The svelte-looking AirPods, unveiled at the Apple keynote in September, got most people talking for all sorts of reasons. Now, these overly hyped earbuds have been delayed, although they will ship within this year.

AirPods, the wireless earphones from Apple, quickly made it to the wishlist of iDevice lovers, especially those who were looking to buy the iPhone 7 or iPhone 7 Plus. However, the accessory is yet to make its way to consumers.

Despite the hiccups, whatever they might be, Apple fans will be pleased to learn that the AirPods — which Tim Cook claims do not fall off even when dancing — will reach device owners this year and not by January 2017.

The news is courtesy of insiders, cited by AppleInsider, who affirm that Apple is on course to launch the much-awaited wireless earphones within 2016.

"Sources familiar with the company's plans indicated that internally, there is no official delay until January for shipment of the wireless earbuds," shared the publication. "One person briefed on the matter said plainly that there was 'no way that these are getting pushed to January.'"

At the time of launch, Apple did not give an exact date when the AirPods would be made available, merely stating that the accessory would hit the shelves sometime in late October.

However, the product release was delayed as confirmed by the company: "we don't believe in shipping a product before it's ready, and we need a little more time before AirPods are ready for our customers."

A rumor courtesy of supply chain sources in China purports that the AirPods would not make its way to retail shelves before January 2017, which hinted at Apple encountering problems with the peripherals.

But the latest tip off from industry insiders would be welcomed by consumers as they might soon be able to lay their hands on the $159 AirPods, which can reportedly last 5 hours on a single charge.

The fact that retail sources have affirmed that they have a few demo pairs for customers and are "ready to go any time," simply awaiting the green light from Apple, is a positive sign. This suggests that the launch of the AirPods might be sooner than we estimate.

An educated guess is that Apple might launch the wireless AirPods ahead of the holiday shopping season for people looking to buy the earbuds as a gift. However, we need to wait and watch when the AirPods, featuring the W1 chip, will finally be made available.