Skip to main content

Goodbye wires: Apple said to be working on wireless earbuds for the iPhone 7

For some time now, we’ve been reporting on rumors that the upcoming iPhone 7 won’t include a 3.5mm headphone jack, opting instead for a single Lightning connector. While this has a number of hypothetical advantages including an even slimmer, possibly waterproof phone, not everyone is thrilled about the idea.

It seems that in order to keep customers happy, Apple may be working on a much improved sequel to the company’s standard EarPods. Last week, 9to5 Mac’s Mark Gurman reported that Apple is in the prototype stages of producing a new pair of wireless earbuds for the iPhone 7, which may be known as the AirPods.

Recommended Videos

A trademark was filed for the AirPods name last year by a firm named Entertainment In Flight LLC, which may just be an Apple shell company, according to MacRumors. Whether or not this is the case, the name would be fitting for the product described by Gurman.

Unlike most Bluetooth earbuds, the product Apple is working on is said to be entirely wireless, similar to the Moto Hint. The earbuds could have a few buttons for taking calls and activating Siri, and would likely include different sized gels in order to fit all customers better. The earbuds would not include a port for charging, but would instead come with a carrying case that would charge them.

Gurman suggests that Apple is using resources acquired from the company’s 2014 acquisition of Beats, but while that firm had wireless offerings prior to its acquisition, that technology didn’t seem to be very different from what’s inside any of the other wireless headphones we’ve seen.

Unfortunately, it isn’t very likely that even if these headphones are planned to enter production, they’ll be included with your new iPhone 7. The AirPods would likely be sold separately as an alternative to the EarPods, which would have to be updated to use a Lightning connector, assuming the newest iPhone does actually ditch the 3.5mm jack.

Other companies are already selling Lightning-enabled headphones including Philips, Audeze, and others. In the meantime, Forbes reports that over 250,000 people have signed a petition simply called “Keep the standard headphone jack in your iPhones!”

Kris Wouk
Former Contributor
Kris Wouk is a tech writer, gadget reviewer, blogger, and whatever it's called when someone makes videos for the web. In his…
This one iPadOS 26 feature has me excited for the iPhone Fold
Semi-open state of a foldable iPhone concept

Samsung is set to launch the seventh generation of its Galaxy Z Fold book-style folding phone this Summer, but its biggest rival is yet to show its folding phone hand. Apple has long been expected to unveil an iPhone Fold, and the latest rumors suggest that it will launch next year.

I’ve used almost every folding phone released globally, with some exceptions for extremely obscure ones. While I've always been curious what an iPhone Fold would look like, I was fairly certain that Apple shouldn't build it, as I wasn’t sure they could deliver on one necessary feature.

Read more
These three iOS 26 beta features are my favorite so far
The Liquid Design lock screen on the iOS 26 developer beta 1 running on the iPhone 16 Pro

For fans of the Apple ecosystem, it’s been an incredible week. Apple’s annual WWDC 2025 keynote revealed a whole new Liquid Glass design that’s unified across all its platforms. Also unified across all platforms is the numbering scheme, with iOS 26 designed to represent the year of release… plus one. 

The new platform doesn’t deliver one of the key things I asked for — multitasking, which is available on iPadOS 26 — but it does bring several new features that make the iPhone far more usable. 

Read more
Will my iPhone get iOS 26? Here’s every supported model
We've got the full list of iOS 26 supported devices - find out if you're getting the new iPhone update
iOS 26 features on a series of iPhone screens

Apple announced iOS 26 at WWDC 2025, and the new iPhone update comes with a fresh new 'Liquid Glass' look and plenty of features - and there are loads of iOS 26 supported devices, which is great news.

And no, you haven't missed a volley of updates since iOS 18 in 2024. Apple has skipped a bunch of numbers, so instead of giving us iOS 19 in 2025, we got iOS 26 alongside iPadOS 26, macOS 26, watchOS 26 and tvOS 26. In short, Apple's brought its operating system numbering into line. Nice.

Read more