Airpods release date: Apple reportedly shipping first pairs in the "next few weeks"

Apple CEO Tim Cook introduced the world to Airpods at Apple's iPhone event back in September. The wireless earbuds garnered a ton of hype (and mockery) but faded from the limelight after a series of delays hit their release date. Now they're reportedly just a few weeks from shipping. 

MacRumors obtained an email thread in which Cook himself reassured an anxious customer of the Airpods' impending arrival:

Customer's comment: "Give us a release date. I really bought in to the wireless vision you painted. Now I'm stuck waiting with my EarPods but can't charge my 7 at the same time, which I need to do at work. Let us know if it's a month or 6 months, because then I'll just buy some other wireless headphones." 

A "few weeks" is still vague, but it's at least a hint for eager Apple customers. The company was originally supposed to ship the Airpods by October; now we should hopefully see them by Christmas. 

Airpods utilize a Bluetooth connection to wirelessly transmit sound. An embedded W1 chip intuitively recognizes when a user is speaking or listening to filter noise and engages the Airpods' built-in microphone accordingly. Perhaps most groundbreaking is the integration of Siri, which allows users to give voice commands to make phone calls, adjust volume, look up directions and more.