This Apple-inspired mini AirPods concept shrinks the classic earbuds down to the size of a bean!

Zarruck Taiseer’s mini AirPods Pro concept shrinks the classic AirPods to the size of two beans and the width of the charging case to the size of a pocket mirror.

AirPods are touchy creatures. While touch sensors are literally integrated into the design and construction of AirPods, the earbuds are also temperamental. Depending on the shape and size of your ear, users wear AirPods differently and give it some time, and each user knows the exact positioning that gets the best sound out of their AirPods.

Inspired by the iconic design language of Apple, 3D artist, and graphic designer Zarruck Taiseer conceptualized a pair of AirPods Pro that scale down the current model to the size of a bean. From its charging case to its silicone earbud covers, everything about Taiseer’s mini AirPods Pro concept is sleek in stainless steel and Polly Pocket-sized. One problem this concept does fix about the current model of AirPods on the market is the bulkiness of its charging case.

While the AirPods’s current charging case takes up no more room in your pocket than a small rock might, the girth and length of the charging case make up more bulk in our pockets than we might like. Taiseer’s mini AirPods Pro concept slims down the charging case to match the side of a half-finished stack of mini Post-Its. The narrow width of Taiseer’s charging case would fit snugly in the same pocket where you keep your wallet.

Wireless earbuds have come a long way since their conception in the 60s. Even today, we’re still pumping out endless iterations of the classic earbud because even the smallest of details matter during operation. While we seem to be downsizing our luxury items across industries, Taiseer’s Apple concept might benefit from a slightly larger build and more secure grips to ensure the smaller size of the AirPods doesn’t affect their hold inside our ears.

Designer: Zarruck Taiseer

The post This Apple-inspired mini AirPods concept shrinks the classic earbuds down to the size of a bean! first appeared on Yanko Design.

AirPods Accessories that are the best investments for all Apple lovers!

My AirPods are one of my prized Apple possessions! I use them multiple times in a day, whether’s it’s for calls, to watch videos during work breaks, or to listen to some pumped-up tunes during my evening jogs. You’ll find them around me almost all the time. I’m sure there are other AirPods addicts in the house, and for those individuals, here’s a collection of AirPods accessories that we swear by! From a phone case that not only holds but charges your AirPods (and your phone) to an Apple Watch band that gives you a place to holster your AirPods, these nifty product designs will completely elevate and enhance your AirPods experience. They function as the perfect sidekick to your AirPods, either by taking the best care of them, boosting their functionality, or by making sure you never lose them again. These are a must-have for all AirPods fanatics!

Power1 takes portability and functionality to a new level giving you a system that’s doubly useful because it doesn’t just charge and protect for your iPhone… it charges and protects your Airpods too and ensures they are always with you and ready for use. Designed as an evolution of traditional battery cases, Power1 not only holds an extra battery but also manages your Airpods like no other system. Armed with a proprietary design, Power1 comes with two modes. One, where it charges your Airpods only (up to 30 times on a full battery), and a second mode that charges your Airpods as well as your phone, giving both gadgets full advantage of Power1’s 3000mAh internal battery. Power1 uses its intelligent power monitoring system to see which device is running low on charge, supplying power to them accordingly. Using its USB-C port, when you plug Power1 into an outlet, its priority charging feature kicks in, routing power to your phone and Airpods first before charging its own internal battery.

Antón’s redesign turns the Apple AirPods Pro case from something that looks like a ‘box of floss’ to a really classy-looking ‘chewing-gum-stick dispenser’. The rounded-box shape gets ditched for a taller and sleeker capsule shape, with lids on both ends, allowing individual earpieces to fit into each end of the case. Sure, the redesign presents some structural issues – like where would one place the Qi charging coil or the battery, but what Antón’s concept really provides is a sense of variety, while sticking to Apple’s design philosophy of building sleek products. The redesigned AirPods Pro case also fundamentally changes the UX of the AirPods. The two separate openings house the left and right earphones, and while they do that, they also hint at behavior that’s common within the AirPods user community of using just one AirPod at a time to maximize battery life.

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Elago’s products are just sensible and help you use your Apple products more efficiently. Take for instance the Wristfit, a band for your Apple Watch that lets you conveniently dock your Airpods in them too. At the time of their release, the Airpods were criticized for being too ‘easy to lose’. This spawned a wide variety of products like the Elago Airpods strap that helped you secure your expensive earpieces in place, eliminating the danger of losing them. The Wristfit is another such ‘sensible’ product that simply gives you the ability to dock your Airpods on your Apple Watch. Keeping them in a place that’s easy to access, the Wristfit secures the Watch around your wrist, and the Airpods right on the strap like a sort of holster for your earphones. Push them right in when you’re not using them and you won’t have to worry about them at all.

Designed as a sleeker upgrade to Genki’s Bluetooth adapter from 2018, the Genki Audio Lite is a tiny, plug-and-play Bluetooth module that fits right into your Nintendo Switch Lite, allowing you to connect Bluetooth earphones and speakers to your gaming console. The Genki Audio Lite’s tiny size adds a great deal of functionality to the already capable device. You can now use your TWS earphones, AirPods, or even the AirPods Max with it, allowing for a portable, private gaming session. The Genki Audio Lite comes with Bluetooth 5.0 and is equipped with aptX™ high fidelity low latency codecs that provide lag-free audio while you game.

For people who appreciate quality, lifestyle brand VogDUO has come up with an iPhone 12 series stand and AirPods Pro case made from Genuine Italian leather. Both these accessories can be used in conjunction for a hitch-free late-night binge-watching session when you don’t want to wake up your grumpy mate with loud audio on the speakers. The Airpods Pro earbuds can be positioned right behind the iPhone 12 (in a standing position) which is great for organizing your favorite Apple accessory. The brand gives you reason enough to invest in functional accessories made from high-quality materials that not only protect your beloved gadgets from damage or scratches but also add to your style quotient in an unparalleled way.

Elago’s AW6 cases for the AirPods help cover Apple’s music journey from beginning to end. Designed to mimic the iPod Classic’s jog-dial, the silicone sleeve for the AirPods are a nice bookmark in time, while also acting as a protective cover for your AirPods case. Compatible with 1st and 2nd gen AirPods, the sleeve comes with a slot for the charger as well as a carabiner clip so you can hang that piece of audio-nostalgia from your belt-loop or your backpack… and that tiny hole right above the menu for the charging light just sweetens the deal!

Twelve South has come up with their AirFly Pro. A wireless headphone adaptor, AirFly Pro is “the missing link between wireless headphones and wired headphone jacks.” It lets you connect your AirPods, AirPods Pro, or wireless headphones of any brand to devices (lacking Bluetooth connectivity) with a 3.5mm headphone jack. The dongle allows two people to listen to music or watch a movie, making it a splitter! You can finally share/watch things wirelessly with your friends if you’ll share the same taste in entertainment that is. The AirFly Pro also connects with the Nintendo Switch, enabling you to listen to the audio using your favorite wireless headphones while playing your favorite game!

Rather than storing your Airpods case in your pants, and rather than having a floss-box-shaped case that doesn’t do much, Jung’s revisited the entire product altogether. The new Airpods case houses a screen (a pretty small one) and has the ability to snap to a smartwatch. When it does, the Airpods case BECOMES the smartwatch, mirroring contents onto its own screen. The smartwatch sitting under the Airpods case comes with its own b/w screen that shows the time and date and becomes a true smartwatch only when you mount the Airpods case onto it. When mounted, you can read messages, track your fitness, and obviously listen to music. The band around your wrist not only transforms your Airpods case into something slightly more meaningful but also gives you a proper place to put it, rather than in your pockets.

Designed to ensconce your $249 AirPods Pro in a rather dapper-looking encasement, Elago’s leather case for the AirPods Pro wraps your portable earphones in 100% veggie-tanned natural cowhide leather. Stamped out of a single leather sheet, the case comes together to protect as well as differentiate your case from the bunch. Available in black, brown, burgundy, and blue, the case comes with a brass fastener and a slim brass carabiner that you can use to hang the case from your bag, belt-loop, or anywhere else. Each case even comes with a conveniently placed cutout on its base to let you plug a lightning cable in while charging. Neat!

Designed as a neat-looking carbon-fiber bodied module that attaches directly to the base of your Airpod case, the AirPodPal gives your favorite earphones wireless charging abilities… a much-needed upgrade, considering the iPhone and Apple Watch both support wireless charging. Its slender body also happens to house a 1200 mAh battery which not only extends the life of your AirPods by three whole days but also serves as an emergency power bank for your smartphone, proverbially knocking two birds with a single stone. The AirPodPal comes housed in a sturdy carbon fiber body, giving it a visual contrast when plugged into the white plastic AirPod case. The carbon fiber makes the AirPodPal both lightweight and resilient at the same time because after all, it needs to be as portable and sturdy as the AirPods themselves.