MacRumors Giveaway: Win Custom-Painted Space Gray AirPods From BlackPods

For this week's giveaway, we've once again teamed up with BlackPods to offer MacRumors readers a chance to win a pair of AirPods that have been custom-painted black or space gray to better match darker devices.

We've given away black AirPods in the past, but this time around, BlackPods has an all new BlackPods Aero in a metallic space gray finish that's a nice alternative to the standard white AirPods that Apple offers.

blackpodsaero
If you haven't seen BlackPods before, the company takes a standard pair of Apple's AirPods and then paints them using a proprietary coating system.

blackpodsaero2
There's a three-phase finishing process for a high-quality coating of paint that's designed not to chip, fade, scuff, or wear off during usage. Each pair of BlackPods is completed by hand and then given a rigorous inspection to make sure the finish is flawless.

BlackPods offers several finish options -- the BlackPods Classic with a high-gloss black coating, the BlackPods Stealth with a matte satin coating, and the new BlackPods Aero Space Gray with a lighter gray metallic coating.

blackpods3
BlackPods Classic are priced at $279, while the BlackPods Stealth and the BlackPods Aero Space Gray are priced at $299. That's a $120 to $140 premium over Apple's standard AirPods, but BlackPods is offering one of the only methods to get a unique black or gray finish for your AirPods.

blackpods1
In addition to selling completed sets of painted AirPods, BlackPods also has a service that allows customers to send in their previously purchased AirPods for customization at a lower price. The process costs between $99 and $119 and it takes approximately 10 days to complete. The service includes the painting of both AirPods and the AirPods charging case.

Since BlackPods are simply re-painted AirPods, the full AirPods functionality remains intact, with a W1 chip for simple paring with all of your devices, a long battery life, an accelerometer for ear detection, and gesture support.

We have a set of BlackPods to give away to a MacRumors reader, with the winner able to choose a Stealth, Classic, or Aero finish. To enter to win, use the Rafflecopter widget below and enter an email address. Email addresses will be used solely for contact purposes to reach the winners and send the prizes. You can earn additional entries by subscribing to our weekly newsletter, subscribing to our YouTube channel, following us on Twitter, or visiting the MacRumors Facebook page.

Due to the complexities of international laws regarding giveaways, only U.S. residents who are 18 years or older and Canadian residents (excluding Quebec) who have reached the age of majority in their province or territory are eligible to enter. To offer feedback or get more information on the giveaway restrictions, please refer to our Site Feedback section, as that is where discussion of the rules will be redirected.

The contest will run from today (January 5) at 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time through 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time on January 12. The winners will be chosen randomly on January 12 and will be contacted by email. The winners will have 48 hours to respond and provide a shipping address before new winners are chosen.

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

Popular Stories

iOS 26 Battery Glass Feature

iOS 26.1 Beta Liquid Glass Battery Drain Test: Tinted vs Clear Mode

Friday October 24, 2025 2:30 pm PDT by
In the fourth iOS 26.1 beta, Apple added a "Tinted" option that reduces the translucency of Liquid Glass for those who prefer a more opaque look. I saw some comments wondering whether the setting might preserve battery life, so I thought I'd do some testing. Test Settings I did four separate tests using the iPhone 17 Pro Max, and I kept the parameters as similar as possible. Here are the...
iOS 26

iOS 26.1 Coming Soon: New Features for Your iPhone and Release Date

Monday October 27, 2025 7:55 am PDT by
The upcoming iOS 26.1 update includes a handful of new features and changes for iPhones, including a toggle for changing the appearance of the Liquid Glass design, "slide to stop" for alarms in the Clock app, and more. Below, we outline key details about iOS 26.1. Release Date Given that Apple has yet to seed an iOS 26.1 Release Candidate, which is typically the final beta version, the...
iOS 26 Maps Glass

Apple Reportedly Moving Ahead With Ads in Maps App

Sunday October 26, 2025 6:22 am PDT by
Apple Maps could feature integrated ads as soon as next year, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reports. In his latest "Power On" newsletter, Gurman said that Apple's plan to bring more ads to iOS is moving "gaining traction," with the Maps app being next in line. The project will apparently give restaurants and other businesses the option to pay to have their details featured more prominently in...
iOS 26

iOS 26.1 Coming Soon With These 8 New Features for Your iPhone

Wednesday October 22, 2025 6:15 am PDT by
The upcoming iOS 26.1 update includes a handful of new features and changes for iPhones, including a toggle for changing the appearance of the Liquid Glass design, "slide to stop" for alarms in the Clock app, and more. iOS 26.1 is currently in beta testing. The update will likely be released in the first half of November, and it is compatible with the iPhone 11 series and newer, but some...
maxresdefault

Apple TV 4K Could Still Launch Before 2025 Ends: All the Rumored Features

Monday October 27, 2025 4:51 pm PDT by
Apple is designing an updated version of the Apple TV 4K, and rumors suggest that it could come out sometime in the next couple of months. We're not expecting a major overhaul with design changes, but even a simple chip upgrade will bring major improvements to Apple's set-top box. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. We've rounded up all the latest Apple TV rumors. ...
M6 MacBook Pro Feature 1

M6 MacBook Pro: Release Date, Pricing, and What to Expect

Monday October 27, 2025 9:15 am PDT by
Apple this month refreshed the 14-inch MacBook Pro base model with its new M5 chip, and higher-end 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models with M5 Pro and M5 Max chips are expected to follow in early 2026. However, these machines will represent the final update to the current design, with Apple reportedly developing a completely new version of the MacBook Pro packed with next-generation hardware...
iPhone 17 Colors

iPhone 18 Rumored to Feature 50% More RAM

Saturday October 25, 2025 2:57 am PDT by
Apple's upcoming iPhone 18 could feature 50% more memory than its predecessor, according to Korea's The Bell. With its latest iPhone lineup, the iPhone Air, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max feature 12GB of memory. This is a significant increase of 4GB more their predecessors, largely driven by the demands of on-device artificial intelligence processing. The iPhone 17 is the only new...
swift for android

Developers Can Now Make Android Apps With Apple's Swift

Sunday October 26, 2025 4:23 am PDT by
The first preview release of the Swift SDK for Android was published this week, allowing developers to build Android apps in Swift with official tooling and making it easier to share code across iOS and Android. The SDK enables Android apps to be built in Swift using officially supported tooling rather than community workarounds. In June, it was announced that Apple's Swift programming...
Emergency SOS via Satellite iPhone YT

iPhone 18 Pro Rumored to Support Full 5G Satellite Internet

Friday October 24, 2025 7:18 am PDT by
At least some new iPhone models launching next year may support full 5G satellite internet, according to a report this week from The Information. "Apple plans to add support in upcoming iPhones as early as next year for 5G networks that aren't tethered to Earth's surface, which includes satellites," the report said. "That would give the iPhone full internet access over satellite," it added. ...

Top Rated Comments

69Mustang Avatar
102 months ago
White stands out. It's clear branding. You see someone with white earbuds and you immediately know they have Apple earbuds. You see someone with grey or black and they could be product.
There are tons of people who aren't trying to be walking billboards.

I agree. It's what makes it noticeable from afar. People see you have something sticking out of your ear and immediately ask, "is that those Apple earphones?" If they were black or any other color(very common with bluetooth headsets) it won't get the same attention as the white earbuds.
Who are these people that want their earbuds to be noticeable? Sounds sorta insecure and bit sad.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
evlfred Avatar
102 months ago
I actually like this color and hope Apple at least makes a ( RED ) version eventually. They already sell a massive amount, imagine the insanity with other colors.
that would be a horrible idea, you'd look like blood was coming out of your ears!!
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
erinsarah Avatar
102 months ago
that would be a horrible idea, you'd look like blood was coming out of your ears!!
By "horrible" I'm sure you meant "totally awesome", for the reason you state above. :)
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
OldSchoolMacGuy Avatar
102 months ago
Please Apple, give me these colors and i will throw my money to you! White is so boring.
White stands out. It's clear branding. You see someone with white earbuds and you immediately know they have Apple earbuds. You see someone with grey or black and they could be product.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
jonnysods Avatar
102 months ago
The black ones are droolworthy. I'm entering!
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
atikalz Avatar
102 months ago
Please Apple, give me these colors and i will throw my money to you! White is so boring.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)