You don't strictly need AirPods if you just want some of the benefits of Apple's W1 chip. The company is already shipping Beats headphones that take advantage of the hardware's fast pairing with iOS devices. However, you will miss out on the clever Siri integration, not to mention a charging box that gives you extra battery life without some of the usual hassles of external batteries. We'd rather that companies ship late than deliver buggy products, but that won't make you feel any better if you were really hoping to give the AirPods a try.