AirPods · Standard
2016
AirPods (1st generation)
Custom Apple W1 silicon, optical in-ear detection, and seamless one-tap setup define the wireless audio era for Apple devices.
- Announced
- 2016-09-07
- Family
- AirPods
- Branch
- Standard
- Historical weight
- Paradigm shift
Key specifications
Apple verification ↗- Chip / CPU
- Apple W1
- Ports & charging
- Lightning (charging case)
- Weight
- 4 g each
- Dimensions
- In-ear + charging case
- Original OS
- AirPods firmware (W1)
- Launch price
- $159
- Released
- December 13, 2016
- Discontinued
- March 2019
- CPU cores
- 1
Generation delta
What changed?
Introduced
6- Silicon
Apple W1 chip
Custom ultra-low power wireless silicon delivering reliable wireless connection, efficient power management, and audio coordination between dual independent earbuds.
- Power
One-tap setup and iCloud sync
Effortless instant pairing upon opening the charging case near an iOS device, syncing automatically across Apple Watch, iPad, and Mac via iCloud.
- Sensors
Dual optical sensors
In-ear detection automatically routes audio and pauses playback when an earbud is removed.
- Audio
Dual beamforming microphones and speech accelerometer
Dedicated voice pickup with background noise suppression for clear phone calls and Siri interaction.
- Ports
Compact charging case
Pocketable flip-top case with magnetic closure providing more than 24 hours of total listening time via Lightning port charging.
- Input
Double-tap touch gesture
Accelerometer-based double-tap on either AirPod to summon Siri or control audio playback.
Technology DNA