These are used in just about every good microphone out there. Those ports at the bottom of the AirPods house the beam forming mics A motion sensor will detect taps and eliminates the need for a physical or capacitive button entirely, making for a less cluttered exterior. Honestly, I believe this is among the more elegant solutions that Apple has come up with. These sensors are meant to enable the double-tap-to-launch-Siri function. As Apple Insider describes it, Apple is investigating “an enhanced headphone device that can recognize a user's voice, activates multiple on-board microphones, turns on a noise suppression system and directs beamforming mics toward a user's head.”Īpple claims to have embedded motion sensors into the AirPods as well. While the patent was filed in 2013, it’s quite clear that the AirPods are using the same technology. An active microphone will consume more power than a passive accelerometer, which would trigger only when a certain frequency is reached. Why would you do that? I assume it’s to cut-down on power consumption. The VAD, which is an accelerometer, detects vibrations caused by the user, essentially detecting “voice activity.” When activity is detected, the AirPod will turn on microphones, noise-cancelling systems, etc. The patent mentions a Voice Activity Detector (VAD). At first I assumed it was a mic, Apple is, after all, known to use fancy terminology for even the most basic devices.ĭigging a little deeper, I discovered an Apple patent application that was filed all the way back to 2014. To enable all of this, Apple embedded a bunch of sensors in the AirPods.įor me, the most intriguing part of the AirPods was the voice accelerometer. AirPods will sync across all signed in devices if you pair it with one device.Beam-forming microphones actively eliminate background noise and focus on your speech.The AirPods are smart enough to detect when you start talking and turns on beam-forming microphones when you do.Playback resumes once they’re reinserted. Taking out one or both AirPods from your ear pauses media playback on your device.AirPods can detect when they’re in your ear and when not.What, for example, is a voice accelerometer? What really is the W1 chip that Apple’s so chuffed about?īefore we break down the hardware, let’s break down what the AirPods’ capabilities. If you’ll head to Apple’s page for the AirPods, you’ll notice that there’s a lot of geeky stuff mentioned there. That said, the AirPods certainly piqued my interest and they deserve a closer look.

Apple’s September Keynote has come and gone and I think I can safely say that there were no real surprises on the hardware front.

Airpod shotty transparent