Apple AirPods release in Australia starts late October, 5 facts about Apple’s first wireless headphones

Apple Airpods, the company’s first wireless headphones, will be available late October at Apple Stores across Australia and each pair costs $229.

Apple unveiled Airpods Wednesday in California alongside the new iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus smartphone models. The wireless headphones are meant to operate with the new generation of iPhones, which do not have the 3.5 millimetre headphone jack that supports the conventional wired headphones.

“AirPods are simple and magical to use, with no switches or buttons, automatically connecting to all your Apple devices simply and seamlessly, and letting you access Siri with just a double tap,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing, during the Apple Event held in San Francisco Wednesday.

Apple Airpods are still unavailable in Australia until late October. But for those who want to embrace the wireless headphone technology, here are five things to know about Apple AirPods:

1. Automatic Setup. Airpods power on and off automatically as well as connect instinctively to a nearby iPhone, Apple Watch, iPad, iPod or Mac. With AirPods’ advanced sensors, they automatically play as soon as placed on the ears and pause when taken out.

2. Siri. A double tap on the Airpods activates Siri, which helps the user adjust volume, change the song, make a call or get a direction.

3. Battery. AirPods boast of five-hour listening time on a single charge. But its charging case, which doubles up as a portable charger, carries additional 24-hour listening time. A quick 15-minute charge on the case will power up the AirPods with three hours of listening time.

4. Compatibility. AirPods were not only designed for the new iPhone 7 models. The wireless headphones also work with iPhone 5, iPhone SE, and iPhone 6 models that run on iOS 10 as well as with Apple Watch 38 mm and 42 mm variants that run on watchOS 3. AirPods only work with the sixth generation of iPod touch but they are compatible with iPad mini 2 to 4 models, iPad Air and Air 2, and iPad Pro, both with the 9.7-inch and 12.9-inch models. The AirPods also connect to MacBooks than run on macOS Sierra.

5. Apple W1 chip. The heart of the AirPods is the Apple W1 chip, which delivers the headphones’ high quality sound and automatic setup without using too much battery life. The Apple W1 chip powers the dual optical sensors and accelerometers in each AirPod that activates a beam-forming microphone when the user speaks.

WATCH: Apple introduces AirPods [video]