Could Apple possibly pull a March 2019, and release several products each day this week? Not to sound greedy, I just really want a new Apple TV, damnit!
Somewhat curious to know why the compatibility matrix for these is so sparse. Sure, most recent Macs, iPads, and iPhones are in the matrix but only one model of iPod Touch. However, pretty much every other Bluetooth headphones on the planet are compatible with just about every Bluetooth capable player on the planet. These appear to be essentially a brand-specific peripheral, which is kind of new territory for the product category that we naively think these fall into, I.e., wireless headphones. This sort of dilutes any direct comparisons with competing products because there really aren’t any functionally equivalent products to compare to the AirPods Max, especially for people who own devices that are not in the compatibility matrix. Uncharted territory for sure.
No mic? I can't use it to talk with my iPhone? The fact that it has active noise cancellation proves it has some sort of mic in it, but not one I can speak into?
It's labelled with L and R for the Left and Right sides. How are they going to market that in countries where English isn't known or spoken widely?
I really can't tell if you are being deliberately obtuse, or are simply dumb as rocks.
No mic? I can't use it to talk with my iPhone? The fact that it has active noise cancellation proves it has some sort of mic in it, but not one I can speak into?
It's labelled with L and R for the Left and Right sides. How are they going to market that in countries where English isn't known or spoken widely?
I really can't tell if you are being deliberately obtuse, or are simply dumb as rocks.
The most obvious answer is usually the correct one.
Just an FYI, TidBits has a good review which seems to provide more hardware and feature and specs information. Not sure if it is allowable to post a direct link here, so just search for it.
The roaring 20s are back again. This is pure decadence while millions of people are being evicted, foreclosed upon, losing their businesses, their jobs, their sanity, their dignity, while the ICUs fill up with corpses, the government spits on its citizens and corporate America takes the money meant to help them.
Has Apple totally lost touch with the real world where non-millionaires live?
$550 for noise cancelling headphones. Outrageous pricing, in my opinion.
Need a cable for those times when you can't or aren't able to use wireless mode? That will cost $35 for a 4-foot Lightning to 3.5 mm Audio Cable from Apple. $35!!
I guess if you can afford $550 for a headset, you can certainly pay $35 for a headphone cable without even thinking about it.
Whatever happened to the computer for the rest of us?
Apparently GREED has become the new guiding principal in Tim Cook's Apple.
(yes Apple products have always cost more than PC products, but the prices have been getting more outrageously nuts the last few years)
(I can neither afford/justify nor want the new headphones, but why does Apple hate less wealthy middle and less-than people?)
Then you are free to buy something else or nothing at all.
From Apple's website - "Charges with a Lightning connector"... 🤦♂️
It think it's genius. For anyone who has an iPhone (which is many hundreds of millions of a market segment), they don't have to buy a charger.
It comes with a cable, so it could have used a USB-C port. I find it a bit annoying that it doesn't, in my opinion Apple should have ditched Lightning two iPhones ago.
I’m not sure why they didn’t put a Apple Watch charge coil in the center of the headband. I’m guessing the batteries are not that much bigger than the watch. By placing a magnetic coil in the center of the band, you could attach the AW charging puck while traveling or Apple could create a stand to hang the headphones while not using them. This way Apple could have made even more money by charging $99.99 for a charging stand.
I am sure these are aimed at professional studios, they will be followed next year by a lower-cost version for the great unwashed.
Music studios have no use for Bluetooth headphones, except maybe for reference purposes — you need to check your mixes on consumer-grade equipment to make sure they work across a variety of playback environments.
The latency of Bluetooth audio makes it completely useless for recording, and the lossy compression of the audio stream means you're hearing everything through digital artefacting and noise masking algorithms, which is simply not an option for production.
Of course, you are correct, I understand latency as I have owned both a TV production house (shows for ESPN and ESPN2) and a music production studio. However, for the final listening post-mix, they would be nice. I was thinking more about the cost complaints Apple's initial high-end offerings always attract from the average user and suggesting it will not be a problem for those in any audio-based business or for well-off audiophiles but I am sure Apple will have a lower-end model in the works.
That all said, I wish Apple would include a wired option for precisely the point you bring up about lag. That or use a lightspeed wireless audio communications protocol.
No mic? I can't use it to talk with my iPhone? The fact that it has active noise cancellation proves it has some sort of mic in it, but not one I can speak into?
It's labelled with L and R for the Left and Right sides. How are they going to market that in countries where English isn't known or spoken widely?
Dude, please try reading the article. It has multiple mics. And I'm pretty sure people can figure out what L and R mean. 🙄
Dude, it's illegal to sell products in some countries that are English Only, regardless of whether they can figure it out.
And also despite being the most successful tech company in the world, Apple is too stupid to figure that out, eh?
Right, well said... As is it sooo hard to print G & D for the French models (just as an example). Some people are a wee bit slow! lol
One thing that Apple could have added to AirPods Max that would have been a game changer would be WiFi and direct streaming from Apple Music, i.e., “HeadPod” functionality. Yes, this feature would be limited to use on WiFi (or tethered to a hotspot) but the ability to kick back without an iPhone, iPad, or Apple Watch and have Siri stream music directly to the headphones (and send texts, read your email, etc.) would have been a very unique addition to these, especially at the price.
Some people have commented that the high price would be acceptable to professionals, but I don’t see APMs as good for professional work—even if connected by wire instead of Bluetooth—due to the computation in between the raw signal and the output. These are leisure headphones.
They are a very recognizable luxury item. In other words, people who are already comfortable spending $350 on Beats headphones (which are utter shit in their performance) won’t blink twice shelling out just “a bit more” for these over-engineered beauties.
Bought three - two due before Christmas, one in early January (the green color for my wife) - other two colors were Silver and Grey (for my adult children) and show about a week out or so...
Bought three - two due before Christmas, one in early January (the green color for my wife) - other two colors were Silver and Grey (for my adult children) and show about a week out or so...
Let's see...can always return them....!
Definitely a common sense approach as there is no substitute for people actually trying them out in real world settings. You have nothing to lose.
I wouldn't do it because I personally don't see the value in these but that is a subjective notion. I'm sure this range will find its place.
Has Apple totally lost touch with the real world where non-millionaires live?
$550 for noise cancelling headphones. Outrageous pricing, in my opinion.
Need a cable for those times when you can't or aren't able to use wireless mode? That will cost $35 for a 4-foot Lightning to 3.5 mm Audio Cable from Apple. $35!!
I guess if you can afford $550 for a headset, you can certainly pay $35 for a headphone cable without even thinking about it.
Whatever happened to the computer for the rest of us?
Apparently GREED has become the new guiding principal in Tim Cook's Apple.
(yes Apple products have always cost more than PC products, but the prices have been getting more outrageously nuts the last few years)
(I can neither afford/justify nor want the new headphones, but why does Apple hate less wealthy middle and less-than people?)
Ah… It really started with the very first iPod, in October of 2001.
Not Apple's "GREED", mind you, but the influx of first-world crybabies with a sense of entitlement.
Because you deserve good, noise-cancelling over-ear headphones, and Apple, the fucking greedy bastards, aren't giving them to you at an impulse-buy price.
Has Apple totally lost touch with the real world where non-millionaires live?
$550 for noise cancelling headphones. Outrageous pricing, in my opinion.
Need a cable for those times when you can't or aren't able to use wireless mode? That will cost $35 for a 4-foot Lightning to 3.5 mm Audio Cable from Apple. $35!!
I guess if you can afford $550 for a headset, you can certainly pay $35 for a headphone cable without even thinking about it.
Whatever happened to the computer for the rest of us?
Apparently GREED has become the new guiding principal in Tim Cook's Apple.
(yes Apple products have always cost more than PC products, but the prices have been getting more outrageously nuts the last few years)
(I can neither afford/justify nor want the new headphones, but why does Apple hate less wealthy middle and less-than people?)
Ah… It really started with the very first iPod, in October of 2001.
Not Apple's "GREED", mind you, but the influx of first-world crybabies with a sense of entitlement.
Because you deserve good, noise-cancelling over-ear headphones, and Apple, the fucking greedy bastards, aren't giving them to you at an impulse-buy price.
It’s seems that a most posters on here have never looked at the pricing of HiFi equipment.
£5,000 for a turntable - no problem. £1,500 for a pickup cartridge - it’s over here sir. £150 for some speaker stand spikes - how many boxes would you like?
Prices in HiFi start somewhere near reasonable and go into the stratosphere - just have a look through some magazines if you want to have you eyes (and mouth) opened wide. In 1987 I bought a pair of QUAD ESL63s (loudspeakers) which cost me about £1,4000. Most people would not have paid that much for their speakers, amps and turntable combined. I still have them, they still sound incredible, I have never regretted buying them but they are at a friend’s house because I no longer have room for them and replaced with with some much smaller speakers. However, these speakers now are a limited in this lounge I now have so 4 months ago I bought a pair of QUAD headphone for £600. They are absolutely superb - but they are ‘just’ headphones with none of Apple’s high tech flash.
So, depending on the quality, these AirPods could be priced just right if you want something with all that Apple are including. Most people would never buy a pair of headphones that cost more than £100, but there enough people that definitely would to make Apple’s pricing perfectly sensible to me.
I think Apple’s look gorgeous, but I’ll stick with the QUADs ...
Comments
TidBits has a good review which seems to provide more hardware and feature and specs information.
Not sure if it is allowable to post a direct link here, so just search for it.
Then you are free to buy something else or nothing at all.
That all said, I wish Apple would include a wired option for precisely the point you bring up about lag. That or use a lightspeed wireless audio communications protocol.
Right, well said... As is it sooo hard to print G & D for the French models (just as an example). Some people are a wee bit slow! lol
🤦🏾♂️
Let's see...can always return them....!
I wouldn't do it because I personally don't see the value in these but that is a subjective notion. I'm sure this range will find its place.
Not Apple's "GREED", mind you, but the influx of first-world crybabies with a sense of entitlement.
Because you deserve good, noise-cancelling over-ear headphones, and Apple, the fucking greedy bastards, aren't giving them to you at an impulse-buy price.
£5,000 for a turntable - no problem. £1,500 for a pickup cartridge - it’s over here sir. £150 for some speaker stand spikes - how many boxes would you like?
Prices in HiFi start somewhere near reasonable and go into the stratosphere - just have a look through some magazines if you want to have you eyes (and mouth) opened wide. In 1987 I bought a pair of QUAD ESL63s (loudspeakers) which cost me about £1,4000. Most people would not have paid that much for their speakers, amps and turntable combined. I still have them, they still sound incredible, I have never regretted buying them but they are at a friend’s house because I no longer have room for them and replaced with with some much smaller speakers. However, these speakers now are a limited in this lounge I now have so 4 months ago I bought a pair of QUAD headphone for £600. They are absolutely superb - but they are ‘just’ headphones with none of Apple’s high tech flash.
So, depending on the quality, these AirPods could be priced just right if you want something with all that Apple are including. Most people would never buy a pair of headphones that cost more than £100, but there enough people that definitely would to make Apple’s pricing perfectly sensible to me.
I think Apple’s look gorgeous, but I’ll stick with the QUADs ...