Tim Cook Says He Expects AirPods to Ship Over 'Next Few Weeks' in Email to Customer

airpods-duoMany customers are anxiously anticipating the release of Apple's wireless AirPods, originally slated to launch in October but later delayed. Fortunately, the wait may soon be over.

MacRumors has been forwarded an email in which Apple CEO Tim Cook, responding to a customer, allegedly said he anticipates AirPods to begin shipping "over the next few weeks."

Customer's comment: "Give us a release date. I really bought in to the wireless vision you painted. Now I'm stuck waiting with my EarPods but can't charge my 7 at the same time which I need to do at work. Let us know if it's a month or 6 months, because then I'll just buy some other wireless headphones."

Tim Cook's response: "Thanks for your note. Sorry for the delay---we are finalizing them and I anticipate we will begin to ship over the next few weeks."

MacRumors has verified the email's full headers appear to originate from Apple's corporate servers, while Apple executives are known to respond to customers on occasion, but as a boilerplate disclaimer, it should be noted these emails can of course be faked. Apple did not immediately respond to request for comment.

Apple has so far only said it needed "a little more time" before AirPods are ready for customers, while conflicting rumors have pointed towards release dates between December and January, offering little clarity. AirPods remain listed as both "coming soon" and "currently unavailable" on different sections of Apple's website.

Related Roundup: AirPods 4
Buyer's Guide: AirPods (Neutral)
Related Forum: AirPods

Popular Stories

iOS 26

iOS 26.2 Coming Soon With These 8 New Features on Your iPhone

Thursday December 11, 2025 8:49 am PST by
Apple seeded the second iOS 26.2 Release Candidate to developers earlier this week, meaning the update will be released to the general public very soon. Apple confirmed iOS 26.2 would be released in December, but it did not provide a specific date. We expect the update to be released by early next week. iOS 26.2 includes a handful of new features and changes on the iPhone, such as a new...
AirPods Pro Firmware Feature

Apple Releases New Firmware for AirPods Pro 2 and AirPods Pro 3

Thursday December 11, 2025 11:28 am PST by
Apple today released new firmware designed for the AirPods Pro 3 and the prior-generation AirPods Pro 2. The AirPods Pro 3 firmware is 8B30, up from 8B25, while the AirPods Pro 2 firmware is 8B28, up from 8B21. There's no word on what's include in the updated firmware, but the AirPods Pro 2 and AirPods Pro 3 are getting expanded support for Live Translation in the European Union in iOS...
Google maps feaure

Google Maps Quietly Added This Long-Overdue Feature for Drivers

Wednesday December 10, 2025 2:52 am PST by
Google Maps on iOS quietly gained a new feature recently that automatically recognizes where you've parked your vehicle and saves the location for you. Announced on LinkedIn by Rio Akasaka, Google Maps' senior product manager, the new feature auto-detects your parked location even if you don't use the parking pin function, saves it for up to 48 hours, and then automatically removes it once...
iOS 26

iOS 26.4 and iOS 27 Features Revealed in New Leak

Friday December 12, 2025 10:56 am PST by
Macworld's Filipe Espósito today revealed a handful of features that Apple is allegedly planning for iOS 26.4, iOS 27, and even iOS 28. The report said the features are referenced within the code for a leaked internal build of iOS 26 that is not meant to be seen by the public. However, it appears that Espósito and/or his sources managed to gain access to it, providing us with a sneak peek...
Foldable iPhone 2023 Feature 1

Apple to Make More Foldable iPhones Than Expected [Updated]

Tuesday December 9, 2025 9:59 am PST by
Apple has ordered 22 million OLED panels from Samsung Display for the first foldable iPhone, signaling a significantly larger production target than the display industry had previously anticipated, ET News reports. In the now-seemingly deleted report, ET News claimed that Samsung plans to mass-produce 11 million inward-folding OLED displays for Apple next year, as well as 11 million...
iOS 26

Apple Releases iOS 26.2 With Alarms for Reminders, Lock Screen Changes, Enhanced Safety Alerts and More

Friday December 12, 2025 10:10 am PST by
Apple today released iOS 26.2, the second major update to the iOS 26 operating system that came out in September, iOS 26.2 comes a little over a month after iOS 26.1 launched. ‌iOS 26‌.2 is compatible with the ‌iPhone‌ 11 series and later, as well as the second-generation ‌iPhone‌ SE. The new software can be downloaded on eligible iPhones over-the-air by going to Settings >...
AirTag 2 Mock Feature

Apple AirTag 2: Four New Features Found in iOS 26 Code

Thursday December 11, 2025 10:31 am PST by
The AirTag 2 will include a handful of new features that will improve tracking capabilities, according to a new report from Macworld. The site says that it was able to access an internal build of iOS 26, which includes references to multiple unreleased products. Here's what's supposedly coming: An improved pairing process, though no details were provided. AirTag pairing is already...
iOS 26

15 New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 26.2

Friday December 5, 2025 9:40 am PST by
Apple is about to release iOS 26.2, the second major point update for iPhones since iOS 26 was rolled out in September, and there are at least 15 notable changes and improvements worth checking out. We've rounded them up below. Apple is expected to roll out iOS 26.2 to compatible devices sometime between December 8 and December 16. When the update drops, you can check Apple's servers for the ...
maxresdefault

iOS 26 Code Leak Reveals Apple Smart Home Hub Details

Thursday December 11, 2025 4:02 pm PST by
Apple is working on a smart home hub that will rely heavily on the more capable version of Siri that's coming next year. We've heard quite a bit about the hub over the last two years, but a recent iOS 26 code leak provides additional insight into what we can expect and confirms rumored features. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. Macworld claims to have access to an ...

Top Rated Comments

yaxomoxay Avatar
118 months ago
Surprised Tim responded.

The person who wrote to him was so rude-very unprofessional.
If you write to Apple's CEO (or MS or any big corp or government agency) you don't exchange pleasantries. A CEO skims through the emails that are passed to him by his staff... You have to be as direct as possible; the CEO's time is very valuable both in term of money and needs. Not filling the email with crap is actually a form of respect.
That email was not rude, it was direct.
Score: 49 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Corrode Avatar
118 months ago
The demanding tone of the customer's e-mail was incredibly rude. However valid his frustration, there's no excuse for that.
Seriously? If this is what you deem "incredibly rude", you must not spend much time on the internet.
Score: 43 Votes (Like | Disagree)
bluespark Avatar
118 months ago
The demanding tone of the customer's e-mail was incredibly rude. However valid his frustration, there's no excuse for that.
Score: 28 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Robert.Walter Avatar
118 months ago
How about shipping an actual Pro Mac? (e.g. any/all of: 32 GB RAM option MBP, 17" MBP, Mac Pro, new mini etc?)
And I thought this was a thread about AirPods...
Score: 25 Votes (Like | Disagree)
yaxomoxay Avatar
118 months ago
Why is it ok because everyone else is more rude "on the internet?" If someone talked to me like that in person, I'd laugh in their face and walk away.

"Give us the release date". The entire tone of the message was rude and childish.

I want these earphones as much as anyone, but emailing the CEO and demanding a release date lets us know that guy is very self entitled. There is a much more professional way to address these concerns directly to the CEO (if you think that's a good way to do it), and he chose not to.
Have you ever wrote or received a note from someone who's paygrade is way above yours? That email was not rude, it was direct. Let me break it down for you:

Give us a release date. --> The question/request.

I really bought in to the wireless vision you painted. Now I'm stuck waiting with my EarPods but can't charge my 7 at the same time which I need to do at work. --> The reason for the request, both in terms of needs and frustration/satisfaction.

Let us know if it's a month or 6 months, because then I'll just buy some other wireless headphones. --> Reiteration of the question/request, with possible workaround for the person posing the question.
Score: 21 Votes (Like | Disagree)
thadoggfather Avatar
118 months ago
Surprised he didn't just say "I've been using them since before iPhone 7 launch, to my recollection not once have they fallen out of my ears, they're the BEST earbuds we've EVER created -- thanks for asking" and leave it at that,

Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)