6 ms·

AirPods Are Now One of Apple’s Most Important Products

11 points by imartin2k 8y ago

chrisseaton 8y ago
> Don’t they fall out? I don't understand why people thought they'd fall out. They're exactly the same shape as the wired earbuds, but they don't have the wires pulling on them. Do normal earbuds just spontaneously fall out? So why would AirPods?
- imartin2k 8y ago
  I actually hate the Earpods, they just don't fit well in my ears. Out of worry that AirPods will not fit either, I have resisted from buying a pair, even though I crave them. I am still waiting for an in-ear version (even though they might never arrive).
- SamReidHughes 8y ago
  My Apple EarPods do spontaneously fall out.
- fetus8 8y ago
  EarPods have never fit properly in my ears. Ever since the revision back in 2012, they never stay in my ears. I am sure I'm an outlier, but I can't use EarPods, and fear that I would break or lose Airpods because of this.
- bfuller 8y ago
  It depends on ear shape. Normal earbuds and airpods do fall out for some people.
  - lighthazard 8y ago
    That and the smooth hard plastic doesn't have grip either.
- illegalsmile 8y ago
  I am essentially unable to do anything than walk with the normal earbuds without adaptation. This morning I went on a run with them and have to run with a beanie to hold them in, in summer I am unable to do this. When I bike I double wrap the cord around the helmet chin strap to keep them in place when I move my head to look around. I'd say the majority of the falling-out problem is due to the cables pulling due to movement of the head with the other part being the hard plastic shape of the buds themselves which don't lend well to staying in place in my ears. I'd like AirPods but my primary use for ear buds is sport and I don't want them falling out.
- addicted 8y ago
  The difference is that wired pods falling out is no big deal. You simply grab it by the wire and put it back in. However, if an Airpod falls out even once, they may be lost irretrievably. I suspect normal Apple earphones fall out occasionally for most people. (I can’t wear first party apple earphones at all. They never seem to stay in my ear, so airpods are a complete no for me).
  - zwily 8y ago
    Wired ear pods always fell out for me too. AirPods never have.
  - toasterlovin 8y ago
    You should actually try AirPods. The wired Apple headphones do not work for me at all (they don't fit, they fall out, etc.). AirPods fit very well and almost never fall out.
- thekingofh 8y ago
  Fortunately, you can buy a dongle that will hold the airpods together if they do happen to fall out. You connect the dongle to the phone via a small wire that you hardly notice.
- mikewhy 8y ago
  > Do normal earbuds just spontaneously fall out? Apple's? Yes, all the time.
- cuddlybacon 8y ago
  Apple's earbuds would fall out of my ears simply from walking.
- RikNieu 8y ago
  I've had earbuds fall out often... Do I just have weird ears?
thomascgalvin 8y ago
> Like most of Apple’s best products, AirPods simply work. This hasn't been true for a few generations now. I just bought a $3K Mac Mini. I'm a developer, and I wanted a big, beefy machine to replace my aging Macbook Pro. It's a great machine. Very happy with it. But there are a lot of little annoyances that, five or ten years ago, I never would have expected from a Mac. For example, the screens no longer shut themselves off after ten minutes. I've tried playing with the Energy Saver settings, but they just ... stay on. The screen saver never kicks in, either. This worked for like a week, and then just stopped. My external speakers stopped working for a while, too. I rebooted twice and they came back. I have two monitors hooked up to it, and MacOS keeps getting confused about which one is my primary monitor. None of this is a deal breaker, but it adds up. Apple doesn't "just work" anymore. It mostly works, it's mostly great, but they aren't the magical, invulnerable products they used to be.
- brokenmachine 8y ago
  They were never the magical invulnerable products you are saying they used to be. Source: worked support for mac equipment around OS9 time.
SomeHacker44 8y ago
I have three sets of AirPods. One got lost, and I accidentally online ordered two. Of the two that work, one constantly gets reported by callers as unintelligible. The other one I never get comments about except from my mother. Everyone universally agrees that the sound quality of holding the iPhone X to my head is vastly superior. AirPods are convenient but not very good in my experience. Poor audio quality, almost no sound isolation (which could be viewed as a feature, frankly), short battery life (long conference call and you are doing the one-ear-cycle and pray thing), and a challenge to keep charged (yet another charger/cord needed or a rotation cycle with phone). I have and use mine (get value from my sunk cost) but do not like them. They also hurt my ears after about 15 minutes. My wired Etymotic mid-range earplugs for $70-ish have vastly better audio and mic quality, insane passive noise isolation and never need charging. Except... no 3.5mm jack and that stupid dongle keeps getting lost when moving between phone and laptop/ipad. Sigh. What a travesty. Sorry to rant, but it just is not a good product even if it is important to Apple.
- brokenmachine 8y ago
  Lol, that clusterfuck describes exactly what I thought they'd be like. And you bought three sets, thus encouraging Apple that everything's fine and to continue whatever it is they're doing!!
  - SomeHacker44 8y ago
    It's not as if I had much of a choice here.* I could use other bluetooth headsets, but the Airpods, as poor as the audio and mic quality are, do mostly "just work" for me and are as small as my wired headphones were to carry around. * In the Apple ecosystem for a dime, in for a dollar. I am looking to get out, but that will be expensive and I do like Apple's privacy core, if not their recent hardware and UX direction.
    - brokenmachine 8y ago
      I get it, I'm on Android because I can't swallow Apple's bullshit but would like it if Android had similar security to Apple. It would be nice if we could have our cake and eat it too.

11 points by imartin2k 8y ago

> Don’t they fall out? I don't understand why people thought they'd fall out. They're exactly the same shape as the wired earbuds, but they don't have the wires pulling on them. Do normal earbuds just spontaneously fall out? So why would AirPods?

imartin2k 8y ago
I actually hate the Earpods, they just don't fit well in my ears. Out of worry that AirPods will not fit either, I have resisted from buying a pair, even though I crave them. I am still waiting for an in-ear version (even though they might never arrive).
SamReidHughes 8y ago
My Apple EarPods do spontaneously fall out.
fetus8 8y ago
EarPods have never fit properly in my ears. Ever since the revision back in 2012, they never stay in my ears. I am sure I'm an outlier, but I can't use EarPods, and fear that I would break or lose Airpods because of this.
bfuller 8y ago
It depends on ear shape. Normal earbuds and airpods do fall out for some people.
- lighthazard 8y ago
  That and the smooth hard plastic doesn't have grip either.
illegalsmile 8y ago
I am essentially unable to do anything than walk with the normal earbuds without adaptation. This morning I went on a run with them and have to run with a beanie to hold them in, in summer I am unable to do this. When I bike I double wrap the cord around the helmet chin strap to keep them in place when I move my head to look around. I'd say the majority of the falling-out problem is due to the cables pulling due to movement of the head with the other part being the hard plastic shape of the buds themselves which don't lend well to staying in place in my ears. I'd like AirPods but my primary use for ear buds is sport and I don't want them falling out.
addicted 8y ago
The difference is that wired pods falling out is no big deal. You simply grab it by the wire and put it back in. However, if an Airpod falls out even once, they may be lost irretrievably. I suspect normal Apple earphones fall out occasionally for most people. (I can’t wear first party apple earphones at all. They never seem to stay in my ear, so airpods are a complete no for me).
- zwily 8y ago
  Wired ear pods always fell out for me too. AirPods never have.
- toasterlovin 8y ago
  You should actually try AirPods. The wired Apple headphones do not work for me at all (they don't fit, they fall out, etc.). AirPods fit very well and almost never fall out.
thekingofh 8y ago
Fortunately, you can buy a dongle that will hold the airpods together if they do happen to fall out. You connect the dongle to the phone via a small wire that you hardly notice.
mikewhy 8y ago
> Do normal earbuds just spontaneously fall out? Apple's? Yes, all the time.
cuddlybacon 8y ago
Apple's earbuds would fall out of my ears simply from walking.
RikNieu 8y ago
I've had earbuds fall out often... Do I just have weird ears?

thomascgalvin 8y ago

> Like most of Apple’s best products, AirPods simply work. This hasn't been true for a few generations now. I just bought a $3K Mac Mini. I'm a developer, and I wanted a big, beefy machine to replace my aging Macbook Pro. It's a great machine. Very happy with it. But there are a lot of little annoyances that, five or ten years ago, I never would have expected from a Mac. For example, the screens no longer shut themselves off after ten minutes. I've tried playing with the Energy Saver settings, but they just ... stay on. The screen saver never kicks in, either. This worked for like a week, and then just stopped. My external speakers stopped working for a while, too. I rebooted twice and they came back. I have two monitors hooked up to it, and MacOS keeps getting confused about which one is my primary monitor. None of this is a deal breaker, but it adds up. Apple doesn't "just work" anymore. It mostly works, it's mostly great, but they aren't the magical, invulnerable products they used to be.

brokenmachine 8y ago
They were never the magical invulnerable products you are saying they used to be. Source: worked support for mac equipment around OS9 time.

SomeHacker44 8y ago

I have three sets of AirPods. One got lost, and I accidentally online ordered two. Of the two that work, one constantly gets reported by callers as unintelligible. The other one I never get comments about except from my mother. Everyone universally agrees that the sound quality of holding the iPhone X to my head is vastly superior. AirPods are convenient but not very good in my experience. Poor audio quality, almost no sound isolation (which could be viewed as a feature, frankly), short battery life (long conference call and you are doing the one-ear-cycle and pray thing), and a challenge to keep charged (yet another charger/cord needed or a rotation cycle with phone). I have and use mine (get value from my sunk cost) but do not like them. They also hurt my ears after about 15 minutes. My wired Etymotic mid-range earplugs for $70-ish have vastly better audio and mic quality, insane passive noise isolation and never need charging. Except... no 3.5mm jack and that stupid dongle keeps getting lost when moving between phone and laptop/ipad. Sigh. What a travesty. Sorry to rant, but it just is not a good product even if it is important to Apple.

brokenmachine 8y ago
Lol, that clusterfuck describes exactly what I thought they'd be like. And you bought three sets, thus encouraging Apple that everything's fine and to continue whatever it is they're doing!!
- SomeHacker44 8y ago
  It's not as if I had much of a choice here.* I could use other bluetooth headsets, but the Airpods, as poor as the audio and mic quality are, do mostly "just work" for me and are as small as my wired headphones were to carry around. * In the Apple ecosystem for a dime, in for a dollar. I am looking to get out, but that will be expensive and I do like Apple's privacy core, if not their recent hardware and UX direction.
  - brokenmachine 8y ago
    I get it, I'm on Android because I can't swallow Apple's bullshit but would like it if Android had similar security to Apple. It would be nice if we could have our cake and eat it too.