With the release of AirPods in 2016, Apple has reaped the benefits of being one of the first to dip their toes in the wireless earbud market. In fact, just take a look around the hallways in the B Building to the cafeteria during lunch, you’ll see these tic-tacs popping out of almost everyone’s ears.

AirPods’ success is due to many factors: compatibility, convenience, and ease-of-use to name a few. Their design, modeled after the wired EarPods, is familiar to many of Apples’ users. Their sound quality is mediocre at best and their battery life might give you three hours of playback with an additional 24 hours of juice stored in the battery case.

AirPods were ahead of their time in 2016, but now in 2019 it seems that the rest of the market has caught up. With options from Sony, Google, Beats, Samsung, and recently Microsoft, wireless earbuds now feature water resistance, better sound quality, better battery life, hands-free voice assistants, and color options.

Apple decided to quietly roll out a 2nd generation of AirPods in late March that featured faster pairing, hands-free Siri, and an optional wireless charging battery case. They still had the same battery life, design, and sound quality. It was clear that Apple had to make further changes and changes they made!

On October 28, Apple announced AirPods Pro. Many would consider AirPods Pro to be the first real refresh since the original AirPods released in 2016. They feature two different degrees of noise cancellation, IPX4 water resistance, force-touch enabled gestures, and a new design.

First and foremost, the addition of noise cancellation. Noise cancellation has been a feature that many AirPods owners have asked for. There are two different degrees and three different noise cancelling modes to choose from. 

The first is the “Off” setting. This setting will optimize battery life and will sound similar to the regular first and second generation AirPods. The second mode “Active Noise Cancellation”, will remove any background noise to provide a more personalized listening experience. And finally, “Transparency Mode” will use both the power of the H1 chip and the silicone ear tips to balance your music and the background noise to provide a blend of a quality listening experience and an awareness of what’s around you.

Water resistance, another long awaited feature, has been a key selling point for people who enjoy working out often. The first and second generation AirPods didn’t come with adjustable tips or a water resistance rating. This meant that they would fall out of your ears and that moisture from sweat could permanently damage the sound quality. With the AirPods Pro, those who enjoy a good workout no longer have to be worried about damaging their AirPods.

The new design is also a selling point for the new AirPods Pro. Their customizable tips allow for a better and more comfortable fit. The integrated vents inside of the AirPods Pro make it feel as if there’s nothing in your ears. Their new force touch gestures, resembling the recently discontinued 3D Touch, mean that accidental taps are no longer an issue.

Although the new Airpods Pro come with all types of new innovations, the thing that draws people away from the AirPods Pro is its steep price of $249.

Mario Ammari, an AirPods Pro owner, commented, “The new AirPods are pretty great, I can just pair them to my phone and listen to whatever, whenever… I really like the sound quality.” The new AirPods Pro do have a 113 decibel sound capacity (which means that they’re really loud).

All in all, AirPods Pro are very convenient wireless earbuds with quality sound and a steep price to match. Are AirPods Pro really magical or is their only magic trick making your wallet disappear? You’re only $249 short of making that decision for yourself.