AirPods Pro 2 are AirPods Max in your pocket, says Apple
Apple engineer Esge Andersen says that the company wants AirPods Pro 2 to sound like AirPods Max, and has detailed steps the team took to get there.
AirPods Pro 2 offer better ANC and sound quality
AppleInsider described the AirPods Pro 2 as being "already excellent earbuds, improved." Now Esge Anderson has revealed what work has been going in to the new earbuds since their predecessor's launch in 2019.
"This ability to be able to give you the best experience was our goal," Andersen told What Hi-Fi magazine, "no matter what it is you have, we want to give you the best experience."
"We wanted to give everybody an AirPods Max in their pocket," he continues. "And at the end of the day, there is somewhat of a compromise, because you can't make it perfect for everybody yet."
"When we talk about good sound, it's all about how we move the air in the product," said Anderson, "which is kind of weird because it's not talking about the enclosure or how it looks, but it's about ensuring that we also design for airflow."
He says that the audio team works with designers and that their aims are the same. "If we can make the sound better [through redesign]," he says, "I think our industrial design team are very open to that."
AirPods Pro 2 (on sale for $199.99) do not support lossless audio, despite that now being a staple of Apple Music. Anderson suggests that's down to limitations in Bluetooth rather than Apple's own hardware or firmware.
"We don't think that [Apple's] codec currently is the limitation of audio quality on Bluetooth products," says Anderson. "We want to push the sound quality forward, and we can do that with a lot of other elements."
At time of writing, AirPods Pro 2 are among the Apple devices getting significant discounts in the Black Friday sales.
Read on AppleInsider
AirPods Pro 2 offer better ANC and sound quality
AppleInsider described the AirPods Pro 2 as being "already excellent earbuds, improved." Now Esge Anderson has revealed what work has been going in to the new earbuds since their predecessor's launch in 2019.
"This ability to be able to give you the best experience was our goal," Andersen told What Hi-Fi magazine, "no matter what it is you have, we want to give you the best experience."
"We wanted to give everybody an AirPods Max in their pocket," he continues. "And at the end of the day, there is somewhat of a compromise, because you can't make it perfect for everybody yet."
Redesigning the original AirPods Pro
Anderson revealed that Apple has a panel of what he called "expert listeners," who are consulted in the testing of designs. Reportedly, the biggest challenge has been regarding high frequency response -- and the solution involved concentrating on airflow."When we talk about good sound, it's all about how we move the air in the product," said Anderson, "which is kind of weird because it's not talking about the enclosure or how it looks, but it's about ensuring that we also design for airflow."
He says that the audio team works with designers and that their aims are the same. "If we can make the sound better [through redesign]," he says, "I think our industrial design team are very open to that."
AirPods Pro 2 (on sale for $199.99) do not support lossless audio, despite that now being a staple of Apple Music. Anderson suggests that's down to limitations in Bluetooth rather than Apple's own hardware or firmware.
"We don't think that [Apple's] codec currently is the limitation of audio quality on Bluetooth products," says Anderson. "We want to push the sound quality forward, and we can do that with a lot of other elements."
At time of writing, AirPods Pro 2 are among the Apple devices getting significant discounts in the Black Friday sales.
Read on AppleInsider
Comments
Very interesting to know that airflow has such an influence on audio quality, though. One of those things that seems obvious in hindsight but is clearly moving the art forward.
but then, what isn’t?
A somewhat misleading headline for this article if taken so literally because it lacks the context of the full quote from the Apple engineer above. APM in your pocket was the goal, but compromises were necessary. Hardly surprising given the sheer physical difference between these products. But I own both APM and the gen 2 Pro and the 'buds get closer to APM than I ever would have believed was possible. How close? I took my gen 2 Pros instead of my APM for a 15 hour flight to Tokyo and didn't miss the APM one bit. The noise cancelling is astounding, right up there with the APM, and while sound quality isn't quite the APM equal, it's certainly in the same ballpark. I wasn't a fan of the Pro gen 1, and honestly expected to be returning the Gen 2 after trying them out, but I"m super impressed with the improvements Apple has made.
no
other vendors have higher quality streaming using bluetooth streaming using LDAC and aptX HD
just apple won't use them
aptX HD supports 24 bit audio (not 16 like apple) and double the max bit rate
i've tried the same song on an iphone and an android that supports aptX with a bluetooth receiver that supports aptX HD on high quality speakers
and the difference was definitely noticeable
especially in the lower bass and upper treble ranges
AirPods Pro 2 are AirPods Max in your pocket, says Apple
not. There's no comparison.At first I wasn't interested at all in replacing my original Airpods Pro with the 2s, but at the last minute I decided to. I don't regret it a bit. The sound in much improved, in my opinion. The new Airpods would not let me use "Hey, Siri" consistently until the latest Airpods update. Now they're pretty much perfect.
And for the record, I owned a pair of 1st Generation.
It seems like an Apple engineer filling in for a marketing employee.
He obviously didn't look around at how other vendors deal with transmitting better quality audio on similar sized earbuds.
But Apple marketing has to keep people thinking that lossless music in a tiny, portable device is capable of making any difference.