23 ms·

AirPods Pro (2nd Generation)

265 points by ValentineC 4y ago

lajosbacs 4y ago
I hope that they have finally eliminated the deafening loudness of the low battery announcement. I check the airpods pro battery compulsively just to avoid hearing this. (love them otherwise)
birdmanjeremy 4y ago
does the mic still pick up literally everything though?
- tommit 4y ago
  That's what I'm wondering. It's impossible to do anything while on a call without the other side complaining that it sounds like I'm banging cutlery on my pots.
  - afterburner 4y ago
    That sounds like every vocal-tuned mic ever. Someone's kids could be two rooms away and barely audible to them, but over the mic they are amplified screams. Kitchen stuff, forget about it.
    - tommit 4y ago
      I don't know much about it so let me ask: is this primarily a software or hardware "issue"? I feel like it wasn't really an issue before the Pro's, and I've been using AirPods since 2016. I may just be misremembering things though. I totally get it, too. When I'm on call with someone and they do kitchen stuff or whatever, I quite literally feel an erratic rage building up and just want to hang up immediately. It sounds so infuriatingly loud, even though the other side may have only put down a glass on the counter or something. It's really bad imo. If this somehow gets fixed, I'll buy a pair at an instant.
      - HatchedLake721 4y ago
        It’s a software issue.
  - alphabetting 4y ago
    If that's your main issue with headphones the pixel buds pro noise cancellation for mic and headphones are both insane. Examples from stress test here https://www.theverge.com/2022/8/17/23309582/wireless-buds-stress-test-galaxy-pixel-airpods-linkbuds-vergecast-podcast https://www.theverge.com/2022/8/17/23309582/wireless-buds-st...
- knownastron 4y ago
  On the iPhone I turn on voice isolation and 99% of the problem goes away. Have you tried that?
  - Tagbert 4y ago
    Where is that? I don’t see anything about voice isolation.
    - deleted 4y ago
      [deleted]
    - ok_dad 4y ago
      It's one of those things hidden in the menu you get when you drag down from the upper right (during a call). I think. I found it once on a video call to my mom, but like the lost city of Atlantis, it seems to have disappeared for me again now that I'm trying to find it again. I hate the iPhone UI, but they work so well most of the time...
      - happyopossum 4y ago
        It shows up when you’re actively in a voice call, and disappears all other times.
    - philsnow 4y ago
      It's a setting that AFAICT only shows up in facetime. When I'm in a facetime call, in the control center there's a new "mic mode" tile (next to the also-facetime-only "video effects" tile that toggles portrait mode). In the mic mode panel there's three options "Standard", "Voice Isolation", and "Wide Spectrum". I use the voice isolation one and people I've talked to say that it's drastically improved the call quality, particularly while I'm walking next to a busy street. edit: you can see the setting without actually starting a call, just go into the facetime app and hit "New FaceTime". It will show you a blurred front view camera and let you pick a contact to call, but at that moment you can drag the control center down and they'll be there.
erikpukinskis 4y ago
I would love to buy AirPods one day, but I have just had too many experiences telling someone on Zoom they sound like they’re under water, and they say, “hold on a sec that’s my AirPods.” If Apple could fix that issue, this would be a nice product! Unfortunately I don’t know how Apple could ever signal to me that they had fixed that issue.
- askafriend 4y ago
  Just try them, there's a 14 day no-questions-asked return policy.
  - rozenmd 4y ago
    They start breaking down after months, not days.
    - pivo 4y ago
      Mine have been working fine for a year and a half, haven't noticed any degradation. Not saying that doesn't happen, just that it's not a given.
- TobyTheDog123 4y ago
  Anecdotally, I've never had this issue. Is it something that happens often?
  - porcc 4y ago
    Yeah two way bluetooth bandwidth is too low to support high quality audio. People speaking on airpods sound horrible
  - smoldesu 4y ago
    Yep. Airpods simply do not support decent sounding duplex audio: https://youtu.be/N6Y_Q7RYmmY?t=351 https://youtu.be/N6Y_Q7RYmmY?t=351
mcculley 4y ago
How do “computational algorithms” differ from other kinds of algorithms employed in headphones?
- iambateman 4y ago
  One term was written by someone paid $120,000 to write software, the other by someone paid $120,000 to write marketing copy. ;)
  - mimsee 4y ago
    Tell me that the headphones have AI without telling me the headphones have AI. That's probably what they were thinking when they wrote that.
  - willis936 4y ago
    What's worse is that their boss is bad at their job. I sold phones in retail for one year and in that time I learned feature, function, benefit. I think some of these VPs should go back to school.
- msoad 4y ago
  I noticed they said "the Watch scans for crash events 3,000 times a second" and then "The always-on display refreshes at 1 hertz"... So it's "x times per second" if it's good and "y hertz" if it's bad lol
  - mimsee 4y ago
    I don't think 1 hertz is bad. It's good so it doesn't use much battery refreshing an always-on lock screen that changes relatively infrequently.
  - dymk 4y ago
    Or the copy editor didn't want to sound too repetitive
  - stnmtn 4y ago
    I disagree, I don't usually hear hertz as a unit outside of display refresh rates. If they had said "The watch scans for crash events at 3000 hertz" it would sound strange and incorrect to me year. And an always-on display being able to refresh at 1 hertz is a selling point and a good thing, no?
discobot2 4y ago
nothing on improving the mic and moving away from bluetooth =(
- joshstrange 4y ago
  > A redesigned inward-facing microphone works with voice enhancement algorithms to better recognize and articulate your voice, so it sounds more natural when you’re on phone and video calls. Also where are you getting "moving away from bluetooth"? That was a rumor (that they might move to their U1 tech for better audio quality) but they didn't mention that in the presentation nor is it mentioned on their site.
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
  - wellthisisgreat 4y ago
    > sounds more natural Well that’s a problem nobody had.
  - xu_ituairo 4y ago
    I think they mean that it's a shame that they haven't moved away from Bluetooth.
    - joshstrange 4y ago
      Ahh, that makes way more sense. I didn't apply the "nothing on" to the second thing and while I think moving off bluetooth is a plus I know there are others who see it as a negative and I assumed that's what they meant since moving from BT was rumored ("Apple doing something proprietary", even though clearly the market isn't moving quickly to fix the issues with BT).
  - jws 4y ago
    UWB would provide plenty of bandwidth at close range with better energy efficiency, but it will not match bluetooth for distance. With sufficient software complexity you could switch back and forth between them depending on conditions… so that sounds like a business decision on cost to implement and benefit. Or some clown has a patent conjoining some aspect of UWB and audio, or protocol switching. Apple never says "we don't do this because there is a patent in the way". It isn't their image.
joshstrange 4y ago
These will be an insta-buy for me. I've loved my AirPods Pro but the battery life has fallen from when I first got them. I knew that would be the case and I'm not mad about it. I'm excited for the touch control on these as well as the better ANC. Also the case having Find My support will be very nice. I'll finally get the MagSafe case as well since that came out later and I never upgraded.
- padjo 4y ago
  This is my problem with wireless headphones. They’re cool but basically disposable when the battery degrades, which happens fast because of the usage pattern. Seems like an awful waste, I’ve gone back to wired. They will last me decades.
  - joshstrange 4y ago
    Ehh, I've used these without fail almost every day I've owned them, just shy of 3 years, for often 4+ hours a day. They feel magical, they work really well, and I love always having them in my pocket (and they never get tangled). So for me they were a really good return on investment. I tried to go back to wired after I lost my original AirPods (not pro) years ago and bought new AirPods within a week after going crazy dealing with the wires (getting caught on things, getting tangled, having to run them up my shirt and even then having them sometimes pull on my ears, etc). At the end of the day it comes down to what your time/enjoyment is worth, for myself $250/3 years is an easy choice but I get that it's not for everyone. Also I've never had wired headphones last more than a year or 2 (at least the ones I carried with me everywhere), 10's of years seems like a stretch unless we are talking about over the ear headphones or similar and those have a ton of downsides compared to something that can fit in your pocket.
  - turtlebits 4y ago
    It's $50 for Apple to change the battery. My Airpods from 2017 still last around an hour, which is fine for when I need to get on meetings.
    - 4y ago
wellthisisgreat 4y ago
Did they fix the microphone? The thing is barely usable because of the random mic error that starts broadcasting outside noises instead of the voice. I RMAed mine twice and Apple didn’t challenge me so they are well aware of the issue. Naturally the issue came back with the 3rd AirPods Pro but I just won’t bother RMAing at this point. So is it anyhow addressed in the new model? The other features are frankly insignificant, as AirPods Pro are already nearly as good as it gets for this kind of gadget. Battery life is nice sure etc but it’s all diminishing returns at this point i thunk
canuckintime 4y ago
Touch volume control removes my biggest pain point with the original. I might actually get two: one for my Apple devices and another for Windows/Android
- Jcowell 4y ago
  I’ve never seen anyone use them for non Apple devices , how well do they work?
  - Grazester 4y ago
    I used a pair of pros on my Android phone and they work fine to the time I used them(a few hours).
  - sc00ty 4y ago
    I use them with my Pixel 5. They work fine. No spatial audio and no battery status for the case or headphones. You can get apps that unreliably show that info but they require excessive permissions and are loaded with ads. Occasionally the headphones won't connect or one headphone won't play audio. Toggling bluetooth or rebooting my phone is usually required at that point. I got mine in February 2021, I would say that connection issues have improved since then through a couple firmware updates. But you can only install the firmware updates if you have an iphone/ipad/mac so thats another barrier.
  - canuckintime 4y ago
    Works well with Surface Book and Duo but Apple doesn’t officially support multipoint so it doesn’t have the semi-seamless sharing enabled for Apple devices
  - colinmhayes 4y ago
    Personally the best features of my airpod pros are that they have never fallen out of my ears and I can wear them for 10+ hours straight without noticing them where other earbuds would get my ears sore after a couple hours. Do they work as well with non apple products? No, but the apple integration isn't what makes them great imo.
- 4y ago
kapsel 4y ago
I love my AirPod Pros, but I hate how unreliable charging in the case is. The AirPods will often think they are out of the case, when they are, and discharge themselves, while connected to my phone/laptop. Then they will re-charge, emptying the battery in the case, so I will end up with a dead pair of AirPods after a couple of days in the pocket, not using them. I guess their tolerances are too tight, hopefully something that will be fixed with AirPod Pro 2, it is a big annoyance. Some times they will also not pick up that they are being put into my ears, so I have to put them back in the case a couple of times for them to react. Really annoying too.
- carlesfe 4y ago
  Check if you have rust in the case contacts. Happened to me and I had to clean them with vinegar. Weird, because I don't use my airpods for sport and I have no idea why the contacts would be rusted.
  - icpmacdo 4y ago
    I replied to the gp saying I had similar issues, this fix appears to have improved the issue quite a bit
- afterburner 4y ago
  Is there a light that indicates charging? I know with my super cheap earbuds I rely heavily on that light to avoid the problem you describe...
  - jcdavis 4y ago
    There is a light. The problem is if only 1 is charging, you'll still see the "charging" light while the other slowly loses battery. I've dealt with this occasionally, from what I suspect is some buildup on the contacts due to sweat on my headphones from running. I find taking a cotton swap with alcohol to clean off the contacts every so often solves the problem.
    - 4y ago
Invictus0 4y ago
Very impressed by the H2's computational algorithms. Those are the most advanced type of algorithms.
dereg 4y ago
Adaptive Transparency is such a promising feature. I would love if transparency mode could eliminate the sound of noises like air conditioners, road noise, and construction while still being "transparent". It seems that, as of now, it's limited to loud noises only. I hope it at least eliminates the hear-loss-causing pops that occur when you have loud, brief clicking noises like that of a bug zapper. For older models, you should never use the Airpods next to a bug zapper. I learned the hard way, in the form of tinnitus.
- codercotton 4y ago
  The AirPods Pro popped loud enough to cause tinnitus? Tinnitus is terrible, and life-long :(
  - daxelrod 4y ago
    Not all tinnitus is lifelong. See the Natural Course section of https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2686891/#__sec2title https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2686891/#__sec2...
- hwbehrens 4y ago
  I have an ultrasonic cleaner that I use for 3D printing, and they have a similar effect on my AirPods. I wonder what could cause this interaction?
  - mh- 4y ago
    I would guess that your ears, and the microphone that the AirPods use for noise cancellation, have different ideas of "ultra".
- selfmodruntime 4y ago
  The fact that setting a maximum loudness level is not the first step of configuration when you pair new AirPods is still beyond me.
  - 4y ago
ryeights 4y ago
Good to know they use computational algorithms to perform ANC! What would we do without the innovators at Apple… In other news, still no support for lossless audio, and the charging port is still Lightning rather than USB-C. Seems like a good time to pick up the 1st gen Pros on discount
- CharlesW 4y ago
  > In other news, still no support for lossless audio… A̶i̶r̶P̶o̶d̶s̶ ̶P̶r̶o̶ ̶2̶ ̶s̶u̶p̶p̶o̶r̶t̶ ̶l̶o̶s̶s̶l̶e̶s̶s̶ ̶a̶u̶d̶i̶o̶.̶ [see update below] https://appleinsider.com/articles/22/09/07/new-airpods-pro-with-lossless-more-battery-life-debut https://appleinsider.com/articles/22/09/07/new-airpods-pro-w...
  - crazygringo 4y ago
    There are a couple of articles from the past hour that mention the term, but zero details and zero about it on Apple's website. I'm suspecting the journalists might be wrong? But I'd love to be proven wrong.
    - CharlesW 4y ago
      > I'm suspecting the journalists might be wrong? I believe you're right. Although the URL still includes "lossless", the claim was just removed from the article itself.
- sfvegandude 4y ago
  You don’t need lossless audio. Seriously. AAC is transparent in all the conditions you’d use these AirPods in. Lossless is a total gimmick and shame on Apple for ever enabling that 24bit nonsense. You don’t have golden ears. You aren’t listening closely while walking around town. Noise cancellation removes some of the frequencies. Lossless would drain battery for literally no gain in quality. Edit: as others have noted, these do feature the ability to receive lossless audio. You should disable it.
  - 4y ago
desro 4y ago
A lot of sane improvements to the case (added speaker, lanyard loop, full U1 Find My support), good to see. They tout "H2 Apple Silicon, amazing sound quality with Adaptive EQ," but I can't find any reference to lossless audio in the tech specs, which is a bit of a disappointment. It's surely ironic that Apple Music supports 24/192 lossless audio and none of its headphones can utilize it.
- parkersweb 4y ago
  That’s ok - very few ears can utilize it either ;-)
- mandeepj 4y ago
  > It's surely ironic that Apple Music supports 24/192 lossless audio and none of its headphones can utilize it. True! But, someone is saying you can come close to it by using a wired connection. I've not tested it though. https://www.reddit.com/r/Airpodsmax/comments/nfc1h3/clearing_up_confusion_with_airpods_max_and/ https://www.reddit.com/r/Airpodsmax/comments/nfc1h3/clearing...
  - astrange 4y ago
    > The one in your lightning to 3.5mm iPhone adapter may not be as good as a $100 desktop DAC hooked up to your PC playing from USB, and that may not be as good as a $500+ DAC in a recording studio. This isn't true; it's better than the first and possibly better than the second. It's a very good $9 dongle.
mensetmanusman 4y ago
The non-replaceable battery is a brilliant business model. Mine only work for an hour now. I have to consider AirPods as a subscription now. (Even considering off-brand $70 repairs)
- happyopossum 4y ago
  > Even considering off-brand $70 repairs Err, Apple will do a first-party repair for $49 - not sure why you’d go anywhere else. [0] https://support.apple.com/airpods/repair https://support.apple.com/airpods/repair Edited link
hardwaregeek 4y ago
It's wild how much money Apple has made from Bluetooth headphones that don't suck. That's literally it. They're portable, pair easily and (somewhat) work with multiple devices. I have top of the line Bose Bluetooth headphones that still, in 2022, have issues with multiple devices. I can't count how many times I've started playing music on my iPhone only to realize that the headphones think my laptop is playing, so they just silently suppress my phone. And the only way to fix it is to go into the inane Bose app and disconnect the laptop. Why the hell can't you just tell the headphones to play from the phone and keep the laptop connected? It's so bad.
- astrange 4y ago
  The main selling point of AirPods Pro is replaceable tips and noise cancelling. People say competitors have mostly caught up in Bluetooth quality, but it’s the only noise cancelling I’ve used without the sucking feeling that hurts your ears.
  - chrismeller 4y ago
    Interestingly enough that's what I miss about my Bose. The in-ear QuietComfort earbuds I had were _far_ more comfortable (and stable in my ear) and the noise cancelling was so far ahead of my AirPods Pro that you wouldn't even consider the two devices in the same genre.
- joshstrange 4y ago
  This makes me think of the "What if AirPods was a company?" [0] post from 2019. It's really wild how big that one product is alone. [0] https://jonahlupton.medium.com/what-is-airpods-was-a-company-a6c1cd75b8bf https://jonahlupton.medium.com/what-is-airpods-was-a-company...
  - matt-attack 4y ago
    Would love to see an updated version of this analysis.
ramesh31 4y ago
Why don't we have Wi-Fi headphones? The only thing anyone can agree on about Bluetooth is that it absolutely sucks. You'd think Apple would be pushing this. I should be able to buy a pair of headphones with built in streaming capability and be able to cast from HomePod or my phone with near gigabit bandwidth over Wi-Fi 6, and have zero concerns about range anywhere in my home.
- jws 4y ago
  Your ears have on the order of 1 megabit/sec bandwidth, so anything more is irrelevant, specifically Wi-Fi 6 is 1000 times overkill. Bluetooth uses about half the energy per bit transmitted compared to wifi. So, using wifi would cut all your run times in half or increase your battery size. The data transmission is the dominant power consumption of wireless ear phones.
  - ramesh31 4y ago
    >Your ears have on the order of 1 megabit/sec bandwidth, so anything more is irrelevant, specifically Wi-Fi 6 is 1000 times overkill. That's silly. This would imply that there's no point in ever having any form of wireless data transmission with more bandwidth than the totality of your senses can intake at once. Obviously it could be used for more than just transferring audio data. But bandwidth isn't really the point anyways. It's about connection quality and range, which Bluetooth will never be able to achieve by design. I would gladly sacrifice battery life for headphones that "just work" with zero effort connectivity at all times, in the same way my laptop seamlessly connects to Wi-Fi.
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
inasmuch 4y ago
A little off-topic, but … Does anyone else have problems with the current AirPods Pro dramatically prioritizing ambient noise (cars passing on the street, washing of dishes, etc.) over your own voice when on phone calls? This is a major problem with two pairs I've owned and with those owned by my girlfriend, brother, and pretty much everyone else who would humor me and test it out. My girlfriend and I have taken our sets to multiple different Apple Stores for diagnostics and even had one or both of the AirPods (and cases) replaced to no avail. I kinda feel like I'm going nuts because I can't find many people talking about this online and it renders them effectively useless for calls when anywhere but sitting at home in a quiet room.
- colechristensen 4y ago
  This happens without headphones as well. Any ambient noise on a call triggers silencing that makes conversations almost impossible sometimes. Like my parents are outside and there's a light breeze and 80% of them speaking is muted. Happens with normal phone microphone, worse with speakerphone, happens with my calls with my Bose headphones and my AirPod Pros. It's a phone setting, I'd buy a case of beer for anybody who could show me how to turn off the noise suppression completely. It is clearly happening on iOS, not the headphones.
  - inasmuch 4y ago
    I've definitely experienced the ear-piercing scream of a siren on the other end only to be told by the person I'm talking to that the ambulance is like eight blocks away. I remember that as far back as my LG Chocolate. But what AirPods are doing is either a dramatic escalation of that or something different altogether. Typically when I encounter this problem, I or the person I'm talking to will hang up and call back without AirPods, using the regular phone mic or speakerphone or whatever, and it will be significantly better if not completely resolved.
  - noncoml 4y ago
    Call someone within AirPods Pro and then have them remove them and talk you directly on the phone. The difference is huge! What I mean to say is that AirPods Pro make what you describe even worse
deleted 4y ago
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dougmwne 4y ago
Interested to know what bluetooth codecs these support. That's important for using them with non-apple devices. Frustrating that they don't list supported codecs in the tech specs.
- 1123581321 4y ago
  The tech specs link on the APP page is grayed out. Hopefully it will be live soon.
  - dougmwne 4y ago
    Tech specs are live, but even though there are a half dozen size measurements, not a codec in sight. I think that is intentional because they don’t support AptX, or LDAC which would be essential for using these with anything not Apple.
    - 1123581321 4y ago
      Ah, yes, that's a disappointing lack of detail (and disappointing if they only support the required codecs in 5.2/5.3.)
- JacobiX 4y ago
  It would be great if it supports the LC3 codec (Bluetooth’s future low-power and high-quality codec)
w-m 4y ago
Personalized Spatial Audio has me really excited (https://youtu.be/ux6zXguiqxM?t=2739 https://youtu.be/ux6zXguiqxM?t=2739). The idea is to map your ears / head with the depth camera of the iPhone, to create a personal profile. 10 years ago I played around with binaural microphones, the kind that you stick in your own ears to record the true sound profile. Closing your eyes and playing back these recordings is just incredible. You will be completely fooled and will not believe that these sounds are just played back. If this personalized spatial audio stuff gets even close to this level of immersiveness, that would be outstanding. So cool for Apple to even attempt such a feature!
- keepquestioning 4y ago
  There was a company that did this. Whatever happened to them? Nura I think. Maybe they got bought out by Apple. Surprised they are not suing.
  - kimburgess 4y ago
    Nura measures otoacoustic emissions. Others in this space (Audeara et al) use audiometry. In all cases this is designed just to model the frequency response of your ears. This is then used to create a static filter that compensates for this. Apple may still do something similar for base calibration but that's not the exciting bit. From the marketing material the depth camera is used to scan your face. This gives both the exact placement of your ears, full facial geometry and likely a model of your pinnae. With that info spatial audio could get terrifyingly good. It becomes possible to fully emulate how you perceive sound naturally, applying the same time differences, filtering and early reflections as you've been used to your entire life.
    - keepquestioning 4y ago
      Using the depth camera to model the face is pretty smart.
  - siquick 4y ago
    Nura is still going and are miles ahead of anything Apple are doing sound quality wise. I’ve got both the Nuraphones and the Nurabuds and listening to anything else in a similar price range is such a step down. You can also use Spatial on them if that’s your thing. New ones coming out soon https://www.nurasound.com/ https://www.nurasound.com/
unknownaccount 4y ago
Hopefully they have some sort of authentication system. I previously wrote about fake Airpods and how they are nearly indistinguishable from the real ones when they are connected. (Spoofs all the special iOS interfaces etc) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32287113 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32287113
paxys 4y ago
Lack of simultaneous 2+ device pairing is still a deal breaker for me. If my $80 Jabra earbuds can figure it out, why can't Apple?
- yodon 4y ago
  Apple figured out how to get your Apple devices to talk to each other to do the Bluetooth handoff automatically disconnecting/reconnecting your AirPods from your iPhone to your MacBook, iPad, Mac Mini, etc., and back, without you having to do anything. The fact that this only works with Apple devices is, from Apple's perspective, a feature not a bug. It also allows them to keep the bill of materials inside the AirPods smaller, cheaper, and lower power, because they only require a single Bluetooth transceiver to pair with an unlimited number of Apple devices, unlike your Jabra which requires two Bluetooth transceivers to support dual device pairing.
- chrisseaton 4y ago
  Why do you think it's a case of them not being able to figure it out, rather than they don't want the feature?
- RockRobotRock 4y ago
  AirPods Pro will "pair" to an unlimited number of devices (or at least a very high number). But it can only be connected to one device at once.
alistairSH 4y ago
Two major gripes with my current AirPods (not-Pro)… 1 - Battery life is less than half what it was when new. For $160, they should last more than 2 years, IMO. This applies to both the pods themselves and the case. 2 - I hate wireless ear buds for anything beyond sitting still. The risk of losing one half of a $160 pair is just too high. They might be ok walking, but not hiking, running, or cycling. The Pros might stay in better, but they’re even more expensive. If Apple made a set of ear buds that had a strap, and a battery that lasted longer (not per play, but lifetime/# recharge cycles), I’d happily buy again. My wife has a set of Jaybird Tarah Pros that were cheaper, the battery longevity is better, and there’s no risk of losing one. Of course, Jaybird no longer makes these either. Ho Hum.
- johnwalkr 4y ago
  For skiing, I just use a piece of tape to make a strap, but you can buy silicone straps for a few dollars.
  - alistairSH 4y ago
    But then they don’t fit in the charge-case. Minor annoyance, but at that price point, it’s enough to put me off.
- sz4kerto 4y ago
  Almost all earbuds just fall out of my ears for some reason, but Airpods Pro + memory foam tips allow me to run with them.
  - DavideNL 4y ago
    Interesting, which tips do you use if i may ask?
    - ch_ase 4y ago
      I’ve used Comply foam tips and can run and workout without issue. You can squish them down and then they expand to fill your ear. Better sound isolation too.
aaaaaaaaaaab 4y ago
I get the audio quality will still be tincan-tier when the mic is on, right?
- pfranz 4y ago
  Are there Bluetooth headphones that are better? My understanding is that it's a limitation in the Bluetooth spec. I've heard talk of Apple wanting to do their own thing specifically because of things like this.
deleted 4y ago
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xylophoner 4y ago
i hope the volume control can be disabled (though i doubt this will be the case). i’ve never met a touch sensitive headphone volume control that wasn’t susceptible to accidental triggering. i have too many issues with my hearing to risk that.
- drivers99 4y ago
  I hope so too. I disabled touch controls on my WH-1000XM3 (the over the ear type) because an accidental swipe would rewind or skip to the next item (e.g. videos on YouTube). When I have to adjust the earbud version (WF-1000XM3) it's really easy to touch the controls on accident as well. Even the Airpods Pro that I have can be touchy when adjusting because they have sensors to pause when you take them out and resume when you put them back in (great feature) but they also sometimes pause (or unpause) incorrectly depending on the situation. (I just realized that is an option that can be disabled so I'm torn about disabling it now. Single click does pause and unpause as well.)
e40 4y ago
The Pros (gen1) hurt my ears and I had to return them. Guessing gen2 is the same? I'm on regular Airpods for this reason.
- camdenlock 4y ago
  Same. I’ll be sad when they discontinue the original form factor.
formerly_proven 4y ago
How do these compare to something like Sennheiser Momentum 3?
cpsns 4y ago
- fallat 4y ago
  We'll live in a new paradigm: Earth plus Airpods!
- imknewhere 4y ago
  I've been using the same airpods v2 since some time in 2019 and whenever I end up replacing them, I won't really feel much regret at the small amount of e-waste they produce. I mean, I probably come across 2 or 3 e-cigarette things each time I take my dog for a walk. I don't mean to engage in whataboutism but I've used those airpods for hundreds of hours. Seems like a pretty reasonable lifespan to me.
- elicash 4y ago
  A billion pairs of AirPods would weigh around 6614 tons. I'm admittedly leaving out the cases, but just for lack of time. Somebody please do that math!
- crazygringo 4y ago
  Millions of tons...? It's orders of magnitude less than that. It's 56.1 grams for both buds and case. For comparison, 2 AA batteries is 46 grams. They're tiny. In terms of e-waste, they're not even a rounding error. In terms of all devices to worry about, they're essentially last on the list. They're roughly the mass of the most popular consumer disposable batteries themselves. (If you want to do the math, they sold ~90 million units in 2021.)
  - cpsns 4y ago
    Millions of tons is hyperbole, but my point remains. As convenient as they are, devices like them aren’t good for the world. They might be a rounding error, but I’m going to call out rampant consumerism and environmental issues where I see them.
    - 4y ago
tarunkotia 4y ago
I am just curious how are people dealing with EMF radiations emitted by AirPods? I have 2 sets of AirPods and Bose QC35 but I stopped using AirPods altogether and I use QC35 using the wire. NIH study: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6701402/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6701402/
- CamperBob2 4y ago
  Until a study like that is reproduced and a plausible explanation given, it's just junk science, and should be treated as such. It would be VERY obvious by now if nonionizing EMF was hazardous to humans at athermal levels. We've spent ~100 years using it and ~50 years paying attention.
whalesalad 4y ago
I adore the OG airpods, but the pro model disappointed me bigtime. They are always falling out of my ears, specifically my left ear which seems to be a little bit smaller. I tried aftermarket tips to no avail.
- 0x38B 4y ago
  I had the same experience, loved my AirPods but the Pros never fit well and the left side would fall out, returned within the 14-day return period. The 2nd gen AirPods have a better UI, too: wearing mittens, with a hat over the AirPods, I could tap them to play/pause or skip tracks. This is impossible on newer AirPods. Siri is good, but isn’t as quick or convenient as a physical interface.
- qiller 4y ago
  I still use v2 and got an extra one in case that model will disappear from stores. The tap interface is so much easier to use than the actual button press
- theshrike79 4y ago
  Same here. I've tried every single price point of in-ear headphones. They all fall off. Haven't dared to spend the almost 300€ for Airpods Pro because of this. But the OG style stays in my ear like magic, doesn't fall off when running etc.
jononomo 4y ago
Is it possible to preset a max volume on the airpods pro so that I never under any circumstances damage my ears, even if I mistakenly blast the sound of a screeching whistle at full volume?
- happyopossum 4y ago
  Yes - Settings / Sounds / Headphone Safety / reduce loud sounds. Note it might be in a different spot on iOS 15, but that’ll get you there on iOS 16
  - jononomo 4y ago
    Thanks!
gnicholas 4y ago
If the size/shape is the same as the original AirPods Pro, does that mean that the new XS earbud will be usable with the original version? I have never had issues with earbuds (wired or original AirPods) before, but the AirPods Pro doesn't fit well for me. I use it when listening to content, but if I'm talking I use my old AirPods (non-Pro). The Pros migrate out of my ear canal quickly when I'm talking or eating, due to the jaw movement. Fingers crossed that we'll be able to pick up the new XS size in an Apple Store once these are out!
Angostura 4y ago
The one thing that would have made me upgrade is the promise that I could use the Pros with my Mac on a Teams/Zoom cal and not sound like I was talking on a 1970s landline.
- lljk_kennedy 4y ago
  I know it’s a ‘workaround’ but have your MacBook use it’s own as the mic input, and the AirPods as the output.
  - Angostura 4y ago
    Thanks for the tip. Not ideal in a noisy office, but worth thinking about
- happyopossum 4y ago
  Wha? I and about 70% of my coworkers do this and never have any such problems
- efficax 4y ago
  you’re underestimating how good pots call quality was before digital switching and voice compression
ponow 4y ago
I'm still not convinced that Bluetooth earbuds are safe, and yes, I'm aware they don't produce ionizing radiation. No one here is concerned about having them in your ear canal for hours every day for years is essentially no worse than wearing a hat that keeps your head equally warm? What is the most convincing, clear evidence of a lack of long term health issues?
- ztratar 4y ago
  Plenty of RF signals are going through your body right now -- what makes bluetooth here particularly dangerous in your opinion? Concerns come after some form of adverse reaction. I personally only have them in for 2-3 hours per day, and don't think of the bluetooth much. We won't have long term data for years, and that's just the reality. Even with long-term data, trying to hone in specific health problems to Airpods or similar devices will be incredibly difficult.
- elicash 4y ago
  If your concern isn't radiation, then is there a specific bluetooth issue or is it in-ear headphones in general? Certainly anything that can cause a build-up of earwax can result in other issues. So if you're wearing them for long stretches daily, there's a potential issue if these devices go deep enough (I don't know if they do).
- harrisi 4y ago
  Just to be clear, are you suggesting that wearing a hat causes some sort of damage to one's health? And further than that, a hat that kept one's head as warm as two one inch pieces of plastic? Obviously I don't have data to back it up, but I can't imagine even gluing a pair of AirPods to one's face for one's entire life would make any significant impact on lifespan. Other than maybe all the glue. EDIT: And if you're experiencing excessive heat from earbuds (which I would say would be essentially any amount of heat - they shouldn't really put out any noticeable heat), you probably have severely faulty earbuds and should get them replaced.
  - ponow 4y ago
    I doubt hat wearing is physically harmful, but it does warm your head, and that's one of the claims against Bluetooth headsets. I find that a non-danger. But it may not be the only one, e.g., voltage-gated calcium channels. I haven't looked into and wondered if anyone wanted to chime in with the latest.
matthewcford 4y ago
What are the chances the microphone will be useable?
hancholo 4y ago
Once my OG AirPods crap out, I'll be going wired most likely. Already have ChiFi IEM's that blow the AirPods out of the water.
neillyons 4y ago
For anyone who runs with AirPod Pros I recommend "AirPod Pro Ear Hooks" that you can get on Amazon for like £10. They keep them in your ear really well. Edit: The ones I have https://amzn.eu/d/3ihERHb https://amzn.eu/d/3ihERHb
- jhickok 4y ago
  Hey that's a cool suggestion and if that works I can get rid of like 2 other pairs of "workout" earbuds. Thanks!
  - neillyons 4y ago
    No worries. I was considering buying another pair or headphones just to workout in, but all I really wanted was for my AirPod Pros not to come loose. These hooks work so well. Surprised Apple don't sell them.
pwpw 4y ago
I want to get them but reliability is a big concern. Everyone in my family has had problems with our first gen pros. Mine started developing crackling issues. During the pandemic I remember hearing that it was a known problem and could be fixed at the Apple store, but all of the stores were closed. I put off bringing them in until later. I finally got around to it this past week as the issue has grown a lot worse recently, and they said it is indeed a manufacturer defect, my AirPods are now out of warranty, and it will cost $180 to repair them. They then encouraged me to just buy a new pair given the high repair price. That just rubs me the wrong way. They spent a good amount of time during the conference today highlighting their commitment to the environment yet are incentivizing that I purchase a new set. If these ones demonstrate stronger reliability and get USB C a year from now, I'll definitely consider them.
- happyopossum 4y ago
  Err, Apple was replacing those things left and right during the pandemic - you didn’t need to go to a store. Sorry you waited so long, but…
  - pwpw 4y ago
    Ahh I didn't know that! The problem was nonexistent for me during that period, so it wasn't a priority to "fix" my working product. The issue has become much more pronounced in the period since the warranty expired. Lesson learned: bring in the working product if there's a known recall regardless of if it's fine at the moment. Won't let that happen again.
    - askafriend 4y ago
      Yeah I had a similar issue and the process was super painless. It didn't require going into a store. They shipped you a box with a prepaid label where you put in your problematic AirPods. Then they shipped you a new pair for free. Turnaround time was fast.
      - pwpw 4y ago
sbf501 4y ago
Long live the first generation ipod shuffle. It just worked. Now every gadget has so many "why is it doing this?" and "how do I make it stop doing ___?" that I've checked out entirely. Cords are hip again in my house.
- dougmwne 4y ago
  I get what you mean, but I think the AirPods pretty well live up to the “it just works” magic of cords. The UI is deeply intuitive. We’re talking the easiest to use product of the most UX obsessed company on earth. I can understand being put off the cost for something that you will use for a few years then toss in the bin, but then again almost everything eventually become trash.
DubiousPusher 4y ago
It's weird what I'm about to write is both completely sincere and yet also ironic. I'm excited about the volume control.
deanmoriarty 4y ago
Honest question: how can folks justify spending $250+tax on a device that in just a year or two of significant usage will not be usable anymore due to degraded battery? I was gifted a pair and after two years the battery lasts less than one hour in playback mode, and just a few minutes in call mode. What a disappointment. Am I expected to spend another $280?! I also do not want to spend $50+ for a third party battery replacement. At least with the iPhone I can buy one, use it for 6 years and change the battery a couple times, making it a good purchase.
- jbc1 4y ago
  The more you use something the more it makes sense to spend on it, assuming your extra spending is getting you something. If you used them significantly for two years, it sounds like you got a lot of value out of them.
  - deanmoriarty 4y ago
    To be clear, I would pay even $350 for them, if only I could remove the $5 battery and replace it cleanly. Or even bring it to an Apple Store and get a new battery for $30, in a similar iPhone workflow. It just feels such a robbery otherwise.
- itake 4y ago
  I have used mine 2 hours per day for about 2 years and the battery still lasts about 2.5 hours of talk time. I pretty much only use them to listen to audio books or meetings, since music leaves them dead for meetings.
- celestialcheese 4y ago
  I use them everyday while working, for multiple hours per day and can expense them. They work better than other bluetooth headsets I've tried, and the noise cancelling is excellent in loud environments. I'm willing to pay a premium for the convenience and seamless pairing to other Apple products I already have (Apple TV, macbook, iphone).
  - 4y ago
robertwt7 4y ago
Airpods is one of the invention that you don’t know you need it but when you buy it, you know it’s good and it just works seamlessly It mentioned in the page that it’ll support high fidelity audio? Does this mean that they came up with new encoding for wireless transmission? Possibly something better than AAC?
- Gigachad 4y ago
  I was a big airpods hater before I got them myself. And yeah, everything people complain about is real, they aren't perfect. But they are so good that I'd rather deal with every single one of the issues than go back to wired.
- okdood64 4y ago
  Can 99% of people really tell the difference between high bitrate LDAC and high bitrate AAC?
  - stjohnswarts 4y ago
    no but 95% will swear they can to justify the extra $$ :)
- dmix 4y ago
  The integration is everything
- thathndude 4y ago
  I’ve tried many many pairs of earbuds. Nothing comes close to the overall experience of AirPods.
- makeitdouble 4y ago
  Do we still call it an invention when it’s the proprietary and fully integrated take on an existing job to be done ? It’s kinda like saying Google invented the Pixel phone and it’s so well integrated and working seamlessly in the Google ecosystem.
  - 4y ago
speedylight 4y ago
I really want to buy a pair of AirPods, but I’ve been hesitant to because hearing in my left ear is seemingly slowly fading away and I think it was partly because I use to wear EarBuds at max volume all of the time when I was a teen. I know Apple has a headphone safety feature which limits the maximum dB they’re outputting; Even then I always feel super guilty that I might be damaging my hearing further whenever I use headphones in general. It’s already damn near impossible for me to hear someone talking if I’m eating for instance, or if some other noise is even remotely overshadowing what I’m trying to listen to. Never fails to bring me down:(
- rhexs 4y ago
  See an audiologist and ask what they think about the volume limit.
- ripa 4y ago
  With noise cancellation I find I never have to crank up the volume above low-medium. This is great as I also try to avoid damaging my hearing more. The iPhone also has a widget in the control center that displays the current decibel number that the AirPods are outputting. I never go above the “green zone”. The volume is tracked in the Health app where you can see all historic data. Finally the iPhone has an accessibility function where you can use apps to create perform a sound test, and then generate a specific frequency curve for your phone (maybe boost some frequency that you struggle to hear or increase the volume on one side etc).
monkpit 4y ago
I love the addition of more accessibility features. If the “Conversation Boost” feature can work the way I hope it does, I would buy a pair or 2 of these immediately. I have often desired a feature similar to “transparency” except it would amplify sounds, basically hearing aids when you boil it down.
mtoddsmith 4y ago
I have Powerbeats 3 which I assume function similar to other apple earbuds. I use them while cycling & mountain biking and find that sometimes when I pass another person they stop working. Anyone experience the same behavior? Is there a reason?
steve_taylor 4y ago
I can't get great noise cancellation from AirPods Pro. If I don't use the smaller silicone tips, the muscles in my ears spasm which makes a rumbling sound. But the smaller tips let more external noise in.
intrasight 4y ago
I'll probably upgrade to the 2nd generation. The AirPods Pro were, for me, the first time in many years that the boundary of tech and magic were blurred. I have a air purifier in my room. I put the Airpods on for the first time, and somehow they turned off my air purifier. Sort of freaked me out :)
swyx 4y ago
> Always-on “Hey Siri” i've been turning off Siri because the inaccuracies really bother me... any one use them on a daily basis other than for setting kitchen timers?
crummy 4y ago
Do Airpods suffer lower audio quality when the mic is live, like all the other Bluetooth headsets I've tried?
bironran 4y ago
And still no mute button on the airpod itself. Seriously, I would love to have a chat with the product manager in charge. With over 6.2M call-minutes per minute and over 300M daily active users [1], how can "mute", the most important functionality in a video call (I would argue even more than disconnecting the call) still be missing? Just a tiny dot that sets a mute/unmute flag on the mic, preferably with an audible cue. Don't even involve the phone, just mute it on the device itself. I know HSP/HFP don't support mute command but a device level option should be easy. Moreover Apple could, as it's done before, implement an Apple-to-Apple extension of either of these protocols. [1] just for zoom, see https://backlinko.com/zoom-users https://backlinko.com/zoom-users
- nicbou 4y ago
  This feature is completely useless to me. It might just not be such a universal need.
- chroma 4y ago
  If airpods had mute buttons, tons of people would complain about accidentally muting themselves. People already have mute functionality in the paired device's OS and the app they're using. Adding mute functionality to a third place just increases confusion. And worse: if you build it how you're suggesting (purely in-headphone, without notifying the paired device), people won't have any indication that they're muted other than a one-time audio cue. They'll end up toggling mute/unmute in Zoom and/or their device's OS, then assume that the headphones are broken. It's a UX nightmare.
- dbbk 4y ago
  If you "don't even involve the phone" how would you know what the state of your mic is? Whether it's on or off?
visarga 4y ago
I bet they fail to connect to MacBook 20% of the time like the last set of AirPods Pro I owned. I switched back to wired, too many Bluetooth issues. I like my headphones to ... make sound when I use them ... am I asking too much? It's a shame that such a nice product otherwise is useless.
xyzzy_plugh 4y ago
I hope these are better for calls. We've debated banning AirPods at my workplace because the mics are so awful. I tried AirPods but eventually landed on the new Pixel Buds, which are incredible. Sony's WF-1000MX4s are good too, and I'm still using my Bose QC 35 II as daily drivers (pun intended, I guess).
POPOSYS 4y ago
- foolproofplan 4y ago
drclau 4y ago
I just hope they fixed the crackling/static noise issue, as well as the ANC issues (usually they come together). I am literally at the 5th replacement right now. AirPods Pro Service Program for Sound Issues https://support.apple.com/airpods-pro-service-program-sound-issues https://support.apple.com/airpods-pro-service-program-sound-...
user3113 4y ago
I was very hopefully about airpods when I bought mine 1 month ago. They pair nicely with my apple devices but right airpod has hissing static sound coming out of it. When I contact with apple support about this they took my airpods and ran their stupid diagnostics test. Since diagnostics test doesn't show anyhthing they are not bothered to look further. However, here comes the quesiton what if diagnostics tests doesn't cover enough to detect problem I am having? I am bit bothered becuase its very easy to prove my point you just pop right one in and you can hear annoying static sound
acd 4y ago
Still with non user replaceable battery. We have global warming, why should we have buy and throw devices?
Juliet245 4y ago
sleepybrett 4y ago
Have they put an airtag into the case yet? This would be a killer fucking feature. I use bose earbuds and bodged an airtag onto their case with a 3d printed wrapper... it's ugly as fuck but it works.
Juliet245 4y ago

265 points by ValentineC 4y ago

I hope that they have finally eliminated the deafening loudness of the low battery announcement. I check the airpods pro battery compulsively just to avoid hearing this. (love them otherwise)

birdmanjeremy 4y ago

does the mic still pick up literally everything though?

tommit 4y ago
That's what I'm wondering. It's impossible to do anything while on a call without the other side complaining that it sounds like I'm banging cutlery on my pots.
- afterburner 4y ago
  That sounds like every vocal-tuned mic ever. Someone's kids could be two rooms away and barely audible to them, but over the mic they are amplified screams. Kitchen stuff, forget about it.
  - tommit 4y ago
    I don't know much about it so let me ask: is this primarily a software or hardware "issue"? I feel like it wasn't really an issue before the Pro's, and I've been using AirPods since 2016. I may just be misremembering things though. I totally get it, too. When I'm on call with someone and they do kitchen stuff or whatever, I quite literally feel an erratic rage building up and just want to hang up immediately. It sounds so infuriatingly loud, even though the other side may have only put down a glass on the counter or something. It's really bad imo. If this somehow gets fixed, I'll buy a pair at an instant.
    - HatchedLake721 4y ago
      It’s a software issue.
- alphabetting 4y ago
  If that's your main issue with headphones the pixel buds pro noise cancellation for mic and headphones are both insane. Examples from stress test here https://www.theverge.com/2022/8/17/23309582/wireless-buds-stress-test-galaxy-pixel-airpods-linkbuds-vergecast-podcast https://www.theverge.com/2022/8/17/23309582/wireless-buds-st...
knownastron 4y ago
On the iPhone I turn on voice isolation and 99% of the problem goes away. Have you tried that?
- Tagbert 4y ago
  Where is that? I don’t see anything about voice isolation.
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
  - ok_dad 4y ago
    It's one of those things hidden in the menu you get when you drag down from the upper right (during a call). I think. I found it once on a video call to my mom, but like the lost city of Atlantis, it seems to have disappeared for me again now that I'm trying to find it again. I hate the iPhone UI, but they work so well most of the time...
    - happyopossum 4y ago
      It shows up when you’re actively in a voice call, and disappears all other times.
  - philsnow 4y ago
    It's a setting that AFAICT only shows up in facetime. When I'm in a facetime call, in the control center there's a new "mic mode" tile (next to the also-facetime-only "video effects" tile that toggles portrait mode). In the mic mode panel there's three options "Standard", "Voice Isolation", and "Wide Spectrum". I use the voice isolation one and people I've talked to say that it's drastically improved the call quality, particularly while I'm walking next to a busy street. edit: you can see the setting without actually starting a call, just go into the facetime app and hit "New FaceTime". It will show you a blurred front view camera and let you pick a contact to call, but at that moment you can drag the control center down and they'll be there.

erikpukinskis 4y ago

I would love to buy AirPods one day, but I have just had too many experiences telling someone on Zoom they sound like they’re under water, and they say, “hold on a sec that’s my AirPods.” If Apple could fix that issue, this would be a nice product! Unfortunately I don’t know how Apple could ever signal to me that they had fixed that issue.

askafriend 4y ago
Just try them, there's a 14 day no-questions-asked return policy.
- rozenmd 4y ago
  They start breaking down after months, not days.
  - pivo 4y ago
    Mine have been working fine for a year and a half, haven't noticed any degradation. Not saying that doesn't happen, just that it's not a given.
TobyTheDog123 4y ago
Anecdotally, I've never had this issue. Is it something that happens often?
- porcc 4y ago
  Yeah two way bluetooth bandwidth is too low to support high quality audio. People speaking on airpods sound horrible
- smoldesu 4y ago
  Yep. Airpods simply do not support decent sounding duplex audio: https://youtu.be/N6Y_Q7RYmmY?t=351 https://youtu.be/N6Y_Q7RYmmY?t=351

mcculley 4y ago

How do “computational algorithms” differ from other kinds of algorithms employed in headphones?

iambateman 4y ago
One term was written by someone paid $120,000 to write software, the other by someone paid $120,000 to write marketing copy. ;)
- mimsee 4y ago
  Tell me that the headphones have AI without telling me the headphones have AI. That's probably what they were thinking when they wrote that.
- willis936 4y ago
  What's worse is that their boss is bad at their job. I sold phones in retail for one year and in that time I learned feature, function, benefit. I think some of these VPs should go back to school.
msoad 4y ago
I noticed they said "the Watch scans for crash events 3,000 times a second" and then "The always-on display refreshes at 1 hertz"... So it's "x times per second" if it's good and "y hertz" if it's bad lol
- mimsee 4y ago
  I don't think 1 hertz is bad. It's good so it doesn't use much battery refreshing an always-on lock screen that changes relatively infrequently.
- dymk 4y ago
  Or the copy editor didn't want to sound too repetitive
- stnmtn 4y ago
  I disagree, I don't usually hear hertz as a unit outside of display refresh rates. If they had said "The watch scans for crash events at 3000 hertz" it would sound strange and incorrect to me year. And an always-on display being able to refresh at 1 hertz is a selling point and a good thing, no?

discobot2 4y ago

nothing on improving the mic and moving away from bluetooth =(

joshstrange 4y ago
> A redesigned inward-facing microphone works with voice enhancement algorithms to better recognize and articulate your voice, so it sounds more natural when you’re on phone and video calls. Also where are you getting "moving away from bluetooth"? That was a rumor (that they might move to their U1 tech for better audio quality) but they didn't mention that in the presentation nor is it mentioned on their site.
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
- wellthisisgreat 4y ago
  > sounds more natural Well that’s a problem nobody had.
- xu_ituairo 4y ago
  I think they mean that it's a shame that they haven't moved away from Bluetooth.
  - joshstrange 4y ago
    Ahh, that makes way more sense. I didn't apply the "nothing on" to the second thing and while I think moving off bluetooth is a plus I know there are others who see it as a negative and I assumed that's what they meant since moving from BT was rumored ("Apple doing something proprietary", even though clearly the market isn't moving quickly to fix the issues with BT).
- jws 4y ago
  UWB would provide plenty of bandwidth at close range with better energy efficiency, but it will not match bluetooth for distance. With sufficient software complexity you could switch back and forth between them depending on conditions… so that sounds like a business decision on cost to implement and benefit. Or some clown has a patent conjoining some aspect of UWB and audio, or protocol switching. Apple never says "we don't do this because there is a patent in the way". It isn't their image.

joshstrange 4y ago

These will be an insta-buy for me. I've loved my AirPods Pro but the battery life has fallen from when I first got them. I knew that would be the case and I'm not mad about it. I'm excited for the touch control on these as well as the better ANC. Also the case having Find My support will be very nice. I'll finally get the MagSafe case as well since that came out later and I never upgraded.

padjo 4y ago
This is my problem with wireless headphones. They’re cool but basically disposable when the battery degrades, which happens fast because of the usage pattern. Seems like an awful waste, I’ve gone back to wired. They will last me decades.
- joshstrange 4y ago
  Ehh, I've used these without fail almost every day I've owned them, just shy of 3 years, for often 4+ hours a day. They feel magical, they work really well, and I love always having them in my pocket (and they never get tangled). So for me they were a really good return on investment. I tried to go back to wired after I lost my original AirPods (not pro) years ago and bought new AirPods within a week after going crazy dealing with the wires (getting caught on things, getting tangled, having to run them up my shirt and even then having them sometimes pull on my ears, etc). At the end of the day it comes down to what your time/enjoyment is worth, for myself $250/3 years is an easy choice but I get that it's not for everyone. Also I've never had wired headphones last more than a year or 2 (at least the ones I carried with me everywhere), 10's of years seems like a stretch unless we are talking about over the ear headphones or similar and those have a ton of downsides compared to something that can fit in your pocket.
- turtlebits 4y ago
  It's $50 for Apple to change the battery. My Airpods from 2017 still last around an hour, which is fine for when I need to get on meetings.
  - 4y ago

wellthisisgreat 4y ago

Did they fix the microphone? The thing is barely usable because of the random mic error that starts broadcasting outside noises instead of the voice. I RMAed mine twice and Apple didn’t challenge me so they are well aware of the issue. Naturally the issue came back with the 3rd AirPods Pro but I just won’t bother RMAing at this point. So is it anyhow addressed in the new model? The other features are frankly insignificant, as AirPods Pro are already nearly as good as it gets for this kind of gadget. Battery life is nice sure etc but it’s all diminishing returns at this point i thunk

canuckintime 4y ago

Touch volume control removes my biggest pain point with the original. I might actually get two: one for my Apple devices and another for Windows/Android

Jcowell 4y ago
I’ve never seen anyone use them for non Apple devices , how well do they work?
- Grazester 4y ago
  I used a pair of pros on my Android phone and they work fine to the time I used them(a few hours).
- sc00ty 4y ago
  I use them with my Pixel 5. They work fine. No spatial audio and no battery status for the case or headphones. You can get apps that unreliably show that info but they require excessive permissions and are loaded with ads. Occasionally the headphones won't connect or one headphone won't play audio. Toggling bluetooth or rebooting my phone is usually required at that point. I got mine in February 2021, I would say that connection issues have improved since then through a couple firmware updates. But you can only install the firmware updates if you have an iphone/ipad/mac so thats another barrier.
- canuckintime 4y ago
  Works well with Surface Book and Duo but Apple doesn’t officially support multipoint so it doesn’t have the semi-seamless sharing enabled for Apple devices
- colinmhayes 4y ago
  Personally the best features of my airpod pros are that they have never fallen out of my ears and I can wear them for 10+ hours straight without noticing them where other earbuds would get my ears sore after a couple hours. Do they work as well with non apple products? No, but the apple integration isn't what makes them great imo.
4y ago

kapsel 4y ago

I love my AirPod Pros, but I hate how unreliable charging in the case is. The AirPods will often think they are out of the case, when they are, and discharge themselves, while connected to my phone/laptop. Then they will re-charge, emptying the battery in the case, so I will end up with a dead pair of AirPods after a couple of days in the pocket, not using them. I guess their tolerances are too tight, hopefully something that will be fixed with AirPod Pro 2, it is a big annoyance. Some times they will also not pick up that they are being put into my ears, so I have to put them back in the case a couple of times for them to react. Really annoying too.

carlesfe 4y ago
Check if you have rust in the case contacts. Happened to me and I had to clean them with vinegar. Weird, because I don't use my airpods for sport and I have no idea why the contacts would be rusted.
- icpmacdo 4y ago
  I replied to the gp saying I had similar issues, this fix appears to have improved the issue quite a bit
afterburner 4y ago
Is there a light that indicates charging? I know with my super cheap earbuds I rely heavily on that light to avoid the problem you describe...
- jcdavis 4y ago
  There is a light. The problem is if only 1 is charging, you'll still see the "charging" light while the other slowly loses battery. I've dealt with this occasionally, from what I suspect is some buildup on the contacts due to sweat on my headphones from running. I find taking a cotton swap with alcohol to clean off the contacts every so often solves the problem.
  - 4y ago

Invictus0 4y ago

Very impressed by the H2's computational algorithms. Those are the most advanced type of algorithms.

dereg 4y ago

Adaptive Transparency is such a promising feature. I would love if transparency mode could eliminate the sound of noises like air conditioners, road noise, and construction while still being "transparent". It seems that, as of now, it's limited to loud noises only. I hope it at least eliminates the hear-loss-causing pops that occur when you have loud, brief clicking noises like that of a bug zapper. For older models, you should never use the Airpods next to a bug zapper. I learned the hard way, in the form of tinnitus.

codercotton 4y ago
The AirPods Pro popped loud enough to cause tinnitus? Tinnitus is terrible, and life-long :(
- daxelrod 4y ago
  Not all tinnitus is lifelong. See the Natural Course section of https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2686891/#__sec2title https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2686891/#__sec2...
hwbehrens 4y ago
I have an ultrasonic cleaner that I use for 3D printing, and they have a similar effect on my AirPods. I wonder what could cause this interaction?
- mh- 4y ago
  I would guess that your ears, and the microphone that the AirPods use for noise cancellation, have different ideas of "ultra".
selfmodruntime 4y ago
The fact that setting a maximum loudness level is not the first step of configuration when you pair new AirPods is still beyond me.
- 4y ago

ryeights 4y ago

Good to know they use computational algorithms to perform ANC! What would we do without the innovators at Apple… In other news, still no support for lossless audio, and the charging port is still Lightning rather than USB-C. Seems like a good time to pick up the 1st gen Pros on discount

CharlesW 4y ago
> In other news, still no support for lossless audio… A̶i̶r̶P̶o̶d̶s̶ ̶P̶r̶o̶ ̶2̶ ̶s̶u̶p̶p̶o̶r̶t̶ ̶l̶o̶s̶s̶l̶e̶s̶s̶ ̶a̶u̶d̶i̶o̶.̶ [see update below] https://appleinsider.com/articles/22/09/07/new-airpods-pro-with-lossless-more-battery-life-debut https://appleinsider.com/articles/22/09/07/new-airpods-pro-w...
- crazygringo 4y ago
  There are a couple of articles from the past hour that mention the term, but zero details and zero about it on Apple's website. I'm suspecting the journalists might be wrong? But I'd love to be proven wrong.
  - CharlesW 4y ago
    > I'm suspecting the journalists might be wrong? I believe you're right. Although the URL still includes "lossless", the claim was just removed from the article itself.
sfvegandude 4y ago
You don’t need lossless audio. Seriously. AAC is transparent in all the conditions you’d use these AirPods in. Lossless is a total gimmick and shame on Apple for ever enabling that 24bit nonsense. You don’t have golden ears. You aren’t listening closely while walking around town. Noise cancellation removes some of the frequencies. Lossless would drain battery for literally no gain in quality. Edit: as others have noted, these do feature the ability to receive lossless audio. You should disable it.
- 4y ago

desro 4y ago

A lot of sane improvements to the case (added speaker, lanyard loop, full U1 Find My support), good to see. They tout "H2 Apple Silicon, amazing sound quality with Adaptive EQ," but I can't find any reference to lossless audio in the tech specs, which is a bit of a disappointment. It's surely ironic that Apple Music supports 24/192 lossless audio and none of its headphones can utilize it.

parkersweb 4y ago
That’s ok - very few ears can utilize it either ;-)
mandeepj 4y ago
> It's surely ironic that Apple Music supports 24/192 lossless audio and none of its headphones can utilize it. True! But, someone is saying you can come close to it by using a wired connection. I've not tested it though. https://www.reddit.com/r/Airpodsmax/comments/nfc1h3/clearing_up_confusion_with_airpods_max_and/ https://www.reddit.com/r/Airpodsmax/comments/nfc1h3/clearing...
- astrange 4y ago
  > The one in your lightning to 3.5mm iPhone adapter may not be as good as a $100 desktop DAC hooked up to your PC playing from USB, and that may not be as good as a $500+ DAC in a recording studio. This isn't true; it's better than the first and possibly better than the second. It's a very good $9 dongle.

mensetmanusman 4y ago

The non-replaceable battery is a brilliant business model. Mine only work for an hour now. I have to consider AirPods as a subscription now. (Even considering off-brand $70 repairs)

happyopossum 4y ago
> Even considering off-brand $70 repairs Err, Apple will do a first-party repair for $49 - not sure why you’d go anywhere else. [0] https://support.apple.com/airpods/repair https://support.apple.com/airpods/repair Edited link

hardwaregeek 4y ago

It's wild how much money Apple has made from Bluetooth headphones that don't suck. That's literally it. They're portable, pair easily and (somewhat) work with multiple devices. I have top of the line Bose Bluetooth headphones that still, in 2022, have issues with multiple devices. I can't count how many times I've started playing music on my iPhone only to realize that the headphones think my laptop is playing, so they just silently suppress my phone. And the only way to fix it is to go into the inane Bose app and disconnect the laptop. Why the hell can't you just tell the headphones to play from the phone and keep the laptop connected? It's so bad.

astrange 4y ago
The main selling point of AirPods Pro is replaceable tips and noise cancelling. People say competitors have mostly caught up in Bluetooth quality, but it’s the only noise cancelling I’ve used without the sucking feeling that hurts your ears.
- chrismeller 4y ago
  Interestingly enough that's what I miss about my Bose. The in-ear QuietComfort earbuds I had were _far_ more comfortable (and stable in my ear) and the noise cancelling was so far ahead of my AirPods Pro that you wouldn't even consider the two devices in the same genre.
joshstrange 4y ago
This makes me think of the "What if AirPods was a company?" [0] post from 2019. It's really wild how big that one product is alone. [0] https://jonahlupton.medium.com/what-is-airpods-was-a-company-a6c1cd75b8bf https://jonahlupton.medium.com/what-is-airpods-was-a-company...
- matt-attack 4y ago
  Would love to see an updated version of this analysis.

ramesh31 4y ago

Why don't we have Wi-Fi headphones? The only thing anyone can agree on about Bluetooth is that it absolutely sucks. You'd think Apple would be pushing this. I should be able to buy a pair of headphones with built in streaming capability and be able to cast from HomePod or my phone with near gigabit bandwidth over Wi-Fi 6, and have zero concerns about range anywhere in my home.

jws 4y ago
Your ears have on the order of 1 megabit/sec bandwidth, so anything more is irrelevant, specifically Wi-Fi 6 is 1000 times overkill. Bluetooth uses about half the energy per bit transmitted compared to wifi. So, using wifi would cut all your run times in half or increase your battery size. The data transmission is the dominant power consumption of wireless ear phones.
- ramesh31 4y ago
  >Your ears have on the order of 1 megabit/sec bandwidth, so anything more is irrelevant, specifically Wi-Fi 6 is 1000 times overkill. That's silly. This would imply that there's no point in ever having any form of wireless data transmission with more bandwidth than the totality of your senses can intake at once. Obviously it could be used for more than just transferring audio data. But bandwidth isn't really the point anyways. It's about connection quality and range, which Bluetooth will never be able to achieve by design. I would gladly sacrifice battery life for headphones that "just work" with zero effort connectivity at all times, in the same way my laptop seamlessly connects to Wi-Fi.
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]

inasmuch 4y ago

A little off-topic, but … Does anyone else have problems with the current AirPods Pro dramatically prioritizing ambient noise (cars passing on the street, washing of dishes, etc.) over your own voice when on phone calls? This is a major problem with two pairs I've owned and with those owned by my girlfriend, brother, and pretty much everyone else who would humor me and test it out. My girlfriend and I have taken our sets to multiple different Apple Stores for diagnostics and even had one or both of the AirPods (and cases) replaced to no avail. I kinda feel like I'm going nuts because I can't find many people talking about this online and it renders them effectively useless for calls when anywhere but sitting at home in a quiet room.

colechristensen 4y ago
This happens without headphones as well. Any ambient noise on a call triggers silencing that makes conversations almost impossible sometimes. Like my parents are outside and there's a light breeze and 80% of them speaking is muted. Happens with normal phone microphone, worse with speakerphone, happens with my calls with my Bose headphones and my AirPod Pros. It's a phone setting, I'd buy a case of beer for anybody who could show me how to turn off the noise suppression completely. It is clearly happening on iOS, not the headphones.
- inasmuch 4y ago
  I've definitely experienced the ear-piercing scream of a siren on the other end only to be told by the person I'm talking to that the ambulance is like eight blocks away. I remember that as far back as my LG Chocolate. But what AirPods are doing is either a dramatic escalation of that or something different altogether. Typically when I encounter this problem, I or the person I'm talking to will hang up and call back without AirPods, using the regular phone mic or speakerphone or whatever, and it will be significantly better if not completely resolved.
- noncoml 4y ago
  Call someone within AirPods Pro and then have them remove them and talk you directly on the phone. The difference is huge! What I mean to say is that AirPods Pro make what you describe even worse

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]

dougmwne 4y ago

Interested to know what bluetooth codecs these support. That's important for using them with non-apple devices. Frustrating that they don't list supported codecs in the tech specs.

1123581321 4y ago
The tech specs link on the APP page is grayed out. Hopefully it will be live soon.
- dougmwne 4y ago
  Tech specs are live, but even though there are a half dozen size measurements, not a codec in sight. I think that is intentional because they don’t support AptX, or LDAC which would be essential for using these with anything not Apple.
  - 1123581321 4y ago
    Ah, yes, that's a disappointing lack of detail (and disappointing if they only support the required codecs in 5.2/5.3.)
JacobiX 4y ago
It would be great if it supports the LC3 codec (Bluetooth’s future low-power and high-quality codec)

w-m 4y ago

Personalized Spatial Audio has me really excited (https://youtu.be/ux6zXguiqxM?t=2739 https://youtu.be/ux6zXguiqxM?t=2739). The idea is to map your ears / head with the depth camera of the iPhone, to create a personal profile. 10 years ago I played around with binaural microphones, the kind that you stick in your own ears to record the true sound profile. Closing your eyes and playing back these recordings is just incredible. You will be completely fooled and will not believe that these sounds are just played back. If this personalized spatial audio stuff gets even close to this level of immersiveness, that would be outstanding. So cool for Apple to even attempt such a feature!

keepquestioning 4y ago
There was a company that did this. Whatever happened to them? Nura I think. Maybe they got bought out by Apple. Surprised they are not suing.
- kimburgess 4y ago
  Nura measures otoacoustic emissions. Others in this space (Audeara et al) use audiometry. In all cases this is designed just to model the frequency response of your ears. This is then used to create a static filter that compensates for this. Apple may still do something similar for base calibration but that's not the exciting bit. From the marketing material the depth camera is used to scan your face. This gives both the exact placement of your ears, full facial geometry and likely a model of your pinnae. With that info spatial audio could get terrifyingly good. It becomes possible to fully emulate how you perceive sound naturally, applying the same time differences, filtering and early reflections as you've been used to your entire life.
  - keepquestioning 4y ago
    Using the depth camera to model the face is pretty smart.
- siquick 4y ago
  Nura is still going and are miles ahead of anything Apple are doing sound quality wise. I’ve got both the Nuraphones and the Nurabuds and listening to anything else in a similar price range is such a step down. You can also use Spatial on them if that’s your thing. New ones coming out soon https://www.nurasound.com/ https://www.nurasound.com/

unknownaccount 4y ago

Hopefully they have some sort of authentication system. I previously wrote about fake Airpods and how they are nearly indistinguishable from the real ones when they are connected. (Spoofs all the special iOS interfaces etc) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32287113 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32287113

paxys 4y ago

Lack of simultaneous 2+ device pairing is still a deal breaker for me. If my $80 Jabra earbuds can figure it out, why can't Apple?

yodon 4y ago
Apple figured out how to get your Apple devices to talk to each other to do the Bluetooth handoff automatically disconnecting/reconnecting your AirPods from your iPhone to your MacBook, iPad, Mac Mini, etc., and back, without you having to do anything. The fact that this only works with Apple devices is, from Apple's perspective, a feature not a bug. It also allows them to keep the bill of materials inside the AirPods smaller, cheaper, and lower power, because they only require a single Bluetooth transceiver to pair with an unlimited number of Apple devices, unlike your Jabra which requires two Bluetooth transceivers to support dual device pairing.
chrisseaton 4y ago
Why do you think it's a case of them not being able to figure it out, rather than they don't want the feature?
RockRobotRock 4y ago
AirPods Pro will "pair" to an unlimited number of devices (or at least a very high number). But it can only be connected to one device at once.

alistairSH 4y ago

Two major gripes with my current AirPods (not-Pro)… 1 - Battery life is less than half what it was when new. For $160, they should last more than 2 years, IMO. This applies to both the pods themselves and the case. 2 - I hate wireless ear buds for anything beyond sitting still. The risk of losing one half of a $160 pair is just too high. They might be ok walking, but not hiking, running, or cycling. The Pros might stay in better, but they’re even more expensive. If Apple made a set of ear buds that had a strap, and a battery that lasted longer (not per play, but lifetime/# recharge cycles), I’d happily buy again. My wife has a set of Jaybird Tarah Pros that were cheaper, the battery longevity is better, and there’s no risk of losing one. Of course, Jaybird no longer makes these either. Ho Hum.

johnwalkr 4y ago
For skiing, I just use a piece of tape to make a strap, but you can buy silicone straps for a few dollars.
- alistairSH 4y ago
  But then they don’t fit in the charge-case. Minor annoyance, but at that price point, it’s enough to put me off.
sz4kerto 4y ago
Almost all earbuds just fall out of my ears for some reason, but Airpods Pro + memory foam tips allow me to run with them.
- DavideNL 4y ago
  Interesting, which tips do you use if i may ask?
  - ch_ase 4y ago
    I’ve used Comply foam tips and can run and workout without issue. You can squish them down and then they expand to fill your ear. Better sound isolation too.

aaaaaaaaaaab 4y ago

I get the audio quality will still be tincan-tier when the mic is on, right?

pfranz 4y ago
Are there Bluetooth headphones that are better? My understanding is that it's a limitation in the Bluetooth spec. I've heard talk of Apple wanting to do their own thing specifically because of things like this.

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]

xylophoner 4y ago

i hope the volume control can be disabled (though i doubt this will be the case). i’ve never met a touch sensitive headphone volume control that wasn’t susceptible to accidental triggering. i have too many issues with my hearing to risk that.

drivers99 4y ago
I hope so too. I disabled touch controls on my WH-1000XM3 (the over the ear type) because an accidental swipe would rewind or skip to the next item (e.g. videos on YouTube). When I have to adjust the earbud version (WF-1000XM3) it's really easy to touch the controls on accident as well. Even the Airpods Pro that I have can be touchy when adjusting because they have sensors to pause when you take them out and resume when you put them back in (great feature) but they also sometimes pause (or unpause) incorrectly depending on the situation. (I just realized that is an option that can be disabled so I'm torn about disabling it now. Single click does pause and unpause as well.)

e40 4y ago

The Pros (gen1) hurt my ears and I had to return them. Guessing gen2 is the same? I'm on regular Airpods for this reason.

camdenlock 4y ago
Same. I’ll be sad when they discontinue the original form factor.

formerly_proven 4y ago

How do these compare to something like Sennheiser Momentum 3?

cpsns 4y ago

fallat 4y ago
We'll live in a new paradigm: Earth plus Airpods!
imknewhere 4y ago
I've been using the same airpods v2 since some time in 2019 and whenever I end up replacing them, I won't really feel much regret at the small amount of e-waste they produce. I mean, I probably come across 2 or 3 e-cigarette things each time I take my dog for a walk. I don't mean to engage in whataboutism but I've used those airpods for hundreds of hours. Seems like a pretty reasonable lifespan to me.
elicash 4y ago
A billion pairs of AirPods would weigh around 6614 tons. I'm admittedly leaving out the cases, but just for lack of time. Somebody please do that math!
crazygringo 4y ago
Millions of tons...? It's orders of magnitude less than that. It's 56.1 grams for both buds and case. For comparison, 2 AA batteries is 46 grams. They're tiny. In terms of e-waste, they're not even a rounding error. In terms of all devices to worry about, they're essentially last on the list. They're roughly the mass of the most popular consumer disposable batteries themselves. (If you want to do the math, they sold ~90 million units in 2021.)
- cpsns 4y ago
  Millions of tons is hyperbole, but my point remains. As convenient as they are, devices like them aren’t good for the world. They might be a rounding error, but I’m going to call out rampant consumerism and environmental issues where I see them.
  - 4y ago

tarunkotia 4y ago

I am just curious how are people dealing with EMF radiations emitted by AirPods? I have 2 sets of AirPods and Bose QC35 but I stopped using AirPods altogether and I use QC35 using the wire. NIH study: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6701402/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6701402/

CamperBob2 4y ago
Until a study like that is reproduced and a plausible explanation given, it's just junk science, and should be treated as such. It would be VERY obvious by now if nonionizing EMF was hazardous to humans at athermal levels. We've spent ~100 years using it and ~50 years paying attention.

whalesalad 4y ago

I adore the OG airpods, but the pro model disappointed me bigtime. They are always falling out of my ears, specifically my left ear which seems to be a little bit smaller. I tried aftermarket tips to no avail.

0x38B 4y ago
I had the same experience, loved my AirPods but the Pros never fit well and the left side would fall out, returned within the 14-day return period. The 2nd gen AirPods have a better UI, too: wearing mittens, with a hat over the AirPods, I could tap them to play/pause or skip tracks. This is impossible on newer AirPods. Siri is good, but isn’t as quick or convenient as a physical interface.
qiller 4y ago
I still use v2 and got an extra one in case that model will disappear from stores. The tap interface is so much easier to use than the actual button press
theshrike79 4y ago
Same here. I've tried every single price point of in-ear headphones. They all fall off. Haven't dared to spend the almost 300€ for Airpods Pro because of this. But the OG style stays in my ear like magic, doesn't fall off when running etc.

jononomo 4y ago

Is it possible to preset a max volume on the airpods pro so that I never under any circumstances damage my ears, even if I mistakenly blast the sound of a screeching whistle at full volume?

happyopossum 4y ago
Yes - Settings / Sounds / Headphone Safety / reduce loud sounds. Note it might be in a different spot on iOS 15, but that’ll get you there on iOS 16
- jononomo 4y ago
  Thanks!

gnicholas 4y ago

If the size/shape is the same as the original AirPods Pro, does that mean that the new XS earbud will be usable with the original version? I have never had issues with earbuds (wired or original AirPods) before, but the AirPods Pro doesn't fit well for me. I use it when listening to content, but if I'm talking I use my old AirPods (non-Pro). The Pros migrate out of my ear canal quickly when I'm talking or eating, due to the jaw movement. Fingers crossed that we'll be able to pick up the new XS size in an Apple Store once these are out!

Angostura 4y ago

The one thing that would have made me upgrade is the promise that I could use the Pros with my Mac on a Teams/Zoom cal and not sound like I was talking on a 1970s landline.

lljk_kennedy 4y ago
I know it’s a ‘workaround’ but have your MacBook use it’s own as the mic input, and the AirPods as the output.
- Angostura 4y ago
  Thanks for the tip. Not ideal in a noisy office, but worth thinking about
happyopossum 4y ago
Wha? I and about 70% of my coworkers do this and never have any such problems
efficax 4y ago
you’re underestimating how good pots call quality was before digital switching and voice compression

ponow 4y ago

I'm still not convinced that Bluetooth earbuds are safe, and yes, I'm aware they don't produce ionizing radiation. No one here is concerned about having them in your ear canal for hours every day for years is essentially no worse than wearing a hat that keeps your head equally warm? What is the most convincing, clear evidence of a lack of long term health issues?

ztratar 4y ago
Plenty of RF signals are going through your body right now -- what makes bluetooth here particularly dangerous in your opinion? Concerns come after some form of adverse reaction. I personally only have them in for 2-3 hours per day, and don't think of the bluetooth much. We won't have long term data for years, and that's just the reality. Even with long-term data, trying to hone in specific health problems to Airpods or similar devices will be incredibly difficult.
elicash 4y ago
If your concern isn't radiation, then is there a specific bluetooth issue or is it in-ear headphones in general? Certainly anything that can cause a build-up of earwax can result in other issues. So if you're wearing them for long stretches daily, there's a potential issue if these devices go deep enough (I don't know if they do).
harrisi 4y ago
Just to be clear, are you suggesting that wearing a hat causes some sort of damage to one's health? And further than that, a hat that kept one's head as warm as two one inch pieces of plastic? Obviously I don't have data to back it up, but I can't imagine even gluing a pair of AirPods to one's face for one's entire life would make any significant impact on lifespan. Other than maybe all the glue. EDIT: And if you're experiencing excessive heat from earbuds (which I would say would be essentially any amount of heat - they shouldn't really put out any noticeable heat), you probably have severely faulty earbuds and should get them replaced.
- ponow 4y ago
  I doubt hat wearing is physically harmful, but it does warm your head, and that's one of the claims against Bluetooth headsets. I find that a non-danger. But it may not be the only one, e.g., voltage-gated calcium channels. I haven't looked into and wondered if anyone wanted to chime in with the latest.

matthewcford 4y ago

What are the chances the microphone will be useable?

hancholo 4y ago

Once my OG AirPods crap out, I'll be going wired most likely. Already have ChiFi IEM's that blow the AirPods out of the water.

neillyons 4y ago

For anyone who runs with AirPod Pros I recommend "AirPod Pro Ear Hooks" that you can get on Amazon for like £10. They keep them in your ear really well. Edit: The ones I have https://amzn.eu/d/3ihERHb https://amzn.eu/d/3ihERHb

jhickok 4y ago
Hey that's a cool suggestion and if that works I can get rid of like 2 other pairs of "workout" earbuds. Thanks!
- neillyons 4y ago
  No worries. I was considering buying another pair or headphones just to workout in, but all I really wanted was for my AirPod Pros not to come loose. These hooks work so well. Surprised Apple don't sell them.

pwpw 4y ago

I want to get them but reliability is a big concern. Everyone in my family has had problems with our first gen pros. Mine started developing crackling issues. During the pandemic I remember hearing that it was a known problem and could be fixed at the Apple store, but all of the stores were closed. I put off bringing them in until later. I finally got around to it this past week as the issue has grown a lot worse recently, and they said it is indeed a manufacturer defect, my AirPods are now out of warranty, and it will cost $180 to repair them. They then encouraged me to just buy a new pair given the high repair price. That just rubs me the wrong way. They spent a good amount of time during the conference today highlighting their commitment to the environment yet are incentivizing that I purchase a new set. If these ones demonstrate stronger reliability and get USB C a year from now, I'll definitely consider them.

happyopossum 4y ago
Err, Apple was replacing those things left and right during the pandemic - you didn’t need to go to a store. Sorry you waited so long, but…
- pwpw 4y ago
  Ahh I didn't know that! The problem was nonexistent for me during that period, so it wasn't a priority to "fix" my working product. The issue has become much more pronounced in the period since the warranty expired. Lesson learned: bring in the working product if there's a known recall regardless of if it's fine at the moment. Won't let that happen again.
  - askafriend 4y ago
    Yeah I had a similar issue and the process was super painless. It didn't require going into a store. They shipped you a box with a prepaid label where you put in your problematic AirPods. Then they shipped you a new pair for free. Turnaround time was fast.
    - pwpw 4y ago

sbf501 4y ago

Long live the first generation ipod shuffle. It just worked. Now every gadget has so many "why is it doing this?" and "how do I make it stop doing ___?" that I've checked out entirely. Cords are hip again in my house.

dougmwne 4y ago
I get what you mean, but I think the AirPods pretty well live up to the “it just works” magic of cords. The UI is deeply intuitive. We’re talking the easiest to use product of the most UX obsessed company on earth. I can understand being put off the cost for something that you will use for a few years then toss in the bin, but then again almost everything eventually become trash.

DubiousPusher 4y ago

It's weird what I'm about to write is both completely sincere and yet also ironic. I'm excited about the volume control.

deanmoriarty 4y ago

Honest question: how can folks justify spending $250+tax on a device that in just a year or two of significant usage will not be usable anymore due to degraded battery? I was gifted a pair and after two years the battery lasts less than one hour in playback mode, and just a few minutes in call mode. What a disappointment. Am I expected to spend another $280?! I also do not want to spend $50+ for a third party battery replacement. At least with the iPhone I can buy one, use it for 6 years and change the battery a couple times, making it a good purchase.

jbc1 4y ago
The more you use something the more it makes sense to spend on it, assuming your extra spending is getting you something. If you used them significantly for two years, it sounds like you got a lot of value out of them.
- deanmoriarty 4y ago
  To be clear, I would pay even $350 for them, if only I could remove the $5 battery and replace it cleanly. Or even bring it to an Apple Store and get a new battery for $30, in a similar iPhone workflow. It just feels such a robbery otherwise.
itake 4y ago
I have used mine 2 hours per day for about 2 years and the battery still lasts about 2.5 hours of talk time. I pretty much only use them to listen to audio books or meetings, since music leaves them dead for meetings.
celestialcheese 4y ago
I use them everyday while working, for multiple hours per day and can expense them. They work better than other bluetooth headsets I've tried, and the noise cancelling is excellent in loud environments. I'm willing to pay a premium for the convenience and seamless pairing to other Apple products I already have (Apple TV, macbook, iphone).
- 4y ago

robertwt7 4y ago

Airpods is one of the invention that you don’t know you need it but when you buy it, you know it’s good and it just works seamlessly It mentioned in the page that it’ll support high fidelity audio? Does this mean that they came up with new encoding for wireless transmission? Possibly something better than AAC?

Gigachad 4y ago
I was a big airpods hater before I got them myself. And yeah, everything people complain about is real, they aren't perfect. But they are so good that I'd rather deal with every single one of the issues than go back to wired.
okdood64 4y ago
Can 99% of people really tell the difference between high bitrate LDAC and high bitrate AAC?
- stjohnswarts 4y ago
  no but 95% will swear they can to justify the extra $$ :)
dmix 4y ago
The integration is everything
thathndude 4y ago
I’ve tried many many pairs of earbuds. Nothing comes close to the overall experience of AirPods.
makeitdouble 4y ago
Do we still call it an invention when it’s the proprietary and fully integrated take on an existing job to be done ? It’s kinda like saying Google invented the Pixel phone and it’s so well integrated and working seamlessly in the Google ecosystem.
- 4y ago

speedylight 4y ago

I really want to buy a pair of AirPods, but I’ve been hesitant to because hearing in my left ear is seemingly slowly fading away and I think it was partly because I use to wear EarBuds at max volume all of the time when I was a teen. I know Apple has a headphone safety feature which limits the maximum dB they’re outputting; Even then I always feel super guilty that I might be damaging my hearing further whenever I use headphones in general. It’s already damn near impossible for me to hear someone talking if I’m eating for instance, or if some other noise is even remotely overshadowing what I’m trying to listen to. Never fails to bring me down:(

rhexs 4y ago
See an audiologist and ask what they think about the volume limit.
ripa 4y ago
With noise cancellation I find I never have to crank up the volume above low-medium. This is great as I also try to avoid damaging my hearing more. The iPhone also has a widget in the control center that displays the current decibel number that the AirPods are outputting. I never go above the “green zone”. The volume is tracked in the Health app where you can see all historic data. Finally the iPhone has an accessibility function where you can use apps to create perform a sound test, and then generate a specific frequency curve for your phone (maybe boost some frequency that you struggle to hear or increase the volume on one side etc).

monkpit 4y ago

I love the addition of more accessibility features. If the “Conversation Boost” feature can work the way I hope it does, I would buy a pair or 2 of these immediately. I have often desired a feature similar to “transparency” except it would amplify sounds, basically hearing aids when you boil it down.

mtoddsmith 4y ago

I have Powerbeats 3 which I assume function similar to other apple earbuds. I use them while cycling & mountain biking and find that sometimes when I pass another person they stop working. Anyone experience the same behavior? Is there a reason?

steve_taylor 4y ago

I can't get great noise cancellation from AirPods Pro. If I don't use the smaller silicone tips, the muscles in my ears spasm which makes a rumbling sound. But the smaller tips let more external noise in.

intrasight 4y ago

I'll probably upgrade to the 2nd generation. The AirPods Pro were, for me, the first time in many years that the boundary of tech and magic were blurred. I have a air purifier in my room. I put the Airpods on for the first time, and somehow they turned off my air purifier. Sort of freaked me out :)

swyx 4y ago

> Always-on “Hey Siri” i've been turning off Siri because the inaccuracies really bother me... any one use them on a daily basis other than for setting kitchen timers?

crummy 4y ago

Do Airpods suffer lower audio quality when the mic is live, like all the other Bluetooth headsets I've tried?

bironran 4y ago

And still no mute button on the airpod itself. Seriously, I would love to have a chat with the product manager in charge. With over 6.2M call-minutes per minute and over 300M daily active users [1], how can "mute", the most important functionality in a video call (I would argue even more than disconnecting the call) still be missing? Just a tiny dot that sets a mute/unmute flag on the mic, preferably with an audible cue. Don't even involve the phone, just mute it on the device itself. I know HSP/HFP don't support mute command but a device level option should be easy. Moreover Apple could, as it's done before, implement an Apple-to-Apple extension of either of these protocols. [1] just for zoom, see https://backlinko.com/zoom-users https://backlinko.com/zoom-users

nicbou 4y ago
This feature is completely useless to me. It might just not be such a universal need.
chroma 4y ago
If airpods had mute buttons, tons of people would complain about accidentally muting themselves. People already have mute functionality in the paired device's OS and the app they're using. Adding mute functionality to a third place just increases confusion. And worse: if you build it how you're suggesting (purely in-headphone, without notifying the paired device), people won't have any indication that they're muted other than a one-time audio cue. They'll end up toggling mute/unmute in Zoom and/or their device's OS, then assume that the headphones are broken. It's a UX nightmare.
dbbk 4y ago
If you "don't even involve the phone" how would you know what the state of your mic is? Whether it's on or off?

visarga 4y ago

I bet they fail to connect to MacBook 20% of the time like the last set of AirPods Pro I owned. I switched back to wired, too many Bluetooth issues. I like my headphones to ... make sound when I use them ... am I asking too much? It's a shame that such a nice product otherwise is useless.

xyzzy_plugh 4y ago

I hope these are better for calls. We've debated banning AirPods at my workplace because the mics are so awful. I tried AirPods but eventually landed on the new Pixel Buds, which are incredible. Sony's WF-1000MX4s are good too, and I'm still using my Bose QC 35 II as daily drivers (pun intended, I guess).

POPOSYS 4y ago

foolproofplan 4y ago

drclau 4y ago

I just hope they fixed the crackling/static noise issue, as well as the ANC issues (usually they come together). I am literally at the 5th replacement right now. AirPods Pro Service Program for Sound Issues https://support.apple.com/airpods-pro-service-program-sound-issues https://support.apple.com/airpods-pro-service-program-sound-...

user3113 4y ago

I was very hopefully about airpods when I bought mine 1 month ago. They pair nicely with my apple devices but right airpod has hissing static sound coming out of it. When I contact with apple support about this they took my airpods and ran their stupid diagnostics test. Since diagnostics test doesn't show anyhthing they are not bothered to look further. However, here comes the quesiton what if diagnostics tests doesn't cover enough to detect problem I am having? I am bit bothered becuase its very easy to prove my point you just pop right one in and you can hear annoying static sound

acd 4y ago

Still with non user replaceable battery. We have global warming, why should we have buy and throw devices?

Juliet245 4y ago

sleepybrett 4y ago

Have they put an airtag into the case yet? This would be a killer fucking feature. I use bose earbuds and bodged an airtag onto their case with a 3d printed wrapper... it's ugly as fuck but it works.

Juliet245 4y ago