I still think the Apple things are a fashion element/statement as much as anything, otherwise they'd come in just black or grey and they would've skipped the three pretty colors (colors that, as with the phone, watches and other things over the years will probably change and update once a year or so, with each new version/refresh).
Serious sound/audio hounds aren't basing their purchase on shades of green (I wouldn't think), so I think these are for the people who inexplicably dance on the street/kitchens in TV commercials
, the selfie/TikTok/influencer crowd and, yes, the casual listener with $500+ to spend on such things (and like the three color options available).
Not slamming any of the above, mind you. But if Apple was positioning these are "shit-serious audiophile accessories", a) they'd probably be $849-1,149, b) they'd just come in black/grey and c)
nobody would buy them.
They know what they're doing, at least on the surface/front-end. Time will tell the true outcome, but if these things are moving, then they've got another successful product on their hands. And it's a genuine surprise to me because all I've heard for 9-10 straight months is how everyone is hurting/suffering, tightening their belt, doing without, scaling back, etc. So it's always interesting when you see that real life isn't always fully reflecting what you see/hear on the news or online/social media 24/7. Dropping $500+ on headphones wasn't something I would've expected to hit big right now, but everyone's story/situation is different; can't distill The World down to a single situation. Plus, something like this might be exactly what those stuck at home, isolated need...maybe it makes them enjoy their music, podcasts more since that's about all they can damn do anymore in some places.