Apple introduces $79 in-ear headphones
By Donald Melanson 
posted September 9th 2008 12:09PM
posted September 9th 2008 12:09PM
In case you missed 'em among all the iPod hubbub, Apple also introduced some new in-ear headphones today, which should go some way to improving its reputation among more discerning listeners. These boast two drivers each -- a woofer and a tweeter -- and come with three earbuds to ensure a proper fit. They sure are running up against some stiff competition at the $79 mark though -- but hey, they're white.
In ear for 79 -- I'd rather go with 20 + for bose
$79?
Costs broken down, I think that would be $60 for the apple logo. $5 for the case. $14 for the headphones.
These are dual driver...$79 isn't all that bad assuming they'll actually be good quality. Are there other dual driver earphones out there at this price point?
My Shure E2's were $99 and only have a single driver. If these get decent reviews I might consider picking up a pair.. though I much prefer having normal black headphone cords and drivers.
I wonder if these'll have a narrow plug so it fits in the moronic recessed 1st gen iPhone headphone jack...
I'm pretty sure they won't make them compatible with the 1G iPhone, because now it's outdated, and as we all know, Apple doesn't like things that are old. Especially 3 months old.
What I find interesting is that they mention that they have a mic that is compatible with the just-updated iPods, saying that you can use them for "voice memos". I never saw that in the list of new features, but that'll be nice to have. Means jailbroken apps on an iPod Touch can support things like Vo-IP without some $50+ modded mic.
I'm with Jason here... $80 for (assumedly) decent dual-driver in-ears?
Show me the stiff competition. If these stack up at all to other similarly spec'd headphones, it looks like they're a pretty decent price.
lay off the haterade.
@Tinu - Hilarious, and right on the money.
I wouldn't be surprised if the quality of these phones weren't nearly as good as the Bose or Shure $99 models. Yes dual drivers are a nice boost, but as someone who has owned both Shure e4cs and Shure e2cs, I can say that a lot can be done with one driver (the e4cs have one driver and are $300+, and sound simply orgasmic), and I might go so far as to say that, especially coming from a company like Apple with little dedicated acoustics experience, dual drivers can be a gimmick.
More important than the number of drivers is their quality (I've never been impressed by Apple 'phones), and the internal acoustics/sound shaping of the headphones, and the type of driver. Is it a dynamic driver, is it an armature driver? Apple doesn't tell us these things because the insides probably have about as much engineering, research, and development put into them as their $30 phones which are worth $8. The odd shape of the e2cs is a visible testament to this fact and I'd be skeptical of the time/effort Apple put in to deliver truly quality headphones at $79 when people who have been at it for decades (Shure, Bose, Etymotic) don't stuff two drivers into their cans for such a low price.
Although they come with a remote thingy they're not worth it since that money would is in the territory or proper Shure ear-buds.
F-Me, just get some Seinhouser CX500's, probs much better and look a lot nicer if these pics are anything to go by!
yes, but no mic/controller built in.
While I totally agree with you and prefer Cowons for that reason, Apple isn't stupid and they have their ears to the ground. The iPod seems slowly shedding its reputation as a silly DAP for the average listener because of sound quality/headphone jack improvements. Apparently these headphones are intended to represent another step in that direction. However as skeptical as I am, I'll have to withhold judgment until I actually get a pair of these in my ears hooked up to a new iPod.
@RICK
the controller and microphone only work on the new iPods
@Joe
Unforutnately I feel like if Apple was that concerned about sound quality, they would had said eff the headphones and given iTunes and iPods/Phones FLAC (or even OGG) support, and user defined EQ.
harveyhanson,
if you really like it, try to learn its name. it's called Sennheiser
I'm guessing that similar quality headphones from someone like Sennheiser or even Sony would cost $40. These are probably as overpriced as Bose in-ear headphones
Well then stop guessing. I am a discerning audio consumer and dislike Apple as much as the next jaded neo-revolutionary super savvy post-hip internet peruser, and while I don't intend to insult your ever-wise flip assessments, you should know that two drivers in those things is pretty impressive at that price point and unless they're wielding some embarrassingly ungainly acoustics, $79 is a pretty damned good deal on paper. Say what you want about iPods, but they've never been anything but competitively priced, you have to give 'em at least that much.
"improve its reputation among more discerning listeners."
um yeah... Apple has no reputation whatsoever among discerning listeners, as discerning listeners generally go for a decent sounding mp3 player! Not the average stuff Apple pumps out.
which probably means that every iSheep out there is going to become a self proclaimed audiophile because they have these phones :\
Discerning listeners don't listen to mp3's.
Fine with me. The average audiophile is a complete 'tard. This coming from a guy with Paradigm Monitor 3's, so I am not completely tasteless, just not willing to spend thousands on speaker wire.
MP3? I think you'll find "discerning listeners" will skip MP3 all together my good chum.
Real audiophiles go for lossless codecs. Almost all easy to get DAP's don't support them, though.
We're talking about MP3's here. It's silly to be talking about 'discerning listeners' when the source is heavily compressed in the first place.
Yep, 192 Kbps .ogg or FLAC here, I avoid mp3's like the plague.
I enjoy good sounding music on my players and I use MP3s. Why? Because every single player out there will take them. I use 256 kbps and up, and some decent earphones. It's good that some mainstream players like those made by Samsung and one by SanDisk I think now accept FLAC or OGG though. I would switch over to OGG or FLAC if I knew more players supported those formats. It seems that AAC is now becoming a standard and that's pretty good too at higher bit rates(NOT the 128 mainly in the iTunes Store). I really don't like being limited to only certain brands, so I'd like to see more support for lossless formats over MP3 also, but it's just a bit too limited right now. Unfortunately high bit rate MP3s are the only thing you can use across the board.
Who cares?!
Are all these iPod threads needed? Engadget seems to love Steve Jobs more than he does.
since when have apple headphones been called 'ipod'???
There are lots of Apple posts because Apple have released a lot of products today. You get similar things on here all the time with other companies releasing large batches of products, just nobody notices because its not Apple
@ eiki
since apple called them "apple ipod earphones" maybe?
http://store.apple.com/uk/product/MA662G/B
true, true, but you could use these on any player, so non-ipodders may want to view this post without having to scroll through a powerpoint about ipod/itunes the price point is competitive for the construction, these will also be called
Apple In-Ear Headphones with Remote and Mic, so not so aligned with ipod
Typical overpriced Apple crap.
typical uneducated kneejerk response
wow relax Unix... put that cross down and stop taking life so seriously.
the original ipod headphones were awful! i still dont know why people wouldnt buy their own.
i've been using the sony in-ear n its only $29. $79 for apples is a joke!
Judging from Apple's prior half in-ear headphones, I will prefer spending the extra $20 and purchase Shure's. Wonder if these actually stay in your ear unlike their last model.
I doubt they'll stay in, they look like the same friction-hold design. I made it about 1/4 of a lap on my first run before I realized the apple earphones were going buh-bye.
I actually think that these will stay in a lot better than the last ones. The older in-ear earphones has silicone ear buds that were tapered, these new ones look more similar to the ear buds that sony and shure offer on their in-ear earphones.
I rather buy a Sennheiser CX500 for $79 (Yes I can find a deal @ that price) which is like 10 times better than this*.
Although, they should have just put this in the latest iPod Nano and Touch.
I'll stick with my Sennheisers for now.
$79 is a little much to pay just to have an apple logo on it.
oh, so you've heard these already, what do they sound like?
shmendrick! two drivers each, hence price!!
HAHAHAHAH.
iPrefer they drop the price on them Dr. Dre Headphones! $349.49, you gotta be kiddin' me! iMean, they bump; especially with this one program iHad since '04 that iNcreases the volume on mp3's to 1000%. Anyways, still lookin' forward to 3rd Gen iPhone. The 3G iPhone iS trash when compared side-by-side with the first gen iPhone. Enough said...
-sent from my iPhone
_____________________
iGet enough exercise just pushin' my luck!
@Cherry
Wow. You're so cool. Can I be like you?
@B.Cherry
I still don't understand why you replace every instance of -ing with in' or n'...
"You gotta be kiddin' me! Im not lookin' forward to the new ****n' machine Apple's makin' !"
"Stop making ****n' ****, Apple! ! I'm dyin' to make a ****n' ****y comment on Apple's ****n' ****y product on this ****n' blog!"
It sure makes a lot of sense.
@myself
OH NO, I SAID MAKING, NOT MAKIN' !!!! I MUST SHOOT MYSELF!!!
I kinda like the http://www.etymotic.com/ephp/hf2.aspx myself. Apple quit designing crap and just get with them.
Are these the ones with the microphone built in? That's more interesting to me. The new iPod Touch has a built-in speaker, the optional headphones have a built-in microphone. iPod Touch phone, anyone? All we need is Skype. Or better yet, a T-mobile Hotspot@Home app that allows you to use your iPod as an iPhone wherever you have WiFi. We may yet have a legal iPhone that escapes AT&T's horrible service!
(BTW, iPhone 3G reception problems? I'd sooner blame them on AT&T then on the iPhone.)
Yeah, I've also been looking for a way to use my iPod Touch as a Skype phone. It would be awesome if it turns out that you can use it in this way.
Wow, everyone's real negative about these. Two drivers for $79. They have NO competition at that price point! We'll see if they're any good, but none of the ones mentioned above have two drivers.