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Beats are widely considered to be overpriced for their audio quality. I think it's reasonable to expect the AirPods Max to be as well, but I think the main draw

Beats are widely considered to be overpriced for their audio quality. I think it's reasonable to expect the AirPods Max to be as well, but I think the main draw of this product is seamless integration rather than pure audio quality, and the question is whether you're willing to pay a (substantial) premium for that. I expect that many will be.

rob74 6y ago
> Beats are widely considered to be overpriced for their audio quality That's why Beats was a perfect fit for Apple, Apple products are also overpriced for their performance...
- larrywright 6y ago
  The new M1-powered Macbook Air would beg to differ.
  - ybbond 6y ago
    I am shocked by how rationally priced are M1 Macs
    - kllrnohj 6y ago
      The upgrade pricing is still straight robbery. It's $400 to go from 8GB RAM / 256GB SSD to 16GB RAM / 512GB SSD. The M1 Macs really just continue Apple's traditional pricing - the base model & price is fine, but the upgrades that you're almost certainly going to want are ludicrously priced and oh hey all the user-upgradability (or any post-purchase upgrades) was removed would you look at that what a total coincidence.
      - ybbond 6y ago
        You either buy the upgrade up-front, or prepare to struggle in your device's lifetime.
  - colinmhayes 6y ago
    Literally the first product apple has released in the last 15 years that isn't priced pretty far above competitors.
    - Jtsummers 6y ago
      That’s not true. My first three MBPs (I tend to sell them after 3-5 years years, it’s nice that they hold their value), I specced out equivalent non Mac laptops. For size, screen, storage, ram, CPU, and graphics they were equivalent or lower cost than a non Mac laptop. I can’t comment on the last 5 years because I haven’t done the comparison in a while. That was even accounting for the Apple tax on components like RAM that (at the time) could be upgraded after purchase. Upgrading myself or through Apple, they were still price competitive.
    - beagle3 6y ago
      I think that spot was taken by iPhone SE2. If you consider security updates as a measure of longevity, that’s true for basically every single iPhone. Android are a 2-year device at most if you care about security (and are not a hacker), Apple is a 5-year decice; per usable year, Apple can be much cheaper. And if you consider resale value, Macs have always been cheaper than competitors. A comparably performing dell was always slightly cheaper, but if you sold it 2-4 years later, the Mac came out ahead. And with the M1, it seems Dell doesn’t even have a sticker price advantage - unless you specifically need Windows, Linux or a configuration Apple doesn’t sell (like 64GB ram in a laptop), Mac seems to be cheaper.
      - nicoburns 6y ago
        > Android are a 2-year device at most if you care about security (and are not a hacker) Apple are definitely leading the industry here, but my Samsung S7 (released Feb 2016) got a security update last month (even though Samsung has officially said it's unsupported now).
        beagle3 6y ago
        That’s good to hear. Perhaps thi by a are changing - But do note that S7 wasn’t much cheaper (if at all) than the comparable iPhone when it came out; and this length of support is unusual for Android. On the other hand, my 5-year old iPhone 6S got the whole new iOS14 update, and my wife’s 6 year old iPhone 6 seems to still be getting critical security updates occasionally, even though the latest OS that supports it is iOS 12, which was replaced over a year ago.
- stouset 6y ago
  The 2000s called and they’d like their meme back.
matwood 6y ago
> Beats are widely considered to be overpriced for their audio quality. Sound quality is also subjective at a certain level. Not everyone wants flat sound like an audio engineer. I like bassy music and headhphones (which the Beats are known to be). Now, Beats may still be overpriced since they crossed into fashion, but I'm not a fan of this blanket talk about sound quality like it's always objective.
- eptcyka 6y ago
  Regardless of how the bass response is tuned, higher total harmonic distortion is objectively worse than less total harmonic distortion. Headphones are a tool to enjoy audio experiences, and a good tool should get out of the way of said experiences.
  - dagw 6y ago
    Headphones are a tool to enjoy audio experiences Yes, and the truth is that many people seem to enjoy the experience of listening to Beats headphones and enjoy that audio more than the audio from many 'better' headphones.
  - compiler-guy 6y ago
    Higher total harmonic distortion is an objectively less accurate reproduction of the original sound. But people can have a preference for less accuracy and that is not objectively “worse” except on one single scale that the consumer may not value. Just like sepia toned prints are objectively worse reproductions of the original picture.
    - stouset 6y ago
      Hell, every photo filter is a less-accurate representation of the original. And filters are wildly popular.
      - eptcyka 6y ago
        Yet, all of Apples devices are equipped with screens that have best in class color accuracy.
tomc1985 6y ago
> the main draw of this product is seamless integration rather than pure audio quality, and the question is whether you're willing to pay a (substantial) premium for that. I expect that many will be. The main draw is that it's an Apple product, and it is yet another way for the rich and spoiled to signal their wealth

rob74 6y ago

> Beats are widely considered to be overpriced for their audio quality That's why Beats was a perfect fit for Apple, Apple products are also overpriced for their performance...

larrywright 6y ago
The new M1-powered Macbook Air would beg to differ.
- ybbond 6y ago
  I am shocked by how rationally priced are M1 Macs
  - kllrnohj 6y ago
    The upgrade pricing is still straight robbery. It's $400 to go from 8GB RAM / 256GB SSD to 16GB RAM / 512GB SSD. The M1 Macs really just continue Apple's traditional pricing - the base model & price is fine, but the upgrades that you're almost certainly going to want are ludicrously priced and oh hey all the user-upgradability (or any post-purchase upgrades) was removed would you look at that what a total coincidence.
    - ybbond 6y ago
      You either buy the upgrade up-front, or prepare to struggle in your device's lifetime.
- colinmhayes 6y ago
  Literally the first product apple has released in the last 15 years that isn't priced pretty far above competitors.
  - Jtsummers 6y ago
    That’s not true. My first three MBPs (I tend to sell them after 3-5 years years, it’s nice that they hold their value), I specced out equivalent non Mac laptops. For size, screen, storage, ram, CPU, and graphics they were equivalent or lower cost than a non Mac laptop. I can’t comment on the last 5 years because I haven’t done the comparison in a while. That was even accounting for the Apple tax on components like RAM that (at the time) could be upgraded after purchase. Upgrading myself or through Apple, they were still price competitive.
  - beagle3 6y ago
    I think that spot was taken by iPhone SE2. If you consider security updates as a measure of longevity, that’s true for basically every single iPhone. Android are a 2-year device at most if you care about security (and are not a hacker), Apple is a 5-year decice; per usable year, Apple can be much cheaper. And if you consider resale value, Macs have always been cheaper than competitors. A comparably performing dell was always slightly cheaper, but if you sold it 2-4 years later, the Mac came out ahead. And with the M1, it seems Dell doesn’t even have a sticker price advantage - unless you specifically need Windows, Linux or a configuration Apple doesn’t sell (like 64GB ram in a laptop), Mac seems to be cheaper.
    - nicoburns 6y ago
      > Android are a 2-year device at most if you care about security (and are not a hacker) Apple are definitely leading the industry here, but my Samsung S7 (released Feb 2016) got a security update last month (even though Samsung has officially said it's unsupported now).
      - beagle3 6y ago
        That’s good to hear. Perhaps thi by a are changing - But do note that S7 wasn’t much cheaper (if at all) than the comparable iPhone when it came out; and this length of support is unusual for Android. On the other hand, my 5-year old iPhone 6S got the whole new iOS14 update, and my wife’s 6 year old iPhone 6 seems to still be getting critical security updates occasionally, even though the latest OS that supports it is iOS 12, which was replaced over a year ago.
stouset 6y ago
The 2000s called and they’d like their meme back.

matwood 6y ago

> Beats are widely considered to be overpriced for their audio quality. Sound quality is also subjective at a certain level. Not everyone wants flat sound like an audio engineer. I like bassy music and headhphones (which the Beats are known to be). Now, Beats may still be overpriced since they crossed into fashion, but I'm not a fan of this blanket talk about sound quality like it's always objective.

eptcyka 6y ago
Regardless of how the bass response is tuned, higher total harmonic distortion is objectively worse than less total harmonic distortion. Headphones are a tool to enjoy audio experiences, and a good tool should get out of the way of said experiences.
- dagw 6y ago
  Headphones are a tool to enjoy audio experiences Yes, and the truth is that many people seem to enjoy the experience of listening to Beats headphones and enjoy that audio more than the audio from many 'better' headphones.
- compiler-guy 6y ago
  Higher total harmonic distortion is an objectively less accurate reproduction of the original sound. But people can have a preference for less accuracy and that is not objectively “worse” except on one single scale that the consumer may not value. Just like sepia toned prints are objectively worse reproductions of the original picture.
  - stouset 6y ago
    Hell, every photo filter is a less-accurate representation of the original. And filters are wildly popular.
    - eptcyka 6y ago
      Yet, all of Apples devices are equipped with screens that have best in class color accuracy.

tomc1985 6y ago

> the main draw of this product is seamless integration rather than pure audio quality, and the question is whether you're willing to pay a (substantial) premium for that. I expect that many will be. The main draw is that it's an Apple product, and it is yet another way for the rich and spoiled to signal their wealth