Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Logitech MX Products are incompatible with AirPods

support.logi.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

141–150 of 280 posts

Re: Logitech MX Products are incompatible with AirPods

#141

Post by Ao7bei3s »

aqfamnzc wrote: post #122
ungamedplayer wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thank you ! A lot of people mistake how this band seems to work. Its not that the device can't create interference, its that it must ACCEPT interferance.

As opposed to what? Reflecting it? (Honest question.)

It means a vendor cannot get the FCC to take action against another vendor for this.

Any vendor can make a device using that band (there are many conditions, but in principle it is open to anyone). One vendors signal is another vendors noise. Each vendor needs to live with that fact. That could, for example, mean accepting that their device will sometimes simply not work.

Compare with licensed bands such as the ones used for LTE. These are (basically) allocated to individual parties for their exclusive use (ie, nobody else can interfere). If a device interferes with those bands, the FCC can take enforcement action (eventually).

Re: Logitech MX Products are incompatible with AirPods

#142

Post by mbreese »

cjdoc29 wrote: post #26

Of all the years I've been reading HackerNews, this is the one that moved me to actually sign up. So I have three Intel-based MacBook Pros but of different model years - 2017 (15in), early-2019 (13in), and mid-2019 (16in). The mid-2019 16in MacBook Pro in combination with Logitech MX Mouse (Mac version) and AirPod Pros cause significant interference on the microphone. The result? I sound like a "robot" on Zoom calls.…

> MacBook Pro in combination with Logitech MX Mouse (Mac version) and AirPod Pros cause significant interference

This might be a silly question, but I'm assuming the AirPods are connected to the same MBP? I'm finding this entire conversation fascinating because I routinely use a Logitech MX (anywhere 3) for Mac mouse and Airpods (Pro). However, the mouse is connected to a Mac Mini and my Airpods to my iphone. I take all of my Zoom calls from my iPhone and dual connect to Zoom if I need to share my screen.

I don't think I've ever had massive amounts of interference between the AirPods and my mouse. I'm wondering if this is a case where connecting to two different devices is somehow mitigating this issue.

Re: Logitech MX Products are incompatible with AirPods

#143

Post by TaylorAlexander »

jakear wrote: post #54
noirbot wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I dunno, if you haven't run into audio or video interference on a wired device, you're lucky or have quality cables. I've definitely picked up radio stations on headphones or had nearby electrical currents induce an annoying buzz in a microphone or distort a video signal.

> I've definitely picked up radio stations on headphones Not exactly the same, but makes me reminisce the days of the iPod nano. It offered FM radio using the headphone cables as an antenna. I haven’t seen that supported anywhere since, which is a shame because I’d really like to get local stations on my phone.

My mom's cheap new flip phone has this feature, so they're still shipping it on new devices.

Re: Logitech MX Products are incompatible with AirPods

#144

Post by interestica »

jakear wrote: post #54
noirbot wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I dunno, if you haven't run into audio or video interference on a wired device, you're lucky or have quality cables. I've definitely picked up radio stations on headphones or had nearby electrical currents induce an annoying buzz in a microphone or distort a video signal.

> I've definitely picked up radio stations on headphones Not exactly the same, but makes me reminisce the days of the iPod nano. It offered FM radio using the headphone cables as an antenna. I haven’t seen that supported anywhere since, which is a shame because I’d really like to get local stations on my phone.

I had an android phone about 5 years ago that could pick up over-the-air video broadcasts using the headphones as the antenna.

Re: Logitech MX Products are incompatible with AirPods

#145

Post by ascagnel_ »

chipotle_coyote wrote: post #94
SECProto wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My favourite part about wires is that there's never interference or poor connectivity. Aux headphones, ethernet cables, wired mouse and keyboard - all so much more painless.

There are definitely some asterisks there. :) I have a pair of desktop speakers that have both a USB input (to an onboard DAC) and an analog input; originally, I had the USB input connected to an iMac and used the analog input to plug into my work laptop. Recently, I swapped the iMac for a Mac Studio and a Studio Display, and figured that I could just unplug the Thunderbolt cable to the display from the computer and…

Unless I'm mistaken, Thunderbolt is fiber optic; if it's fiber optic, it shouldn't be generating any EM or RF interference.

Re: Logitech MX Products are incompatible with AirPods

#146

Post by jabroni_salad »

AceJohnny2 wrote: post #33
AceJohnny2 wrote: post #23

It's not just Logitech's use of bluetooth. My Airpods also caused me lose wifi connectivity on my Macbook when using 2.4Ghz wifi (802.11n to an old Buffalo WZR-HP-AG300H/WZR-600DHP running OpenWRT [1]). The issue only happened when using the airpods, and only when using the 2.4Ghz network. Switching to 5ghz solved the issue, and I've since switched to wired. I was kind of stunned that Apple's own wifi was incompatibl…

Extra rant: I can't find my favorite keyboard, the MS Sculpt, in wired version, and have already had to replace it once due to, I suspect, wireless issues. I like its ergo layout, key feel, and key travel distance [1]. I just bought a new one after the last one would become unreliable on keypresses, and I can't shake the feeling that it was just wireless performance issue, not actual key detection issue. There appear…

I had that issue as well. Wish I had a good solution for you but I ended up replacing it with a logitech K860. If they offered this in a tenkeyless variety it would be perfect, but I do really like that it can do bluetooth with my tablet so I don't have to use the on-screen keyboard if I'm at my desk.

and I haven't had ANY of the latency or key repeating that I had with the Sculpt.

Re: Logitech MX Products are incompatible with AirPods

#147

Post by SECProto »

ascagnel_ wrote: post #145
chipotle_coyote wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are definitely some asterisks there. :) I have a pair of desktop speakers that have both a USB input (to an onboard DAC) and an analog input; originally, I had the USB input connected to an iMac and used the analog input to plug into my work laptop. Recently, I swapped the iMac for a Mac Studio and a Studio Display, and figured that I could just unplug the Thunderbolt cable to the display from the computer and…

Unless I'm mistaken, Thunderbolt is fiber optic; if it's fiber optic, it shouldn't be generating any EM or RF interference.

Thunderbolt uses usb-c connectors, definitely copper not fiber.

Re: Logitech MX Products are incompatible with AirPods

#148

Post by rolleiflex »

ascagnel_ wrote: post #145
chipotle_coyote wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are definitely some asterisks there. :) I have a pair of desktop speakers that have both a USB input (to an onboard DAC) and an analog input; originally, I had the USB input connected to an iMac and used the analog input to plug into my work laptop. Recently, I swapped the iMac for a Mac Studio and a Studio Display, and figured that I could just unplug the Thunderbolt cable to the display from the computer and…

Unless I'm mistaken, Thunderbolt is fiber optic; if it's fiber optic, it shouldn't be generating any EM or RF interference.

While optical Thunderbolt cables do exist, they are a niche product. Most Thunderbolt cables in existence is comprised of good old metal wires.

https://www.corning.com/optical-cables-by-corning/worldwide/...

Re: Logitech MX Products are incompatible with AirPods

#149

Post by SoftTalker »

toast0 wrote: post #67
jakear wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I've definitely picked up radio stations on headphones Not exactly the same, but makes me reminisce the days of the iPod nano. It offered FM radio using the headphone cables as an antenna. I haven’t seen that supported anywhere since, which is a shame because I’d really like to get local stations on my phone.

FM radio using headphones/headset as antenna is a common feature in phones. I've seen it on feature phones in 200x, and on some Androids as well. Only you can decide if it's important enough to outweigh other must have features though. There are also lots of apps to stream local radio if you have a consistent data connection (doesn't need to be fast, though)

The FM receiver is (or is claimed to be) better for battery life than using data to listen to local radio.

Re: Logitech MX Products are incompatible with AirPods

#150

Post by cjdoc29 »

shade23 wrote: post #127
cjdoc29 wrote: post #26

Of all the years I've been reading HackerNews, this is the one that moved me to actually sign up. So I have three Intel-based MacBook Pros but of different model years - 2017 (15in), early-2019 (13in), and mid-2019 (16in). The mid-2019 16in MacBook Pro in combination with Logitech MX Mouse (Mac version) and AirPod Pros cause significant interference on the microphone. The result? I sound like a "robot" on Zoom calls.…

The dongle is compatible with Macs too. Only issue is that you experience some interference if you plug it into a usb-c multi adapter. I resolved this by using a usb extender cable. I've had zero interference since I started using this setup.

To clarify, Logitech makes two MX Master mice - one generic and one "Mac specific" which bundles a USB-C cable and no dongle adapter. On their website, they do not reference the Mac-version compatible with the optional dongle.

Edited: forgot the words "do not reference"

Post reply on HN