There are two ways to consider the conundrum that is the charging situation with the Apple AirPods 4, which won’t come with a charging cable.
On one hand, that’s bad — if you don’t already own a good USB-C cable. That’s actually a possibility. Yes, in 2024. There’s a very real chance that someone who has only owned an iPhone that has a Lightning port may purchase these earbuds. And there’s a very real possibility that said purchaser has only owned AirPods that also charged via Lightning. You can scoff at such a person all you want, but you’d be wrong to do so.
On the other hand, this is a very good thing. Because there’s a better-than-average chance that you — person who’s buying AirPods 4 — already have a USB-C cable on hand. It’s long been the standard on Android. It’s long been included with non-Apple earbuds and headphones. Hell, I spent more money than I should have to replace an otherwise perfectly good mouse when a new version was released with USB-C. The reversible connector isn’t perfect — the various options for charging and data speeds can be maddening when you grab something that doesn’t work the way you think it should. (And don’t get me started on Thunderbolt.)
There’s one other major caveat here. There actually are two flavors of AirPods 4. Apple’s playing more than a little bit of sleight-of-hand with the name. The $129 model doesn’t include active noise cancellation — and the case does not support wireless charging. You’re going to need a USB-C cable to charge these AirPods 4. If you want wireless charging and ANC, you’ll need to pony up the extra $50.
That part is nobody’s fault but Apple’s. While it consolidated the AirPods nomenclature into three distinct models — AirPods 4, AirPods Pro, and AirPods Max — it’s only a matter of time before someone goes for the cheapest option, only to be more than annoyed that placing the case on a wireless charger does absolutely nothing, and that there’s no cable in the box. The AirPods Max, by the way, still come with a charging cable (now USB-C) for the obvious reason of not having wireless charging.
Personally, I think the convenience of wireless charging — and the inclusion of ANC — is worth the extra $50. (We’ll have to see how much of a difference there ends up being between the AirPods 4 with ANC and the AirPods Pro.) I only ever charge my AirPods Pro case wirelessly, because I don’t ever have to charge them more than once a day.
In all likelihood, Apple will do whatever it can to upsell folks to the $179 version of the AirPods 4. If someone goes cheaper, fine. Either way, eschewing the charging cable means less material, less shipping weight, and ultimately less cost for Apple. Less post-consumer waste, too.
And that’s a good thing.
