Certain companies are selling knockoff variants of Apple’s wired Lightning earbuds that require a Bluetooth connection to work.
These manufacturers save some money by avoiding Apple’s standards and not relying on the Lightning connection to transmit audio.
The wired connection draws power from the connected iPhone, while the Bluetooth chip handles audio transmission.
Today, I learned that on this planet, not in a parallel universe, a mythical creature roams among us. From afar (and even upon closer inspection), it looks just like any pair of wired Lightning earbuds for iPhones. However, concealed deeply within it is a dark secret that only remote villagers know of. It appears that some companies have been selling knockoff wired iPhone earbuds that need Bluetooth to function. You’ve read that right.
A crazy experience — I lost my earbuds in a remote town in Chile, so tried buying a new pair at the airport before flying out. But the new wired, iPhone, lightning-cable headphones didn’t work. Strange.
