Apple launched the brand-new iPhone 15 series last week. While the entire range brings a lot of ranges, the biggest highlight is that the new iPhones now come with USB-C instead of the proprietary Lightning port. And Apple didn’t forget about the wired headphone fans. The event has also introduced brand-new Apple EarPods with USB-C.
This is the first time Apple has refreshed the EarPods since 2016. While the half-in-ear earphones are a dying breed, there’s still a good number of people who prefer this design instead of in-ear headphones. Not to mention that the half-in-ear earbuds are also comparatively more comfortable than the in-ear alternatives.
Nonetheless, at an extremely low price tag, the Apple EarPods did a very good job of offering great audio performance. To recall, Apple redesigned it once back in 2012. Apple said that the 2012 design delivers “an incredible acoustic quality typically reserved for higher-end earphones.” And things got even better with the new USB-C version.
The New Apple EarPods Come With a High-end DAC
According to a test performed on the new Apple EarPods using a MIDI device, the wired earphones have a high-end built-in DAC. For those unaware, DAC stands for digital-to-analog converter. It converts the digital signal from a source to an analog signal so that the headphone drivers can play the audio.
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To be specific, the built-in DAC of the new Apple EarPods supports 48kHz. You can check out the entire test on the video I’ve embedded below. To give you a perspective, the high-end Apple AirPods Max supports 44.1kHz. Of course, it’s not an apples-to-apples comparison, as the latter comes with noise cancellation, spatial audio, and multiple advanced audio features.
But if lossless audio is your main priority, you will be better off with the new Apple EarPods. On that note, if you already have a good-performing wired headset and want to enjoy lossless audio, you should consider getting a USB DAC dongle.
