Sony today announced the launch of the LinkBuds, which are the company's latest true wireless earbud product. The LinkBuds have a unique open air design that's not quite like any other earbud on the market.
Available in black or white, the LinkBuds have a donut-shaped earpiece that goes in the ear. As with the AirPods 3, there are no foam or silicone tips included with the LinkBuds, with the naked earpiece fitting directly inside the ear.
The hole in the LinkBuds, which is an open ring driver, lets users listen to music while also hearing the ambient surroundings, which is similar to other headphone products like sound-equipped sunglasses and bone conduction options.
Because Sony's LinkBuds do not obstruct ambient sound, they are ideal for situations where listeners might need to be aware of their surroundings, like walking, running, biking, and riding public transportation.
The earbuds are held in place by a secondary bulb that has a little fin, and Sony describes them as ultra-small, light, and able to stay in the ears. They are IPX4 splash and sweat proof, plus an Adaptive Volume Control feature optimizes music to the sound in the ambient environment. The battery in the LinkBuds lasts for 5.5 hours, and there is a charging case that provides a total of 17.5 hours of listening time.
We've been focusing on deals on physical products over the past few weeks, but Black Friday is also a great time of year to purchase a streaming membership. Some of the biggest services have great discounts for new and select returning members this week, including Disney+, Hulu, Paramount+, Peacock, and more.
Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When you click a...
Sunday November 23, 2025 8:48 am PST by Joe Rossignol
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In his Power On newsletter today, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said that iOS 27 will be similar to Mac OS X Snow Leopard, in the sense that Apple is focused on improving "quality and underlying performance" over adding new features.
Gurman said there is one exception to this rule, though, as he expects...
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Keep reading...
We're only a few days away from Black Friday, which will take place on Friday, November 28 in 2025. As always, this will be the best time of the year to shop for great deals, including popular Apple products like AirPods, iPad, Apple Watch, and more. In this article, the majority of the discounts will be found on Amazon.
Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When...
On this week's episode of The MacRumors Show, we talk through all of the new features and improvements expected to come to next year's iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max models.
Subscribe to The MacRumors Show YouTube channel for more videos
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Black Friday deals have begun, and Amazon is one of the best places you can find steep discounts on numerous products this week. We've already collected all of the best Apple-related deals you'll find at Amazon (and other retailers) in our Apple Black Friday Deals post, so below you'll find other discounts on devices like Anker accessories, Beats headphones, video games, TVs, and more.
Note:...
Thursday November 20, 2025 6:28 am PST by Joe Rossignol
Apple's annual four-day Black Friday through Cyber Monday shopping event is returning on Friday, November 28 through Monday, December 1 in many countries, including the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom, Belgium, the Netherlands, Sweden, Thailand, and others.
During the shopping event, customers can get an Apple gift card with...
I was fortunate enough to test these and to be perfectly honest I wasn't expecting too much but was more than pleasantly surprised. After just 5 minutes I completely forgot I was wearing them and was shocked by how good the audio was and how the external environment sounds hardly any different to when not using earbuds. The design is very clever and I'd suggest giving them a test run if you think you'd find them useful in your activity. WAY WAY better than bone conduction or similar.
I will buy ANY headphone or speaker that is NOT apple branded... Thank you for posting this... Apple will get my buck when they give us the headphone jack. Until then... NEVER!!!!
I will buy ANY headphone or speaker that is NOT apple branded... Thank you for posting this... Apple will get my buck when they give us the headphone jack. Until then... NEVER!!!!
Weird flex. I'm all for voting with your wallet, but you're saying you'll buy any non-apple branded wireless headphone before AirPods because Apple removed the headphone jack in what... 2018? Earlier?
Are you also boycotting Samsung for removing the jack on some of their phones? Does the fact that iPads and MacBook Pros, iMacs and MacMinis still have headphone jacks matter?
Personally I love the convenience of not having a cable running from my ears to my pocket. These seem interesting, but my AirPods are totally serviceable so I'm not sure I'd make the swap.
I will buy ANY headphone or speaker that is NOT apple branded... Thank you for posting this... Apple will get my buck when they give us the headphone jack. Until then... NEVER!!!!
Is it weird that this is a comment related to earbuds that do not have a cable connection with a headphone jack? ?♂️
I will buy ANY headphone or speaker that is NOT apple branded... Thank you for posting this... Apple will get my buck when they give us the headphone jack. Until then... NEVER!!!!
Exactly, I will buy ANY laptop or desktop that is NOT apple branded... Thank you for your comment... Apple will get my buck when they give us the floppy drive. Until then... NEVER!!!!
