Apple Intros New In-Ear Headphones for iPod

During Apple's “Let's Rock” event two days ago, Steve Jobs, the company's CEO, announced a couple of new headphone sets (29$ and $79 respectively) that go great with the newly introduced iPods. In fact, they only go with the new iPods, as it turns out. But they're great!

The first new stereo headset introduced by Steve Jobs at the September 9 event was a new model, which ships with “this little thing” that sits on the cable, according to Apple's CEO. The “thing” sports volume controls, and a mic that can be used with the new recording application in the new 4G nano. The controls also let you play, pause or skip to the next or previous song through multiple clicks. It's exciting to see something like this on a headset not aimed at phone use. Even more exciting is the $29 price tag.

A second set of headphones announced by Jobs, featuring the same “Remote and Mic,” as Apple advertises it, is “engineered for superior acoustic accuracy, balance, and clarity.” This is achieved through two separate high-performance drivers — a woofer that handles bass and mid-range sounds, and a tweeter, for high-frequency sounds. The in-hear headphones also ship with three different sizes of ear tips. Apple notes that, despite all this, its biggest breakthrough with the new in-ear headphones is the price - “just $79.” As an iPod owner, you're probably pretty excited right about now. Well, not that we want to burst your bubble or anything, but...

...the Apple web page on which the new headphones are advertised reads that "the remote and mic are supported only by iPod nano (4th generation), iPod classic (120GB), and iPod touch (2nd generation). Audio is supported by all iPod models." That's the newly-introduced iPods!

A disappointed Apple Discussions user asked, “No mention of the iPhone? Anyone know if they will work with it?”

Sadly, Apple makes absolutely no mention of iPhone-compatibility with these headphones, or the cheaper ones. Theoretically, though, both headsets should work with the iPhone and iPhone 3G, but the controls and mic are likely to be incompatible.

For more tech specs, frequency response, size and weight, and more details on the newly-introduced headphones, visit Apple's iPod+iTunes page here. The new headphones are going to become available in October (next month).