Apple's Beats said to be working on wireless headphones called 'AirPods'; will skip on 3.5mm jack

Apple seems to be putting its recently acquired Beats Electronics brand to some practical use, that now seems to be a closer to Apple’s iPhones than ever before. 9to5Mac reports that Apple along with the Beats team is actually working on a completely cord-free pair of wireless Bluetooth headphones for the iPhone 7. And while the new pair is still in the prototyping process, we can expect it to show up as a premium optional accessory, meaning that rumours about EarPods with a Lightning cable may in all probability be true. [caption id=“attachment_294569” align=“aligncenter” width=“640”]  Image: Bragi[/caption] The new cord-free headphones will be called ‘AirPods’ (a patent that Apple had applied for a few months ago) and will deliver a true cord-free experience. By a true cord-free experience we mean something similar to what Motorola offers with the Moto Hint or the Bragi Dash headphones (images above and below). These deliver a true wire-free experience, which means the battery resides inside the tiny headphone assembly along with the sound driver and audio chips. There will be need for two audio chips since both headphones will work individually and not be connected to each other. [caption id=“attachment_294570” align=“aligncenter” width=“640”]  Image: Bragi[/caption] More interesting, is how the Apple plans to charge the ‘AirPods’. The same report also specifies that Apple may go with a charging case so that the headphones can charge when they are not in use as the same will need to deliver at least four hours of playback time to make them anything close to practical. So, what happens to the standard pair of EarPods that Apple usually bundles with its iPhone? The company is expected to deliver one with Lightning jack at the end cable instead of the traditional 3.5mm headphone jack. While audiophiles may be a bit surprised that the company which started the iPod brand is moving away from traditional tech, we are pretty sure there is a big market out there longing for a wire-free audio experience.