AirPods to be Available in Apple Retail Stores Starting Monday Morning

Apple will begin selling AirPods in its retail stores starting on Monday, December 19, according to a retail source that shared the news with MacRumors. Apple is currently informing stores about the imminent launch and shipping product to retail locations.

Apple previously announced that AirPods would be in stores next week, but did not give specific information on when the in-store launch would take place. In addition to retail stores, carrier stores and Apple Authorized Resellers will also be receiving stock.

airpods-duo
AirPods first went on sale online on Tuesday, December 13, but supplies were highly limited. Delivery estimates slipped to four weeks within an hour and a half, and orders placed now won't ship out for six weeks.

Customers who were lucky enough to be able to place an AirPods order right when they became available will start to receive shipments early next week, but for those who weren't able to make an order, in store purchase will be the only option for getting AirPods in time for the holidays. Apple has already started charging credit cards and shipments have already started going out in Australia ahead of December 19 delivery dates.

Given how quickly AirPods sold out online, in-store supplies are likely to be limited, but Apple says its retail locations will be receiving regular AirPods shipments going forward.

Related Roundup: AirPods 4
Buyer's Guide: AirPods (Neutral)
Related Forum: AirPods

Popular Stories

iOS 26

iOS 26.2 Coming Soon With These 8 New Features on Your iPhone

Thursday December 11, 2025 8:49 am PST by
Apple seeded the second iOS 26.2 Release Candidate to developers earlier this week, meaning the update will be released to the general public very soon. Apple confirmed iOS 26.2 would be released in December, but it did not provide a specific date. We expect the update to be released by early next week. iOS 26.2 includes a handful of new features and changes on the iPhone, such as a new...
AirPods Pro Firmware Feature

Apple Releases New Firmware for AirPods Pro 2 and AirPods Pro 3

Thursday December 11, 2025 11:28 am PST by
Apple today released new firmware designed for the AirPods Pro 3 and the prior-generation AirPods Pro 2. The AirPods Pro 3 firmware is 8B30, up from 8B25, while the AirPods Pro 2 firmware is 8B28, up from 8B21. There's no word on what's include in the updated firmware, but the AirPods Pro 2 and AirPods Pro 3 are getting expanded support for Live Translation in the European Union in iOS...
Google maps feaure

Google Maps Quietly Added This Long-Overdue Feature for Drivers

Wednesday December 10, 2025 2:52 am PST by
Google Maps on iOS quietly gained a new feature recently that automatically recognizes where you've parked your vehicle and saves the location for you. Announced on LinkedIn by Rio Akasaka, Google Maps' senior product manager, the new feature auto-detects your parked location even if you don't use the parking pin function, saves it for up to 48 hours, and then automatically removes it once...
iOS 26

iOS 26.4 and iOS 27 Features Revealed in New Leak

Friday December 12, 2025 10:56 am PST by
Macworld's Filipe Espósito today revealed a handful of features that Apple is allegedly planning for iOS 26.4, iOS 27, and even iOS 28. The report said the features are referenced within the code for a leaked internal build of iOS 26 that is not meant to be seen by the public. However, it appears that Espósito and/or his sources managed to gain access to it, providing us with a sneak peek...
iOS 26

Apple Releases iOS 26.2 With Alarms for Reminders, Lock Screen Changes, Enhanced Safety Alerts and More

Friday December 12, 2025 10:10 am PST by
Apple today released iOS 26.2, the second major update to the iOS 26 operating system that came out in September, iOS 26.2 comes a little over a month after iOS 26.1 launched. ‌iOS 26‌.2 is compatible with the ‌iPhone‌ 11 series and later, as well as the second-generation ‌iPhone‌ SE. The new software can be downloaded on eligible iPhones over-the-air by going to Settings >...
Foldable iPhone 2023 Feature 1

Apple to Make More Foldable iPhones Than Expected [Updated]

Tuesday December 9, 2025 9:59 am PST by
Apple has ordered 22 million OLED panels from Samsung Display for the first foldable iPhone, signaling a significantly larger production target than the display industry had previously anticipated, ET News reports. In the now-seemingly deleted report, ET News claimed that Samsung plans to mass-produce 11 million inward-folding OLED displays for Apple next year, as well as 11 million...
AirTag 2 Mock Feature

Apple AirTag 2: Four New Features Found in iOS 26 Code

Thursday December 11, 2025 10:31 am PST by
The AirTag 2 will include a handful of new features that will improve tracking capabilities, according to a new report from Macworld. The site says that it was able to access an internal build of iOS 26, which includes references to multiple unreleased products. Here's what's supposedly coming: An improved pairing process, though no details were provided. AirTag pairing is already...
iOS 26

15 New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 26.2

Friday December 5, 2025 9:40 am PST by
Apple is about to release iOS 26.2, the second major point update for iPhones since iOS 26 was rolled out in September, and there are at least 15 notable changes and improvements worth checking out. We've rounded them up below. Apple is expected to roll out iOS 26.2 to compatible devices sometime between December 8 and December 16. When the update drops, you can check Apple's servers for the ...
macOS Tahoe 26 Thumb

Apple Releases macOS Tahoe 26.2 With Edge Light

Friday December 12, 2025 10:08 am PST by
Apple today released macOS Tahoe 26.2, the second major update to the macOS Tahoe operating system that came out in September. macOS Tahoe 26.2 comes five weeks after Apple released macOS Tahoe 26.1. Mac users can download the macOS Tahoe update by using the Software Update section of System Settings. macOS Tahoe 26.2 includes Edge Light, a feature that illuminates your face with soft...

Top Rated Comments

profets Avatar
117 months ago
cant wait to see people walking around looking like they have cotton hanging out of their ears
As opposed to cotton with strings connected to it like we've been used to for 15 years?
Score: 26 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Larry The L Avatar
117 months ago
I got a bad feeling about these being rushed to market the week before Christmas
So the pointing and laughing begins on Tuesday?
Can't wait to hear about the issues on Tuesday
cant wait to see people walking around looking like they have cotton hanging out of their ears
LOL.

SOMEONE'S JELLY.
Lol dog toys.. Anyway yeah I'm putting money on a huge amount of issues on these

Clearly they are desperately getting them out for Christmas
Oh, just in time for the wireless future!

/s

If you're going to kill a standard, at least be ready. Apple knew for how long they were removing the 3.5mm jack but still couldn't manage to get these out in the promised timeframe.

Why does a company this size struggle so much with timeliness?
as long as they won't explode ...
exhibit A: why apple can continue selling garbage for hundreds of dollars past reasonable amounts
I was trying to find some intelligent posts. But most are like the ones I quoted. How sad and useless if someone is actually looking for real information here. It's just not possible.
Score: 25 Votes (Like | Disagree)
andy.ringwood Avatar
117 months ago
cant wait to see people walking around looking like they have cotton hanging out of their ears
LOL.

SOMEONE'S JELLY.
Score: 20 Votes (Like | Disagree)
andy.ringwood Avatar
117 months ago
I got a bad feeling about these being rushed to market the week before Christmas
They haven't been rushed to market. They've been delayed nearly two months. There were never any hardware issues with them, just manufacturing issues.
Score: 18 Votes (Like | Disagree)
stanman64 Avatar
117 months ago
I was trying to find some intelligent posts. But most are like the ones I quoted. How sad and useless if someone is actually looking for real information here. It's just not possible.
I've noticed I've been spending more time on r/apple on Reddit rather than MacRumors lately... MR user base has declined in maturity.
Score: 17 Votes (Like | Disagree)
sinsin07 Avatar
117 months ago

with my 1000 dollars in audio equipment, im totally jealous of apple's wireless earpods

LOL.

SOMEONE ORDERED THESE AND HAS BUYER'S REMORSE.
Did you mean $10,000 in audio equipment?
Cause $1,000 in audio equipment ani't s***.
Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)