t replace them with something else, they aren’t going to see as much of a surge in AirPod sales as some might think.

How many times do you see personalities on TV and they are using Apples EarPods? Personally, I see it a lot. That’s advertising you can’t buy. That will go away very quickly without a substitute. EarPods owe their popularity mostly to the fact that they are included in the box with iPhones.
 
As a junior audiophile I have to admit that the EarPods used with earskinz (cost about £6) sound pretty good in terms of clarity and dynamic range. I also use them on my iPad Air 3 and they work functionally just like my phone.

The 3.5 mm lightning adaptor that Apple used to include in the box is complete junk. It uses a tiny cirrus logic DAC in it that can barely drive wired earphones, so forget using larger headphones on them. One is better off buying a Fiio i1 lightning adaptor which costs about £35 (an extra expense I know) but gives better power and has a decent Maxim DAC in it for high quality audio.

If Apple do go portless on future iPhones (via iPad style smart connector) then I’m sure they will have EarPods with a smart connector in place of lightning. They want people to purchase music from iTunes or subscribe to Apple Music, so will have to provide some way to listen to your music out of the box. In worse case scenario that they don’t, then this will be problematic for many people, but I personally will just use my Fiio M6 audio player to listen to my music or use my AirPods.
 
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Why would anybody choose to buy lightning connected EarPods? They don’t work with Mac computers. They don’t work with new iPads. They only work with iPhones. Adapters are not the solution. That said...

If Apple decides to remove EarPods and doesn’t replace them with something else, they aren’t going to see as much of a surge in AirPod sales as some might think.

How many times do you see personalities on TV and they are using Apples EarPods? Personally, I see it a lot. That’s advertising you can’t buy. That will go away very quickly without a substitute. EarPods owe their popularity mostly to the fact that they are included in the box with iPhones.

I suspect the wired EarPods are still vastly popular, because there are still quite a few phones on the market that support 3.5 lightning capability. I think the adapter the Apple included for the most part, I’ve never used, simply because Bluetooth earbuds range in all types of prices/options. The wired EarPods new prices, actually have a higher resale value on eBay, they sell relatively quick for approximately $10-$20.
 
I still use my 3.5mm headphone jack ones on my Mac Pro... the Bluetooth is so bad. I would like them to keep including them as well
 
I suspect the wired EarPods are still vastly popular, because there are still quite a few phones on the market that support 3.5 lightning capability. I think the adapter the Apple included for the most part, I’ve never used, simply because Bluetooth earbuds range in all types of prices/options. The wired EarPods new prices, actually have a higher resale value on eBay, they sell relatively quick for approximately $10-$20.

I’m not clear what your point is. My point is if Apple decides to remove the lightning port and decides zero ports on the device and removes the EarPods from box, then over time - as more and more people upgrade - Apple will lose money and people won’t be buying new EarPods. It’s up to Apple to be smart about how they move forward with that decision.

AirPods in the box might be a thing, but I have a hard time seeing them do that because they can’t raise phone prices more than they already have to cover it. They would lose money from phone sales and they lose potential money if someone would have bought AirPods separately had they not been in the box. Even if they made a much cheaper pair of AirPods for going in the box, they will lose money.

If Apple doesn’t replace the EarPods with anything, then you may be suggesting that Bluetooth is the option most people will choose. Okay, but do you think it will be Apple Bluetooth headphones? I don’t. Because Apple charges a premium on their products and they’ll have competitors with products that have a good value comparison. EarPods won’t hold that popularity and will go down the drain because they will be irrelevant. Especially since current iPhones are the only devices lightning EarPods work with - without an adapter. People won’t choose to use headphones that require an adapter.
 
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I don’t believe EarPods sold separate are a huge business for Apple. AirPods on the other hand, for sure.
 
I’m not clear what your point is. My point is if Apple decides to remove the lightning port and decides zero ports on the device and removes the EarPods from box, then over time - as more and more people upgrade - Apple will lose money and people won’t be buying new EarPods. It’s up to Apple to be smart about how they move forward with that decision.

AirPods in the box might be a thing, but I have a hard time seeing them do that because they can’t raise phone prices more than they already have to cover it. They would lose money from phone sales and they lose potential money if someone would have bought AirPods separately had they not been in the box. Even if they made a much cheaper pair of AirPods for going in the box, they will lose money.

If Apple doesn’t replace the EarPods with anything, then you may be suggesting that Bluetooth is the option most people will choose. Okay, but do you think it will be Apple Bluetooth headphones? I don’t. Because Apple charges a premium on their products and they’ll have competitors with products that have a good value comparison. EarPods won’t hold that popularity and will go down the drain because they will be irrelevant. Especially since current iPhones are the only devices lightning EarPods work with - without an adapter. People won’t choose to use headphones that require an adapter.

I agree with you there about people probably not opting to buy AirPods if Apple goes completely to Bluetooth. You can get so many ok quality wireless headphones for £50 and under. AirPods just aren’t competitive on price to compete in the wider consumer market despite having a fairly healthy following. I certainly wouldn’t pay £249 for something I am likely to lose or break within a few months. That’s the beauty of EarPods, they are cheap and replaceable.
 
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I use EarPods daily for both my work and personal phone. The EarPods are nice and light to use with long meetings on my work phone and the same for listening to podcasts. I don't need amazing sound quality for podcasts, most of them aren't that great quality anyway. I would be disappointed if Apple stops including them.
 
I use EarPods daily for both my work and personal phone. The EarPods are nice and light to use with long meetings on my work phone and the same for listening to podcasts. I don't need amazing sound quality for podcasts, most of them aren't that great quality anyway. I would be disappointed if Apple stops including them.

I have used Airpods for the last few years and prefer EarPods for long meetings at my desk mainly because calls drain my AirPods so quickly. If I'm sitting at a desk anyway, EarPods make sense to me. But I couldn't give up my AirPods. I use those every day to listen to music, take quick calls, etc.

Out of all the headsets I've used ($100 LGs, $160 Sennheiser's, $180 Grados, $60 LG in ear bluetooth) - the EarPods are amazing. I love that I have several of them laying around so if needed I can just pop those in and have a long call without having to hold the phone to my head.

If the iPhone next year goes portless I won't miss them terribly. AirPods are pretty good - I'd just want them to have a lot longer battery life especially while on calls.
 
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I know I am in the minority--

Maybe, but I'm there with you! I use AirPods, but keep EarPods for long phone calls. Love the sound and you can't feel them in your ears. AND, they never need charging.

My AirPods, are original Gen 1 and they only last 30 min while I'm talking on phone.
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Am I the only one that has way too many of these damn things and they just end up being a waste.

At I time, I did as well. With 2 kids and a cat that loves to chew on them, I'm down to my last set.
 
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I have used Airpods for the last few years and prefer EarPods for long meetings at my desk mainly because calls drain my AirPods so quickly. If I'm sitting at a desk anyway, EarPods make sense to me. But I couldn't give up my AirPods. I use those every day to listen to music, take quick calls, etc.

Out of all the headsets I've used ($100 LGs, $160 Sennheiser's, $180 Grados, $60 LG in ear bluetooth) - the EarPods are amazing. I love that I have several of them laying around so if needed I can just pop those in and have a long call without having to hold the phone to my head.

If the iPhone next year goes portless I won't miss them terribly. AirPods are pretty good - I'd just want them to have a lot longer battery life especially while on calls.

Yeah sometimes I need to have the EarPods on for four or five hours which simply won't work with AirPods (I'm assuming based off of apple's stated battery life, I don't own a pair).
 
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I haven't used wired headphones in years. I would rather Apple add $30 retail worth of components to the iPhone instead of contributing to e-waste. The same with the charger. Unless it's a new type, I don't need another charger. This just adds to junk in my Tupperware bin and eventually to some landfill.
 
What a bummer. I like having EarPods for times when I do not want to risk losing my AirPods Pro. I hope they do not stop including EarPods.
 
I think one of the biggest problems with AirPods (or any wireless earphone) for people who rely on earphones for communication, is battery life. I’ve seen people suggest they only get 4-6hrs on a single charge and removing the option to alternate to wired earphones introduces a problem that isn’t currently there IMO.
 
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I think one of the biggest problems with AirPods (or any wireless earphone) for people who rely on earphones for communication, is battery life. I’ve seen people suggest they only get 4-6hrs on a single charge and removing the option to alternate to wired earphones introduces a problem that isn’t currently there IMO.
Ya exactly innovative by subtraction. Some time I just want something simple as a wired headphones where I don’t have to worry about losing them if they fall out or something or leaving them in my car or a hotel.
 
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