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AirPods Aren't Really That Easy To Lose, But Apple Could Make Them Easier To Find

This article is more than 7 years old.

Ever since Apple's introduction of its wireless AirPods earbuds, there's been a meme running around that they're great so long as you don't lose them. In part, this is because even fans like the Wall Street Journal's Joanna Stern spent a lot of pixels talking about it. But it's also true that they're small, monochromatic, and, well, expensive. Apple will replace a single lost one for $69 but beginning with iOS 10.3 will also help you find misplaced AirPods. The limitations of locating Bluetooth devices with relatively short battery life mean this technical fix will only go so far, however. There's another level of AirPod recovery the company could implement -- and perhaps it will down the line.

First the new software solution: Find My AirPods will be integrated with Find My iPhone and combine two (and a half) basic capabilities to help you locate on or more misplaced earbuds. The first is a simple audible tone. If you're close enough to ping the AirPod with Bluetooth, it will emit a sound. It might not be easy to hear if buried in a couch cushion or a winter coat pocket. But if the AirPod still has power, you will hear from it.

The second capability uses the map to show you the last place the AirPods were in range of any Apple device you own they had been connected to. It is one and a half functions in the sense that it should work not only with the iPhone you had on a run you just took, but also if you happen to leave your AirPods near an iPad that has used them too. The Bluetooth on that iPad won't necessarily have to be currently linked to the AirPods to be used as a locator so long as the two had been paired.

All this is great if you lose your AirPods in your home or office or if you place them on a store counter. What it lacks is any sort of mechanism to reunite lost AirPods with their owners absent a search by said owners. Part of what makes the AirPods so great is that they use Apple's custom W1 chip, which makes pairing them easier than just about any Bluetooth device invented thus far. The custom silicon should make it rather easy for Apple to identify your AirPods as your AirPods, at least if they were registered.

It's not hard to imagine any pair purchased through Apple -- or even attached to one's iCloud account -- as being identified as belonging to a particular person. Then if you lost one and a good samaritan ended up finding it, Apple could theoretically offer to take back the "orphans" and return them to their owners. This could be done by pinging the iCloud account, confirming an address, and then shipping the lost AirPod back to its owner for a nominal fee of postage and packing -- perhaps $3 or so.

Apple wouldn't do this to make money of course but it would do it for self-interested reasons. First, it would help folks like WSJ's Stern who worry about losing their AirPods by adding a modicum of reassurance: Your $159 comes with at least some effort to reunite you and your AirPods, so go ahead and take the plunge. Second, it is a reminder of the kind of value add that you get from buying Apple, a company that goes out of its way to help make your life easier.

It is worth mentioning, that most of us who own AirPods aren't finding them especially easy to lose. This is likely a function of both good design and good behavior. If the AirPods fit you (and honestly 10-15% of folks likely won't be good prospective customers), they are unlikely to spontaneously pop out. I've had a very small number of moments where pressing down on the stalk has caused one of them to come a bit loose for me but they've stayed in just fine during numerous workouts.

On the behavior side, the easiest way to stay out of trouble is to (1) always carry the case (2) always return them to the case when not in use. As Daring Fireball's John Gruber relates, his misplaced AirPod moment came when he didn't follow rule #2. And a reader of his related the story about how one avoids losing expensive pens even though one always loses cheap one: When you have a thing of value, you treat it as valuable. iOS 10.3 will make it a bit easier to find that valuable thing should you mislay it. If AirPods are as big a hit going forward as I suspect they will be, perhaps the company will take things to the next level sometime soon.

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