Survey says you'll love AirPods and want to tell all your friends

AirPods charging case with Lunies leather keychain case
AirPods charging case with Lunies leather keychain case

I've been using AirPods since shortly after they were announced in September. I use them when I go out every morning and evening, when I have calls at home or while I'm on the road, when I'm watching video or while I'm filming it. They're the only in-the-ear headphones that have ever stayed in my ears for more than a few minutes at a time, and I'm continually astounded at the amount of technology Apple managed to squeeze into those tiny little buds.

Ben Bajarin, writing for Tech.pinions, shows I'm not alone.

The big story is customer satisfaction with AirPods is extremely high. 98% of AirPod owners said they were very satisfied or satisfied. Remarkably, 82% said they were very satisfied. The overall customer satisfaction level of 98% sets the record for the highest level of satisfaction for a new product from Apple. When the iPhone came out in 2007, it held a 92% customer satisfaction level, iPad in 2010 had 92%, and Apple Watch in 2015 had 97%.

What's more, the "net promoter" score, or the willingness of someone to recommend AirPods to others, is similarly off the charts:

Apple's Net Promoter Score for AirPods came back as 75. To put that into context, the iPhone's NPS number is 72. Product and NPS specialists will tell you anything above 50 is excellent and anything above 70 is world class.

This is where most people will note that, despite the customer satisfaction and promoter scores, Apple still hasn't been able to keep up with demand. And that's incredibly frustrating.

It's also something the company is going to have to continue to weigh when choosing release dates for products that push the limits of current manufacturing processes at scale. Ship now and face delays, or ship later and be delayed.

At least in the case of AirPods, though, it seems like customers are not only currently finding them worth the 6-week wait, but finding them worth recommending in spite of it.

And I think it's easy to see why: AirPods are truly delightful. The controls can leave a lot to be desired at times, but there's a euphoria that comes from being truly wireless. It feels freeing — almost humanizing.

Once you start using them, you never want to be tethered to a device, or have buds tethered to each other, again.

Rene Ritchie
Contributor

Rene Ritchie is one of the most respected Apple analysts in the business, reaching a combined audience of over 40 million readers a month. His YouTube channel, Vector, has over 90 thousand subscribers and 14 million views and his podcasts, including Debug, have been downloaded over 20 million times. He also regularly co-hosts MacBreak Weekly for the TWiT network and co-hosted CES Live! and Talk Mobile. Based in Montreal, Rene is a former director of product marketing, web developer, and graphic designer. He's authored several books and appeared on numerous television and radio segments to discuss Apple and the technology industry. When not working, he likes to cook, grapple, and spend time with his friends and family.