The In-ear Headphones with Remote and Mic from Apple are their first generation of Apple headphones to have in-line controls. As you have likely gathered, these headphones are equipped with both a remote and mic. The remote has a button on it which will gives you access to some basic playback controls on certain media players. On either side of the button are volume controls. 

These headphones have two main issues to look out for. The first is their plug. You really need to be careful you aren't putting much stress on the plug, because the headphones don't have a cord guard at the cable-plug junction. Most Apple headphones break because of issues at the plug. The second issue is one of fit. We passed these headphones around the office and many noticed the ear buds fell out over time. These people weren't jumping around or running marathons either; they were sitting at their computers writing tech reviews. If you plan on getting these, make sure you wear them for at least a few hours to make sure you don't run into similar issues.

The Apple In-ear Headphones with Remote and Mic are currently available for $80.


Performance  (read the full lab performance results at HeadphoneInfo.com)
The Apple In-ear Headphones with Remote and Mic had surprisingly average sound quality: their test scores were actually within one point of our current average, with more than 30 points separating the lowest and highest scores. 

The bass was strong but not over-powering, although the headphones tended to drop a bit of the high-end frequencies. They had low distortion overall, but suffered from some high-end noise which was a bit annoying during quiet songs. The ear buds played back at a good even kiel, however; at no point was the left channel playing louder than the right, or vice versa.

We've seen headphones with better isolation, but the Apple In-ears did about as good as the average set of in-ears. They also had no issues with leakage, so unless your playback is exceptionally loud, no one will be able to hear it.

Comparisons  (read more in-depth comparisons at HeadphoneInfo.com)
The $100 price range is a tough one to exist in. This price point is where a lot of companies start offering great options. The Apple In-ear Headphones with Remote and Mic undercut this price point by $20, but also offer a lot less than, say, the Sennheiser MM 50 iPs. The V-MODA Vibe Duos are a bit more expensive and provide about the same audio quality, but they won't pop out of your ears. This being said, the Apple headphones are still a good option for the price. We recommend you shop around and try out different headphones, both for their fit and to get a feel for their sound. We'd guess that you could find a better set of headphones for the money, but if you really prefer the Apples to other options, they aren't a bad value.