Thieves are ripping AirPods Max off heads in NYC

AppleInsider

Thieves are targeting owners of the AirPods Max in New York City, with a number of victims having their premium personal audio accessories stolen off their head.

AirPods Max

Starting from January 28, thefts of the AirPods Max began in New York City. Thieves have struck at least 21 times, in each case doing so by simply taking the headphones from a victim's head while they're wearing it in day-to-day life.

The thefts involve a team of four people on two mopeds, riding up to the victims from behind and pulling the headphones before speeding into the distance, reports NY1.

So far, the thefts have occurred across Manhattan, including one incident within Central Park. Most of the incidents have happened in the mid-to-late afternoon.

There have yet to be any arrests over the crime spree. Police have released photographs of the suspects on the mopeds and a video, to try and get more information.

The video shows one of the thieves getting off a moped while holding onto two pairs of AirPods Max, and walking into Washington Square Park.

Anyone who knows details that could help catch the thieves are advised to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS.

Thefts by teams on mopeds isn't a new technique, and it has been seen in other cities across the world where victims carry bags or are seen with premium items in public. With a retail price of $549, the AirPods Max certainly fit into this latter category, and are easy pickings for the thieves.

Owners should be vigilant when using AirPods Max in public, and to stow the headphones away when it is potentially unsafe to use them.

Read on AppleInsider

lkrupp

I read an article about Los Angeles in which the LAPD is now recommending people leave their fancy cars and jewelry at home when they go out. This is what our society has descended into? Is lawlessness now the norm? Is this what “defund the police” means? Should we leave our iPhones and AirPods home too?

https://nypost.com/2022/07/19/lapd-warns-against-flashing-jewelry-as-robberies-rise/

So I guess the message is buy an old Datsun beater to use when you go out on the town and wear plastic beads from Walmart, ladies.

davgreg

Two downstream things since Covid and the Floyd case is a notable drop off in police presence, police intervention and prosecution for many types of crime. This is happening all over the United States and has plainly gotten out of hand in some cities. San Francisco even recalled a DA over his failure to prosecute such crimes.

IMHO wearing over the ear headphones of any kind in NYC is not a very wise thing to do, but citizens should not be expected to tolerate such brazen nonsense. I guess they could buy Samsung stuff and blend in.

ApplePoor

Forget the Rolex and iWatch and wear a $20 Timex. We have done that for years when traveling into third world countries. From what we read everyday, the USA is rapidly dropping towards that status, what with all of the "mass" shootings every week or so.

caladanian

Find my and activation lock for head phones?

Spitbath

lkrupp said:

I read an article about Los Angeles in which the LAPD is now recommending people leave their fancy cars and jewelry at home when they go out. This is what our society has descended into? Is lawlessness now the norm? Is this what “defund the police” means? Should we leave our iPhones and AirPods home too?

https://nypost.com/2022/07/19/lapd-warns-against-flashing-jewelry-as-robberies-rise/

So I guess the message is buy an old Datsun beater to use when you go out on the town and wear plastic beads from Walmart, ladies.

When I lived in New York City over 20 years ago (this was immediately after 9/11 when the city was considered the safest it had ever been and police presence was more often a military presence) the NYPD was recommending that people not use white headphones because it indicated you had an iPod in your pocket and people were getting mugged for them. Has society really changed that much?

Calvin_H

Spitbath said:

Has society really changed that much?

Are these cities the same as 20 years ago (much less 10)? SF, SD, LA, Seattle, Minneapolis, Portland, etc. etc. etc. I can't believe you asked that question.

avon b7

lkrupp said:

I read an article about Los Angeles in which the LAPD is now recommending people leave their fancy cars and jewelry at home when they go out. This is what our society has descended into? Is lawlessness now the norm? Is this what “defund the police” means? Should we leave our iPhones and AirPods home too?

https://nypost.com/2022/07/19/lapd-warns-against-flashing-jewelry-as-robberies-rise/

So I guess the message is buy an old Datsun beater to use when you go out on the town and wear plastic beads from Walmart, ladies.

Big cities tend to be easy targets. More people. More options to disappear after attack but, to put this into perspective, it is nothing new and very probably involves the same group of individuals. 

For bike mounted attack prevention, the usual advice applies. Don't hang bags off your shoulders and don't wear expensive headphones of any kind or jewellry in streets. 

At least until Apple’s taser mounted iDrones hit the shelves. 

Spitbath

Calvin_H said:

Spitbath said:

Has society really changed that much?

Are these cities the same as 20 years ago (much less 10)? SF, SD, LA, Seattle, Minneapolis, Portland, etc. etc. etc. I can't believe you asked that question.

Of course they aren't the same... hence why I said "...changed that much" instead of "...changed at all." My point was that crimes like these have always existed. iPod users were getting mugged in 2003 at a rate alarming enough for the NYPD to recommend not using white headphones, just like AirPods Max users are getting them stolen from their heads in 2023. Explain to me how, other that the particular device getting stolen, that is much different? My hometown has always been known for meth-heads stealing bikes... a lot of things have changed in that city over the years but one thing that's been a constant since I was a kid in the 80's is bike theft. Suggesting that these crimes are a new phenomenon is just kind of foolish.

FileMakerFeller

avon b7 said:

At least until Apple’s taser mounted iDrones hit the shelves. 

Reminds me of the magna volt car theft prevention device from Robocop 2

entropys

Leaving aside that I would question the business model of targeting AirPods Max, as scarcity would be a big problem for it,
but yes, large American cities have become worse. I only drop in to the US every five years or so from OS, and have been doing so for more than thirty years. NewYork was a dangerous place in the late eighties, but by the mid nineties seemed quite safe and I loved visiting. Now it seems outright scary at night.
SF (I am more familiar with Berkeley) has always had its vagrants, but it is also comparatively pretty bad these days. I would avoid either city altogether these days. That just the way it is, and I don’t need to visit them anymore.

ApplePoor

The old saying still applies: I did not loose anything there so no need to go looking for it....

dewme

Spitbath said:

Calvin_H said:

Spitbath said:

Has society really changed that much?

Are these cities the same as 20 years ago (much less 10)? SF, SD, LA, Seattle, Minneapolis, Portland, etc. etc. etc. I can't believe you asked that question.

Of course they aren't the same... hence why I said "...changed that much" instead of "...changed at all." My point was that crimes like these have always existed. iPod users were getting mugged in 2003 at a rate alarming enough for the NYPD to recommend not using white headphones, just like AirPods Max users are getting them stolen from their heads in 2023. Explain to me how, other that the particular device getting stolen, that is much different? My hometown has always been known for meth-heads stealing bikes... a lot of things have changed in that city over the years but one thing that's been a constant since I was a kid in the 80's is bike theft. Suggesting that these crimes are a new phenomenon is just kind of foolish.

Same deal with me. I suppose it depends on your perspective, where you came from, and your default way of dealing with your personal safety in public spaces. Growing up in a housing project one of the survival skills I learned early on was not to stand out, much less "flaunt it," and keep whatever of value you were carrying concealed and as secure as you can make it. Wallet in front pocket. Travel in groups. Situational awareness. Those skills served me well in the military and during business travel. Good, bad, or otherwise the "don't stand out" way of blending into public spaces extends to my everyday life, the cars I drive, and the houses I've owned.

So yeah, from my perspective I would never feel comfortable wearing AirPods Max or even Beats headphones in public, especially in a known high crime area. I'm also surprised when celebrities flaunt their wealth on television and on other forms of media. Why attract the wrong kind of attention? At some level it really shouldn't matter, not at all, but as Spitbath points out, it's always mattered and it still matters. Being right and standing your ground in a crosswalk with a 40 ton semi approaching may one way of asserting the high ground, but it may end up with you in the ground. I suppose your headstone can be inscribed with "Here lies a man who had the right of way."

Don't assume anything about anywhere or anyone. Be smart and stay alert and aware of your surroundings. It's up to you to know when your shields need to be up.

Spitbath

entropys said:

Leaving aside that I would question the business model of targeting AirPods Max, as scarcity would be a big problem for it,
but yes, large American cities have become worse. I only drop in to the US every five years or so from OS, and have been doing so for more than thirty years. NewYork was a dangerous place in the late eighties, but by the mid nineties seemed quite safe and I loved visiting. Now it seems outright scary at night.
SF (I am more familiar with Berkeley) has always had its vagrants, but it is also comparatively pretty bad these days. I would avoid either city altogether these days. That just the way it is, and I don’t need to visit them anymore.

Bullshit!

In 1990, when the population of NYC was 14% smaller than it is now, there were nearly 530,000 crimes that fell into the most violent categories including 2,200 murders. Through the end of November 2022 there were 115,000 crimes in those same categories including 391 murders. 

Also, I visit San Francisco at least once a month. Is homelessness a serious problem? Yes. Am I terrified to walk down the street? No. Does shit happen occasionally no matter where you live? Absolutely!

The Overblown, Heavily Politcal Fear of American Cities

ronn

"Thefts by teams on mopeds isn't a new technique, and it has been seen in other cities across the world where victims carry bags or are seen with premium items in public."

Anytime Apple is involved it's overblown. As the article mentions, this is a worldwide problem. NYC remains the safest large city and has crime rates similar to medium-sized (and even some smaller) cities. People need to use commonsense and have situational awareness. Especially when sporting gear that sells for ~$500. Of course it's not right for others to rob, but that's been an issue for many, many years.

The recent crime spikes still pales in comparison to the awful rates of the late 80s to mid 90s.

welshdog

Lack of police presence is a tactic created by activist police unions to scare people into backing bigger budgets for police departments. Almost no city has actually defunded the crime fighting elements of their police departments. Budgets have reallocated funds from police to shift non-police social work to entities trained and prepared to deal with those sorts of things - exactly the changes many police leaders have been asking for. Police unions, being the shitasses they are, are using the defund meme to their advantage, with the side effect being less presence and more minor crimes. Policing is broadly broken in this country and fixing it will be hard. Part of the problem is a long standing one: the people who want to be police officers are the very people who should not be police officers. Having a life long desire to bust heads is not a qualification to enter law enforcement. Being a racist skin head twenty years ago, realizing that wasn't really working and then having the epiphany that racists wouldn't be prevented from becoming cops, is not a valid reason to be a cop - and yet this is exactly what happened.

jcs2305

Calvin_H said:

Spitbath said:

Has society really changed that much?

Are these cities the same as 20 years ago (much less 10)? SF, SD, LA, Seattle, Minneapolis, Portland, etc. etc. etc. I can't believe you asked that question.

Did you even read what was written. 

harry54

ronn said:

"Thefts by teams on mopeds isn't a new technique, and it has been seen in other cities across the world where victims carry bags or are seen with premium items in public."

Anytime Apple is involved it's overblown. As the article mentions, this is a worldwide problem. NYC remains the safest large city and has crime rates similar to medium-sized (and even some smaller) cities. People need to use commonsense and have situational awareness. Especially when sporting gear that sells for ~$500. Of course it's not right for others to rob, but that's been an issue for many, many years.

The recent crime spikes still pales in comparison to the awful rates of the late 80s to mid 90s.

Thefts by teams on mopeds aren't new and occur globally. NYC, despite being the safest large city with crime rates comparable to smaller cities, still requires common sense and situational awareness. High-value items like $500 gear can attract thieves, but robbery has long been a universal issue.

harry54

welshdog said:

Lack of police presence is a tactic created by activist police unions to scare people into backing bigger budgets for police departments. Almost no city has actually defunded the crime fighting elements of their police departments. Budgets have reallocated funds from police to shift non-police social work to entities trained and prepared to deal with those sorts of things - exactly the changes many police leaders have been asking for. Police unions, being the shitasses they are, are using the defund meme to their advantage, with the side effect being less presence and more minor crimes. Policing is broadly broken in this country and fixing it will be hard. Part of the problem is a long standing one: the people who want to be police officers are the very people who should not be police officers. Having a life long desire to bust heads is not a qualification to enter law enforcement. Being a racist skin head twenty years ago, realizing that wasn't really working and then having the epiphany that racists wouldn't be prevented from becoming cops, is not a valid reason to be a cop - and yet this is exactly what happened.

The current state of policing reflects systemic issues, where police unions manipulate public fear to secure larger budgets. True reform reallocates funds to trained social services, but resistance from those within the system hinders progress. Effective law enforcement requires officers dedicated to community service, not aggression or prejudice.