With your iPhone or laptop – here’s how it works

Wireless headphones are becoming increasingly popular. This also includes Apple's AirPods – we'll show you how you can connect the small hearables to your iPhone or laptop.

In their early days, in-ear headphones seemed more futuristic than practical. But these small headphones without a cable connection have now become established and are part of everyday life.

For manufacturers, the small wearables are a real sales blessing. According to estimates, Apple alone was able to sell around 90 million AirPods in the fourth quarter of 2022 – an increase of 20 percent compared to the 2020 Christmas business.

And last year, a number of AirPods were likely to be found under Christmas trees around the world. If that was the case for you, we will now show you how you can connect your AirPods to your iPhone or laptop.

This is how you can connect your AirPods to your iPhone

If you want to connect your new AirPods to your iPhone for the first time, you must first take a close look at your smartphone. Because you should first update this to the latest version of iOS.

Once that's done and you've turned on Bluetooth, you can start setting it up. To do this, unlock your iPhone so that the home screen can be seen.

Now open the charging case that contains your AirPods and hold it near your iPhone. A setup window will now open on the screen.

Here, tap “Connect” and then follow the instructions on your screen. These differ a little depending on the AirPods model.

Click “Done” to confirm the setup – you can now use your AirPods with the iPhone. If you're also signed in to iCloud with your Apple ID, setup will automatically complete on all your supported devices.

You can do this if you have problems

Once this setup is complete, your AirPods should always automatically connect to your iPhone. But if this doesn't work, you can use your charging case to help.

To do this, simply put your AirPods back in their case, close the lid and wait 15 seconds. When you open it again and take it out, the connection should work again.

If that doesn't work either, press and hold the setup button on the back of the charging case for ten seconds. This should then flash white – your sign that you can reconnect your AirPods.

This is how you can connect your AirPods to your laptop

Your charging case also comes into play if you want to connect your AirPods to your laptop. To do this, first make sure that Bluetooth is turned on on your device.

Now open your Bluetooth settings and your charging case. Your AirPods must be in the case during this time. Now press and hold the setup button on the back.

If the status light flashes white, your AirPods are in pairing mode. They will now appear in your Bluetooth settings and are ready to connect.

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