"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enHey guys it’s Greg with Apple Explained,and today we’re going to explore why Apple’sAirPods are so popular.Now you may be thinking, well that isn’tso hard to figure out, Apple made a qualityproduct so more customers are inclined tobuy it.And that is part of the reason, but there’sactually more to the story.And that’s what we’ll be exploring inthis video.Now this video topic was the first place winnerof last weeks voting poll, and if you didn’tget to vote, make sure you’re subscribed.That way the polls will show up right in yourmobile activity feed and you can let me knowwhich video you’d like to see next.Now I want to start off by sharing the storythat prompted me to explore this topic inmore detail.And it all started when I visited the AppleStore during the holiday season to buy AirPodsas a gift, but when I asked an associate aboutthem, she said they probably didn’t haveany since the AirPods had been out of stockfor weeks.But she went ahead and checked the stockroomjust in case.Then, a woman walked into the store also askingto purchase AirPods, she was told they werelikely sold out, but pointed her in my directionanyway.Now, I was curious why Apple was strugglingto keep AirPods in stock, considering they’dbeen on the market for about two years.But I assumed it was because of the holidaydemand, and didn’t think much else aboutit.That was, until I began talking to the womanbehind me.I found out she was buying AirPods for herdaughter, the thing was, her daughter hadn’tactually asked for them.Her mom said, “I figured what kid todaywouldn’t want AirPods for Christmas.”And hearing her say this really caught meby surprise.Because that meant not only does this middle-agedmother know what AirPods are, but she knewthey were a desirable product, especiallyby young people.And considering Apple only ran one short adcampaign for AirPods at the beginning of 2017,I was having trouble understanding why theysuddenly appeared to be as popular as theiPod nano in its prime.So when I got home I did some research totry and figure this out.And I discovered something pretty incredible.Search interest in AirPods reached an all-timehigh in November and December 2018.Generating more hype and excitement than whenthey were actually revealed in September 2016,and gaining AirPods more attention than whenApple ran an ad campaign in January 2017.So how in the world did this happen?What caused so many people on the internetto become more interested in AirPods thanever before?Well, this is where the story gets good.Because starting around November, AirPod memesbegan going viral.And things only snowballed from there.There were memes about AirPod users flexingon social media, memes about AirPods beinga status symbol, and memes about AirPods causingcar accidents.Now these viral memes about AirPods reacheda fever pitch in December, which coincidentallywas just in time for the holidays.So that’s what triggered the unexpecteddemand for AirPods and caused a world-wideshortage.Making the product even harder to find thanwhen they debuted in 2016.But what makes this story even more fascinatingis that the AirPods had been turned into ameme before.You see, when they were first introduced inSeptember 2016, AirPods were the laughingstock of the internet.They were made fun of for their awkward designand high price and there was no shortage ofmemes to express the internet’s feelingstoward the AirPods.They were also criticized for being easy tolose and expensive to replace.So judging by these criticisms, it appearedthat the AirPods weren't going to be a popularproduct for Apple.But as with most Apple product announcements,the internet spoke too soon because the AirPodswouldn’t even be released until 3 monthslater, which gave people plenty of time tojudge the product without actually using itfor themselves.But I should mention that there were somelevel-headed responses to the AirPod’s introductionby people who were familiar with wirelessearbud technology and were excited to finallyhave a reliable, truly wireless, Apple earbud.So let me explain in more detail how bothsides felt about the AirPods.Because people who thought the AirPods werea joke, actually made a few legitimate arguments.First, they pointed out that for the AirPods$160 price, you could buy a pair of wiredheadphones with much better sound quality,which was true.They also pointed out that the AirPod’s5 hour battery life could prove inconvenientespecially compared to wired headphones whichdon’t even need batteries.It also meant that the AirPods would be justone more thing you would have to charge everynight.So for those reasons, I could understand whythe AirPods may not be appealing for all users.On the other hand, it would be irresponsibleto focus on a product’s compromises withoutconsidering its legitimate benefits.Because for decades, people have dreamed oftruly wireless earbuds that would free youfrom all the headaches a wire causes.And developing all the technologies necessaryto make this a reality was a huge challengefor Apple.Battery technology had to be good enough todeliver sufficient battery life while beingso small that it could fit inside an earbud.But Apple also needed an advanced, power efficient,wireless chip set to maintain a reliable wirelessconnection between earbuds and to the device.But what truly matters isn’t all this technologybut rather the experience the technology delivers.And the AirPods, without a doubt, deliverthe most seamless, reliable, and magical experiencein the entire wireless earbud market.And it all starts with the charging case whichpairs the AirPods to your iPhone with a singletap.No need to activate discoverable mode or fumblearound in bluetooth settings to connect theAirPods manually.I should also mention the earbuds synchronizewith each other automatically, a feature Ithink Apple doesn’t get enough credit for.The charging case is also magnetized, so insertingthe earbuds is effortless, and the lid closeswith a satisfying snap.And when the earbuds are inside their case,they’re also charging.Giving you three hours of battery life witha 15 minute charge, something that was unheardof before the AirPods.But the most life changing feature, is thefact that they are truly wireless.Now what do I mean by that.Well, before the AirPods, there were wirelessheadphones, but they had a wired connectionbetween each ear piece, which meant they weren’t“truly” wireless.And the reason is because making two ear piecesthat are wirelessly synchronized to each otherand wirelessly connected a device requiredvery advanced technology and efficient powermanagement.Because as you can imagine, there isn’tmuch space for a big battery inside of anearbud.And although some tech companies tried releasingtruly wireless earbuds, they were plaguedwith reliability issues and poor battery life.So when Apple released the AirPods, it finallygave users the listening experience they expectedwith the benefit of not being tied down bya cable.And that was not only extremely liberating,but also offered endless benefits.Things like working out with your iPhone onthe floor and no cord in your way, walkingaway from your computer without having toremove your earbuds, and not having to untangleyour headphone cord every time you want touse them.All of these conveniences created a new typeof earbud experience that made it nearly impossibleto use wired headphones again.So I think for many people, the compromisesof owning wireless earbuds are well worththe benefits they deliver.That’s probably why Apple had trouble keepingAirPods in stock when they were first releasedin December 2016, and again at the end of2018 when they went viral on the internet.Because although the AirPods essentially receivedfree advertising through popular memes, itwouldn’t have actually had a positive effecton sales if the AirPods were a bad product.So I think that is the real reason why theAirPods are so popular.They are considered by many to be the bestproduct Apple has released since the originaliPhone, and like the iPhone, it’s takinga while for competition to catch up.Because it turns out, making true wirelessearbuds is very challenging and very expensive.That’s why many of them are priced higherthan the AirPods.And just like the iPhone had its share ofimitators back in 2008, many manufacturerstoday are making knockoffs of the AirPods,trying to capitalize on their high demandand Apple’s recent inability to keep themin stock.Now since the AirPods have been so successful,it appears Apple’s interested in expandingtheir presence in the audio market.Because just six months after the AirPodswere released, Apple introduced their smartspeaker called HomePod.But it didn’t experience the same levelof success as the AirPods, and this has promptedrumors that Apple may create a more affordableversion of the HomePod to compete more directlywith the Amazon Echo and Google Home.But I don’t think the speaker market iswhere Apple will enjoy most of their audiosuccess.Because the AirPods are where the magic isat, and it’s worth mentioning that they’rea first-generation product.Apple will likely be announcing an updatedversion in the near future, and rumors suggestthe new model will be equipped with featurescentered around health.The earbuds could include biometric sensorsto track fitness data, and they may even bewaterproof with noise-cancellation technology.But what I’d really like to see are touchcontrols similar to the new Apple Pencil thatcould track gestures and allows users to adjustthe volume without using Siri.Apple might even expand their headphone productline to include wireless in-ear headphonesand over-ear headphones.That means we’re only beginning to see whatApple is capable of in the wireless headphonemarket and I’m excited to see what otherproducts and technology they have in store.Now I want to thank Dashlane for sponsoringthis video.Their app makes password management 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