With the launch of the iPhone 15 and 15 Pro series, Apple finally took a big step that everyone was awaiting — the company finally removed the Lightning connector and replaced it with USB-C across the entire iPhone lineup. It’s a step the company had been gradually taking with the iPads, and now, iPhones are finally using the same standardized ports everything else uses. Apple has also started updating its accessories to match, starting with the AirPods Pro and the wired EarPods.
It’s easy to forget sometimes, but if you’re not too fond of the design or price tag of Apple’s wireless earbuds, the regular wired EarPods have remained available as an alternative option over the years. They used to be bundled with iPhones back when the phones came with headphone jacks. Then, when the iPhone 7 removed the headphone jack, Apple released a version of the EarPods that used a Lightning plug instead of the 3.5 mm plug it formerly used. Now, as the iPhone is getting rid of the Lightning port, the EarPods are once again making it to the other side, with Apple releasing these earbuds with a USB-C end.
These are identical to the EarPods you’ve come to know for years. They still have a thin cable that looks like it’ll break anytime, and they still have the same in-ear, eartip-less signature design that we’ve come to know over the years. The only difference here is that they can be plugged into your smartphone using the USB-C port. Since they’re now USB-C earbuds, there’s a chance that they might also work on Android smartphones, since they also have the port. However, there’s no way of telling for sure.
Apple says that the earbuds only work on iPhones with USB-C running iOS 17, iPads with iPadOS 16.4 or higher, or Macs with macOS Monterey 12.6 or later. It doesn’t say whether this will work at all on non-Apple devices, because while it’s possible to connect them, compatibility could come down to other factors. We’d have to try them out to know for sure. If you’re planning on getting an iPhone 15, however, these are just $20, and you can buy them now.
