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AirPods succeed by not selling you a new pair

victorwynne.com

31–40 of 87 posts

Re: AirPods succeed by not selling you a new pair

#32
post #14

I disagree with author here. I wish I didn’t, because that would mean that customers are much more aware than they really are. In reality I doubt that adding those features to existing models had any impact on sales at all. If Apple had data that people would buy headphones for those features, they would 100% made them exclusive. AirPods are just the best in its class, that’s why people are buying them.

I was forced to buy them. I was happy with my first generation AirPods, until one night they automatically upgraded to the latest firmware, which had a bug and they stopped working.

Re: AirPods succeed by not selling you a new pair

#34
post #32
post #14

I disagree with author here. I wish I didn’t, because that would mean that customers are much more aware than they really are. In reality I doubt that adding those features to existing models had any impact on sales at all. If Apple had data that people would buy headphones for those features, they would 100% made them exclusive. AirPods are just the best in its class, that’s why people are buying them.

I was forced to buy them. I was happy with my first generation AirPods, until one night they automatically upgraded to the latest firmware, which had a bug and they stopped working.

> I was forced to buy them

Who held the gun to your head?

Re: AirPods succeed by not selling you a new pair

#35
post #14

I disagree with author here. I wish I didn’t, because that would mean that customers are much more aware than they really are. In reality I doubt that adding those features to existing models had any impact on sales at all. If Apple had data that people would buy headphones for those features, they would 100% made them exclusive. AirPods are just the best in its class, that’s why people are buying them.

  they would 100% made them exclusive
They sort of are with how quickly they connect and remember devices. If you've ever used non-apple bluetooth headphones, pairing can be ever so slightly slower and more cumbersome (not by a lot mind you).

That 1-2 second difference paired with the system notification "your apple brand headphones are connected to another device do you wish to override?" can save a bit of headache if you're using them all day and switching a lot.

I know it was enough for me to prioritize their airpods over others that do the same.

Re: AirPods succeed by not selling you a new pair

#36
post #2

Wait, y'all can still use your 3 year old AirPods? On mines, the battery went nuts in ~18 months, and I don't even use them that much.

I use mine every time I take the dog out for a walk so around 2 hours a day most days since I've had them which is over 2 years now, and I've yet to notice any battery degradation. There probably is some, but not enough to notice outside of actual measurements.

Re: AirPods succeed by not selling you a new pair

#37
post #22

I've actually had this particular product fail on me twice, and coincidentally, I was just talking to a friend today whose AirPods are degrading after only 1.5 years. That's the same timeframe when both my regular AirPods and AirPods Pro started failing. I might have just been unlucky, but I'd be happy to hear some positive experiences because as a product (especially the Pro), it really is brilliant.

I feel like producing at such a massive scale results in sometimes selling some subpar units. I bought the AirPods Pro 2 in October of 2022 shortly after they were released, and even with quite a few drops and constant use I have not experienced any issues. I have heard of people with similar experiences as you and your friend though so it’s certainly not entirely uncommon.

Re: AirPods succeed by not selling you a new pair

#38
I've never used AirPods but I can say their microphones are awful: whenever I'm talking to someone who is on AirPods, I can immediately tell it from the very low audio quality. This happens with many, many people.

When they switch to their iPhone mic, it literally sounds like the audio version of upgrading from 144p to 4K.

Re: AirPods succeed by not selling you a new pair

#39
post #30

I don't agree at all. I love the product but I have to buy a new pair of airpods every few years very consistently. It's either battery capacity loss, or crackling audio issues, or both to the point of not being usable. The Apple Genius always comes up with a story like "well it's out of warranty and the cost of repair is about the same as just buying new ones so you make the call dear customer."

Yep. AirPods don't need to sell you a new pair because you don't buy them, you're renting them. $249 down and 30 minutes of battery life a quarter.

Re: AirPods succeed by not selling you a new pair

#40
post #22

I've actually had this particular product fail on me twice, and coincidentally, I was just talking to a friend today whose AirPods are degrading after only 1.5 years. That's the same timeframe when both my regular AirPods and AirPods Pro started failing. I might have just been unlucky, but I'd be happy to hear some positive experiences because as a product (especially the Pro), it really is brilliant.

I got a pair of Pro 2’s in 2022, still going amazingly strong and I hammer them. I often fall asleep with them in.

Only weird thing is that they sometimes need to be put into the charger and taken out again to for one to connect. It just seems they should be able to reset without the ceremony.

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