Apple Secretly Discontinues iPhone Bluetooth Headset

Apple has discontinued the iPhone Bluetooth Headset, eagle-eyed readers have pointed out to AppleInsider. Reportedly, the discovery was made on Saturday, with visitors of Apple's online store still being able to add the accessory as a purchased item to their carts. The wireless headset compatible only with the Apple iPhone is still listed on Apple's web site as a purchasable iPhone accessory.

Although listed as discontinued upon accessing its dedicated web page on Apple's online store, iPhone fans browsing the site for accessories can still see the iPhone Bluetooth Headset listed as the first item in a longer list of available accessories for the handset.

Describing the iPhone Bluetooth Headset, Apple says users can “answer iPhone calls wirelessly with this compact, lightweight Bluetooth headset. A single button lets you answer and end calls easily. And the lithium-ion battery delivers up to 5.5 hours of talk time and up to 72 hours of standby time,” according to Apple. However, upon visiting the product page, customers learn that Apple's $99.00 iPhone Bluetooth Headset has actually been discontinued, without warning (pictured above). Furthermore, by clicking the Add to Cart button, users are added the value of the headset, rather than be denied the purchase (second picture).

Apple first introduced the single-button headset in June 2007 alongside the first generation iPhone. The device originally sold for $129 and was bundled with a Bluetooth Travel Cable and a Dual Dock that served as a charger for both the headset and the iPhone itself. Apple later dropped the price of the Bluetooth headset to $99, coinciding with the iPhone 3G launch, but also stopped including Dual Dock – now discontinued. Probably worth noting to some is that the Apple iPhone Bluetooth Travel Cable is still available for purchase.

Apple doesn't always properly announce the discontinuing of a product, or even more relevant changes, such as hardware upgrades. One example is Apple's "best selling Mac," the polycarbonate 13-inch MacBook. The company recently updated the system with a 2.0 GHz Core 2 Duo (1066MHz frontside bus) processor, double the original memory and Nvidia 9400M graphics, keeping the ports intact, as well as the price ($999). Apple had made no official announcement of the respective changes with the original MacBook.