these prototype AirPods are cursed (by Apple)

Added: 2026-05-12

[00:00:00]Oh, where's Austin? I wonder could be behind me. Could he?

[00:00:05]I died when this happened.

[00:00:10]What's up, guys? We're looking at some AirPod prototype cables, full units, cups, what have you. And I think we're going to start with the AirPods Max. So, this is my pair of first gen AirPods Max black. So, I do really like these headphones. I've actually been through four pairs, believe it or not, in the last 2 and 1/2 years. My first pair, just randomly, no signs of life, no power LED, wasn't taking a charge.

[00:00:37]Thankfully, Apple covered it under warranty. The second pair, the replacement, actually died while I was listening to it. I got a replacement for that one, thankfully. I gave those away and then I bought these brand new from Target. And yeah, we're going to look at some prototype AirPods Max accessories.

[00:00:54]I've got a set of DVT stage prototype ear cups in black. So along the sides here, we've got some small text written.

[00:01:04]Wait, >> hello.

[00:01:05]>> I'm not sure I ever noticed that before.

[00:01:09]So on the top here, we've got our right cup. And this one is stage DOE, design of experiments 1065F with an asset tag here. And on the left cup on the bottom here, this one is stage DVT design verification testing phase MA01-L with the asset tag. What I was taken aback by is that these aren't even a match. I don't know how I never noticed that.

[00:01:40]What's up, guys? Future Austin here. So, I actually did buy those AirPods cups mismatched like that. DVT/DOE pieces. No one scared me. I'm just silly. Got a really good deal on them actually. I I think I think that's uh maybe why I bought them cuz I needed a new pair. So, uh 43 bucks for a new pair of AirPod cups is a pretty good deal. As far as like comparing these to a production set, I am hardressed to find any real differences. So, the one that's more worn is obviously my personal pair and then this one is the prototype. As far as the fabric goes, I'm not really sure I can tell. These feel quite soft. These are not, but these need to go in the washing machine. So, anyways, serial numbers are in the same spot. And Cole will have to tell me if this matches this. Moving on, we've got this Apple AirPods Max audio cable. So, you can plug this into the charging port on the AirPods Max, listen to an iPod, they become a normal pair of headphones for an additional So, these are authentic, which is really cool. All right, next up, we've got this Apple Lightning to 3.5 mm female dongle.

[00:02:50]This looks to be the serial number. It looks like Config 3. I can confirm this does work. And this might be the single most boring prototype I have ever laid eyes on.

[00:03:02]Get back in there. Next up, we've got a set of destroyed Proto AirPods 3, which again, I don't know what it is with this episode, but I'm realizing now that these are definitely not a match. And that's a QR code straight up. That's not an asset tag. That one's a QR code. And now, I don't know if you can tell, but both of these have holes drilled through them.

[00:03:26]And I can confirm they do absolutely nothing. I mean, look at this. It's completely hollow. Why is it like that?

[00:03:32]Why would it be like that?

[00:03:32]>> The difference in the font used, the size of the text, the spacing. I don't know, guys. Let me know in the comments.

[00:03:39]Did I get scammed? What we can get is that these are ORT, which is ongoing reliability testing. It's basically testing post launch to identify possible defects, points of failure, which could be resolved in future batches. We got a left and a left. Okay, let's take a look at the case here, which has not actually been destroyed. Hey, wig. Hello, beautiful.

[00:03:59]>> Looking at the lid, we do not have any small text as you would find on a normal pair of AirPods 3. Let's see if it breaks my AirPods 3. Can I sync with this case? Let's see. Okay.

[00:04:12]Okay. Okay. Look at that. We do have the same serial number right there. I'm going to go ahead and pop this onto Apple's check coverage website. Purchase date not validated, which should check out actually, which leads me to believe that these might actually be legitimate.

[00:04:25]There's no way that this WOULD OKAY. WELL, I'M JUST GOING TO leave that thing in there and uh we'll check on it by the end of the video. Okay. Possible fire hazard. We've got a pair of AirPods one. Just the case this time. These are actually EVT stage prototypes. Really sad that it's been cracked right there.

[00:04:46]I believe it does nothing, but it's certainly very cool that this is transparent. I'm not sure what else to say here. I have plugged this one in. It does not do anything at all.

[00:04:57]So, this parrot does not seem to have been purposefully destroyed or sabotaged. It just kind of seems like it's dead. Maybe it had some contact with a USB killer. I really don't know.

[00:05:09]It does look like our batteries are still present inside, but >> yeah, I don't see any small texture.

[00:05:19]>> Hello. Hey. Hey guys. Come on. We're making a movie.

[00:05:24]>> This is John. Hi.

[00:05:26]>> Do you want to introduce yourself?

[00:05:27]>> I'm John.

[00:05:31]>> Hi, my name is John. I've been working with EOE for about 6 months now. I am a trained audio engineer and I've done a lot of critical listening and ear training. I thought John was a bit more qualified to reflect on the differences between production and pre-production headphones in terms of fidelity or just a a bit more of a sensitive ear.

[00:05:50]>> I'm really cool.

[00:05:51]>> He's he's really good at his job. So, give it up. Yay.

[00:05:55]>> We've got a pair of prototype Apple in-ear headphones, the 2008 model and the model with the inline controls.

[00:06:03]We've got our asset tag. Then nothing on the other side. And then on the barrel of the headphone jack on the top here, we've got the serial number. We've got EVT and then config 22. And that's really about it. I'm just listening to Matador by the Arctic Monkeys to do an AB comparison of the prototype versus the production model.

[00:06:24]The prototypes sound really, really bad.

[00:06:27]I'm guessing that maybe this particular sample was more for testing the inline controls or the microphone because I can't imagine that they were testing sound quality with these and being like, "Oh yeah, let's move on and keep keep going with this." It's like everything below 800 hertz is just gone. It's just not there at all. And everything is in like the mid high range. It sounds like a phone speaker. And I mean that in the worst possible way. It's like building a speaker out of like a like an aluminum can.

[00:06:57]>> Yeah. No, no, no. Those are terrible.

[00:06:59]Right. I've got a pair of uh production earpods here. And then this is the uh this is a prototype right here. And we can tell because it has this little Apple asset tag thing here. Some text here on the barrel as well. I'm sure somebody at Apple would hear that and know exactly what was going on with these. Uh but I sure don't. Honestly, I I like the sound of ear pods. And everybody can fight me if you disagree.

[00:07:20]There's something to be said about the the way an ear pod uh sounds when you actually when you like push it into your ear canal to get more bass. Some of you know what I'm talking about.

[00:07:34]>> Okay. Interesting. I'm not I'm not an expert >> trained audio engineer >> and like what what uh step of prototyping these headphones were in. I don't know what they were working on here, but I'm going to guess that they were working on a specific driver. And uh I would hope that it's not the low-end driver cuz it did sound a little bit flubby almost. Definitely doesn't sound as good as the production earpods.

[00:07:55]I would say that the the low end is uh just cut from these entirely and maybe they were working more on the mid-range or the high end on these. The high-end sounded identical to the production earpods. In general, I think that ear pods, you know, are a really good neutral. People may not think of this, but you know, when you're mixing and mastering music, one of the techniques that you use is to to listen to things in the environment that your target audience is going to be listening to it on, not just your big expensive reference speakers. Some of the the biggest mastering engineers today are going to be listening to earpods or they're going to be listening to their car speakers. I think it's kind of cool.

[00:08:32]The main takeaway when it comes to headphones is if it helps you enjoy your music more, then that is the better pair of headphones for you. I think Apple headphones are kind of a cultural phenomenon where, you know, it's a a single uh set of listening equipment that almost everybody has listened to and knows what it sounds like. So, yeah, this has been really fun. I haven't had the chance to listen to prototype headphones before, and I feel like I learned a little bit of something about how prototyping works. Thanks for watching. If you want to see more Apple prototype content, you can check the description where we have a playlist for uh more prototype videos. If you enjoyed this video, uh, you can like the video.

[00:09:07]That everybody knows they can like it. I don't need to tell you that you can like it. You can just like the video. You can subscribe to the channel to see more content like this. But you all know I'm going to tell you to subscribe anyway.

[00:09:18]So why am I saying that? Can I finish my song?

[00:09:20]>> That was really good.

[00:09:21]>> Okay. Yeah, go ahead. Finish your songs.

[00:09:23]Make it quick.

[00:09:29]>> Does it smell like it's on fire?

[00:09:33]>> Okay. Well, I'm definitely just gonna