Apple announced the AirPods at the iPhone 7 launch event; a year later, the company is already updating its wireless earbuds — well at least its case. Even though the AirPods are still backordered in most stores, the company just announced a new optional charging case.
The AirPods case still works and looks more or less the same. But the indicator light is now outside of the case so that you can check the status of the battery without having to open the case. Why is that? Because you can just put it on the AirPower wireless charging pad and forget about it.
The previous AirPods case also had an LED, but it was located inside the case. It was blinking orange when it was charging and solid green when it was done. It looked like this:
If you try to pair your AirPods with an Android phone or a PC, you have to press the pairing button on the back of the case until the LED blinks. The pairing process is now less awkward as you don’t have to keep the case open while you fiddle with your phone at the same time.
On Apple devices, you don’t have the same issue, as you just have to open the case and pair it with your phone once. It is then automagically paired with all your Apple devices.
The AirPower charger is coming next year, so don’t expect to be able to buy this optional AirPods case just yet.
