991–1000 of 1001 posts
When Optimus ordered Maximus to "Sacrifice to save your life; if not I shall make you die in torment," Maximus answered, "I have always wished it; it is in order to pass out of this short and miserable life to the life eternal that I have declared my faith." [wikipedia]
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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.
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I think spatial audio might be the killer feature. They just added an update for the Airpods Pro, and some of the comments/reactions to it sound promising. Homepods sound amazing in a stereo pair, and Apple just released an update for Dolby Atmos support.
I don’t understand why people like the spatial audio feature. How often do you move your head relative to your iDevice while watching a movie? The field of view is too narrow for it to make any sense. If you ignore the above then the only trick that’s left is the fake 3D effect; which isn’t novel or even desirable for someone who cares about authentic sound.
I assume the same feature on any competing product would feel similar.
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I paid $349 (I think) for my Bose quiet comfort headphones, and they are good - but there are flaws that I wouldn’t be opposed to seeing corrected for a higher price. To each their own I suppose.
I think most people here have their doubts that they will actually be an upgrade over the QC35 or the WH1000XM4. They'll undoubtedly have a better pairing experience and the head tracked spatial audio is unique among over-ears, but there's a chance of losing in sound quality, noise cancellation ability (active & passive), comfort, and battery life. Also based on phrasing at the bottom of the page it's possible that t…
I don't understand why people would expect otherwise given the advancements with Airpods Pro and Homepod. Apple has a clear R&D advantage over competitors, and I think it's going to be that much better in a larger format without the space constraints of the Airpods Pro.
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They're not that far off higher-end over-the-ear ANC/wireless headphones, give or take Apple's brand premium (which many other makers of expensive things also happily apply). That's not to say they are cheap but it feels closer to existing market pricing than $250 wireless earbuds - a move Apple pulled off seemingly successfully.
If by "not far off", you mean "over $200 more". For consumer devices: The Sony 1000XM4s are $270. Bose QC35 IIs are $265. You'd have to go up to pro-grade gear, such as the M&Ds or Beyerdynamic Amirons, to match this price. Maybe Apple headphones are pro grade, but the AirPods are not, so I don't think they're going for that market segment.
I 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…
I 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…
One pleasant side-effect of these is when we all start flying again it'll be even easier to find the SFO airport gate. Currently you can just look for the one with >50% Airpod use, but that's hard to see from a distance. These are much easier.
Fwiw, the delivery and implication of the first sentence was good enough to end there.
I am a total apologist for the price of the AirPods and AirPods Pro. I have tried a lot of wireless earbuds. Jabra, Samsung, Jaybirds, Anker…and none of them have the combination of bullet-proof pairing, keeping a connection, audio quality†, and sound cancelling†. †(AirPods Pro, for these.) But hoo boy, $550 is a lot for more traditional headphones. The price premium for earbuds feels right to me, as you have to do t…
> bullet-proof pairing, keeping a connection, audio quality That'll be because Apple products use a custom protocol to iPhones, whereas all other brands have to use basic bluetooth, which has crappy sound quality, arbitrary restrictions, poor handling of weak signals, lots of delay, and is hard to pair. Apples walled garden doesn't allow third parties to design or use their own protocols, or use apples protocols, so…
I 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…
No, just no. I got so tired of my airpods not connecting randomly, automatically switching to other devices at random times, losing most of their charge after a year, and so on, that I literally just use a pair of wired airpods now and it works great. Oh, except that Apple decided iPads should have USB-C but not iPhones, so now I can't even use my lightning airpods on more than one device. This Apple worship is the u…