Apple should've included a 3.5mm to cassette adapter and not removed the 3.5mm jack!!! There's a certain subset of users who still only have cassette players in their dash and listen to 12 hours of music while they drive. How will I charge my phone and connect to the cassette player now. Why can't I get catered to at the expense of the other 99.9999%...
"These are as advanced a project as Apple Pencil," Schiller said of AirPods. "We started this project when we started the Watch project. We knew we needed a great wireless solution for audio. We said, 'What if you could design what the future of headphones should look like?' That's we asked the team to do."
That's all well and good Phil, but why on God's green Earth did you go with that absurdly long alien protrusion that, from a distance looks like frozen bird poo, and up close looks like someone just hacked off a regular set of Apple EarPods?
I am certain cramming such a lot of functionality into a tiny space is fiendishly difficult, but as other companies have shown, there are more inconspicuous ways of designing wireless earphones. I cannot see many people wearing these without a few sniggers from onlookers. Funny how white earphones with a jiggling white cord, made famous and stylish by the acrobatic hip dancing in the early iPod commercials, has become superficially uncool sans cord.
Of course, that is my opinion as 40-something uncool guy and I could be completely out of touch and wrong. But they just don't seem to scream "look at my sexy wearable tech!" - much in the same way Google Glass didn't either, although maybe not quite so stupid-looking and obtrussive.
Show me a nice looking Bluetooth headset on the market with 50% of features as this. You numbnut need to open your mind for new technology and innovation sometimes and get out of your parents' basement.
Thanks for the ad-hominem attacks. I'll answer anyway, since you asked.
It's true that they have superior functionality. That wasn't my argument. If you like them then great, where them with pride and enjoy them. I'm only commenting on their appearance and, from where I sit (from my parents' basement /s ), they look ridiculous. Let's not hide the fact that looks matter too - just ask the Google Glass team. Apple knows this. The industry knows this.
Hey, they could fly off the shelves and really be a hit. We'll see.
One word: microphone.
yes this. i have some BT Platronics that are in ear and supposedly can be used to make calls, but the mic pickup is awful on them, I've been told. so i don't ever bother to use it. i expect that not to be the case here.
Let's look at this from a different angle. You can quickly pop only one pod in for hands-free talk while driving. You can also use one pod while having video conferencing and still be present in the room. 5 hours later, if the battery is low, swap it out for the other pod. That is 10 hours, plus the first pod is recharging while using the second pod....etc. We now have the freedom to walk around a room, talk with (what is allegedly) pristine audio and microphone with a built in backup, plus they are including wired lightning earbuds and a lightning to 3.5 converter and people are still complaining? The ease of using Siri alone is huge. No more "press and hold" or triple tapping microscopic buttons to pair. Sure, there are flaws, but the benefits outweigh the negatives.
There's one thing that people aren't taking into consideration.
Analogue technology requires more power than digital technology. By removing the analogue ports you make everything inside the phone full digital. No conversions meaning no power loss and therefore longer battery life.
Admittedly you move the problem to the analogue adapter but if you use the Lightning or AirPods then you don't have the power use problem.
I have no problem with Apple's continued move toward wireless. My problem is that all I've heard is that the wireless airpods sound just like the current earpods. If they don't sound any better than that, they're damn sure not worth nearly $160.
Take the number of times an ear bud fell out of my ear and was saved by the wire attached to it and multiply it by the cost of AirPods that will get lost or run over by a lawn mower when they fall out and you got a huge number. But I guess Apple is counting on that to increase sales and profits. I've had ear buds and headphones that have lasted years. I bet I'm not going to be able to hold on to something as small as AirPods for over a month. These things are asking to be lost. And I really don't want to have to buy a new Bluetooth equipped car just so I can listen to music and charge the darn device at the same time. Bottom line is if Apple is correct about all this wireless interaction, I'll be glad that I'll be dead and those that are left can enjoy their "Brave New World" where all their thoughts and words are being monitored by corporations and governments 24/7/365. You will never see Alexa in my house. Call me paranoid, if you so desire. I've been called worse.
so much stupid in one place. why would apple need to count on that to increase profit when they're already the rockstars of profit? how could they even count on this when you're 100% free to use wired or other non-apple BT headphones? why would you have to replace your car just to get BT in it? how are corporations monitoring your audio? what kind of drugs are you on?
"These are as advanced a project as Apple Pencil," Schiller said of AirPods. "We started this project when we started the Watch project. We knew we needed a great wireless solution for audio. We said, 'What if you could design what the future of headphones should look like?' That's we asked the team to do."
That's all well and good Phil, but why on God's green Earth did you go with that absurdly long alien protrusion that, from a distance looks like frozen bird poo, and up close looks like someone just hacked off a regular set of Apple EarPods?
I am certain cramming such a lot of functionality into a tiny space is fiendishly difficult, but as other companies have shown, there are more inconspicuous ways of designing wireless earphones. I cannot see many people wearing these without a few sniggers from onlookers. Funny how white earphones with a jiggling white cord, made famous and stylish by the acrobatic hip dancing in the early iPod commercials, has become superficially uncool sans cord.
Of course, that is my opinion as 40-something uncool guy and I could be completely out of touch and wrong. But they just don't seem to scream "look at my sexy wearable tech!" - much in the same way Google Glass didn't either, although maybe not quite so stupid-looking and obtrussive.
Show me a nice looking Bluetooth headset on the market with 50% of features as this. You need to open your mind for new technology and innovation sometimes.
"These are as advanced a project as Apple Pencil," Schiller said of AirPods.
Show me a nice looking Bluetooth headset on the market, period. This isn't it. These are gonna get lost over and over again. $160 for something that cannot be repaired? How much is AppleCare - $95?
The sheeple will buy them, but I bet iStuff sales are down again next quarter.
So much for enhancing shareholder value. Try enhancing customer value, shareholder value will follow. It worked from August 1997 through October 2011.
utter nonsense. theres tons of value here to me as a customer, not a shareholder. which is why and how apple makes its rockstar profits and why samsung makes phones that explode and set vehicles on fire.
People complain "how am I going to listen to music when I'm charging my air pods..." The same way you listen to music when your charging your wireless headphones you have now... I havnt used the 3.5mm headphone jack in years.
I use my wireless headphones on planes every time I travel. Even during take off and landing. And I've never had an issue.
My only question is why they skipped wireless charging this time around...
For all we know, Apple could have leaked the news or removal of the 3.5mm headphone jack themselves to monitor public opinion of the decision.
Apple removed it, third party will provide solutions.
Apple's not gonna create a case with a 3.5mm jack built in because that would undermine there decision. One. And two, the dongle is meant to be a temporary fix not a permanent one.
All I hear when reading these comments are people who are whining about petty stuff.
You don't like the airpods... Then don't buy them. Simple as that. There is a very competitive market that will offer new solutions to this temporary problem.
I agree about wireless. But I'm disappointed they don't appear to have improved the audio quality at all. By all appearances these are just standard BT 4.1 audio quality without any AAC or aptX codecs. We'll see. That will go a long way toward a wireless future.
But out the charging and listening thing is real, especially for the traveler, and especially when they bundle Lightning headphones in the box. I'm still holding out hope that the Lightning charging cable in the box comes with a Lightning passthrough like the Apple external battery case does. Or at a minimum, adding a Lightning port to the charging cube. And why shouldn't Apple add a 3.5mm port to a battery case? There's more than enough room on their external battery case. Seriously if they offer a free adapter in the box, they're already undermining their decision.
And where is the 3.5mm (source) to Lightning (headphone) adaptor?
I kept shaking my head during the keynote, then went online to check things out. No way to use your new Lightning headphones with your old Apple gear like iPods and Macs, or anything else, all but guaranteeing that a customer needs to carry two sets of headphones with them!
They're bundling Lightning headphones AND a 3.5mm adapter, so why not just bundle the old 3.5mm headphones with the 3.5mm adapter? At least that way a customer only needs one set of headphones, and an adapter to use them with the iPhone. I guess existing iPhone customers can just use their old earbuds with the new adapter which just seems to defeat the purpose.
I'm all for lightning headphones, but this seems like a half-baked roll-out. I hope to see Lightning ports added to the Macs at an event in October, but even then, it doesn't address legacy Macs. And where are the adapters? Heck I would take a Lightning to USB-C adapter even, but they would also need USB-A. So why not just a much simpler and cheaper 3.5mm adapter with an analogue passthrough chip, which could be used on all current Apple products?
Seriously where's the support for this transition?
From Apple's website:
Clearly superior sound. It’s great-sounding music, movies, and more to your ears. AirPods provide rich, high-quality AAC audio. And when you want to be heard, dual beamforming microphones filter out background noise when you make calls or talk to Siri.
So, it is quite possible that Apple is now supporting AAC codecs in the AirPods (and presumably that is what apple devices will send the music as). Also, Bluetooth 4.2 not Bluetooth 4.1 but that is a relatively small thing.
Why didn't they dwell on that more? Seriously. AAC will make all the difference in being an effective wired replacement. Instead they tried to make the 3.5mm jack seem old, and basically gave us this meme:
The Internet always amplifies the negative. Remember that when reading all the “outrage” about the headphone jack. And here’s one for you. I have a relatively new Yamaha RX-V673 AVR that has the longtime standard 1/4 inch (6.35mm) headphone jack. I wanted to use my Beats Solo 2 Wireless headphones that also have a 3.5mm jack and cord for wired connections. You guessed it. I had to buy a 6.35mm->3.5mm analog jack adapter/dongle to be able to plug my Beats headphones into my Yamaha AVR. So trashing adapters doesn’t fly with me or anyone else with half a brain. You can shove that argument up your rear ends. And while you’re at it talk to any professional audio sound engineer and ask them about adapters, dongles, converters, inverters, ground loop isolators, etc. Their toolboxes contain a veritable arsenal of these things, dozens of them. Anybody still using those 1/4 inch unbalanced -> three pin XLR balanced adapters? Yep, they’re still around aren’t they. Where’s the outrage?
That comparison isn't even valid. You're comparing an adapter for stationary AV equipment that isn't designed to go anywhere to an adapter for a device that's fully built around mobility.
Do you how fanboyish that comes off? Forcing users to use an adapter on the go to use their headphones they spent good money on is unrealistic. While some audiophiles strap external dac/amps, the majority of people use regular headphones on the go as their go-to solution. With this configuration, you can easily lose an adapter that should have been a standard feature set. Shoot, you can't even charge and listen to audio at the same time if the lightning port is tied up.
If you wanna talk "half a brain", maybe you should have considered the above. But, can't say I expect much from a Beats user. I'll be over here with my Beyerdynamics.
So they removed the physical home button and headphone jack with a total of approximately 2.5 ccm of space with a solid state homebutton and a taptic engine with space requirements somewhat closer to 10 ccm because "space comes at a premium"? Sure, that makes so much sense!
By the way, Apple wasn’t the first smartphone maker to ditch the headphone jack. The Moto Z Droid has no headphone jack and it shipped a year ago. It also ships with a USB-C to 3.5mm ADAPTER. Fancy that. Apple late to the party again. /s
Clearly superior sound. It’s great-sounding music, movies, and more to your ears. AirPods provide rich, high-quality AAC audio. And when you want to be heard, dual beamforming microphones filter out background noise when you make calls or talk to Siri.
So, it is quite possible that Apple is now supporting AAC codecs in the AirPods (and presumably that is what apple devices will send the music as). Also, Bluetooth 4.2 not Bluetooth 4.1 but that is a relatively small thing.
Why didn't they dwell on that more? Seriously. AAC will make all the difference in being an effective wired replacement. Instead they tried to make the 3.5mm jack seem old, and basically gave us this meme:
I won't say 100% that they are using AAC without any other compression, but that is what it sounds like. Maybe it won't be rolled out to iOS and other apple OS until a X.1 update since airpods aren't out until October. Hopefully, Apple will make this clear as it could be a big deal compared to other Bluetooth wireless buds.
This alone may stop me from upgrading to the new iPhone. I have a $300 pair of wired headphones that I love, they have great sound, that currently work with every single audio device I own.
Long term, I can see the advantage of moving away from the analog 3.5mm standard, but it should be a to a new, common standard that is just as ubiquitous across all devices. I don't see a chance in hell of Lightning being adopted as widely as the 3.5mm currently is.
This alone may stop me from upgrading to the new iPhone. I have a $300 pair of wired headphones that I love, they have great sound, that currently work with every single audio device I own.
Long term, I can see the advantage of moving away from the analog 3.5mm standard, but it should be a to a new, common standard that is just as ubiquitous across all devices. I don't see a chance in hell of Lightning being adopted as widely as the 3.5mm currently is.
Maybe the new standard will be Usb TypeC audio.
Actually, my biggest problem with Apple tossing the 3.5mm jack on the iPhone is that you're stuck with Lightning which is proprietary. So now we've gone from the universal 3.5mm headphone jack that works great and is simple, to what will probably become a two horse race between USB-C and Lightning for wired audio.
Hey, here's an idea - get rid of the damn home button and use the screen!
Yeah...dime a dozen type of idea, quite honestly. I can hold my iPhone by the home button and still don't press it. Try the same technique with a screen first, before offering something of that sort. Or, at least, try to imagine how it is going to be when you remove that home button.
It is not. But moving DAC right where your ear is will give you a better sound quality by not transmitting that analogue signal through wires. The shorter the path, the better it is.
This alone may stop me from upgrading to the new iPhone. I have a $300 pair of wired headphones that I love, they have great sound, that currently work with every single audio device I own.
Long term, I can see the advantage of moving away from the analog 3.5mm standard, but it should be a to a new, common standard that is just as ubiquitous across all devices. I don't see a chance in hell of Lightning being adopted as widely as the 3.5mm currently is.
Maybe the new standard will be Usb TypeC audio.
Actually, my biggest problem with Apple tossing the 3.5mm jack on the iPhone is that you're stuck with Lightning which is proprietary. So now we've gone from the universal 3.5mm headphone jack that works great and is simple, to what will probably become a two horse race between USB-C and Lightning for wired audio.
It will be a very short race. First, there's well over half-a-billion Lightning products in active use. By the time there's that many USB-C devices in use, Apple's early push for wireless will likely have eliminated the need for most wired audio in consumer products, especially mobile devices. So for a company like Apple they will win the race by dropping out of it altogether. I'd expect by 2018 we might see the first completely wireless iPhone, and by 2019, the Lightning port removed altogether. USB-C will barely have market saturation by that point, much less older 3.5mm equipment completely replaced with new USB-C equipped gear. And wireless audio will likely achieve quality parity with wired consumer audio in the same time frame, though I'm imagining anyone with a need for wired audio will probably be using a magnetic inductive connection (like the Smart Connector) attached to the outside of the iPhone anyway, ensuring that neither Lightning nor USB-C are necessary.
Comments
Analogue technology requires more power than digital technology. By removing the analogue ports you make everything inside the phone full digital. No conversions meaning no power loss and therefore longer battery life.
Admittedly you move the problem to the analogue adapter but if you use the Lightning or AirPods then you don't have the power use problem.
so much stupid in one place. why would apple need to count on that to increase profit when they're already the rockstars of profit? how could they even count on this when you're 100% free to use wired or other non-apple BT headphones? why would you have to replace your car just to get BT in it? how are corporations monitoring your audio? what kind of drugs are you on?
Do you how fanboyish that comes off? Forcing users to use an adapter on the go to use their headphones they spent good money on is unrealistic. While some audiophiles strap external dac/amps, the majority of people use regular headphones on the go as their go-to solution. With this configuration, you can easily lose an adapter that should have been a standard feature set. Shoot, you can't even charge and listen to audio at the same time if the lightning port is tied up.
If you wanna talk "half a brain", maybe you should have considered the above. But, can't say I expect much from a Beats user. I'll be over here with my Beyerdynamics.
It is not. But moving DAC right where your ear is will give you a better sound quality by not transmitting that analogue signal through wires. The shorter the path, the better it is.