I cringed hard because of this.
AirPods Max
901–910 of 1001 posts
Re: AirPods Max
#902The price is high at $549 however given Apple's proven audio engineering I will give them the benefit of the doubt on sound quality on par with similarly priced headphones from Sennheiser, etc. I mean have you heard the speaker quality on the 16" MacBook Pro?! Literally no other laptop sounds as good. My biggest concern is if they are user serviceable. I have a pair of Sennheiser that cost around £700 when I bought t…
Agree that Lightning for charging is crazy for a new product in 2020.
With regard to the battery, I expect apple will replace it for you at the Apple Store, probably for around $75. I believe they'll do it for iPads (including Pro) for $100, and in fact they give you a completely new (refurb, honestly) unit. So you also get a brand new screen with no scratches, which is nice. I don't know if they'll do replacement units for headphones, but wouldn't be surprised.
Re: AirPods Max
#903Earlier quoted context omitted.
Having paid $350 for Bose QC3 headphones 4 years ago, that I use every day but sometimes have to fight with when e.g. my MacBook Pro keeps trying to steal focus even though i shut it and am trying to use the headphones with my phone now, etc. I completely agree. Paying a bit more for something that just works as well as my airpods do, assuming that this delivers, is totally worth it. On top of that, I expect the soun…
> Paying a bit more for something that just works ... You hit a nerve with me on this one. I have heard this line all too often to encourage people spend more money. In this case it is not “a bit more”. But a whole lot more. Pricing needs to be brought to levels of sanity. The reason we are seeing ridiculous prices like these is because millennials don’t pay attention to prices or there is way too much credit in the…
Exactly. You can get Sony XM4s for $279 right now. The Airpods Max are nearly double. And yes, that's the sale price; however, Apple products rarely go more than 10% off. Ever. So we can use $500 as a fair comparison, and it's still double after paying proportional taxes.
Re: AirPods Max
#904I think this is actually a fantastic place for Apple. I'm happy to trash Apple where appropriate and I've got plenty of complaints. I think Apple does it's best when the integration of hardware and software is really important and there is a very low tolerance for, I won't say bugs, but issues. They're headphones. I want to put them on and they need to make noise. I'm not dealing with connectivity issues, battery iss…
I bought a $100 pair of bluetooth Sennheisers that have a battery life that seems to be measured not in hours, but in days. I use them all day every day while working in the office, at home, or coffee shop. Music sounds great and so do movies. Never have to worry about the bluetooth connnection, pairs to my Mac or to my work laptop just fine. And they got to me with Amazon Prime. You do not need to spend $500 if all…
Heck, even $40 true-wireless earbuds are now quite decent. They're reliable and sound quality is perfectly fine for what I want from it.
Considering the tiny batteries make these disposable items, it's pretty compelling.
Re: AirPods Max
#905I think this is actually a fantastic place for Apple. I'm happy to trash Apple where appropriate and I've got plenty of complaints. I think Apple does it's best when the integration of hardware and software is really important and there is a very low tolerance for, I won't say bugs, but issues. They're headphones. I want to put them on and they need to make noise. I'm not dealing with connectivity issues, battery iss…
I bought a $100 pair of bluetooth Sennheisers that have a battery life that seems to be measured not in hours, but in days. I use them all day every day while working in the office, at home, or coffee shop. Music sounds great and so do movies. Never have to worry about the bluetooth connnection, pairs to my Mac or to my work laptop just fine. And they got to me with Amazon Prime. You do not need to spend $500 if all…
You do not need to spend $100 dollars either.
Re: AirPods Max
#906>spatial audio tracks the motion of a user’s head as well as the device, compares the motion data, then remaps the sound field so it stays anchored to the device, even as the user’s head moves. Emperors clothes. The audio is already anchored to the device, since the device emits the audio. And the device is (presumably) anchored to the wearers head by friction. so...
The device is eg an iPad or iPhone.
The listening device is headphones. (Perhaps whoever wrote the bunkum doesn't understand what they said, but the rest of us do.)
Re: AirPods Max
#907For all the complaining about the pricing here, just set a reminder to yourself for 1 year later, when the pandemic has waned and some workplaces begin to return to normal. Then take a visual survey of how many people are wearing these in those hip open office development workspaces. You'll see the pricing didn't matter at all. You'll probably be wearing a pair yourself when you do that visual survey.
I will set that reminder. My guess is these headphones will be about as popular as the original HomePod. Not a failure, but definitely a niche-y product. Apple's magic is making you pay just that bit more for a "magical" experience. Bluetooth earbuds: $100. AirPods: $159. Clunky smartwatch: $300. Apple Watch: $449. However the price difference with competing products here is so large I think Apple has priced themselv…
> However the price difference with competing products here is so large I think Apple has priced themselves out of the market here.
The idea that a comment on HN has done more extensive research and modeling than Apple for a pricing a particular product is amusing.
Re: AirPods Max
#908I think this is actually a fantastic place for Apple. I'm happy to trash Apple where appropriate and I've got plenty of complaints. I think Apple does it's best when the integration of hardware and software is really important and there is a very low tolerance for, I won't say bugs, but issues. They're headphones. I want to put them on and they need to make noise. I'm not dealing with connectivity issues, battery iss…
> I'm happy to pay $500 for something that works Sure, if by "works" you mean "only works with other Apple products." The cost isn't just $500, it's also the opportunity cost of going with any other competing (and possibly better) product in the future. Apple's pricing is high, but is even higher if you account for the hidden hand of future buying power you give them. It's a brilliant business strategy as it limits y…
Many flagship Android phones followed Apple's lead and killed the headphone jack, so there's a lot of old headphones that no longer "just work".
Furthermore, Bluetooth sucks all around. It's 2020 and you still can't transmit voice without falling back to SCO and having everything sound like a tin can. SBC is barely passable for music, and has hundreds of ms of latency. So companies have already hacked their own various proprietary codecs. Ever hear of AptX or LDAC? They only work with Qualcomm and Sony licensing/devices. Imagine spending $400 on your new WH-1000XM4s only to find that LDAC doesn't work on any desktop OS.
I don't see Apple doing anything different here.
Re: AirPods Max
#909Earlier quoted context omitted.
I won't be wearing them, they look absolutely terrible. Honestly like headphones you'd find at a dollar store bin (in terms of design.) But they will probably catch on, I think the AirPods themselves looked silly but so many wear them now as a fashion statement. Apple has somehow convinced people that they are a fashion/status company, it's incredible.
Amazing how some people just cannot accept that something made by Apple could sell millions because it’s actually good . The “fashion statement” argument is completely farcical, always has been.
I accept that fact when it comes to some of their products, just not their ear buds, and I'm sure not these either. Apple is a fashion company, it's time to wake up to that fact. Think back to their old iPod ear buds (if you're old enough), the white wires were a statement that you were affluent (why do you think they had them so prominent in their commercials with the dancing silhouettes?) Those earbuds were horrible. That was fashion, this is the same.