Key Takeaways
- Apple may change the AirPods case design to include touch-sensitive controls.
- This potential feature could complicate the user experience and ruin its simplicity.
- Innovation isn’t necessarily necessary — the current AirPods’ simpler design is better.
One of the best things about Apple’s headphones is their relative simplicity: the Apple Airpods Max don’t even have an actual case, just a plastic wrap that you can fold the headphones into. The Apple Airpods Pro come in a clean white case with no frills, which makes them look great. But it looks like the Cupertino company is looking to change that.
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The potential redesign of the AirPods is unexpected to say the least, as it would introduce features that current Apple AirPods Pro users have not requested. The change could potentially trade the simplicity of the case for a more complicated design, compromising the clean aesthetic.
New features for Apple AirPods are unnecessary and unnecessarily needed
There are already too many screens
apple
A recent Apple patent filing has revealed a potentially revolutionary feature for AirPods that, if implemented, would revolutionize AirPods cases, allowing users to control their audio experience with touch-sensitive controls on the case’s surface — a big shift from the current case’s functionality, which is primarily for wireless charging.
Certainly, the filing could pave the way in a new direction for Apple AirPods, though it’s unclear why Tim Cook and company would want to go in that direction when more and more consumers believe simpler is better.
Indeed, the filing marks a new turn for Apple AirPods.
According to the filing, Apple isn’t going for simplicity with this potential redesign: Users will be able to control whatever they’re listening to by swiping through on-screen controls on the case, and it’s possible they’ll even be able to use a stylus to do so, which almost certainly means an Apple Pencil.
Putting aside the fact that very few people need an Apple Pencil to control music, even if it’s not essential, it seems incredibly counterintuitive to have to pull out a new device to control the sound on your headphones, rather than controlling it on your iPhone or iPad.
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Simpler music is better
Apple will take AirPods the wrong way
In an age when so many devices seem to allow users to do a little bit of everything, retro tech like the 2024 Sony Walkman is thriving. All people want from a device is for it to do what it’s meant to do, and not much else. They just want to turn on their music, podcast, or audiobook and not have to worry about how to pause, play, fast forward, or rewind. Making things harder because it’s “new” is not what Apple customers want. It’s hard to understand why the company believes the opposite.
Admittedly, this isn’t the first patent to include this kind of touchscreen interface in the plans for the AirPods Pro. For now, Cook has not implemented this design. Perhaps calm will prevail and this change will not be made. Innovation is not always a good thing. Sometimes it’s better for a company to understand that it’s moving in the right direction with the simple design of the current Apple AirPods case.
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