Apple 'AirPods' to target high end of headphone market with custom 'Bluetooth-like' low-power tech

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Comments

  • Reply 41 of 69
    razorpitrazorpit Posts: 1,796member
    lymf said:
    We will know in 24h, but if beats pricing is midrange I'm scared of the high end pricing
    Agreed. I'm happy with the ~ $20 bluetooth headphones I find on Amazon. While there certainly is room for improvement, $20 vs $200 is a no brainer if you are out and about using the headphones as intended (advertised). As it stands now if something happens to a pair of my cheap headphones "1-Click Purchase"is a no brainer.
    edited September 2016
  • Reply 42 of 69
    mj web said:
    Bluetooth-like, as in proprietary? For $20 one can purchase QY8 Bluetooth wireless earbuds on Amazon. They are spectacular, especially considering the cost! No reason to reinvent the wheel. I doubt the audio quality on Apple's "new" pods will be discernibly better. But I suspect the cost will be 10x+ more. Try the QY8 folks. Returnable if not to your liking.
    Your logic would say this was a perfectly good 'wheel'



    and it all depends on what you define as 'quality'  usage cycle (power consumption on phone and on the buds), fast linkage, better syncing to video, better resiliency to bad signal:noise, etc.

    as for price 10X...I suspect not.  my guess would be no more than 5X, and likely 4x (79.99).

    My questions would be... If I had these earpods, would I be able to
    1) use them as a BT device on older iOS and Mac hardware?
    2) use them with non iOS hardware?


  • Reply 43 of 69
    19831983 Posts: 1,225member
    e1618978 said:
    I hope it works better than the AirPlay connection between iPhones and AppleTVs - constant cut outs when using spotify.  Replaced the AppleTV with a Google Chromecast and all the problems went away.
    AirPlay needs a major overhaul to be more competitive with the competition...its long overdue!
    doozydozen
  • Reply 44 of 69
    What is the point of having wireless earbuds, if you can't have noise canceling? They are useless if we have to listen to all of the extraneous noise surrounding us. 
  • Reply 45 of 69
    19831983 Posts: 1,225member
    Dracarys said:
    So they're choosing yet another proprietary method... Sigh.

    No, they're going to add another BT method on top of existing ones. Regular Bluetooth will work as usual.
    There is a new Bluetooth aptX HD codec to cater for high-res audio, maybe Apple will utilise something like that?
  • Reply 46 of 69
    wigbywigby Posts: 692member
    lymf said:
    We will know in 24h, but if beats pricing is midrange I'm scared of the high end pricing
    I was hoping that the "Airpods" were going to be somewhat affordable. This article makes it sound like they will be out of reach for anyone except the 1%.
    When has Apple ever come into a market and offered a lower priced solution? So long as it's better, I'll pay more. Same agreement we all have with their phones, tablets and Macs.
  • Reply 47 of 69
    What is the point of having wireless earbuds, if you can't have noise canceling? They are useless if we have to listen to all of the extraneous noise surrounding us. 
    not so. noise canceling is a valid use case, but it's not the only use case. for ex when I'm at the gym I want to hear my music, but I don't want to not-hear environmental sounds. 

    i think youre falling into the "what works for me is what must work for everyone" trap. 
  • Reply 48 of 69
    wigbywigby Posts: 692member
    mj web said:
    Bluetooth-like, as in proprietary? For $20 one can purchase QY8 Bluetooth wireless earbuds on Amazon. They are spectacular, especially considering the cost! No reason to reinvent the wheel. I doubt the audio quality on Apple's "new" pods will be discernibly better. But I suspect the cost will be 10x+ more. Try the QY8 folks. Returnable if not to your liking.
    They're ok. I just picked them up too but battery life is not as good as any other wireless earbuds I've owned. I agree that he audio fidelity will be unnoticeable to most but battery life and audio quality are too complaints about Bluetooth so I expect Apple to address these tomorrow.
  • Reply 49 of 69
    wigbywigby Posts: 692member
    razorpit said:
    lymf said:
    We will know in 24h, but if beats pricing is midrange I'm scared of the high end pricing
    Agreed. I'm happy with the ~ $20 bluetooth headphones I find on Amazon. While there certainly is room for improvement, $20 vs $200 is a no brainer if you are out and about using the headphones as intended (advertised). As it stands now if something happens to a pair of my cheap headphones "1-Click Purchase"is a no brainer.
    I've bought about a dozen Bluetooth headphones/earbuds over the years. When it breaks or gets lost or battery goes bad, I simply replace them. But I'm also paying $800/year for my phone not including data. I think it's time I upgrade my audio and have a nice pair of wireless earbuds. Leave the cheap wireless audio to the kids. I'm a big boy now.
    brucemcpolymnia
  • Reply 50 of 69
    wigbywigby Posts: 692member
    misa said:
    e1618978 said:
    I hope it works better than the AirPlay connection between iPhones and AppleTVs - constant cut outs when using spotify.  Replaced the AppleTV with a Google Chromecast and all the problems went away.
    That is not Apple's problem. That is your problem.

    My experience thus far is that all Apple stuff works just fine, but PEOPLE do not. What was likely happening was that you were using Spotify over wireless internet while using something like bluetooth speakers. Which is stupid.

    Which leads us back to the article about a proprietary bluetooth-like thing for headphones. Geezus freaking hell Apple. Do not go down this road paved with skulls and death.

    Bluetooth must be an absolute failure because game consoles no longer want to use it for their controllers, microsoft and logitech don't use it for their game controllers, mice or keyboards, and audio systems in cars prefer CarPlay over USB, not wireless. Just what exactly supports bluetooth?

    Any intelligent person out there knows, for FACT, that you want to limit the amount of wireless cruft you have operating because they all operate in the same ISM bands. So that means, wherever possible. You use USB mice, USB keyboards, Wired GigE Ethernet, and you run regular copper wire to your speakers. No batteries, no wall warts. Anyone who buys bluetooth speakers or bluetooth headphones is an fool who paid extra money for a worse experience..

    While you're right technically you cannot make statements like that and expect anyone to take you seriously. Consumers cannot be expected to troubleshoot wireless issues and they cannot be expected to understand all of the relationships these wireless devices have with one another.

    I live in a residential building with about 50 APs near me at any given time. Many are on the same channel as my AP. I cannot even find a clear channel but my router is supposed to find clear RF areas and go to them automatically. No company is expecting me to troubleshoot this so I pay the company with the best solution for this. Hopefully all of Apple's wireless devices will either have the smarts to avoid noisy RF areas of the band or dynamically reconfigure to adjust to that noise. And if they go full proprietary, that should help even more.
  • Reply 51 of 69
    Doesn't everyone realize that they are just going to lock Apple users into using high-priced, proprietary earphones rather than readily available, low-priced universal Bluetooth earphones? After hearing this I wouldn't touch the iPhone 7 with a ten foot pole if it won't work with my Bluetooth devices!
  • Reply 52 of 69
    Mmm...

     No mention of a microphone capability.

    However, Apple Watch software could be tweaked so it could act as a special microphone -- so that you can effortlessly keep in touch with others without ever removing your iPhone from your pocket, purse or bag... just raise your hand!

    Mmm...


    edited September 2016
  • Reply 53 of 69
    misa said:
    e1618978 said:
    I hope it works better than the AirPlay connection between iPhones and AppleTVs - constant cut outs when using spotify.  Replaced the AppleTV with a Google Chromecast and all the problems went away.
    Anyone who buys bluetooth speakers or bluetooth headphones is an fool who paid extra money for a worse experience..

    I think what Apple is hoping to do is not introduce just another set of bluetooth headphones, but a huge leap forward in wireless headphones.
  • Reply 54 of 69
    razorpitrazorpit Posts: 1,796member
    wigby said:
    razorpit said:
    lymf said:
    We will know in 24h, but if beats pricing is midrange I'm scared of the high end pricing
    Agreed. I'm happy with the ~ $20 bluetooth headphones I find on Amazon. While there certainly is room for improvement, $20 vs $200 is a no brainer if you are out and about using the headphones as intended (advertised). As it stands now if something happens to a pair of my cheap headphones "1-Click Purchase"is a no brainer.
    I've bought about a dozen Bluetooth headphones/earbuds over the years. When it breaks or gets lost or battery goes bad, I simply replace them. But I'm also paying $800/year for my phone not including data. I think it's time I upgrade my audio and have a nice pair of wireless earbuds. Leave the cheap wireless audio to the kids. I'm a big boy now.
    Spending ~ $300 for wireless earphones (if these are targeted above the already terrible Beats) makes you a big boy? Sounds like you have some personal issues.

    Come back in a year and let us all know how many sets of $300 ear buds you bought to replace the ones that were destroyed/lost/etc. while biking, jogging, hiking, working out, going through the washing machine, used by the kids, eaten by the pets, etc.
  • Reply 55 of 69
    1983 said:
    e1618978 said:
    I hope it works better than the AirPlay connection between iPhones and AppleTVs - constant cut outs when using spotify.  Replaced the AppleTV with a Google Chromecast and all the problems went away.
    AirPlay needs a major overhaul to be more competitive with the competition...its long overdue!
    How so?

    The only aspect of AirPlay that I would like to see improved is not really AirPlay at all, but Handoff. I'd prefer AirPlay be replaced by Handoff whenever possible. If I want to transition from Netflix on iPhone to Netflix on AppleTV, it should a simple button press on the iPhone...but instead of locking up my phone with AirPlay activity, it should securely transition to streaming from Netflix itself on the AppleTV.
  • Reply 56 of 69
    B Glett said:
    Doesn't everyone realize that they are just going to lock Apple users into using high-priced, proprietary earphones rather than readily available, low-priced universal Bluetooth earphones? After hearing this I wouldn't touch the iPhone 7 with a ten foot pole if it won't work with my Bluetooth devices!
    WHY CAN'T EVERYONE SEE IT, SO OBVIOUS.

    Piss off shillbot.
  • Reply 57 of 69
    e1618978 said:
    I hope it works better than the AirPlay connection between iPhones and AppleTVs - constant cut outs when using spotify.  Replaced the AppleTV with a Google Chromecast and all the problems went away.
    Thats mainly because the phone goes to sleep and cuts the airplay when it does. Their is no option to allow to airplay in sleep mode.
  • Reply 58 of 69
    TurboPGT said:
    misa said:
    e1618978 said:
    I hope it works better than the AirPlay connection between iPhones and AppleTVs - constant cut outs when using spotify.  Replaced the AppleTV with a Google Chromecast and all the problems went away.
    Anyone who buys bluetooth speakers or bluetooth headphones is an fool who paid extra money for a worse experience..

    I think what Apple is hoping to do is not introduce just another set of bluetooth headphones, but a huge leap forward in wireless headphones.

    That's probably true...

    But it's, likely, much more than that.  Apple provides solutions to problems we didn't know we had -- or capabilities that we didn't know we needed...

    Then, it is irresistible and/or cost-justifiable to buy the hardware/software/services that delivers these.


  • Reply 59 of 69
    Doesn't Beats already sell many different BT wireless 'earphones'? What's the big new deal that I am missing here?
  • Reply 60 of 69
    Rayz2016Rayz2016 Posts: 6,957member
    gilly017 said:
    I would love to use the earbuds. But alas, the things never fit my ear. Always falls out. 
    Sigh. 
    I, too, am cursed with mutant anti-earbud lug holes. :-(

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