Apple ‘delays the Airpod release date’ and it’ll mean a bleak Christmas for tech fans

APPLE’S new wireless headphones will not be ready for Christmas in an embarrassing blow for the company.

APPLE’S new wireless headphones will not be ready for Christmas in an embarrassing blow for the company.

The tech giant said that it “needs more time” to iron out issues with the AirPods, which link up to the iPhone with a Bluetooth connection.

Analysts said that it was a “black eye” for Apple that it missed the lucrative Christmas sales period.

At the launch of the iPhone 7 in September, Apple said that the AirPods would be available in October.

Then last month they said that the devices had been delayed with no further date set for when they would go on sale.

It was suggested the issue may be because the AirPods are more complex than other Bluetooth headphones.

Regular wireless headphones receive the Bluetooth signal in one earpiece, but Apple’s receive it in both.

As a result Apple has to resolve any delays and synch the audio between the headphones. Another issue is what happens if the battery in one headphone dies or is lost.

Apple AirPods would have made a great Christmas gift.

The delay on the launch of the AirPods is the first product postponement for Apple since the white iPhone 4 in 2010, which it blamed on manufacturing problems.

Earlier this month, an email supposedly sent from Apple chief executive Tim Cook to a customer which read: “Sorry for the delay — we are finalising them and I anticipate we will begin to ship over the next few weeks.”

Nick Hunn, chief technologist with UK-based WiFore Wireless Consulting said that it “has to be something fairly major because they’ve missed the Christmas market with what had the potential to be a really sexy product”.

He said: “It’s something that’s blindsided them.”

Patrick Moorhead, principal analyst at Moor Insights & Strategy, said: “It is an absolute black eye that they missed the holidays.”

The iPhone 7 was met with scepticism by some Apple customers too as it got rid of the headphone jack for the first time.

The new Apple headphones connect through its charging port, known as the Lightning Port, a move that threatens to single-handedly make normal 3.5mm headphones obsolete

An Apple spokesman said: “We don’t believe in shipping a product before it’s ready.

“We need a little more time before AirPods are ready for our customers.”

This was first published on The Sun.