TORONTO -- As kids, teens and young adults alike tackled wrapping paper Christmas morning, many had only one thought on their minds: is this the year I finally get those AirPods I asked for?
For a lot of people, it seems that answer is no. But the worst part? The biggest injustice, they say?
Many received what they’re calling “Fake Airpods.”
AirPods are Apple’s wireless earbuds, which boast up to five hours of listening time, according to the tech giant’s website.
They also cost CAD$219. And that’s just for the basic model. For another $100, you can get the AirPods Pro, which are sweat- and water-resistant and have a customizable fit.
This holiday season, parents looking to cut corners -- and avoid buying a teenager who can’t even remember to clean their room an extremely expensive tech device they will likely lose in a week -- found every other alternative to fill the brief of a) earbuds, b) without wires.
Skypods, Smartpods, Souljapods -- every pod possible, it seems, except the coveted AirPods.
The disappointment is real. So real that numerous downtrodden, heinously wronged folk took to Twitter to express their despair.
A Twitter moment called “The great AirPods disappointment of Christmas 2019” compiled some of the best of the sadness.
Users tweeted out they had specifically asked for “AIRpods,” and then attached photos of the imitation brand they had received instead. Some Twitter users lamented that their siblings had received the Apple product instead of them.
In one tweet, a photo-shopped Baby Yoda clutches a pair of socks underneath the caption “Me watching my brother get AirPods and an Apple Watch while I get socks.”
Others tweeted out their own versions of AirPods. One user twisted Q-tips into the familiar “L” shape of the iconic Pod. Another gushed about how their Mom had gotten them AirPods and was the “best when it comes to Christmas” -- and then attached a picture showing an empty hand with a sketch of earbuds drawn on top of it.
AirPods were first introduced in 2016 when Apple decided that the headphone jack was a thing of the past and removed it from all of its phones moving forward. At the beginning, the move was soundly mocked, and AirPods were viewed as inaccessible and silly.
But after celebs started repping them, the AirPods quickly became a status symbol. What better way to signal your wealth and success than by having two strips of white protruding from your ears at all times?
Once the AirPods caught on, it wasn’t long before other companies put out their own wireless earbuds, many with significantly smaller price tags than Apple’s.
For the uber-trendy, it seems a cheaper copy is not good enough.
But there’s good news for those who didn’t receive AirPods this Christmas, or who were broke enough to never consider asking for them in the first place.
Model Bella Hadid was spotted wearing headphones WITH WIRES only a few days ago -- an event so thrilling it warranted a Vogue story and a storm of tweets. Maybe the wires are coming back.
The original earbuds, with wires, are still on sale on Apple’s website. They go for only $40.
