[HN Gopher] The next generation of AirPods
       ___________________________________________________________________
        
       The next generation of AirPods
        
       Author : mr_o47
       Score  : 136 points
       Date   : 2021-10-18 17:20 UTC (5 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.apple.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.apple.com)
        
       | themadturk wrote:
       | I have AirPod Pros, and like them a lot because the tips I've
       | chosen fit just fine and the ANC is great. I also like regular
       | Apple earbuds (and those that copy their design) because they are
       | super-comfortable, though they don't cancel any sound.
       | 
       | I don't have a need for these, as the spatial sound isn't
       | anything I need and I have a half dozen standard Apple or Apple-
       | inspired earbuds that work just fine.
        
       | layer8 wrote:
       | I wonder what exactly the restrictions will be when you don't
       | want to upgrade to i(Pad)OS 15. I guess I'll find out next week.
        
       | blunte wrote:
       | I've worn Shure ~280$ in ear wires earphones for years, and with
       | the right temperature sensitive foam inserts they passively block
       | more sound than my AirPods Pro do. And they provide better sound
       | quality.
       | 
       | Maybe these new AirPods have better sound and battery, but from a
       | minimalist perspective they are still unnecessary. If you talk on
       | the phone a lot, maybe I see the value. But the wired Apple
       | headphones work fine for that, and they don't randomly stop
       | working while you're on a call.
        
       | sergiotapia wrote:
       | How do these compare with the Jabra 85t's? I'm in the market for
       | new audio. I will use them for jogging, lifting and general calls
       | while walking around.
        
         | criddell wrote:
         | Apple has a pretty generous return policy. Get them and return
         | them if you don't like them.
        
         | theshrike79 wrote:
         | The AirPod killer feature is integration across all Apple
         | devices.
         | 
         | If you have exact needs for audio quality, you can always find
         | better ones.
         | 
         | But if you want to get off your MacBook, walk over to your
         | Apple TV and get your headphones connected to it with one click
         | on the remote, then AirPods are your thing.
        
           | josephg wrote:
           | Yep, but it's super janky. I can't count the number of times
           | I've put my AirPods on for a zoom call only to have my phone
           | and my laptop fight about which device is connected.
           | Sometimes I've ended up turning Bluetooth off on my phone and
           | manually associating them with my laptop just to get them to
           | work.
           | 
           | It's a great feature, but I really wish they took the time to
           | make it reliable.
        
             | handrous wrote:
             | I have Jabra bluetooth headphones (full-size, not earbuds)
             | and have taken to turning off Bluetooth on my MacBook to
             | get them to work on my Windows machine, which will connect
             | but not play any audio through them otherwise. Some device
             | pairs work fine, some work fine until the other device
             | plays a sound and then can't recover, others (my Windows
             | gaming box) just don't work if something else is connected
             | at all.
        
       | minimaxir wrote:
       | The TL;DR on these is "AirPods Pro without ANC", but comparing
       | the two models there are more slight differences such as skin
       | detection and longer battery life.
       | 
       | Given that, the $180 price point is odd because the Pros
       | occasionally drop to that level on sale.
       | 
       | The new AirPods (and now the old Pros) now have a "MagSafe
       | Wireless Case" which is compatible with the MagSafe charger
       | supposedly, although there isn't more info on that/if it's just
       | Qi charging with no magnets.
        
         | dbbk wrote:
         | I wonder what the skin detection is for?
        
           | minimaxir wrote:
           | The current AirPods use optical detection to detect when it's
           | put into an ear: presumably skin detection is better.
        
         | MBCook wrote:
         | The gen 2 AirPods had a Qi compatible case, I would imagine
         | they wouldn't remove that feature.
        
           | Closi wrote:
           | MagSafe wireless just means there is a ring of magnets around
           | the Qi charging plate to make it easier and more reliable to
           | align your device on the charger.
        
       | rabidonrails wrote:
       | Why isn't there a way to mute? I'd love to be able to configure
       | one of the buttons to mute me when clicked. Fingers crossed for
       | the next gen I guess.
        
         | azinman2 wrote:
         | You can just take them out or pause your music?
        
           | steve_adams_86 wrote:
           | I think they meant mute their mic. I could be wrong.
           | 
           | It would be cool if you could mute yourself while on calls -
           | it would be possible within the apple ecosystem at least.
           | Pause during media, mute during calls. Something. Or maybe if
           | it could be customizable, I'd like that. Different actions
           | for different modes.
        
       | baybal2 wrote:
       | I wonder, how do they implement the head tracking? Radars? MEMS
       | Gyroscopes?
        
         | pzo wrote:
         | Airpods pro have 3axis accelerometer and 3axis gyroscope in
         | each receiver
        
         | theshrike79 wrote:
         | Magic!
         | 
         | Also custom radio chips in both headphones that are able to
         | measure latency to the source. Maybe some motion detection.
        
       | matsemann wrote:
       | What is spatial audio? That the sound sounds like it has an
       | origin?
       | 
       | If so, why is it useful/wanted?
        
         | wsinks wrote:
         | Imagine having a surround sound system.
         | 
         | Now put on your headphones and you still have that surround
         | sound system.
         | 
         | That's why it's useful / wanted. Video gamers use spatial audio
         | to know where that person shooting at them is.
         | 
         | Audio listeners like the illusory effects of panning around
         | their head.
         | 
         | ASMR listeners like how it can sound exactly like someone is
         | scratching their head because the sound has origin.
         | 
         | Movie producers like it because they can fit more audio into a
         | single scene because the brain can process more spatial audio
         | than regular stereo audio.
         | 
         | That said, stereo audio is still pretty good. Some audio is
         | still just mono. Copied audio is usually mono.
         | 
         | Spatial audio is one way for producers to set their creations
         | off from cheap copies, almost as a non-intrusive form of DRM.
         | 
         | These are my opinions, and happy to chat more about it. Audio
         | is tight.
        
           | falcolas wrote:
           | > Now put on your headphones and you still have that surround
           | sound system.
           | 
           | If your ears match the modeled ears within a certain degree
           | of "normal". Otherwise, you get a confusing sounding mess.
           | 
           | It's unfortunate, but it's (yet) another 80/20 problem.
        
       | vwadhwani wrote:
       | I just want a pair of airpods that allow me to have a
       | conversation outdoors. I'm always getting feedback that the
       | ambient noise makes it difficult for people to hear me talk. I
       | can't even do the dishes while on a call without people
       | complaining.
        
         | MrJagil wrote:
         | Try to pair them again! My girlfriend said the same thing, as
         | if my voice was attenuated instead of the other way around. All
         | it took was re-pairing them.
        
         | Meleagris wrote:
         | I wish I could upvote this 10x. I don't know what Apple does
         | with their processing, but the quality of the Airpods
         | microphone is very poor (the worst I've ever heard). Especially
         | outside, but even indoors.
         | 
         | I'm commenting to see if that's everyone's experience, or if
         | we're outliers.
        
         | 1123581321 wrote:
         | I think many people have that issue. Voice isolation mode, new
         | to iOS 15, helps.
        
         | hackstack wrote:
         | I believe iOS 15 includes a little-touted feature: "Voice
         | Isolation" mode; I haven't tested it comprehensively, but other
         | similar technology (e.g. RNNoise [1]) has very impressive
         | results in the scenarios you allude to.
         | 
         | [1] https://jmvalin.ca/demo/rnnoise/
        
         | VikingIV wrote:
         | I've had better luck with the Jabra Elite wireless earbuds.
         | Less complaints of background noise or muffled voices than the
         | AirPods I tried using for a very brief period.
        
         | javajosh wrote:
         | By chance I bought a Sennheiser headset for Zoom calls, and the
         | real killer feature is a high quality mic with firmware noise
         | cancellation. At the time I was in a hurry and bought the most
         | expensive Senn's I could find on Amazon, and lucked out. I've
         | had two people at work ask me what I use.
         | https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00J8ME6QA
        
           | rlpb wrote:
           | I think the key difference is the microphone boom. If a
           | microphone is close to your mouth, then most of the ambient
           | noise cancellation is done.
        
       | kfprt wrote:
       | >Apple and the Environment
       | 
       | Hilarious section for an expensive product that has a non
       | removable battery and is going to end up in a landfill after a
       | year or two of use.
        
         | acdha wrote:
         | A year or two seems implausibly low but I would also compare
         | this with the competition. For example, I have some great AKG
         | headphones (over-ear, wired) which cost more even before
         | adjusting for inflation -- the audio quality is absolutely
         | stellar but all of the plastic started falling apart after a
         | couple of years. I've replaced the covers over the ears but now
         | the non-replaceable cable shroud and padding on the crossbar
         | are disintegrating, too.
         | 
         | They probably weigh 10 times more than a pair of AirPods so I'm
         | not sure what the total landfill impact ends up like. I am 100%
         | certain that we will need to have regulation requiring
         | manufacturers to recycle dead products if we want to move the
         | needle at all. I'd also be utterly shocked if AirPods were even
         | 0.1% of the total landfill volume generated by the average
         | buyer over that period -- higher for certain trace metals but
         | still, this seems like a newer spin on "I don't even own a TV".
        
           | kfprt wrote:
           | Volume seems like the wrong metric when airpods are full of
           | batteries and electronics which are very resource and energy
           | intensive. Energy production cost would be better. With the
           | AKG headphones you could repair them if you felt like it.
           | Apple doesn't let you choose. A good pair of headphones could
           | last decades while the glued in battery in the airpods gives
           | it a definite lifespan.
        
           | thrashh wrote:
           | That isn't the only competition though. I have a lot of
           | headphones and my favorite pair hasn't fallen apart in 10
           | years.
        
             | acdha wrote:
             | Sure, my previous ones lasted a long time, too. My point
             | was simply that there's a weird trend to talk about this as
             | an Apple thing rather than the global trend across most
             | industries it actually is.
        
               | summm wrote:
               | Well, because apple either started those practices or at
               | least was the main responsible to popularize it.
        
               | acdha wrote:
               | That's a pretty big claim to just toss out without any
               | supporting evidence. I have plenty of discarded
               | electronics going back to the 90s saying this trend
               | wasn't started by Apple and since my Apple devices have
               | tended to last longer than average I'd really want to see
               | the details of your analysis.
        
         | m_ke wrote:
         | Yeah my airpods died after like a year and a half of use. When
         | my brand new M1 macbook air died after a month of use I took it
         | to the apple store and the "genius" next to me told someone
         | with dead airpods that it's normal and that they have to buy a
         | replacement pod.
        
           | zxcvgm wrote:
           | Seems like PodSwap have figured out how to replace the
           | batteries without butchering them. (I'm not affiliated nor
           | used them.)
           | 
           | https://www.thepodswap.com/
        
             | kfprt wrote:
             | Taking what used to be free (replacing batteries in your
             | remote/phone/device) and turning it into a service. Now
             | that's innovation!
        
           | skinnymuch wrote:
           | Yeah I got AppleCare for AirPods because I was told they just
           | replace it completely vs only replacing the battery. And I've
           | heard the battery will not keep up high capacity if you use
           | it daily a lot as I do
        
           | kfprt wrote:
           | Landfill as a Service^TM. Apple is truly a very dirty
           | company.
        
         | babypuncher wrote:
         | I appreciate the concern, but the waste generated by a pair of
         | AirPods for 1-2 years of use seems like nothing compared to all
         | the plastic bottles the average American goes through in a
         | week.
        
           | kfprt wrote:
           | Size can be deceiving when you don't factor in the materials
           | used. Electronics are full of silicon and rare earths which
           | have a far greater impact than even a bunch of bottles.
        
         | a-r-t wrote:
         | You can bring them back to an Apple Store or ship them back to
         | Apple for recycling [1]. I dropped off a few old devices and
         | batteries at my local Apple Store - it's very easy, especially
         | now that they often have an employee standing outside of the
         | store, just hand it to them and go about your day.
         | 
         | [1] https://9to5mac.com/2019/05/30/how-to-sell-recycle-airpods/
        
           | kfprt wrote:
           | Do they recycle or send to a landfill? Does recycling mean
           | sending it to a 3rd world country where it's smelted down in
           | backyard shops giving everyone in the area cancer? Of the 3
           | R's recycle comes last. If we could upgrade and repair our
           | devices it would go a long way to cutting down on ewaste.
        
             | criddell wrote:
             | They recycle:
             | 
             | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Bu-gl7v-P8
        
               | kfprt wrote:
               | That was 'a stunt' which 'makes no economic sense'
               | 
               | https://www.ifixit.com/News/15794/apple-daisy-cobalt-
               | recycli...
        
               | criddell wrote:
               | I like the iFixit people, but that article is pretty bad.
               | 
               | One of the reasons this list as a failure is this:
               | 
               | > People aren't giving Apple back their phones, because
               | old iPhones are worth dramatically more on the used
               | market than the material cost
               | 
               | Would they really rather see people recycling rather than
               | reusing?
               | 
               | Also, why would it have to make economic sense? Sometimes
               | companies do things because it's the right thing to do.
        
               | summm wrote:
               | If a company does something that is right, but loses
               | money, shareholders will sue it.
        
               | kfprt wrote:
               | Generally companies have a fiduciary obligation.
               | 
               | I don't understand your critique.
               | 
               | Yes reuse is better than recycling, so what's the point
               | of Apple's recycling program if someone will buy to
               | reuse. Any phone given to Apple to recycle is one that
               | could have been reused. Furthermore what's the point of
               | building a robot to recycle new iPhones that still have
               | value instead of old ones. It also sounds underutilized
               | if so few phone make it back. Notice how Apple doesn't
               | break it down by model for what phones they receive back.
               | I'd wager that most of the phones Apple gets back are the
               | new ones from trade in. Apple is also very aggressive
               | about making sure their products end up in landfills.
               | https://www.theverge.com/apple/2020/10/4/21499422/apple-
               | sues...
        
         | nojito wrote:
         | How much waste is in an AirPod compared to literally anything
         | else plastic?
        
       | etempleton wrote:
       | I wonder how these will fit my ears.
       | 
       | The current design fits my ears perfectly whereas the pros or any
       | other soft-tip earbuds work there way out of my ears.
        
         | e40 wrote:
         | This is the $64,000 question. I would love to get the longer
         | battery life, but the pros don't fit me and these look more
         | pro-like.
        
           | filoleg wrote:
           | Similar boat. I know it is a 50/50 love/hate in terms of fit
           | (understandably so, because not everyone has the same ear
           | shape), but I personally loved original Airpods in terms of
           | fit. They fit my ears perfectly, I could jump/run/etc., and
           | they wouldn't move even a tiny bit.
           | 
           | But with Airpod Pros, no matter which eartips I used, they
           | would always not feel 100% correctly, and would move by a
           | tiny tiny amount if I was actively moving, and over time I
           | would need to readjust them in the ear once in a while.
           | 
           | The new ones they've shown today look more like Airpods Pro,
           | but with a fit closer to the original Airpods, which I would
           | (admittedly selfishly) be really happy with.
        
             | josephg wrote:
             | As another data point, something about the original AirPods
             | made my ears hurt. It was like sitting on a concrete bench
             | - ok at first but before long they felt physically painful.
             | I had to use them one ear at a time so the other ear could
             | recover. Swapping to airpod pros fixed that for me - the
             | silicon tips are way more comfy for my ear shape.
        
       | ElijahLynn wrote:
       | Just one day before the new Pixel 6 launch...
        
       | babypuncher wrote:
       | I can't get behind any $180 pair of earbuds that doesn't have
       | some kind of form-fitting ear tips (silicone or otherwise).
       | 
       | The AirPods Pro are a great product, but this update to the base
       | model is really disappointing.
        
         | theshrike79 wrote:
         | I've tried every single form-fitting ear tip type, model and
         | brand barring custom-molded ones. I've tried cheap ones, I've
         | tried expensive ones ($300-ish).
         | 
         | Every. Single. One. falls right out of my ears if I do anything
         | else than sit quietly without moving my head.
         | 
         | Regular wireless AirPods? They stay in no matter what I do.
         | Sweating like Jordan Peele in the meme? They stay in. Running?
         | Stay in.
        
         | thih9 wrote:
         | Preferences vary; I don't like form fitting ear tips, I prefer
         | old school earbuds, like air pods or ear pods.
         | 
         | I didn't want to miss out on spatial audio, so I'm excited by
         | this update.
        
       | criddell wrote:
       | Since these are rated for IPX4, does that mean you can clean them
       | by washing with something that will dissolve ear wax? Could you
       | clean them in your dishwasher?
       | 
       | I have some of the original AirPods and I've never felt like I
       | can get them thoroughly clean.
        
         | Closi wrote:
         | No, it means it can handle a small splash of water not a
         | dishwasher cycle.
        
       | whatever1 wrote:
       | Just don't use them for your zoom calls. Use the company issued
       | headset. Your colleagues will thank you.
       | 
       | AirPods microphones are atrocious.
        
       | philliphaydon wrote:
       | I just discovered last week that on the Apple TV I can connect 2
       | apple audio devices at the same time.
       | 
       | Currently staying with the in laws, daughter is sleeping in the
       | same room with us so we couldn't watch TV.
       | 
       | I connected my wife's AirPods to the Apple TV to watch tv and
       | noticed I could connect another one, so I borrowed my sister in
       | laws AirPods and connected them and both work at the same time.
       | So now we can watch TV together when daughter is asleep.
       | 
       | It only works with apple audio devices, so looks like I'll pick
       | up some new AirPods for myself!
       | 
       | Edit: contacted > connected
        
         | notesinthefield wrote:
         | I've been doing this with an Nvidia Shield 4k tv for so long I
         | cant watch tv without headphones.
        
         | reportingsjr wrote:
         | For people who are interested in this and don't have/want to
         | buy apple stuff: the Chromecast 4k allows this with any
         | bluetooth audio device. It definitely is a super handy feature!
        
           | Andrex wrote:
           | Chromecast Bluetooth was prohibitively laggy in my
           | experience.
        
             | atatatat wrote:
             | Any experienced to the contrary, I wonder?
        
         | lilyball wrote:
         | I haven't tried doing this with Apple TV, but iPhones also let
         | you share your audio with a second pair of AirPods.
        
         | handrous wrote:
         | Playstation 4 (maybe also the 5? I can't get ahold of one, so I
         | dunno) controllers have a headphone jack on them that can be
         | used this way, I think. Route the audio through the (bluetooth)
         | controller, to whatever you've plugged in to it.
         | 
         | I think some higher-end Rokus can route audio through their
         | remote control, to plugged-in headphones.
        
           | joe5150 wrote:
           | All Roku devices (and Roku TVs) should be able to route audio
           | through the app to attached or wireless headphones as well.
           | This might work with Share Audio on iPhones so you can have
           | two people listening at once, but I've never tried.
        
             | handrous wrote:
             | Oh yeah, I forgot about routing Roku audio through phones.
             | I've seen that on the remote app.
        
       | poulsbohemian wrote:
       | I'm not intending to be flippant here - I love my AirPods and
       | other Apple gear - but this reads like they took the AirPod Pros
       | and rebranded them as the next generation of AirPod. I'm not
       | seeing what's actually _new_ here. Can someone in the know throw
       | me a bone if there 's something I'm overlooking?
        
         | jachee wrote:
         | I think for non-marketing technical folks, these are best
         | described thus:
         | 
         | "Here are the AirPods Pro internals translated to the regular
         | AirPods form factor, without the noise-cancelling and modular-
         | tips, for $50 less."
        
           | MBCook wrote:
           | And Find My built in in case you lose them.
        
       | Traubenfuchs wrote:
       | Do they have active noise cancelling?
       | 
       | Also, 6 hours listening is a bad joke, that's not even a standard
       | workday. With battery aging that's soon not even half a workday
       | anymore.
        
         | Phenomenit wrote:
         | The pros have noise canceling. 6h non stop in your ears is to
         | much if you ask me, take out em when your eating lunch and
         | they'll be full again when you're done.
        
           | ssully wrote:
           | Or if you are in the office, they are in their case during
           | meetings or when someone is talking to you at your desk.
           | That's at least what I did when I was still in the office,
           | and I used first gen Airpods which had worse battery life.
        
             | Phenomenit wrote:
             | Yeah, I'm on my second year with my first gen and they're
             | still great.
        
         | superdude12 wrote:
         | They charge super fast. You can get 1 hour of playback from 5
         | minutes of charging. You can also charge one at a time if you
         | really need them continuously.
        
           | elif wrote:
           | Ah now we're thinking with portals.. perhaps they can sell a
           | set of 3 for this exact use?
           | 
           | If you're playing games or something that takes heavy focus,
           | you want to stay ahead of charging, not wait for something to
           | die l.
        
             | vadfa wrote:
             | They are not built for your use case, that is all.
             | 
             | I have a pair of airpods pro I use during commuting every
             | day and they are one of my favourite gadgets.
        
             | filoleg wrote:
             | Gaming with BT headsets is a poor idea for so many reasons
             | in general, so I have no idea why it was even considered.
             | 
             | If you are having prolonged gaming sessions, you are doing
             | it at home, so use wired. If you are on the go and want to
             | listen to music or watch videos, use wireless. If you want
             | to have a short gaming session on your laptop in public,
             | then yeah, sure, airpods will serve it just fine. Though in
             | those 6 hours, you might want to take a 15min break or two.
             | And in those 15 mins, it will charge for about an hour of
             | battery charge on airpods.
             | 
             | It's like complaining that a Lambo is not good for carrying
             | lots of cargo. Technically the truth, but that's not the
             | use case at all.
        
             | evan_ wrote:
             | when you get the 10% warning you pop the left ear out and
             | charge it until the right ear dies. Then you put the left
             | ear in and charge the right ear. 20 minutes later you put
             | them both in again. Easy peasy.
        
         | dbbk wrote:
         | It is entirely unnecessary to keep headphones on for 6 hours
         | straight.
        
         | jjallen wrote:
         | Yeah, in three years with the Pros now (or whatever it is --
         | 2-3), I have basically never run out of batteries. You can
         | always put one in the charger to charge while the other stays
         | out.
        
           | josephg wrote:
           | Yeah I've had my pros for about 2 years now and I've clocked
           | an obscene number of minutes of phone & zoom calls on them
           | through the pandemic. Some days I was doing 12+ hours of
           | calls on them.
           | 
           | The batteries last a bit over 3 hours and after all this time
           | they're still going strong. Except for handoff being janky,
           | I'm delighted with them.
           | 
           | Im frankly confused with this announcement - it seems like
           | they just rebranded AirPod pros as non-pro and called it a
           | new device?
        
         | playpause wrote:
         | "a bad joke" is a silly overstatement - evidently you're in a
         | very small minority there, or people wouldn't keep buying
         | Airpods.
        
         | sahaskatta wrote:
         | It doesn't look like these Airpods have noise cancelling. The
         | compedition like the Samsung Buds2 have about 7.5 hours on a
         | single charge with noise cancelling turned off and 5 hours when
         | turned on.
        
         | steve_adams_86 wrote:
         | Mine have this rating approximately (AirPods Pros from ~1.5
         | years ago) and I worried about battery life.
         | 
         | It turns out a few minutes in the case will give you a lot of
         | listening time. Have an in-person meeting? Any reason to put
         | the AirPods away? Throw them in the case and they'll charge a
         | significant amount in 15 or 30 minutes.
         | 
         | My problem ended up being defects which Apple said they would
         | replace the AirPods for, but I need to take them to a certified
         | Apple repair shop. When I did, the shop decided the defect
         | wasn't present. So... I just live with it now.
        
       | taurath wrote:
       | No ear caps is instant no buy for me - I literally cannot keep
       | the previous AirPods in my ear and if I do it causes aching,
       | while I can use the pro's without issue. Or is it just a refresh
       | of the original AirPods?
        
         | smaug7 wrote:
         | This is a refresh of the original AirPods. The Pros are the
         | ones with the in ear caps.
        
         | solarmist wrote:
         | This seems to be a refresh of the original.
         | 
         | I had the same worry before I bought my AirPods, but I was very
         | surprised that I don't have any problem with them staying put.
         | 
         | I can even weight lift or row with them.
        
       | filereaper wrote:
       | Apple Marketing sometimes can be incredulous:
       | 
       | >"First with our contour design that delivers sound directly to
       | your ears"
       | 
       | What does that even mean?!? These are in-ear headphones, how else
       | are they supposed to deliver sound?
       | 
       | Feels silly to have such a comment to make a two point slide.
        
         | theshadowknows wrote:
         | they _could_ project sound outward, using beam forming, such
         | that the sound ricochets off of the walls and other surrounding
         | objects and is directed onto the bones behind your ear. I'm not
         | saying that would work, but it's an option!
        
         | MBCook wrote:
         | They like to make the page a certain size, and when there are
         | only a few improvements over the previous generation... they
         | get creative.
        
           | kwertyoowiyop wrote:
           | Our white plastic has the highest albedo ever!
        
             | [deleted]
        
         | luxuryballs wrote:
         | Then the flavor of the cheeseburger was delivered, right in my
         | mouth!
        
       | mttjj wrote:
       | @dang can we get a less editorialized title (this one only
       | highlights one of the new features)? And one that uses proper
       | capitalization?
       | 
       | Something like "AirPods (3rd generation)" would also match the
       | other Apple-announcement posts that are currently on the front
       | page.
        
         | dang wrote:
         | Ok, I've changed the title--submitted title was "Apple new
         | airpods with Spatial Audio". I don't know that that was so bad,
         | since it's the feature Apple is emphasizing, but it's not a big
         | deal.
        
           | mttjj wrote:
           | I was more concerned with the lazy capitalization but thank
           | you for changing anyway :)
        
       | WithinReason wrote:
       | A spatial audio implementation could range from mind blowing to
       | meh. I want to hear one that can reach this level:
       | 
       | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WYdIidUIbAs
        
         | somedude895 wrote:
         | Wow, I did not know my headphones could do that! What's this
         | announcement then if this is already possible?
        
           | TheGRS wrote:
           | At the end of the day it's still 2 speakers. I get doing
           | spacial audio effects on a soundbar, but for headphones its
           | all just how well you can translate the effect to 2 close
           | speakers.
        
           | errantmind wrote:
           | Binaural recording and spatial audio are not the same thing.
           | The linked track is a binaural recording.
        
           | WithinReason wrote:
           | This was a recording with a head-shaped microphone, for
           | spatial audio you have to implement the HRTF:
           | 
           | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Head-related_transfer_function
        
         | aidenn0 wrote:
         | This was done with a physical device rather than a calculated
         | HRTF, and always impressed me:
         | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUDTlvagjJA
        
       | mongol wrote:
       | I like my wired, ordinary earphones. They are low tech, cheap and
       | reliable. When I pick them up from my pocket, I may have to spend
       | a few moments to untangle then, but it is usually just a few
       | seconds. After some months the wires start to go bad. Then I use
       | a new pair. But such a pair costs very little.
       | 
       | I don't know what I am missing, but I think I would be frustrated
       | if expensive wireless earphones run out of battery when I need
       | them, or lose their ability to hold charge, or I lose them. It is
       | a worry I don't mind to live without. I am probably just a cheap
       | grumpy old man....
        
         | Unklejoe wrote:
         | I mainly just use them when I run on the treadmill. The wire
         | gets a little annoying since I don't have a shirt on to tuck it
         | into.
        
         | truffdog wrote:
         | I managed to get a new phone with a headphone jack, but it's
         | "wrong" somehow and the plugs just pop out.
        
         | Causality1 wrote:
         | Sony MDR-J10 earphones were the most comfortable listening
         | experience ever created, and I regularly forgot I was even
         | wearing them. Shame they're no longer being made and no TWS
         | earbuds have tried to imitate their design.
        
         | enjoiful wrote:
         | Honestly until you try wireless, you won't understand just how
         | much better the user experience is to not have a wire.
        
           | xcambar wrote:
           | Honestly until you have to suffer battery problems, you won't
           | understand just how much better the user experience is to
           | have a wire.
           | 
           | ;)
        
             | nzach wrote:
             | Having no battery on your headphone when you want to use it
             | _right now_ is extremely frustrating indeed.
             | 
             | However headphones with 50+ hours of playing time actually
             | exist nowadays. And this makes life so much easier. Besides
             | that I bought one of those charging cables where the tip is
             | detachable[0] and use that to charge my headphone.
             | 
             | Even on _linux_ things mostly works! Just remember to
             | restart your machine after every system update and don 't
             | move your headset between devices. I only use linux so I
             | don't know how true is that statement for other
             | environments.
             | 
             | If you really need to use the same headphone for multiple
             | devices you should look for a wired solution.
             | 
             | All in all I don't think wireless headphones have a worse
             | user experience, it is just a tradeoff. And to be clear,
             | both my headphones and my smartphone have a p2 jack. This
             | is what I call having a cake and eating it too.
             | 
             | [0] - https://www.amazon.com/Terasako-Magnetic-Charging-
             | Cable-5-Pa...
        
             | etrautmann wrote:
             | I was on this boat too until the Airpods pro. I'm much
             | happier without the wire in virtually all cases, despite
             | occasional bluetooth hiccups
        
               | theshadowknows wrote:
               | The only thing that bothers me with my various Airs-pod
               | is that they sometimes want to connect to other devices
               | (or, more accurately, other devices want to connect to
               | them)..for example I'll be on a call with my Airpods Max
               | connected to my phone, and I'll lean a little too close
               | to my desk and this little dialog pops up on my iPad
               | wanting to connect to them...or I'll move my phone a
               | little bit and a little dialog pops up asking if it
               | should connect to my home pod...but it's a very minor
               | annoyance that is almost comical now.
        
         | xcambar wrote:
         | Headphones are the use case I use the most to introduce people
         | (usually younger people and students) to the benefits of low
         | tech and overall to the benefits of less.
         | 
         | I strongly agree with you. My headphones are 10EUR, last
         | forever and I have 2 pairs in a drawer. I'm still 100EUR below
         | the cheapest airPods and no one ever complained.
         | 
         | My phone is 5 years old, but since it does what I want: email,
         | WhatsApp/Signal, Spotify, Podcast, Maps... I can stand having
         | less shiny pictures of my kids. I don't care, I'm still having
         | the moments, pics are just the reminder, and their sharpness is
         | just secondary.
        
       | cloogshicer wrote:
       | Warning: I purchased AirPods 1st gen and after a firmware update,
       | they just stopped working. They disconnect after a few minutes.
       | It's been over a year and this hasn't been fixed. This seems to
       | be a widespread issue (see links below) - but at the Apple store
       | they just tell you to buy replacements for almost full price.
       | 
       | I'm quite frustrated with this and thus won't purchase these
       | again. I think they are designed to last a year or two max, which
       | is just too expensive and environmentally unfriendly.
       | 
       | https://discussions.apple.com/thread/8499626
       | 
       | https://discussions.apple.com/thread/251067580
       | 
       | https://www.reddit.com/r/airpods/comments/h7furn/left_airpod...
       | 
       | https://discussions.apple.com/thread/251532951
       | 
       | https://discussions.apple.com/thread/250494933
       | 
       | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tEyTDJJ6GPc (see all the
       | comments)
        
         | clairity wrote:
         | i have this issue. it's super frustrating, because a reconnect
         | is required every 5-10 minutes.
        
           | cloogshicer wrote:
           | For me it's down to a few seconds, especially on phone calls.
           | They're unusable.
        
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       (page generated 2021-10-18 23:01 UTC)