One of the small joys in life is opening a new phone and digging through all the bundled accessories. Even though you know you probs won’t use the bundled earphones, it makes you feel good knowing there’s an extra pair in case you need ‘em. It now looks like Apple won’t ship upcoming iPhones with EarPods in the box, and it’s a shame.
We have to remember that these are the same people who removed the 3.5 audio jack from its devices four years ago in a bid to push more people to the Bluetooth AirPods. This is all according to analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who says in his latest report that the company may release an iPhone this year with no free earphones in the box for the first time ever.
He also said that Apple may just give customers who buy the new devices a discount on its AirPods. Which is a nice gesture if we didn’t need to go to the shop again just to give Apple more money for something we’re used to getting bundles. Does this mean that the iPhones will cost slightly less? Knowing Apple, not a chance.
When the company removed the headphone jack, earphones had to be connected to the Lightning port via a tiny dongle that you could easily misplace. At least the dongle was free… until that was removed from the box too in 2018.
You have a choice
Fear not, however, because there are other earphones that you can buy for far less than the AirPods that currently retail for R3,500 for the base pair, and up to R5,500 for the noise-cancelling AirPods Pro.
| Device | Price | Pro’s |
| 1More Stylish True Wireless Earphones | R2,000 | Comfortable fit |
| Samsung Galaxy Buds | R2,000 | Good value |
| Samsung Galaxy Buds+ | R2,800 | Great microphone and battery life |
| Sony WF-1000XM3 | R4,000 | Best sound out of all of these |
| Huawei Freebuds 3 | R2,500 | Looks great |
| Soundcore Anker Liberty Air | R3,000 | Impressive battery and range |
| Xiaomi Mi True Wireless Earbuds | R1,000 | Cheapest in the bunch |
