[HN Gopher] CT scans of AirPods evolution
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CT scans of AirPods evolution
Author : vitruvius
Score : 283 points
Date : 2021-12-06 21:02 UTC (1 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (scanofthemonth.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (scanofthemonth.com)
| [deleted]
| snazz wrote:
| Super cool scans and captions! I wonder if there were any
| substantial internal changes between the first and second
| generation AirPods (besides changing the chip). The article
| unfortunately does not include a scan of the 2nd generation.
| baybal2 wrote:
| My former coworker worked on airpods. Most of RnD for them was
| made in Apple's Shenzhen RnD centre which existence Apple for
| long time tried to hide.
| fnord77 wrote:
| the first airpods were released in Dec 2016, roughly the same
| time apple opened the Shenzhen r&d center, so I don't see how
| r&d for this product was done there.
| veb wrote:
| This was SUPER interesting to see! I actually (for once) signed
| up for their next newsletter/scan. It asked me what they should
| scan next and I suggested cochlear implant processors. It'd be
| pretty cool to see!
|
| The tech on those processors are pretty insane - and remember,
| Apple did partner up with Cochlear for the Nucleus 7 I believe
| for wireless streaming from the processor to an iPhone.
| t-writescode wrote:
| I wonder if this explains / clarifies some of the difficulty in
| getting repair tech for the earbuds. They seem to change in major
| ways each time.
| walrus01 wrote:
| even if you could get repair parts they're assembled with
| strong glue (search youtube for airpod teardown), making it
| pretty much impossible to disassemble without destroying it.
| ProfessorLayton wrote:
| Not an audio expert, but I really wonder why they need a
| microphone for their adaptive EQ. I understand home
| speakers/theatre systems need to compensate for a room's shape
| and contents, but do human ear canals vary that much to need a
| mic?
|
| I think it's pretty neat how sophisticated this adaptive EQ
| system is, but tbh, I haven't noticed much difference between
| this mic system and the "dumb" adaptive EQ that companies like
| bose/ikea etc do (Basically turn up base at low volumes, down at
| high volume to not clip).
|
| Very cool stuff!
| reaperducer wrote:
| _do human ear canals vary that much to need a mic?_
|
| Based on the number of online complaints that AirPods slip out
| of people's ears, and the equal number of people saying they're
| rock solid, even while working out, I think the answer is
| "yes."
| ericbarrett wrote:
| I've tried all three gens of AirPods and none will stay in my
| right ear. Same is true of the old wired earbuds. Everybody's
| a little bit different--sometimes on the same human!
| twobitshifter wrote:
| I worked on a product that used an in ear microphone to adjust
| the model used in noise cancellation on the fly. In a control
| theory sense, the system varies a lot so your poles can move
| around and need a different controller, even on the same head
| depending on fit. The product produced white noise to tune the
| model which greatly improved the noise cancellation accuracy.
|
| It's also not just the ear canals but the rest of your skull
| that effects how you hear. There are apps that use machine
| learning to fit a model/eq to the shape of your head from a
| photo. I would think that actually measuring in the ear would
| give a more accurate representation of this.
| MrBuddyCasino wrote:
| > do human ear canals vary that much to need a mic?
|
| Surprisingly, they do! It doesn't need a lot of change to have
| a different ear canal resonance, changing the frequency curve
| somewhere between 5000-7000Hz. Oluv is currently tuning Earfun
| IEMs to different earl canal lengths which you can then try
| out, and he has written some articles [0] on exactly this
| topic, but unfortunately its paywalled:
| https://www.patreon.com/oluvsgadgets/
|
| [0] https://www.patreon.com/posts/trust-your-ear-58601998
| aidenn0 wrote:
| Low frequencies are heavily affected by both how well the canal
| is sealed, and the volume of air that is in the (partially)
| sealed area. The adaptive EQ does seem slightly over-
| engineered; given that people tend to be forgiving of a fairly
| large amount of bass emphasis, you can just tune for the worst-
| case. However people don't generally buy Apple products to get
| something _under_ engineered...
| snthd wrote:
| Might be more important for noise cancellation.
| whiddershins wrote:
| Ears do vary quite a bit. If you try in ears molded to your
| ears they can be mind blowing.
|
| In some cases a microphone will also help adapt to background
| noise.
| shard wrote:
| > do human ear canals vary that much to need a mic?
|
| Not an expert in human ear canals, but over the years I've
| learned that if I am looking into a field that I am not
| familiar with, it's always more complicated than I
| expected/imagined.
|
| > "dumb" adaptive EQ that companies like bose/ikea etc do
| (Basically turn up base at low volumes, down at high volume to
| not clip)
|
| Sounds like a compander for the lower frequencies. That's
| technically "adaptive" to the input audio, but not adaptive to
| the acoustics of the output environment. I expect that to for
| the second type of adaption, you'd need to measure it, which
| would necessitate some sort of input, such s a mic.
| skavi wrote:
| Bose definitely also uses a mic for their adaptive EQ. I
| wouldn't be surprised if Ikea did as well. IIRC they use Sonos
| tech.
| lpasselin wrote:
| Maybe slight variations of position in the ear can be
| compensated?
| roody15 wrote:
| But somehow they cannot figure out how to make a replaceable
| battery. hmm
| spicybright wrote:
| This is the weirdest product to complain about this for. For
| something so small, replaceable battery hardware would double
| the size of the thing from the battery connectors alone.
| guidedlight wrote:
| PodSwap seem to have worked it out.
|
| https://www.thepodswap.com/
| ncann wrote:
| I'm curious how they did it. Is there a video out there on
| how that's possible?
| spicybright wrote:
| How? This seems only for people with good batteries that want
| to upgrade. There's no new pods with good batteries being
| added if it's just swapping.
| gruez wrote:
| They can, it's just that the trade-off isn't worth appeasing a
| few HN readers.
|
| >The reason earbud companies use non-replaceable rechargeable
| batteries is simple: It makes the earbuds smaller. Earbud
| buyers generally prefer more compact devices, but that means
| the earbuds have less room inside for all the necessary
| components. Designers need to cram a Bluetooth chip and
| processor, an antenna, a battery, drivers, controls, and
| microphones into something that's often the size of a thimble.
| Replaceable battery compartments require more earbud real
| estate, and in a competitive field where tiny is currently
| king, companies don't want to risk their earbuds being flops by
| making them bigger.
|
| https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/blog/your-wireless-earbud...
| baybal2 wrote:
| The reason is simpler than that. Battery will inevitably wear
| out, and it is a very deliberate planned obsolescence move.
| filoleg wrote:
| I don't know about that. I still have my original AirPods,
| and they had no noticeable battery loss, and it's been over
| 3 years by now. They might have lost some battery if I
| tried to measure it empirically, but I have no way of
| knowing without measuring it explicitly, as I cannot really
| catch a battery loss of less than 5-10% with normal use
| over the course of 3+ years. But I use them all the time
| interchangeably with Airpods Pro, and both deliver on
| battery so far. Airpods Pro have already hit the 2-year
| mark for me as well, no issues either.
|
| I had to replace one of the OG airpods because I lost it
| (around 2 years ago), but replacing a single airpod was
| only like $50.
| newaccount74 wrote:
| I got the original Airpods and after less than two years
| the battery lasted like 15 minutes in one of the pods.
| They are a disposable product.
| filoleg wrote:
| Are you claiming that this is a common experience? You
| sure you didn't dunk yours into water or something?
|
| Because out of all people I know irl who had airpods for
| 2+ years, no one has reported any noticeable battery
| loss, let alone something as extreme as "only lasts 15
| mins". I would be livid if mine lasted anywhere even
| close to that, but so far I am solidly in the advertised
| battery life range, even after 3 years of use.
|
| Also, just fyi, it seems like your unit might have been
| defective, in which case Apple offers free
| replacement[0]. If you have AppleCare+ and your battery
| lasts less than 80% of advertised range, it is also free
| replacement (even if it wasn't a defective unit). And
| just the regular replacement regardless of warranty or
| anything like that is $49.
|
| 0.
| https://support.apple.com/airpods/repair/service#battery
| gnicholas wrote:
| Interesting! After 2 years, I'm down to 1 hour of battery
| life in my second generation AirPods. Fortunately I use
| one at a time, so I just swap back and forth between them
| when one dies.
|
| My bigger issue is that my AirPods no longer give a
| warning when they're getting low on battery. The first
| time the sound chimes marks 3 seconds until it's about to
| die. I'm left scrambling to get my other one out as my
| phone reverts to handset audio (in my pocket).
| tinus_hn wrote:
| Also, good enough is good enough. If the battery lasts about
| 2 years people want the next model anyway.
| newaccount74 wrote:
| I'm not sure I would have bought AirPods if I knew ahead of
| time that the battery would die in less than two years and
| replacing them costs as much as getting new Airpods.
| tinus_hn wrote:
| You weren't aware the batteries were not replaceable?
| snthd wrote:
| Another reason for the trend (in phones too) is better water
| resistance.
| moooo99 wrote:
| I think it is fairly impressive that Apple managed turn
| 200EUR earbuds into disposable tech where users accept that
| they have to switch every two years or so. Before the arrival
| of the first generation AirPods, most people wearing AirPods
| today would probably have never even considered spending
| 200EUR on a pair of earbuds/headphones, let alone do that
| regularly.
|
| But I have to admit, my AirPods Pro are incredibly convenient
| bspammer wrote:
| They're easily on the list of things I would replace
| immediately if I lost them, without even a second thought.
| The price is nothing for the amount of use I get out of
| them.
| rootusrootus wrote:
| I'm curious how the newest airpods compare to the pros when it
| comes to bass. I had first gen airpods, then I bought a set of
| pros, but the bass was so weak I thought they had to be broken.
| Turns out it's just an artifact of how they were designed. Some
| people are okay, but a _lot_ of people feel the same way I do. I
| ended up returning them and now I 'd like to know if the g3
| airpods are comparable to the pros, or comparable to the g1/g2
| airpods.
| hvgk wrote:
| I've tried all of them so far. The standard gen 2 AirPods are
| the best by far. The new 3rd gen ones won't stay in my ears.
| Pros are uncomfortable and lack bass. 2nd gen are perfect.
|
| I listen to everything from classical to metal to hard dance.
| trevyn wrote:
| If you like bass, the new Beats Fit Pros are fantastic. They're
| basically AirPod Pros with a different physical design and
| bass-heavy EQ. I find they keep a seal much better than the
| AirPod Pros as well.
| alexfringes wrote:
| I've used all gens and recently tried G3 for the first time. I
| instantly noticed that the bass was significantly better than
| the Pros. It's been a while since I've listened to G1/G2 but
| from memory I would easily place G3 above all of them in terms
| of bass. It wasn't enough to persuade me to get some because I
| love the noise cancellation on the Pros and would rather wait
| for their update. But I was tempted, in part due to the bass.
| [deleted]
| skavi wrote:
| You need a seal to get significant bass from earbuds. the non
| pro airpods do not make a seal (by design).
| Talanes wrote:
| If they experienced better bass on the G1/G2 Airbuds, it's
| not a seal issue.
| skavi wrote:
| The G1/G2 emphasize the high-bass to make up for the
| complete lack of sub-bass. Maybe that's the tuning they are
| looking for?
| rootusrootus wrote:
| I primarily listen to rock. Airpods are great for that. I
| don't listen to much music that has significant sub bass.
| e40 wrote:
| I bought the gen3 and returned them for gen2. Two reasons, but
| the main one was comfort. I forget the gen2's are in my ears.
| The gen3's were painful.
|
| Second reason: gen3's require Monterey for macOS integration. A
| painful week-long exchange with Apple support brought this out.
| reaperducer wrote:
| Interestingly, some people had the opposite complaint about
| HomePods -- that they had too much bass. Apple now has an
| option in the Home app to reduce bass on HomePods.
|
| Not everyone had the complaint, and I think I know the reason
| for that: The configuration of the room. At my last place, my
| HomePods were way too bassy for my ears. At my new place,
| they're fine. Same gear. Different room geometry.
| rx_tx wrote:
| Amazing scans, the packaging of components internally is amazing.
|
| Interesting how they switched from prox-based in-ear detection to
| capacitive skin contact sensor in the latest airpods.
| qeternity wrote:
| I find it super interesting how they have gone back and forth
| on different approaches. I wonder how much user data they
| collect from the wild (not even sure how one would go about
| it).
| GhettoComputers wrote:
| Telemetry logs can be sniffed, with a good firewall and as
| long as you're on your wifi with a wifi only device you can
| learn a lot. I jailbreak to use this:
| http://cydia.saurik.com/package/ca.btraas.appfirewall/
|
| Amazing how much analytics I block from every app.
| reaperducer wrote:
| If you drill down far enough in the settings, most Apple
| products are happy to show you the telemetry that's sent
| back to Cupertino. I've seen the HomePod data while poking
| around in the Home app.
| elliottinvent wrote:
| Wow, it's the first time I've seen this site and format but what
| a great way to explain electronics and design.
| smeyer wrote:
| >it's the first time I've seen this site
|
| I think this might only be its second month so don't be hard on
| yourself for first seeing it now.
| https://web.archive.org/web/*/scanofthemonth.com
| Eric_WVGG wrote:
| I'm really surprised about the (thus-far) universal acclaim of
| the design. There's usually a lot of knee-jerk reaction against
| fancy browser effects like parallax and scroll-jacking in this
| crowd.
|
| I think this implementation is mostly excellent, but as a web
| craftsmen, it would have been a fun/entertaining challenge to
| make a good non-javascript implementation underneath.
| fnord77 wrote:
| wow, this is amazing. I assume these are their first set of
| scans? I was trying to find scans of other products and the home
| page only has airpods
| arecurrence wrote:
| Last month they did LEGO. Interestingly, they seem to remove
| the scan but you can still see parts of it at
| https://web.archive.org/web/*/scanofthemonth.com
| 1f60c wrote:
| From a Google search[0], it looks like they've put two LEGO sets
| under the scanner before, but I can't find them. It would have
| been cool to see an archive...
|
| [0]: https://www.google.com/search?q=site%3Ascanofthemonth.com
| el_isma wrote:
| https://web.archive.org/web/*/scanofthemonth.com
|
| You can read the text, and see some images, but the capture
| wasn't perfect. Such a shame, it looks very interesting. They
| should have an archive.
| adamrmcd wrote:
| I cannot fathom why they would they remove previous
| scans/links. Maybe to enable a paywall archive?
|
| It's super slick how they showcase the object as you scroll
| down, but flattening it into a single URL and only making one
| scan available per month restricts your audience appeal.
|
| I only first heard of this site when they did the lego minifigs
| last month. Did they publish any other scans prior to that?
| Starmina wrote:
| So you have actually a reason put your email in their
| newsletter input box because you wouldn't want to 'miss'
| anything you can't go back to.
| Lammy wrote:
| Does anyone have a canonical URL to the previous month's scan of
| the LEGO mini-figure? I didn't see any navigation on the site
| unless there's a magic spot I missed or am inadvertently
| adblocking: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29253441
|
| This month's entry comes off way too much like advertising for my
| taste, with the flowery language like "magic features" instead of
| just "features", or the seemingly-unnecessary sales statistics in
| lieu of a technical description of the Airpods Pro: "In 2020,
| Apple sold 110,000,000 AirPod products. Talk about mass
| manufacturing."
|
| Maybe it's just an unconscious tic when talking about Apple
| products. Even I have a hard time not saying "Boom" when showing
| off something cool :) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nx7v815bYUw
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(page generated 2021-12-06 23:00 UTC)