For years now Apple has arguably ruled the roost when it comes to MP3 players and music on the go with its range of iPods. The popular devices come with the company’s own headphones that Apple call earbuds, but these have long been criticized for their poor fitting and audio quality. The company during its earlier event today showcased its new EarPods that had a surprisingly sexy design.

According to an article on Engadget the new headphones look a lot like some leaked images that were seen earlier this month, and come with a lot of promises from the company.

The new headphones according to Apple feature “a breakthrough design for a more natural fit and increased durability, and an incredible acoustic quality typically reserved for higher-end earphones”. The EarPods feature a main and secondary grill on each ear piece, and the version that will be bundled with the iPhone will have an inline remote/microphone built into the wire.

These look a lot different from previous headphone offerings from the company, and feature no rubber with less metal on show. The outer shell is now all plastic and instead of creating a tight seal like many other in the ear headphones, the pods sit on the edge of a listeners ear canal with the main grill directed straight into it.

There is a port on the back of the pod to help airflow and improve the midrange, as dual ports positioned on the bottom help the base response. The idea is to maximize the total air flow for optimal sound quality. Apple is claiming that the new units will give high-end rivals a run for their money, which remains to be seen.

Consumers can pick them up now as a standalone product, and will be bundled with the iPhone 5, new iPod Touch, and Nano. They will cost the same $29 as the set they are replacing which also gets you the inline remote/mic.

Do you use the Apple earbuds?