-December 4, 2021 at 2:17 p.m. Pacific Time

In the year when EarPods became popular again, Apple just launched the third generation of AirPods, and 9to5Mac came back with another concept. This time, we envision possible modifications to Apple's woven EarPods, which have not received an update for nearly ten years.

As AirPods have become mainstream, young people are beginning to use wired earplugs again. Not only can you see more people wearing them on the street, but they always appear in TikTok videos because it is easier to place the microphone in front of the person who is speaking.

Recently, 9to5Mac Parker Ortolani wrote an article about the return of EarPods. He explained:

After all, wired earbuds are making a comeback due to the foreseeable rebellious generation z. However, these trends will not last, which is why they are called trends. They are timely snapshots, so give it a few months, and the next generation of AirPods Pro may appear in the ears of every cool person again. Or maybe things are just stabilizing. Perhaps this is a directional correction, and we see a more even division between wireless and wired. The cool factors that made AirPods a multi-billion dollar business today may of course be fading.

They are actually just another product now, not a cool novel product. You can apply the same arguments about stagnant phone design to wireless earbuds. They are now a mature category. But wired products will never disappear, purely because of their reliability. Even if wireless is infinitely convenient in many ways, EarPods have benefits. These benefits include: no need to charge them, cheaper price tags and volume control.

With this in mind, Parker and I collaborated to create a concept that imagines the next generation of EarPods.

When we thought about this concept, we immediately thought that Apple should add braided cables to solve a problem that people always complain about is how fragile these earplugs are. Since the company has already woven the USB-C to Lightning cable, why not add it to the new EarPods?

Using braided cables, these EarPods can not only last longer, but also have a better design. As you can see in the picture, Apple's revised version of EarPods will be a bit larger than the original EarPods, which means they will have heavier bass and louder sound, just like AirPods.

As the company continues to work hard to promote its new Spatial Audio technology, it is only natural for Apple to introduce it to EarPods. Imagine using wired EarPods to listen to Taylor Swift's Folklore and some other cool albums in Spatial Audio.

For these new EarPods, Parker and I think it’s natural for Apple to update the microphone, so it’s better for people who want to record TikToks or just make calls.

Another selling point of these earplugs is the new space gray version. We have seen people customize AirPods in black, so we think Apple should also add this completely, because this will be the company's long-awaited product.

Last but not least, Apple should also sell a version with a 3.5 mm headphone jack adapter, which means that everyone can use these earbuds: iPhone users and anyone else.

Finally, for this product, Apple will charge a higher fee because it has a braided cable and Spatial Audio support. An increase of $10 is enough to make these earplugs not only affordable at a price of $29.99, but also attractive to this new trend in the Z population.

What do you think of this concept? Will you buy a revised version of EarPods? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.

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Brazilian technology reporter. The author of 9to5Mac. Previously worked for tv globo, a major television broadcaster in Latin America.

Any tips, feedback or questions? jose@9to5mac.com

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