the EarPods don't fit my ears either. i see these falling out on day one. wish they would make one that conforms to the bowl of your ear better or an optional silicon covering that could make it fit better.
From the presentation, it sounded like (no pun intended) that the wireless technology was something other than Bluetooth, which made me curious as to compatibility with other Apple products...
Turns out it is Bluetooth, and works on most devices, but a note (1) says "Requires an iCloud account and macOS Sierra, iOS 10, or watchOS 3." I get the OS version requirement, but the iCloud account requirement is interesting. I guess that's how connecting to just one device more or less automatically makes the connection with all other devices?
So does this mean you can or can't use them with non-Apple products? They use Bluetooth, but from the sounds of it you'd never be able to pair them with non-Apple devices. And if these are paired via your iCloud account, all the worse because they won't even (easily) work with someone else's iDevices. I guess it remains to be seen just how limiting the connection options are going to be. Personally, it's a moot point because Apple's earphones never fit my ears anyway, but even if they did I don't think I'd pay that much. The extra little nicities don't justify the premium price in my mind.
You can use it with non-Apple products - just like a BT device. Meaning: no auto-connect, sensor won't be working, etc. but just like a normal BT headset. The reason this is innovative enough is that it supposedly work flawlessly smarter with Apple products with multi-devices auto-on/off and movement sensor. Plus 15 mins charging. There is a lot of new techs in this which very well justify the price. But I will review more in depth when I get hand of it.
With some EQing the sound of cheap earbuds & headphones can be improved quite a bit. One area Apple really falls behind in is providing system-wide EQ. I use Boom 2 on my Mac and have EQ profiles for AirPods, an external Bluetooth speaker, and my "serious" headphones.
With some EQing the sound of cheap earbuds & headphones can be improved quite a bit. One area Apple really falls behind in is providing system-wide EQ. I use Boom 2 on my Mac and have EQ profiles for AirPods, an external Bluetooth speaker, and my "serious" headphones.
I paid for Boom 2 and I regret it. It makes my Mac sounds worse.
These are pretty sick as fuck. Have you read the actual performance points or did you actually watch the keynote? Or do you just read someone's tweet about 5 hours per use and conclude it's garbage compared to other wireless earphones?
Use critical thinking skills and don't conclude shit before you make a comprehensive comparison. It's like, yeah it's true you can get $25 wireless earphones at Walmart. Go ahead, get those since you hold them with such high regard from just the price point. Let me know how that goes. The airpods are also not the most expensive either. But one of the many unique selling points is seamless integration with the apple ecosystem.
I want to wait for reviews, because the microphone looks top notch. I have Jaybird X2s and the microphone is so-so at best. People have a hard time hearing me on phone calls, and phone connectivity is unstable compared to the perfect music connectivity. Plus, it has never lasted the 8 hrs they claim to last. It's always around two uses of 1hr 30 min gym sessions which equals less than 4 hrs. I even got an exchange from Jaybird from claiming the bad battery performance, and the replacement ones were just the same. That's sad. Hopefully airpods have better battery life with the better performance because Jaybird X2s come with really high regard.
Perfecting the cordless design is enticing and worth it. I don't know that they've done that yet, but we'll have to see when they actually come out and get tested. All the little details combined seem to justify the price. Def not cheap though.
At least the dongle is $9 for all those bitching about it. If Apple has it for $9, for sure they'll be like $3 from a 3rd party.
Funny, so how much is the special Apple lanyard you'll need to strap onto them to keep from losing your 160 bucks? Maybe a special Apple dewaxer/earcleaner to make sure they get a dry fit and don't fall out. Brilliant. Okay, decided, not buying any more Apple stock.
Blah blah blah bitch, whine, rant, blah, non sequitur... Did I get that right?
I see it to be used not for music but as a headset for calls. And even with 5 hours - I get 20 hours by just putting them into the case. When would I want to listen more than 5 hours at once anyway?
At first glance I was into these, except the price, considering it seems like you can get the powerbeats3 for $199 and you'll be able to switch between your devices, like the pods. I might get these instead. I kept my original powerbeats just walking since it was frustrating to try and switch between phone, ipad and mac.
According to Matthew Panzarino AirPods will work with any Bluetooth device but they don't get the "special sauce". So the question then is are these only full featured when connected to iPhone 7 and Watch series 2?
From the presentation, it sounded like (no pun intended) that the wireless technology was something other than Bluetooth, which made me curious as to compatibility with other Apple products...
Turns out it is Bluetooth, and works on most devices, but a note (1) says "Requires an iCloud account and macOS Sierra, iOS 10, or watchOS 3." I get the OS version requirement, but the iCloud account requirement is interesting. I guess that's how connecting to just one device more or less automatically makes the connection with all other devices?
I've read that it's the next version of BT that has not, yet, been ratified by the board -- Apple sits on the board.
As to the iCloud requirement: I think it is (or will be) more than synching the painless connection to all your Apple devices.
I had hoped that Apple would introduce a new capability today to exploit the new hardware and software -- and it would require iCloud services.
Maybe later this year, or next year... No wine before its time!
Would love an in ear version too. That EarPod design just does not like my ears at all. Constantly falls out. But, this is extremely impressive and I can't wait to see how they work. Great price too, I was expecting way more than that.
100% agree. No Apple earbuds of any generation fit my ears comfortably. They always feel loose, flop around, and fall out. Plus they let in way too much ambient noise. I hope Apple licenses the W1 technology specs to other headphone manufacturers so we have choices to fit different ear geometries.
"AirPods connect automatically with all your Apple devices. They’re simultaneously connected to your iPhone and Apple Watch, and sound switches instantly between the devices."
...this solves one of the major pain points of BT use, which is switching between devices.
100% yes
It elimates the worst thing about Bluetooth - pairing issues
Other than being able to tap one of them to activate siri, there is not a single mention of any controlling function. No volume up/down, no track skipping, no pause. The diagram at the end that showed the features of the airpods had no mention of control inputs. I'm a bit concerned that with these not being mentioned, it suggests it all has to be done from the phone, which would be a serious functionality lose. You would think that if they had a series of taps to mean different things, it would have been mentioned.
Other than being able to tap one of them to activate siri, there is not a single mention of any controlling function. No volume up/down, no track skipping, no pause. The diagram at the end that showed the features of the airpods had no mention of control inputs. I'm a bit concerned that with these not being mentioned, it suggests it all has to be done from the phone, which would be a serious functionality lose. You would think that if they had a series of taps to mean different things, it would have been mentioned.
Go to Apple's website. Everything is done with Siri.
Comments
$9.00 !!!!!
This has to be some kind of new record for Apple!
Use critical thinking skills and don't conclude shit before you make a comprehensive comparison. It's like, yeah it's true you can get $25 wireless earphones at Walmart. Go ahead, get those since you hold them with such high regard from just the price point. Let me know how that goes. The airpods are also not the most expensive either. But one of the many unique selling points is seamless integration with the apple ecosystem.
I want to wait for reviews, because the microphone looks top notch. I have Jaybird X2s and the microphone is so-so at best. People have a hard time hearing me on phone calls, and phone connectivity is unstable compared to the perfect music connectivity. Plus, it has never lasted the 8 hrs they claim to last. It's always around two uses of 1hr 30 min gym sessions which equals less than 4 hrs. I even got an exchange from Jaybird from claiming the bad battery performance, and the replacement ones were just the same. That's sad. Hopefully airpods have better battery life with the better performance because Jaybird X2s come with really high regard.
Perfecting the cordless design is enticing and worth it. I don't know that they've done that yet, but we'll have to see when they actually come out and get tested. All the little details combined seem to justify the price. Def not cheap though.
At least the dongle is $9 for all those bitching about it. If Apple has it for $9, for sure they'll be like $3 from a 3rd party.
And even with 5 hours - I get 20 hours by just putting them into the case. When would I want to listen more than 5 hours at once anyway?
They cost almost 20% more than you claimed.
As to the iCloud requirement: I think it is (or will be) more than synching the painless connection to all your Apple devices.
I had hoped that Apple would introduce a new capability today to exploit the new hardware and software -- and it would require iCloud services.
Maybe later this year, or next year... No wine before its time!
Nobody has mentioned this, but one thing particularly impressed me about today's event -- this is Tim's show now!