The original Apple AirPods were announced on September 7, 2016, alongside the iPhone 7. They were initially planned for release in late October 2016 but were delayed and became available to customers on December 13, 2016, with availability in stores starting December 20, 2016. These first-generation AirPods introduced wireless headphones with features like one-tap pairing with Apple devices, in-ear detection for automatic playing and pausing, and were powered by Apple's custom W1 chip, making them highly integrated with Apple products.

Since then, Apple has released multiple AirPods models:

• AirPods (2nd Generation) on March 20, 2019
• AirPods Pro on October 30, 2019
• AirPods Max on December 15, 2020
• AirPods (3rd Generation) on October 26, 2021
• AirPods Pro (2nd Generation) on September 23, 2022
• AirPods (4th Generation) on September 20, 2024
• AirPods Pro (3rd Generation) on September 19, 2025, with advanced features such as heart rate monitoring and real-time translation.

In summary, AirPods were first released on December 13, 2016, beginning Apple's journey into mainstream wireless audio accessories, becoming one of the most popular Apple products since then.