According to online news, AirPods is about to launch new products and will support up to 4 color combinations.
Editor’s note: This article is from WeChat public account “Ray Technology” (ID: Leitech), author Lei Technology.
AirPods (including the first generation and the second generation) are not good at work, and the price is not affordable, but because of its unique design and good connectivity, it has become the most popular. The iPhone accessory is also the most comprehensive wireless Bluetooth headset.
However, AirPods is not perfect, for example, noise reduction is not supported. It makes many users feel sorry.
However, in the beta version of iOS 13, netizens discovered a new AirPods.
This AirPods has been replaced with a new design, which is obviously larger in size, and the structure has changed from the previous half to the ear.
Taking into account the increase in overall size, netizens speculated that the new AirPods will finally add noise reduction, and the battery life has also been extended.
The new AirPods are more interesting than these , broke the news, this new product actually has four color combinations.
Both the previous AirPods and EarPods are white only, as this is the design philosophy that has continued since the iPod era.
After AirPods “fallen”, it must be said that Apple’s products have finally come to a new stage:
Almost all major products have a variety of color schemes.
Obviously, Apple is standing at the crossroads, and we should be mentally prepared for future Apple products.
“Legger” Cook
In fact, Apple is not playing with color.What big news, after all, the first generation of Mac is a colorful design, and the iPod is also full of colorful bodies.
However, during the time when Apple became the focus of the world, Apple’s products (mainly iPhone) have always been in a cool, low-key and fierce design style.
earlier iPhone only black (or dark empty gray) and white, iPad, MacBook and other products also monochrome or color-based, then treat the product features Apple has boundless enthusiasm for innovation, but The color is very cautious.
Until the iPhone 5s, 5c appear, Apple’s smart phone finally have a “color” other than black and white bicolor.
But apparently born 5c iPhone is more like a “accident”
Apple did not bet on this product is too much time, iPhone 5c configuration year-round behind the product
The use of a 32-bit A6 processor alone indicates that the iPhone 5c is not a member of Apple’s long-term strategy.
iPhone 5s, iPhone 6 series (including iPhone 6s The product, although there are new color combinations, but the amount is not worth mentioning in the entire mobile phone circle.
At that time, there would not be many people who think that Apple is playing a color strategy. After all, on the richness of color matching, Android friends have the advantage of crushing in quantity, and other products of Apple are basically only starry gray.
We think that in At that time, Apple did not have the need to play a “color war.”
The iPhone is in full swing, and the sales volume of each generation has reached a new high. Consumers say that there is ugly ugly here, but in the end, they are saving money to upgrade their iPhones to the latest (the total sales of iPhone 6 + iPhone 6 Plus is 222.4 million units).
But after the peak is downhill, the three iPhones launched in 2017 are not selling well, and the total sales of the iPhone X + iPhone 8 + iPhone 8 Plus are only “close to” 100 million units ( 2018 Counterpoint data).
Since 2018, Apple has no longer announced mobile phone sales, so we can only analyze the sales of 2018 new iPhones from the perspective of revenue.
From the release of the iPhone XS series, Apple’s sales have declined in each quarter.
iPhone sales fell 15% in the first quarter of 2019;
The second quarter fell 17%, while the third quarter fell 13.4%.
This side proves the 2018 iPhoneIn terms of sales volume, it is still difficult to improve. Homogenization and weak innovation have severely hurt consumers’ trust and confidence in the iPhone.
When we thought that Apple would go down a thousand miles, the price was lower, especially the colorful iPhone XR became Apple’s life-saving straw in 2018-2019.
In the first half of 2019, the iPhone XR became the world’s best-selling smartphone with 26 million units shipped.
If it weren’t for iPhone XR’s strong performance, Apple’s earnings in 2019 would be even worse.
The success of iPhone XR has multiple reasons, and the main reason should be the big price cut in early 2019.
But it’s undeniable that the iPhone XR after the price cut is still not cheap. The freshness brought by the colorful design makes this phone change from “smelly” to “true incense”, which has won the welcome of young users. .
Be aware that one of the best ways to attract users to buy an iPhone is to make a difference in appearance.
Consumers need a functional and personalized iPhone. Obviously, the iPhone XR is more responsive to the needs of consumers than the iPhone XS.
We believe that the success of the iPhone XR will point the way for Apple to have the current color iPhone 11 and 11 Pro series phones.
The reason why Cook became a “little person” is obvious. The cost of color design is not high, but it can compensate for the loss of freshness caused by lack of innovation under certain circumstances.
From the effect, Cook’s approach is correct. The dark green color of the iPhone 11 Pro has been swept away. The green and purple color of the iPhone 11 has been in short supply, so that consumers have forgotten the upgrade of the iPhone 11 series. And does not support 5G networks.
The performance of AirPods is also the same. For a true wireless Bluetooth headset that emphasizes portability, it has not been able to bring more innovations in terms of functionality. It is impossible to attract consumers by adding noise reduction or extending battery life. Upgrade.
With the new color scheme, it should be a good practice.
ChasingHolding color is a helpless move?
Aside from Apple, chasing colors in all walks of life is not a rare phenomenon.
Good color matching can attract consumers’ attention. Color psychology has long been a long-standing, and many industries, including catering and food, have already used color psychology to guide product design.
If it doesn’t happen to Apple, the event itself is not even “news.”
Apples in early years rarely touched color matching, but the reason is easy to understand.
In addition to sticking to the past design style, it is more important that the surface treatment process was not mature at the time.
At that time, Apple’s mobile phones were basically metal casings. The coloring of black and white and gray was the lowest cost and the most mature technology. Other colors were not only difficult to match, but the yield was not high.
It’s not uncommon to drop paint on early iPhones
But now it’s different. The iPhone is basically a glass backshell. The color is the one for the glass backshell, but it is just one or several layers.
And AirPods are made of plastic casings. When it comes to plastic coloring, Apple can be said to be an expert in the industry.
In the final analysis, it’s now The colorful color matching trend is not unrelated to the progress of the coloring process.
Apple has launched a variety of colorful products, although there are commercial considerations, but from the overall environment, this is more like a trend, just like multi-camera, full-screen design.
In addition, Xiaolei does not think that color can determine the fate of the new AirPods. As a Bluetooth headset, the functionality is always the first. The AirPods currently on sale can be said to have the perfect balance between design and function. And there is almost no major pain point in the process of use, the new AirPods must come up with enough differentiated performance to awaken consumers’ desire to upgrade.
More importantly, from the early renderingsAdding a new color scheme, the new AirPods are not necessarily able to surpass the previous work in terms of face value.
Cook becomes “lust”, Apple Being “colorful” is not a bad thing, but we don’t want this to be Apple’s “killer.”
It is certainly a must-do in the competition of products, but it is definitely not the core.
The trick of adding color is not likely to try everything, and the freshness brought by color design has a marginal effect.
If Apple simply wants to make products sell better, then direct price cuts will obviously be more effective.
Although everyone is a “lean”, it is obviously not as simple as trying to make a good product.